Georgios Samaras (Greek: Γεώργιος Σαμαράς, pronounced [ˈʝorɣos samaˈras]; born 21 February 1985) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward.
Samaras started his career at OFI, before moving on to Eredivisie side Heerenveen in 2001. He made his first team debut two years later and after a further three seasons with the club he moved to Premier League club Manchester City for a fee of £6 million in 2006. After Sven-Göran Eriksson took over as manager Samaras fell out of favour with the first team. In January 2008 he was loaned out to Scottish Premier League team Celtic, moving on a permanent basis in the summer.
Samaras helped Celtic win Scottish league championships in 2008, 2012, 2013 and 2014, totalling 74 goals in 249 competitive games. He left the club at the end of his contract in 2014 and returned to the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion, where he featured rarely and had an unsuccessful loan to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia. In March 2016, he joined North American Soccer League expansion team Rayo OKC, and when they shut down after one season he signed for Real Zaragoza. He then played for Turkish team Samsunspor before retiring in 2018.
Although eligible to play for Australia, because his father Ioannis Samaras was born in Melbourne, Samaras chose to represent his country of birth, Greece. He made his debut in 2006, and became a regular over the next eight years, earning 81 caps and scoring 9 goals. He represented his country at Euro 2008, the 2010 World Cup, Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.
Samaras was born in Heraklion, the capital city of the Greek island of Crete to a Melbourne-born father who had settled back in Greece before Georgios' birth. His grandfather, also called Georgios, was from Arnaia and was also one of the founders of Australian side South Melbourne FC.
His favourite footballer growing up was Marco van Basten. Samaras was also a keen basketball fan and his father, Ioannis Samaras, often let him stay up until the early hours of the morning so he could watch his hero Michael Jordan.
In 1994, when he was 10 years old, Samaras joined his boyhood heroes, OFI. His father was playing for them at the time and then retired in 1996. Six months later, he became Academy chief manager, a position he retained until 2000, when he became manager. Samaras credits his father highly with helping start his football career. His influence meant that Samaras trained every day of his childhood and he also got to spend a lot of time behind the scenes at OFI. Samaras left for Eredivisie club Heerenveen in 2001.
Samaras broke into the Heerenveen team during the 2002–03 season, still aged only 18. He scored three goals in his first four appearances, all of which were from the bench. This form prompted Heerenveen activate a three-year extension clause in his contract.
Samaras' first goal of the 2003–04 season came, on 25 October, in a shock 2–1 loss for Heerenveen against NEC Nijmegen. On 3 December, Samaras scored as Heerenveen beat ADO Den Haag 2–0. His next goal came 10 days later as he scored an equaliser to secure a draw 1–1 for Heerenveen against RBC Roosendaal. He then scored on 20 December, as Heerenveen beat Roda JC 2–1.
Samaras' first goal of the 2004–05 season came on 11 September, in a 2–0 win over De Graafschap. He then scored a last-minute winner on 3 October, as Heerenveen secure all three points against ADO Den Haag. On 28 November, Samaras scored one of Heerenveen's goals as they staged a late comeback against title-chasing Feyenoord, and secured a 2–2 draw. He then scored on 22 January, as Heerenveen, who were performing very well in the Eredivisie, beat Den Bosch 2–1. On 12 March, Samaras scored an equaliser against RKC Waalwijk, but Heerenveen then conceded a late goal and fell to a 2–1 defeat. On 2 April, Samaras scored to help Heerenveen secure a shock 2–1 victory over Ajax. A fortnight later, Samaras scored the equaliser as Heerenveen came from behind to beat Vitesse Arnhem 3–1. This win moved Heerenveen up to fifth in the table. In the next match Samaras, along with Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, scored a hat-trick as relegation candidates RBC Roosendaal were defeated 7–1 and Heerenveen pushed to finish the league in a European spot.
At the start of the 2005–06 season, Sevilla were reported to be interested in Samaras as a replacement for Júlio Baptista. While Arsenal were also looking at him after they had missed out on signing Baptista, some news organisations had reported that Arsenal had already signed Samaras and that he would join at the end of the season. However, the player's father, Ioannis Samaras said that this was untrue and that his son wanted to stay at the club for another year. Samaras scored on the opening day of the season, on 20 August, when he helped Heerenveen to a 5–4 victory over Roda JC. He picked up a minor leg injury in September, which ruled him out of Heerenveen's UEFA Cup tie against Baník Ostrava. But he returned to action on 23 September, and scored as Heerenveen beat NEC Nijmegen 2–1. On 14 December, Samaras scored as Heerenveen came back from behind to beat Levski Sofia 2–1 in the UEFA Cup. On 30 December, Samaras scored twice as Heerenveen beat Ajax 4–2. In January 2006, Arsenal and Manchester City showed interest in signing the striker. Samaras tried to get released from his contract after Heerenveen had rejected a bid from Manchester City. However, the Dutch arbitration commission ruled that he had no grounds to end his contract. Samaras scored 25 goals in 88 appearances for Heerenveen.
Samaras moved to Manchester City on 30 January 2006 for a fee of £6 million, a record for a Greek player. He was given the number 20 shirt. Samaras made his debut for City on 1 February, as a 65th-minute replacement for Cole in a 3–0 home win against Newcastle United. His first goal for the club came in the following home match, against Charlton Athletic. The following month Samaras scored in a 2–1 home win against Aston Villa, to put City through to the quarter-finals of the League Cup. This was his fourth goal in six appearances. Samaras scored one further goal that season, in a 2–1 defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.
Samaras' first goal of the 2006–07 season came on 20 September, in a 2–1 loss in the League Cup to League One side Chesterfield. Four days later, Samaras scored twice, as Manchester City beat West Ham United 2–0. City had won just three of their previous 16 games, and the club, as well as Samaras, had been receiving a lot of criticism from fans.
On 2 January, Samaras came on as a half-time substitute, and scored twice, as they beat Everton 2–1.
In March, the Daily Mirror reported that the reason Manchester City were struggling so badly was that they didn't have any quality strikers. They went on say that the £6 million spent on Samaras looked like "very bad business" especially compared to the £2.5 million Blackburn Rovers had spent on Benni McCarthy. They also described Samaras as looking like a "fish out of water" as he struggled to adapt to the different style of play in England. On 10 March, defender Richard Dunne said that he felt the reason that City were performing so badly was that their foreign players, including Samaras, were letting the side down by not working hard enough. Samaras responded to his criticisms, by saying that he felt it was Pearce's fault that he wasn't playing well because the manager wasn't giving him a regular run of games. He also said that he felt a lot of criticism stemmed from his high transfer fee, saying that it is normal for expensive players to be criticised more than most when they don't play well. Samaras also said that he had come through tougher periods than this and his self-belief would not be shaken, he said that his desire was to become a Champions League player.
Sven-Göran Eriksson took over from Pearce for the 2007–08 season and, following a spending spree, Samaras was reportedly deemed surplus to requirements by the new manager. Samaras' agent Paul Koutsoliakos said that, despite interest from across Europe, his client wanted to stay in the Premier League and prove his ability. Samaras was linked with a £2.5 million move to Middlesbrough towards the end of the transfer window but ended up staying at City. Eriksson stated that although he was unimpressed with Samaras when he first joined, he felt the player had improved and adapted his style of play a lot during pre-season and that he now felt comfortable keeping him at the club.