After his return to Greece in 1986, some coaching attempts at clubs such as Kerkyra, Edessaikos, AE Kos and Pannafpliakos were not crowned with success. In 1991 Papaioannou moved to Kefalonia, where he was active professionally and at the time coached the local team of Evgeros, which were promoted from the local championships to the fourth division. He also coached divisions of the national team of Greece and was at the side of Alketas Panagoulias in the Men's team, as an assistant, at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA.
