Non-League and Academy football writer

Apollo London are a very good footballing side, who after making the transition from a good standard of the Amateur Football Combination, into the Middlesex County League (step 8 of the non-League pyramid) last season, they have shown that they are a club with real potential. Apollo London are a real community club with great camaraderie within their squad, and I really do think that they have a good chance of winning promotion to the Premier Division of the Middlesex County League, for next season.

Having made a fine start to the Division One East season (they have won all of their league matches so far this season), I recently covered one of Apollo’s matches (a 3-0 away win over Camden & Islington United Development at Regents Park), and after that match I was fortunate to get to interview some of their players/coaches, which you can read below.

Could you talk me through a bit about your background in football?

Christos Apostolopoulos: (A player for Apollo London): I started my footballing career in Athens, in Greece, which is where I grew up. When I was 16/17 the team that I played for in Athens (Akadimos Amarousiou) was second in Athens, in the Under 18s football leagues. I then went on to play in the men’s regional division in Athens for three/four years, before coming to England, and after a while I joined a team called Athenians, before then joining Apollo London a couple of years ago.

Filipe Gaitano De Sousa Alcamtara (A player for Apollo London): My background in football started in Brazil, when I was about eight/nine, when I was playing for a community football team, in the favelas. I then went to do a trial for the club that I support in Brazil, Sport Recife. I was 14 when I passed the trial, and I played for them for a little bit. I then went to play football in Italy for a bit, as my mum used to live in Italy. I played for some Italian teams there, with the main one being AC Magenta who used to play in Serie D, and I was with the youth team of that club. 

After moving back to Brazil, I stopped playing football for around five years. Once I’d moved to London (I hadn’t played football for seven years by this point) I joined a team, before then joining Apollo. Since playing for Apollo I’ve been very happy. The guys have been very nice to me, and it’s like a family to me.

Kostantinos Eleftheriadis (A player for Apollo London): I’ve been playing football since I was five. I started in an academy in the second division of Greece, the team’s name is AO Chaidariou. I’ve played for many teams in Athens, and I’ve played at semi-pro level in Greece. I’m also a trained dietician, with my passion for that starting with football. As well as playing for Apollo, since moving to London, where I currently work for the NHS, I also play for a team in the Islington Midweek Football League, called Athenians. But, I actually stopped playing football for a while, after I first moved to England, when I was studying at the University of Coventry. But, this is now my third season with Apollo.

What does Apollo London mean to you?

Christos Apostolopoulos: For me it is like a second family. Almost everyone in the team speaks in Greek, so it feels like we are back home in our country. We are one team when we play our football together, and I enjoy playing attacking football with the team.

What are some of your hopes for Apollo London for this season and beyond?

Filipe Gaitano De Sousa Alcamtara: My hope for the team is to win the league this season, and then to go higher and higher. I think that this year is a good year for us, as we have a very solid team, and a great mentality within the squad. We also want to do really well in the Amateur FA Senior Cup, which we are very ready for.

What are some of your standout moments of playing of playing for Apollo London, so far? 

Kostantinos Eleftheriadis: For me it would be our run up to the final of the amateur cup that we reached last season. I really enjoyed the final, although I thought that we were a little bit unlucky to lose that final, that is football. Every game with Apollo is a memory for me, because we all fight for each other, and we have a good team spirit. I’m 30 years old now, so I want to make the most of the rest of my years of playing football.

What are some of your thoughts on today’s game, a 3-0 win over Camden & Islington United Development?

Nikos Kavvadas (Assistant coach of Apollo London): I think that our effort today was great, as a team. We were not clinical enough, with their (Camden & Islington United) goalkeeper probably being one of the players of the match. But, overall I am very happy with the team’s performance. We got the three points and we continue to win in the league, and we bounced back well from our loss in the League Cup, last Saturday. Our top priority is to win the league (the Division One East), this season. Today, one of our best players was Kostandin Brahimaj who managed the defence really well.