Words: Rory Bryce // @_BryceCube
On January 8 2023, Giorgos Giakoumakis left Celtic for Atlanta United in the MLS. The big Greek striker already had a bit of a reputation as a journeyman, but amid rumours he’d been refused a new contract at Celtic with a lucrative wage rise, it was clear his time in Glasgow had come to an end.
I was absolutely gutted. Giakoumakis was the type of striker that Celtic had been missing for years. In the same mould as John Hartson or Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink, he was a penalty box striker and not much else. His sole purpose was to use his body to force the ball into the back of the net. It didn’t matter which body part that was, or in what manner he scored, as long as the ball crossed the goal line. Pure A to B stuff.
There was an air of intrigue surrounding Giakoumakis when he arrived at Celtic. He had a story tied to his name at every club he’d played for, and they weren’t just narratives or tales; they were myths and legends.
You could count on one hand the number of goals he scored at AEK Athens as their third striker. But one of them was a stoppage time winner against their eternal rivals, Olympiacos, in the Greek Super League. That was all it took for him to be a legend in their eyes. In 2021, VVV-Venlo were automatically relegated from the Eredivisie, finishing 2nd from bottom. Giakoumakis was their centre forward. He would’ve been disappointed - he finished as the Eredivisie top scorer with 26 goals, and somehow it hadn’t saved the club from the drop. This form was ultimately what led to his move to Celtic.
He wasn’t technically gifted whatsoever. His hold up play wasn’t anything special either. But he’s the last incarnation of a dying breed; a pure, instinctive, predatory poacher, a hassle for defenders to play against and an absolute bastard on the pitch. The guy was a unit.
Giakoumakis really wrote his own story during his time at Celtic, and a particular 4-month spell became his myth, written into history. In 2022, from January to May 2022, he scored 12 goals in 16 appearances, including 2 hat-tricks, one of them perfect, and going on a run of scoring 9 goals with one touch.
Before the turn of the year, he had scored 1 goal in 6 and been sidelined for the rest of it, either by injury or otherwise. It was incredible to watch. Easily one of the best turnarounds I’ve ever seen from a player. Despite only bagging 13 goals, he’d managed to finish joint top scorer in the Scottish Premiership in 21 appearances. It was a run of form which ultimately secured the title for Celtic after suffering their worst start to a season since the 1980s. It was the stuff of legend. How fitting that our god-given protagonist is Greek.
He’s the perfect example of mythologising football players, but also in explaining to people exactly what a ‘cult player’ is. These guys may not be the next Maradona, but there’s a reason that their orbit is filled with stories of their abilities, exploits, and how the supporters remember them. As fans, we tend to attach our emotions to players and actively look to attach myths and stories to them as a result. We also love a bit of a rags-to-riches underdog type story, lets be frank. It’s more relatable to us than your everyday top-level footballer. That’s why I love Giorgos Giakoumakis’ story so much. He came, caused havoc for 18 months then left to do the same elsewhere. It was class.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing for Giakoumakis at Celtic, though.
A young Giorgos Giakoumakis plying his trade at AEK Athens.
Photo Credit: AEK 1924
It had been a whirlwind summer for Celtic. The previous season, played entirely behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic, had been a disaster. As Rangers romped to the their first title since the club liquidated in 2011, Celtic stumbled from crisis to crisis. On top of that, Rangers had spoiled Celtic’s chances of winning 10 titles in a row. As a Celtic fan, I can’t tell you how bad this season was. It was a genuine circus. That’s a story for another time.
Suffice to say, the club needed rebuilt at every level. The manager trusted to lead the construction of this new project was Ange Postecoglou. Though his appointment was laughed at, it was one of the best decisions Celtic had ever made. Once he had arrived at the club (and it took a while), summer signings followed thick and fast, and with the exception of 1 or 2 players, every signing from that summer was a massive hit.
On the final day of the window, Celtic announced a triple signing. We’d been linked to these guys seemingly all window so it was good to see us get the deals over the line at the 11th hour. Josip Juranovic arrived from Legia Warsaw and Cameron Carter-Vickers arrived on loan from Spurs, to much hype and excitement. They would go straight into the starting 11.
The third was expected to play backup in the centre forward role, so there wasn’t as much fanfare around his arrival, but given his prolific record in the Eridivise the previous season, people were keen to see what he could do. Standing at 6 foot 1 and built like a god, he offered something different up top and a bit of an itch that Celtic had had for years.
His name was Giorgos Giakoumakis.
Giorgos Giakoumakis signing for Celtic on 31 August, 2021.
Photo Credit: Daily Record
It was a typical late-autumn day in Scotland; dry, but with a biting wind. The sky was grey, but not in the usual foreboding way indicative of a gloomy Scottish winter on the horizon. It was light, it was a payday weekend, and everyone was feeling upbeat.
Despite a summer rebuild and with 0 expectations, Celtic were somehow only 2 points behind Rangers after 11 matches, as the then-champions had a stumbling start to their campaign. Some of the football we were playing was scintillating, bold and devastating. It wasn't without issue though and an injury crisis had began to plague Ange Postecoglou's team.
What didn't help matters was that Celtic's new backup striker had become injured seemingly on arrival, meaning he missed his first 3 league fixtures.
Giorgos Giakoumakis finally made his Scottish Premiership debut against Motherwell on October 16, after a brief midweek cameo appearance against Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League. The following week, he scored his first goal for Celtic against St. Johnstone, a semi-acrobatic first-time finish from a blistering Anthony Ralston cross.
This goal was what the fans had been looking for, and ultimately what Giakoumakis had been signed for - to put the ball in the net by any means necessary. At this stage though, it has to be said that his first goal for the club was viewed as a bit of a flash in the pan. After arriving injured and being given a chance ahead of Kyogo, he hadn't impressed at all. In some cases, he had looked out of his depth. The jury was very much still out.
On October 30, Livingston visited Celtic Park in what should have been a routine match for the hosts. Instead Livingston stifled Celtic, reducing them to 1 shot on target all game. Giorgos Giakoumakis had played the full 90 minutes, the first time he had done so in a Celtic shirt. To say he had been a passenger in this game would be an understatement.
Then, in the 2nd minute of injury time, a daft foul from Livingston's Ayo Obileye on Kyogo Furuhashi gifted Celtic a penalty. I don’t use ‘daft’ or ‘gifted’ lightly in this case - it was by far one of the most bizarre fouls I've ever seen. The ball wasn't in play, Kyogo was walking away from the goal when Obileye clapped him on the back of the head somewhat forcefully. The officials judged this not just to be a foul, but a penalty and also a red card offence. The referee upheld the decision. Pretty soft in my opinion, but at the time I wasn't complaining. It was 0-0 in the 93rd minute and Celtic had a penalty.
Giorgos Giakoumakis stepped up to the spot. This immediately raised eyebrows. Until now, right back Josip Juranovic was the assigned taker for spot kicks and his record had been perfect so far. Postecoglou later remarked that Giakoumakis was actually the favoured penalty taker, but hadn't been available previously.
Maybe it was the tension in the air, or the uncertainty. It could have been the pressure of looking to score your first goal for Celtic, in an easily-winnable game, or to score the winner deep into injury time. It could have been. At the time, everyone jumped to one conclusion - he was just, quite simply, shite.
Giakoumakis barely took a run up and more or less passed the ball safely into the arms of Max Stryjek. It was one of the meekest penalties I've ever seen. Genuinely awful. He'd spurned other chances in the game too. The match finished 0-0. The following day, Rangers annihilated Motherwell 6-1 away from home to increase their lead over Celtic to 4 points. Giakoumakis was, somewhat understandably, the scapegoat. The decision had been made that he wasn't good enough, and in a fashion typical of Old Firm fans in Scotland, the league had been declared lost and Giorgos Giakoumakis was to blame.
On November 20, Celtic played St. Johnstone at Hampden in the League Cup semi-final. Giakoumakis was nowhere to be seen. He'd been a bit part player at best since his penalty miss against Livingston, making 20-minute appearances here and there. As it turned out he had been playing through injury and this had caught up with him.
At the time, fans were calling for him to be sold or loaned out in January, and declared his Celtic career to be over.
He wasn't seen again until 2022.
Giakoumakis lamenting his penalty miss against Livingston.
Photo Credit: The Celtic Star
It had been a chaotic winter as far as football in Scotland was concerned. A circuit-breaker lockdown was implemented by the Scottish government to stem the new Omicron variant of COVID, which brought with it stadium capacity caps of 500 people. As a result, Scottish clubs voted to bring the winter break ahead to December 27, to allow fans a chance to attend rearranged matches should the circuit breaker be effective. It also meant a slightly extended January transfer window, if memory serves me correct.
Celtic's first match back after the winter break was on Scottish Cup duty away to Alloa Athletic. It was freezing, Alloa use a plastic park, and Celtic ran out 2-1 victors after a battling performance where the hosts put in some crunching tackles. Safe to say the vibe was not good.
Importantly to our story though, it marked the return of Giakoumakis to the starting XI after being given a brief cameo the previous week against Hibs. Not just that, but he played the full 90 minutes, something he had only done once so far in his Celtic career, and scored the opening goal. It was a well-taken first time finish into the roof of the next from a Liam Scales cross. His teammates crowded him for the usual celebratory hugs and high-fives, while Giakoumakis briefly looked to the sky with his hands held out, as if a huge weight had just been lifted from his back.
At the time I remember feeling relieved for him, if anything else. Nothing extreme. It was more of a 'thank god, well done' moment. A decent goal, sure, but the jury was still very much out on Giakoumakis for the majority, if not all, of the support. Watching the goal back though you could see that the Greek forward had been working on his game. His movement towards the ball for the goal was lightning quick, predatory and clinical. He bullied his marker and made sure he knew that the ball was going to be his.
But at the end of the day, we were playing a part-time team two divisions below us. He would have to do much more to win back the favour of the Celtic faithful.
Giakoumakis celebrates his goal against Alloa Athletic in the Scottish Cup.
Photo Credit: The Daily Express
It was the biggest Glasgow Derby in years. With Rangers dropping points to Aberdeen and Ross County, and Celtic unbeaten in 17 SPFL fixtures, including a last gasp winner against Dundee United in the previous fixture, the momentum had shifted dramatically in Celtic's favour. A rare midweek evening kick off for an Old Firm match added another layer to this pivotal Glasgow Derby.
The build-up didn't disappoint. It was an all-timer, at least from a Celtic perspective anyway. In the context of our season, this victory propelled us to the title.
The story of this match is for another time though. Celtic romped to a 3-0 annihilation of their Glasgow rivals in front of 60,000 unforgiving and deafening Celtic fans. It was nothing short of a humiliation.
Giakoumakis didn't score, but his performance undoubtedly won the backing of the fans. He probably should've scored a brace and piled further misery on Rangers. But what he'd done was enough. As well as being a turning point in Celtic's season, it was also a turning point in Giorgios Giakoumakis' Celtic career.
Words can't explain how much of a nuisance he was to the Ranger's defence. Even then, that's a massive understatement. He battered them from the first whistle until he was subbed off. He caused problems from the off and didn't allow their defenders to switch off for a second. Honestly, watch the highlights from that game and you'll see what I mean. 2 of his biggest chances came from nothing but sheer strength and determination - one from out-muscling his marker to drive a low shot towards goal, and another from bullying Calvin Bassey, towering above him to reach a header and flattening him in the process.
He didn't score, but it was an utterly dominant performance from the big man. Like his teammates, he was one cog in a very well-oiled machine and without his contribution the result would likely have been different. It wasn't just that he'd bullied Rangers, but he'd done it with the zealousness and aggression of a man with a point to prove. I think part of what made his performance special was the evident re-connection with the Celtic fans in this moment. He done his talking on the pitch and we responded. At one point, after winning a corner kick, he turned to the fans and lifted his arms to spur the crowd. The response, and the connection, was felt.
Things were back on track for Giakoumakis at Celtic, but the best was yet to come.
Giakoumakis bullying Calvin Bassey in Celtic’s 3-0 trouncing of Rangers, 02 February 2022.
Photo Credit: Tapei Times
Celtic hadn't looked back since that night in February. In the remaining 14 league fixtures, they'd only dropped 6 points, meaning they'd won the title by a 4-point margin. Given where they'd been at the start of the season, it was nothing short of a miracle. Celtic fans had consigned Ange Postecoglou's first season as one of transition. No one expected they'd lift the title.
This run Celtic went on to seal the title wouldn't have been possible without Giorgios Giakoumakis, who's renewed confidence led to an emphatic scoring streak. From February until April, he was deputising for the injured Kyogo Furuhashi, but my god did he step up to the plate.
It started off with a Scottish Cup win against Raith Rovers at home. A first-time finish to double Celtic's lead in the 67th minute, after missing a few sitters, was the big Greek's contribution to this match. He was buzzing with himself too. Proper screamed the place down after scoring.
Next up was Dundee at home. What should have been a relatively straightforward fixture became potentially title-derailing. Dundee took the lead after 20 minutes or so with Celtic looking off the pace. We pegged them back, then took the lead 4 minutes later to enter half-time ahead. Relief, but also apprehension. Dundee were having a go and if memory serves me correct, survival was on the line for them this match. They came flying out the traps and equalised in the 60th minute.
It was vital to both teams that they won this match. I don't want to go into the if, buts and maybes too much, but dropping points in this match would've made the final run in much tighter than it needed to be. The pressure was on.
Celtic got the winner in the dying embers of the match, with 5 minutes to spare. The last-minute winner, which fans had become adjusted to as being part of Ange Postecoglou's philosophy, gave everyone a massive lift. Another job done, another 3 points.
The manner of the goals was what made it more special and added another layer to this story. Giakoumakis had scored all 3 goals. It was a perfect hat trick, having scored with both feet and his head, and each of them was a first time finish. Insane.
A right-footed volley with his back to goal. A left-footed tap in from a cross. Then in the 85th minute, a scorching header which bounced under the keeper and into the roof of the net. It was perfect, literally. His celebration said it all - he ripped his jersey off, and motioned toward the fans. This was a man reborn and the first indicator of his name being enshrined in Celtic folklore.
I'm not joking when I say how bemused, amazed and astounded fans were watching this unfold. At the end of the day this is why we'd signed Giakoumakis; to have a different option up top, a poacher, someone who was willing to attack the ball and get it into the net by any means necessary. But given his terrible start to life at Celtic, to say he'd turned it around wasn't doing it justice. In fixtures like these he was literally hauling us over the line to the title. It was nothing short of incredible.
His superpowers came to the fore again in Scottish Cup action away to Dundee United. His second goal in this match was probably the scrappiest you're ever likely to see, getting the end of his toe on a deflected cross to see it trundle off the post and in, but his first goal really exemplifies his mindset as a poacher.
While attempting to bundle a routine shot into his chest, Dundee United keeper Benji Siegrest sloppily spilled the ball. Fair enough, it happens. It was at his feet for a fraction of a second; you thought he would simply pick it back up. The ball was falling towards the ground for mere milliseconds. Out of nowhere, having continued his run, Giorgios Giakoumakis stuck his foot in the way and tapped it into the bottom corner of the net.
And so, his incredible streak continued, and the manner in which he scored these goals became more mythical and legendary with each game.
His exploits even resulted in him getting a song from the faithful Celtic ultras, set to the tune of Nina's 1983 hit "99 Luftballons":
”Giakoumakis comes from Greece,
when he plays he scores with ease.
He leads the line he, plays up top
A number 7 sent from God"
This was the peak of his Celtic career, no questions about it. A further goal against St. Johnstone in a 7-0 trouncing, along with increasing his tally against Hearts and a double against Motherwell on the last day showed his hunger for more. He also scored the goal which would ultimately secure Celtic the title away against Dundee United in a 1-1 draw. He finished that season not just as league champion, but as joint-Premiership top scorer, alongside Ross County's Regan Charles-Cook.
Giorgos Giakoumakis celebrates after scoring a perfect hat-trick against Dundee, 20 February 2022.
Photo Credit: Celtic FC
For a player who only took part in 29 games that season, missed 21, had an abysmal start to his Celtic career and was condemned by the Celtic support so early into his tenure, finishing top scorer in the league is nothing short of incredible.
But there's other aspects to this story which play into the myth surrounding Giorgos Giakoumakis. Yes, he came back from a seemingly impossible position to cement himself as a cult hero in Celtic's history. But his goal scoring run in the run-in ultimately won us the title. I don't think this gets as much appreciation or acknowledgement as it should. For a player seemingly frozen out of the team who, according to some fans, couldn't kick his own arse, to drag Celtic over the line was a mythical story in itself.
Again though, it wasn't just the act of doing it, but the manner in which he did it. Even in the games where he didn't score or was having a bad time, he made himself a nuisance and bullied defenders. His attitude had completely changed, and in a very noticeable and obnoxious way. He wanted to show those who had written him off a huge middle finger, and he did just that. An added bonus, but the best part of his goalscoring run was that he scored 9 goals in a row with one touch. You’ll be hard pressed to find a run like that anywhere else in world football.
One of his last major contributions to Celtic was a 95th minute winner against St. Johnstone after the Perth side has equalised in the 92nd. Another one touch finish, another defender bodied in his wake, another by-any-means-necessary approach which defined his Celtic career.
The fact that fans still speak about Celtic not properly replacing him is testament to the impact he had while he was here and the impression he has left in the minds of the supporters. He was far from a regular under Ange Postecoglou, but still wrote himself into a huge chapter of our clubs’ history.
Player myths like this exist at every football club across the world. They’re great anchor points for which to attach our own memories, feelings and stories. And in many ways, they become football folklore; talking points in pubs over a few beers, passing comments in work on Monday mornings, and stories passed on through generations. That’s what creates myth.
That period where Giakoumakis was unplayable is part of a wider story during that season, and reminiscing about his incredible exploits reminds me of one of my favourite seasons following Celtic.
I miss the big man. Players like Giakoumakis are few and far between; those who are willing to turn things around after coming up against so much adversity, who have the mindset to actually make it happen, and the guts to do it in style.
At the time of writing, Giorgos Giakoumakis is at Cruz Azul in Liga MX. His journey continues, and I hope that he continues creating the mythical stories and moments which will ultimately become his legend.
A number 7 sent from god.
Photo Credit: STV News
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