Alefantos became a prominent manager on the Greek football stage in the 1970's, achieving promotions to the Alpha Ethniki with PAS Giannina and Pierikos, quickly gaining a reputation for his idiosyncratic character and tactical innovations – inspired by his future mentor Ernst Happel – and having various spells in the top division before taking charge of former club Olympiacos in 1983.
His relationships with club executives and fans were often strained; he had notoriously frequent short spells, including at Kastoria, Kalamata and Fostiras, where he was fired before completing more than one official match.
Despite attaining only the Cypriot Cup with APOEL in 1997, Alefantos had successful spells at Olympiacos, Panionios, Iraklis and Ionikos, achieving promotion with the latter, becoming a cult figure and gaining admirers and critics for his uncompromising attitude, which led him being imprisoned twice, in 1979 and 1987, the latter following his AEK Athens tenure.
At his final managerial role at Olympiacos in 2004, his team controversially failed to stop rivals Panathinaikos from completing a domestic double, which invoked a feud between him and referee Giorgos Douros, ending Alefantos' career.
After playing football in the streets in the years of WWII and the Greek Civil War, his talent was spotted by Asteras Exarchion, the club from which he would later start his long and memorable managerial career.
[5] Eventually Alefantos appeared in ART channel of Greece, participating in a sport TV program called "Dokari Kai mesa" presented by Giannis Karatzaferis.