The Love For Village Football
Akis Katsoudas, Greece
Akis Katsoudas is a photojournalist who works for Gazzetta.gr and publishes a Greek fanzine called Football. He grew up in a small Greek village called Malesiada and his greatest love remains his village team, Aris Malesiadas.
My name is Akis Katsoudas, I recently turned 28, and I love writing about and photographing football in all its forms, from the Champions League Final to the lowest amateur division in Greece. My love for football started when I was a child. I grew up in a very small village called Malesiada, several hours away from Athens, and fell in love with my village's football team, Aris Malesiadas.
Though I didn't realize it at the time, the mental images I had from their matches on the village's dirt field made me love the sport. Today, I have the enormous honor and joy of playing for them whenever my schedule allows, and being on the same team as my childhood friends. It is an incredible feeling to play football with people you grew up with.
I am now involved in football from all sides. I live permanently in Athens, work for one of the country's largest sports media outlets, Gazzetta.gr, and travel all over Greece and the world, looking for great photographic stories. I also publish a football fanzine called Football, which in the past year has been exclusively focusing on promoting women's football in Greece.
However, my greatest love remains my village team, Aris. I love going back home and photographing their matches when I am not playing. The players, the field that has remained unchanged since 1990, the fans who come to watch the matches with their banners and flares. I am very proud that in recent years we have managed to build a very family-like atmosphere between fans and players. Many times, fans even come down and play in the matches if things go wrong.
What did you try to show with the photos? Was there any wider meaning with the photos?
All the photos were taken at my village’s football field. The main subjects are the players of the local team, who often leave their jobs to be present at the games. You can also see the footballers of another team from the area, Aroma Varetadas. We often play games with them. It is something like the local derby, one could say.
What I want to show is that football is just the pretext. All the players you see are friends with each other. When the game is over, they will go together to the village café and joke about the match. We do not play solely to win. We like being part of a team that represents such a small village. I wanted to show the purity of football. The selfless love for the jersey and the sport.
My favorite photo is the portrait of the three young kids posing in front of the camera, wearing three different jerseys of the team. These kids eagerly await the next game. They sit on the edge of the bench and wait with anticipation for the moment the coach tells them to get ready to go into the game. This is something that gives us all the motivation to continue.
What role does football play in your community and in Greece?
Life in a small and mountainous village in the Greek countryside is not easy. Due to major urbanization, the population has been decreasing over the past decades. So, the Sunday match is not just another football game. It is a social event where people from three or four different generations meet. They talk to each other, tell stories from the times when they also played on the field. This is a small picture of what happens in the rest of the country.
However, the higher you go in the division and closer you get to Athens, things are different. The result and money play a more important role. We play only for the jersey and the joy of the game. We do not need anything more to be satisfied.
Before every match, we do several training sessions to ensure everyone is in good physical condition. During one of these, while we were playing, a little girl appeared. She was carrying a bag and wearing football shoes. She asked if she could join us. Of course, we accepted her. All the players treated her with great respect. I am very happy because Aris Malesiadas is an extremely progressive team, whose members have no problem playing with girls.
What impact has playing and watching football had on you?
Football is my whole life. It is my daily routine, the way I express myself. All these years on the fields and in the stands, I have realized that it is not just a sport. It is the reflection of an entire society. If you sit in the stands, you will understand what concerns people, what interests them. And it is immediate. In the case of Aris, the fans talk to the players at halftime. They give them instructions on how to play better. And the athletes listen to them. I do not think you can find this in any other sport.
What ambitions do you have for the future?
Football is a very important part of my life. I am very happy and blessed that my involvement with it has become my profession. My ambitions for the future are to travel all over the world and tell as many beautiful football stories as possible and to see my village team thrive.
What is the future for football in Greece? What would you like to change?
I believe that after a long period of decline, football in Greece is starting to rise. Last year, a Greek team, Olympiacos, managed to win two European titles (the UEFA Conference League and UEFA Youth League), something that had never happened before in the history of the sport in the country.
What I would like to see disappear is the toxicity that is pervasive in all its aspects. In Greek football, there is often a negative atmosphere that manifests as impatience and intense criticism, especially during challenging times. This "toxicity" can be seen in the frequent dismissal of coaches - sometimes within just a month - and the harsh scrutiny that players face on social media.
This environment creates pressure that hinders long-term progress. If there were more patience and a calmer approach, it would allow for a more stable environment where sustainable development could take place. Football growth is a gradual process and cannot be achieved overnight.
We need to focus on football development without only looking at temporary benefits. Greek football clubs and the Football Federation of Greece should prioritize long-term investments in youth academies and grassroots football, especially in regions outside of Athens.
And of course, more attention should be paid to amateur football, where the heart of the sport beats. By focusing on nurturing talent at the amateur level across the country, we can cultivate the next generation of players who will eventually strengthen the national team. This is crucial, given that the National Team of Greece has been absent from major international football competitions for nearly a decade. A short-sighted focus on immediate results will not bring lasting success; we need to build a strong foundation for the future.
