Loukas Panourgias
Encyclopedia
Loukas Panourgias was a Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 footballer.

At the age of 12 he went to Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 and a year later he formed an unofficial team called Niki. Soon he found himself in Panathinaikos, that was still then called Panellinios Podosfairikos Omilos (PPO). Although he was also a track and field champion, Panourgias chose football. He was part of the Olympic team for the 1920 Summer Olympics
1920 Summer Olympics
The 1920 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event in 1920 in Antwerp, Belgium....

 but he broke his leg and consequently did not participate in the Olympic Games. However, he overcame his injury and helped Panathinaikos in the following five years.

Panourgias fought for the acquisition of the stadium of Panathinaikos
Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium
Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium is a football stadium in Athens, Greece. The stadium, has been the home of Panathinaikos FC and has played for most of the years of its existence, since its foundation back in 1908....

 at Alexandras Avenue
Alexandras Avenue
Alexandra's Avenue is a main east-west thoroughfare running from Patission Street/28th of October Street and Kifissias Avenue in the northern part of the city of Athens, Greece. It is named after Princess Alexandra of Greece and Denmark, later Grand Duchess Alexandra Georgievna of Russia...

. Together with athletes and friends of the team he transformed the area of Perivola to a football field, which was offered to the team by the Municipality of Athens in 1922. After he retired from football, he made a successful career as a lawyer
Lawyer
A lawyer, according to Black's Law Dictionary, is "a person learned in the law; as an attorney, counsel or solicitor; a person who is practicing law." Law is the system of rules of conduct established by the sovereign government of a society to correct wrongs, maintain the stability of political...

. He was also president of Panathinaikos and of the Hellenic Football Federation.

He died on 17 January 1981.
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