Career
Arguably the finest Greek football player of his period, he was affectionately known as the "Blonde Eagle of AEK". Born in 1919 to Greek parents in Tuzla, near Istanbul, Maropoulos came to Greece with his family at age 3 during the population exchanges after the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922). Having settled in Kalamata, at age 12 he joined the local football club Prasina Poulia, the Green Birds.
In 1934, he was spotted by AEK who placed him in their youth team
In 1936, he was promoted to the first team Unfortunately, the glory years of AEK and Maropoulos were interrupted by World World War II, but he did continue his career after the war, playing until the late 1940s.
Maropoulos was capped 10 times by Greece. He subsequently managed the Greek National Football Team in the early 1960s before retiring from football to manage his sporting goods stores.