Stan Lazaridis

Stan Lazaridis

File:Stan Lazaridis.jpg
Personal information
Full name	Stanley Lazaridis
Position(s)	Left midfield
Team information
Current team	Perth Glory
Number	11
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of oct 82006

Stanley "Stan" Lazaridis (born August 16, 1972 in Perth, Australia), is an Australian football (soccer) player. Lazaridis' parents originate from Macedonia, Greece. He plays as a left-sider though is equally at home on the wing in a deeper-lying midfield role or even at left-back. He currently plays for his home-town club, Perth Glory.

His reputation as a young left-footed teenager began with Olympic Kingsway where, despite his age, he intimidated many a defender with his extraordinary change of pace.[1] His career started with Stirling Lions (formerly Stirling Macedonia), Perth before West Ham United became aware of his talent and paid £300,000 to sign him. However, after a 3-1 defeat at Chelsea on his debut, he did not earn a regular place in Harry Redknapp's team. A pair of injuries, (the second soon after his return from the previous) cut into his playing time considerably, though he always worked hard when on the field to impress (scoring at least two more long range efforts in his time).

Over four seasons, Lazaridis, also known as "Skippy Stan", played just 87 games for West Ham United and was then sold to Birmingham City. Impressive for a long while, he played an important role in guiding the team up to the Premiership for 2002/03.

Lazaridis was released at the end of the 2005-06 season by Birmingham City after making 222 appearances for the club. A firm favourite with the Birmingham supporters, it appears that he will now finish his career in Australia with current club Perth Glory.

Lazaridis was called up to the Australian 2006 FIFA World Cup squad but was one of six players who did not see any game time in Germany.

International Retirement

On the 4th of October 2006, he announced his international retirement. On the 7th October, 2006 Lazaridis played his last game for Australia in a 1-1 friendly against Paraguay. This made him the highest capped Socceroo not to score an international goal.

External links

• Statistics at footballdatabase.com
• Statistics at soccerbase.com
• Photos and stats at sporting-heroes.net
• Yahoo World Cup Profile