Vale John Margaritis (27 August 1937 - 11 September 2024)

Photo:  Ken Morton with John Margaritis (right) during South Melbourne Hellas' visit to Hobart to play Olympia in the mid-1980s. [PlessPix] 

Former Olympia coach John Margaritis has passed away in Melbourne at the age of 87.

Margaritis played in the Greek first division with PAOK of Thessalonika before coming to Australia.

He was an icon of South Melbourne Hellas.

A midfielder, he played 100 games for the club and scored 23 goals.

He won the Victorian Soccer League championship with the club as a player in 1962, 1964, 1965 and 1966.

Margaritis was with South Melbourne for seven seasons and is a member of the South Melbourne Hellas Hall of Fame and was named in the club’s Team of the Century.

After his playing days were over, Margaritis turned to coaching and had a distinguished career, even assisting with the Socceroos when Frank Arok was in charge.

He coached South Melbourne Hellas three times:  1974-75, 1979-82 and 1986.

He also had a spell as coach of NSL club Footscray JUST.

Before his first stint as South Melbourne’s coach, he was player-coach of Olympia in Tasmania in 1972-73.

In the 1980s he brought South Melbourne to Hobart for a game against Olympia.

Ange Postecoglou was a member of that South Melbourne team.

Margaritis remained a follower of South Melbourne’s men’s and women’s teams in recent years and his granddaughter was a star of the club’s women’s team.

His time in Tasmania was brief but he had a major positive impact on Olympia’s players.

Photo:  Olympia in 1972 with player-coach John Margaritis at extreme left in front row.  Back Row (L-R):  Johnny Lynas, Gordon Vail, Chris Hawes (Broughton), Mike Richards, Hugh Robertson, Nicky Karagopoulos, Chris Hargrave. Front Row (L-R):  John Margaritis, Dick Girling, Brian McKay, John Howlin, Tommy Wright, Norman Stanton, Barry Shacklady. [Photo courtesy of Tommy Wright]