He has learnt to fight against himself. To be unafraid, to look for a weird solitude and assume responsibilities. This kind of solitude, that can bend even the mightier men, is his safe haven. Those who are used to the roughness of the sea cannot be intimidated on the pitch anyway…

Panagiotis Glykos grew by the water. He spent his character-defining childhood summers in Skopelos. His place of origin. There, alone against the vast sea, he developed a special instinct that has been accompanying him ever since.

He would hang out with the rest of the “Volos gang” as a child, but he mostly enjoyed fishing. All alone. That remains his “psychotherapy” until today. When he is not guarding PAOK’s goal, he chooses to be on a boat or go diving. Solitude at sea is personal and lively. It doesn’t wear him down nor discourage him. It’s a stimulating solitude.

Just like a goalkeeper’s solitude. Perhaps that is the reason he was drawn to that position when he started playing football at the age of 10. He didn’t start as keeper though. “I was a forward. I liked scoring, but something was drawing me towards goalkeeping”.

The switch was made in school competition. There, for a change, he played as goalkeeper. And he was good. That is what everyone else told him –it didn’t take much to persuade him. He forgot all about being a forward, but held on to his skills with the ball at his feet.

Dreaming of football

It wasn’t an easy choice, but a rather painful one. “We would play on dirt pitches and falling down to make a save was… mission impossible. After some games, whole patches of my skin would come out! I couldn’t sleep at night”.

At first, football was just a pastime that would keep him away from mischief with the other members of his gang and his brother Christos. Being the youngest in the family, having been born after elder brothers Giannis, Vangelis and Christos, it was only natural to get carried away by the bigger boys.

For Panagiotis, playing football developed into something more that a pastime, it was a huge dream: “It may sound cliché, but I have wanted to play football ever since I was a kid. My mother tells me I would drag my grandmother by the hand and lead her to the kiosque, so that she would buy me a ball. In one of my early photographs, I am with one of my brothers outside our home with a ball in my hands”.

Family reactions

His choice to chase after his dream caused quite a stir in his family, who dreamt of the kid following on his father’s footsteps, becoming an agriculturist. “My parents couldn’t be more negative! They thought that I couldn’t make a living out of football and tried to persuade me to get into university. My father wanted me to follow his path and, to be honest, I was helping him in his job up to a point. I would go with him to the market, we would plant flowers and look after gardens together. I worked from a young age”.

But agricultural studies were never really an option for Panagiotis. He defied his parents’ advice, followed his heart and was vindicated. Even if achieving his goal was quite painful. He literally went through a lot of pain. He frequently had bad luck and it was obvious right from the start. At the age of 15, before signing for Olympiacos Volos, he dislocated his wrist, wore a cast for two months and the transfer didn’t go through.

Strength through hardship

His toughest moment though was severing his cruciate ligament in 2010, during his loan spell at Agrotikos Asteras. “It was a very tough period for me. A few weeks earlier, I was on the bench when we qualified at the expense of Fenerbahçe SK, I was happy. But, all of a sudden, I was told that I would leave on loan because Giakoumis was coming.

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was the second time that happened, but I left. I experienced a lot and I was in a bad mood. In my first game, during warm-up, I sustained the injury. I remember that Christos Kelpekis, my coach nowadays, was a rival back then”.

This adventure forged him into the player and person he is today. He worked hard to change his body, he found the inner strength to come back and fight for a place in the spotlight. “One can return stronger after an injury. I never gave up, no matter what happened in my life. Everything happens for a reason. I had some tough moments in the team, but I was never discouraged”.

Haters gonna hate

Since that injury didn’t break him, he wouldn’t be daunted either by fans’ criticism. Glykos belongs to the category of players who seldom get applauded and often experience disapprovement.

“An error I made in a Greek Cup game against Atromitos is perhaps to blame”, he acknowledges with his typical calmness. “They say that time heals everything, but some errors get stuck in collective memory. From my end, I try to remain focused, help my teammates and keep all non-match-related issues out of my head”.

Despite the hardships, pain, sacrifices and countless hours on the pitch and in the gym, his parents can now be proud of him. Proud of the fact that he ignored them and devoted himself to football. Because football ultimately provided him with a living and much more: “I have gained valuable experience, I have met people who became very important in my life and I am a better person now. More sociable, not as closed-off as I was before. Football has helped me a lot”…

• This article features in the fourth issue of Toumba Magazine that you can purchase in PAOK’s e-store