Some collect stamps. Other currencies. Still others frantically pick up napkins or stickers. Many, including the scribe, collect magnets, which of course carries the risk of the refrigerator door falling at some point. There are the others, there is also Theofilos Adamakis. Theofilos is the man who owns the most enviable collection for every football fan or fan. He is the man who has the largest collection of jerseys in Greece. And when we say the greatest we mean it.
Imagine what a kid does when he gets a T-shirt. Imagine for a second you were transposed into the karmic driven world of Earl. And not just any… Even Diego Maradona has a shirt. Theofilos Adamakis made the dream of every fan a hobby and spoke to newsbeast.gr about how difficult it was to achieve such a thing.
- Theophile, how did all this start? Do you remember how old you were?
When I was little I worked in hotels in Crete. Among the clients I welcomed were various team shipments. There I met some players. We were building friendly relations and some football players gave me their shirts as a souvenir of our acquaintance. That's how it all started. I was about 17 years old then. As time went on I became more and more fanatical until at some point all I had in mind was how I would manage to get the next jersey.
- What was the first one you got?
I can not remember. I imagine that logically it was one of OFI.
- How difficult is it to start such a collection?
Very hard. He wants a lot of pleas, a lot of phones, a lot of acquaintances, but most of all you need to make a great footballer trust you enough to give you his jersey or his collection. I was lucky because as a journalist and TV presenter here in Crete I had the opportunity to get in touch with great footballers like Nioplias, Mahlas, Anastopoulos and others with whom we built a relationship of trust. It was these people who opened the doors for me. They gave me the phones of veteran footballers and I got in touch with them. I have come in contact with over 300 veterans. In the beginning you do what you can. Over time you work more methodically and if you are a little lucky you achieve what you want. With the rise in the use of social media, let's say, everything has become easier because you get in touch with people from different parts of the world who have the same passion. They send you photos with what shirts they have and so you enter the trip to see it more seriously.
- Did you say before that there are footballers who gave you their personal collection?
Yes sure! And I'm grateful for that. Nikos Nioplias gave me his own. Over 170 shirts. His own and foreign footballers that he had exchanged with them after an international match. He also gave me one of the shirts he wore at the 1994 World Cup! The same thing happened to him Nikos Anastopoulos. He has given me over 70 of his own jerseys. When we talked and he saw the love I have for this subject he gave me the bronze shoe he won in 1983 when he became the third top scorer in Europe. What about Nikolas? Great player. Great man. Great idol. I grew up with his mustache posters in my room. We met at an OFI training session when he was coach here in Heraklion. My madness for the jerseys started from my love for Anastopoulos and my madness for Olympiakos.
- Are you a crazy Olympiacos but do you also collect PAO or AEK jerseys?
One is my great love. My passion and my madness. But how can you ignore the jersey, for example, that PAO wore in the historic match with Liverpool or the one that Thomas Mavros wore in AEK; These are historical pieces. It is the history of our football.
- What is your favorite jersey?
This is a difficult question. They are definitely all of Olympiacos that remind me of my childhood. Like that blue and white from the big qualifier against Ajax. Emotionally, the jersey that the team wore the year we had the tragedy at Gate 7 is very important to me. In 1981. If I remember correctly, it was given to me by the veteran of Aris, George Zindros, to whom George Orfanos had given it. But again… How can I tell them apart.
I have the shirt of Manolas from the first match of AEK in the Champions League. Nioplias has given me the jersey of Batistoutas since '94, I also have the jersey of Kanigias from Kolitsidakis. I have the most historic OFI jersey, the one from the Cup final in 1987 with Iraklis, by Giannis Michalitsos. Stavros Papadopoulos, the great captain of Olympiacos, has given me the blue jersey with Ajax, and the banner of the captain that he exchanged with the captain of the Dutch. I have jerseys of Kareka, Alemao, Batistuta, Mateus, Zico, Giggs, Gullit, Lineker, Robson. I have his shirt Maradona from the UEFA Cup final won by Napoli and given to me by supervisor Kounalakis. I have Van Basten from 1-1 in the Netherlands with his goal Saravakou. But I do not only have football. I have Diamantidis from the 2004 Olympic Games, I have in my hands the last jersey of Christodouloulos from Atlanta in '96, Kambouris from the first championship of Olympiakos in 1992, Triantaphyllidis from volleyball from the first European Olympic with Wuppertal in 1996. These are not all jerseys. They are heirlooms.
- The most expensive shirt you ever had in your collection?
They are many. Several. Now if I had to single out one I think I would choose one of Ajax that the team wore in 1971 in its Champions League final with Panathinaikos. The shirt I had from that match was extremely important as it was worn by the number 10 of the Dutch team and scorer of the first goal. Van Dyke just in the 5th minute of the match. This is a jersey that is currently priced at at least 10.000 euros. Extremely rare piece.
- So I understand that collecting jerseys is an expensive sport. Correctly;
It depends. If you have the right acquaintances, doors open for you and you get in touch with the right people, it may not cost you much. If not then you should definitely spend some extra money until you make a circle in which you will move to get in the end what you want.
- How many shirts do you have in your collection today?
Definitely over 1.000!
- And where do you have all these shirts? Have you made any space in your home?
I have them in 3 closets. Neat and categorized. Per team, per season. Per sport. Because I do not only have football. I also have a lot of basketball. I even have referees. In addition to the ones in the closets, however, I also have 20 dolls, like the ones in the shop windows and in which I put various shirts that I want to fool around with. From time to time I change them and put some others. And you know this is a big complaint and at the same time a big dream I have?
- That is?
It is sad that he does not have Olympic a museum worthy of its history. You know, the jersey is the history of the team. And not only the jerseys of Olympiakos but also the jerseys of our opponents. In the museum of Barcelona there are Real jerseys and vice versa. From great matches, such as various finals. Abroad they pay tickets to see such collections. This is revenue for the team. Even her shirts national must have this museum. 90% of the jerseys I have for the national team are from Olympiacos players. These should be in the group museum. I am not allowed to have in my house the bronze shoe of Nikolas Anastopoulos. It must be in our team museum. Let Anastopoulos, this great chapter in the history of Olympiacos, have his own corner in the team museum. Like Beckham has that of Manchester United or Gerrard has that of Liverpool. This is my dream. To see my collection at the museum of Olympiakos. Let everyone see it. Let the young learn and let the old remember.
- Have you noticed some shirts that you do not have but would like to have?
From 75 onwards, I do not have only two Olympic jerseys! From the National, I miss 7-8 designs, I have almost all the jerseys from 1965 onwards. I have Koudas, Sideris, Galakos, Kritikopoulos, Anastopoulos, Mitropoulos, Michos. I'm generally looking for jerseys before 1992 when team boutiques began to be created and now everyone could get one jersey. The shirts, however, from the 1980s onwards are real heirlooms. Especially in the older decades a player could spend the whole season with the same jersey.
So these jerseys are always a target. For this reason, I appeal through your website to anyone who has such a shirt (before 1992) to send me a photo, to evaluate it and why not to buy it. Those who wish can contact me through it Facebook or his Instagram. It is a pity to be forgotten in drawers and closets if they can be used differently.
