Konstadinos "Kostas" Chalkias () is a
Greek footballer, born 30 May 1974 in
Larissa,
Greece. He stands 2.00 m (6 ft 6 1⁄2 in) tall and plays in the goalkeeper position. He currently plays for
PAOK F.C..
Club career
Greece
Chalkias started his career in the Panathinaikos youth academy in the 94/95 double winning PAO team and was loaned out for his first two seasons to
Apollon Athens. After he returned, he was forced to play third keeper to the legendary
Jozef Wandzik and Greek legend
Antonis Nikopolidis. He made a total of 25 starts over the next three years between 1998 and 2001 for Panathinaikos and was transferred for two seasons to
Iraklis before good performances led to a return to
Panathinaikos in the 03/04 season. After playing second fiddle again to
Antonis Nikopolidis during most of the 03/04 season, he was allowed back in to the first team after a dispute Nikopolidis had with management.
Going abroad
At the end of the 2003/2004 season, Nikopolidis was let out on a free transfer to bitter rivals,
Olympiakos, and a new keeper was bought:
Mario Galinovic. After a fight for first team football, eventually Galinovic won out and due to overseas interest, Chalkias was shipped out to
English side
Portsmouth F.C. in January 2005, making his debut in the
FA Cup fourth round tie away at fierce rivals
Southampton F.C. Over the next few matches Chalkias's wild tactics and inconsistency led to some poorly conceded goals, and he was soon...
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