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Olympiacos CFP is the most popular and one of the largest multisport clubs in Greece. With activities in 17 different competitive departments, including football, all of which are prominent and have won many distinctions around the world, it is one of the largest sports clubs in the world. The total number of athletes of Olympiacos is more than 3,800, the ranks of which include Olympic winners and World Champions. The club boasts European and international titles in football, basketball (Olympiacos BC), volleyball (Olympiakos SC), waterpolo and athletics. Fans point out as remarkable the fact that Olympiacos is the only Greek sports club to have done the Treble in two different sports. With an outstanding 20 national championships in football in 47 seasons, Olympiakos is the most successful team. According to the current world club ranking of the International Federation of Football and Statistics for the period ending July 30, 2006 , Olympiacos is No. 72 in the World. (AEK is No.120 and Panathinaikos is No.125). Domestic history The team named Olympiacos was founded on March 10, 1925, when the members of the "Piraeus Football Club" and the "Piraeus Fan Club" decided, during a historical assembly, to dissolve the two clubs in order to establish a new unified one. Notis Kamberos announced the name "Olympiacos" and Michalis Manouskos completed it to its full name, "Olympiacos Fan Club of Piraeus". The Andrianopoulos brothers, however, were those who significantly raised the reputation of the club and added glory to it. Children of a prosperous family, they made the name of Olympiakos known all over Greece. Yiannis, Dinos, Giorgos, and Vassilis were the first to play. Leonidas made his appearance later on, and played for a short time. The club's offensive line, made up of the five brothers, soon became legendary and, hence, Olympiakos is also known as Thrilos . The team's emblem is a teenager. Olympiakos immediately caught the attention of locals, with the team filling the Piraeus Velodrome (now the Karaiskakis stadium); back then their fanbase consisted mainly of the working class. In 1926 the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) was founded and in 1927 tried to organize the first Greek Championship. However due to the lack of organization in the league and mainly because of the structure of the league and the very few participants these titles are not considered valid. The first "real" championship was therefore held in the 1959/60 season. It must be noticed that in that season Olympiacos came to a dispute with the Hellenic Football Federation and did not participate. Panathinaikos and AEK Athens FC decided to follow Olympiakos and together they formed a group called P.O.K.. During that season they played friendly games with each other. The second Greek Championship took place in 1929/30 only with three teams (the champions of the local leagues of Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki). Olympiacos won the Greek format for the first time in the 1930/31 season. It was going to be a very successful era with key performers such as Andreas Mouratis, Elias Rossidis, Thanassis Bebis, Elias Yfantis, Kostas Polychroniou, Giorgos Darivas and Savas Theodoridis.It is worth mentioning that Olympiakos for several seasons was not allowed to make use of the Karaiskaki Stadium and, with permission from Panathinaikos, found a temporary home in “Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium”. The 50s see Olympiacos winning the title a legendary 6 times in a row, from 1954 to 1959, combining it with the cup in 1957, 1958 and 1959 to celebrate the only 3rd double in a row to have been won in Greek Football history. The 60s and the early 70s were not as fruitful for Olympiakos, the club having won just 5 Championships and 8 Cups. Another glorious chapter began in 1972, after Nikos Goulandris became president. He appointed Lakis Petropoulos as coach and signed star players Giorgos Delikaris, Yves Triantafyllos, Julio Losada, Milton Viera and Dimitris Persidis. The highlight for that side was the 1973/74 season, when Olympiakos won the league with record points (59) and goals (102). It must be noted however that the club was constantly under fire because of being allegedly favoured over the other teams especially that of PAOK. It is worth mentioning that for example every single one Greek Cup final was held in the home grounds of Olympiakos and Panathinaikos which was at that time Apostolos Nikolaidis and Karaiskaki. Moreover in one match against PAOK in Karaiskaki the whole PAOK team abandoned the game after a player of Olympiakos, with the goalkeeper helpless, cleared the ball off the line with his hands without a penalty given. Olympiakos experienced its darkest days from the mid-1980s until the mid-90s. In the mid 80s Olympiakos came into the hands of Greek businessman George Koskotas. Soon Koskotas was accused of and convicted for embezzlement, leaving Olympiakos deep in debt. On the pitch, the team without a serious management went ten seasons without a league title (1986/87 to 1996/97). The situation improved after Socrates Kokkalis took over Olympiakos's shares in 1993. Having agreed to a settlement of the club's debts with the Greek government (a long term deal acoording to which the capital was to be paid without any of the large amounts of interest), Kokkalis slowly resurrected the team, first by appointing successful coach Dusan Bajevic, who had just left AEK Athens FC following a clash with the management team regarding financial issues and uncertainty. The same season Kokkalis signed for the red-whites all the young talents he could find in the Greek market, such as Predrag Djorgevic, Grigoris Georgatos, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Giorgos Anatolakis and eventually Dimitris Mavrogenidis, Alexis Alexandris, Giorgos Amanatidis, Andreas Niniadis, all of which proceeded to play for Olympiakos for at least 5 years and became household names. Hence Olympiacos' "decade of domination" began, with success attracting players of international magnitude like Zlatko Zahovič, Giovanni and World Champion Christian Karembeu. Olympiacos won seven consecutive Championships (beating their own record of 6), with their best campaign ironically being Bajevic's, in 1999, when they celebrated the double. Following coaches had big shoes to fill and Kokkalis wasn't prepared to give them time to do it: Olympiacos employed 11 coaches in just 4 years. The most known are Ioannis Matzourakis (now coaching Skoda Xanthi), Takis Lemonis (Levadiakos), Oleg Protasof, Sinica Gogic and Giorgos Alefantos. Despite the constant management changes, Olympiacos kept on winning Championships, albeit collecting the same points as the 2nd ranked team in their last two. In the 2001/02 season Olympiacos had the advantage over AEK FC as they've beat it twice (2-3 and 4-3), while they secured the 2002/03 Championship on goal difference, as Panathinaikos had won 3-2 the first game, but was destroyed 3-0 in the second to last game of the season. In the 2003/04 season, Olympiacos finished second to the reformed Panathinaikos after switching 3 coaches in a year! After 7 years of being accused of Socrates Kokkalis buying the referees' "protection" by rivaling fans, it was Olympiacos turn to complain and players and fans alike still insist that this championship, the only one missing from their decade long collection, was "stolen" from them. For the 2004/05 season, Olympiakos appointed again Dusan Bajevic and transferred 1999 World Footballer of the Year and reigning World Champion Brazilian Rivaldo. The end of the season found Olympiakos with both domestic trophies (Championship and the Greek Cup) but without their manager Dusan Bajevic, as he resigned. Therefore Olympiacos appointed Trond Sollied. They also made a great hit on the market by signing arch-rival Panathinaikos' striker Michalis Konstantinou. During the season 2005/06, Olympiacos achieved to win all the 4 derbies against their major rivals, Panathinaikos and AEK, something only achieved once more, during the season 1972/73. The combined goal total in these 4 matches was 11-3 in favour of Olympiacos. They beat their 2nd biggest rival AEK Athens 3-0 in the Greek Cup Final to clinch their 2nd straight double. After that, Socrates Kokkalis put full faith in Trond Sollied and signed 7 players according to his recommendations, in hoping that the club will achieve the double for the 3rd straight time for only the second time in Greek Footballing history. European campaigns Despite their long presence on the Champions League groups, Olympiakos has yet to win a single away game. On 30 away games in total they have 0 wins, 7 ties and 23 defeats. Olympiakos is also the team to suffer the worst defeat in Champions League in history by suffering a 7-0 defeat in Turin against Juventus in 2003 but also managed a great 6-2 victory against Leverkusen on Rizoupoli Stadium (Athens) on 2002. Despite their unrivalled domestic domination, Olympiakos have yet to perform well at European level. Olympiakos's best moments at this level came with appearances in the 1992/93 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals - where they lost to Atlético Madrid - and in the last eight of the 1998/99 Champions League, when Juventus FC beat them. In 1998-1999, last Olympiakos was drawn in Group A for the UEFA Champions League, along with Ajax Amsterdam, FC Porto and Dinamo Zagreb “Thrylos” typically won all 3 home games, but also managed to secure 2 away draws and a ticket to the quarter-finals. There they met Juventus F.C. In the first leg at Delle Alpi, Juventus beat Olympiakos 2-1 which meant that Olympiakos only needed a 1-0 victory to proceed to the semi-finals. A vintage performance, scoring early with Sinisa Gogic and never allowing their opponents to create chances, was 5 minutes away to making that scenario come true. Dimitris Eleftheropoulos, Olympiakos’ goalkeeper, however, misjudged the flight of the ball in a seemingly harmless cross and Juventus had the last laugh and escaped with a 1-1 draw, which was the beginning of the “Late-Goal Curse” that superstitious supporters firmly believe hangs upon the team, especially in away matches. Olympiakos’ supporters couldn’t believe how they fumbled such a huge opportunity to play in the semi-finals and even though they recognized Eleftheropoulos’ efforts up to that point, great efforts that won him the UEFA Champions League Goalkeeper of the Competition even, they still held him responsible for the disqualification and to this day there is no conversation about the ’98-’99 campaign without a mention of the keeper’s error. Arguably the most impressive incident supporting this folklore tale is the 2001-2002 UEFA Champions League away match against Deportivo de La Coruña, where Olympiakos managed to turn the game around and led 1-2 from 1-0, when, literally in the last seconds, with the referee ready to whistle for full-time, Eleftheropoulos miscommunicated with his centre-back in another innocent lob and gave away an easy, as unlikely, goal to the opposition forward for the final 2-2 draw. They have never won an away UEFA Champions League match. In 2004-2005 Olympiakos was drawn in Group A once again, this time against Liverpool FC, AS Monaco FC and Deportivo. Rivaldo made an inspiring debut for Olympiakos, in Spain against his former Spanish team Deportivo but “Thrylos” only managed to get a draw. The team predictably won all three home games in the freshly renovated Georgios Karaïskákis Stadium, notably with the same score, 1-0, meanwhile losing 2-1 away against AS Monaco. With one match to go and in a very bizarre combination of results, Olympiakos were in danger of being one of only 2 teams that have managed to collect 10 points and not qualify for the next round. They went to Anfield to play the last match against Liverpool FC and in order to progress they had either to not lose, or to score and not lose by more than one goal. Rivaldo turned back the years to show the capacity crowd why he was named European Footballer of the Year in 1999. He opened the scoring with a foul he earned after an impressive solo-effort for the 0-1 Olympiakos lead, which was the half-time result. Despite that Olympiakos needed to concede three goals in the second half to be eliminated, Liverpool achieved to score those three goals (3-1) which marked the premature end of yet another Olympiakos UEFA Champions League Campaign. Liverpool FC were the ones to progress and they, incidentally, went on to actually lift the trophy, producing a similar display in the final. Current squad Squad changes during 2006/2007 season In: Out: Selected Former Players Football Club Honours (Total Titles: 44) source: Hellenic Football Federation http://www.epo.gr Olympiacos Basketball Club Olympiacos BC is a Greek basketball team. A part of the Olympiacos CFP family, the team was founded in 1925, and is one of the oldest and most tradition-rich clubs in Europe. Olympiacos is typically a strong contender in both the Greek League and the Euroleague. The team is frequently referred to as the "Chicago Bulls of Europe," due to the fact that the two clubs wear the same colours and had played an exhibition game in 1997, during the Bulls' NBA dynasty. Their greatest success was a magnificent run during the 90s,winning 5 Greek championships in a row and 2 Greek cups, also by participating in 3 Euroleague final four competitions and winning in 1997 in Rome the Euroleague title(in the past two competitions they managed to eliminate their rivals Panathinaikos in the semifinal). Last but not least they had the major honour when FIBA selected Olympiacos as the Best Team of the 90s in Europe. Basketball Club Honours (Total Titles: 17) The most successful season for Olympiacos is 1996-1997 when they won the Triple Crown (the Greek Championship, Greek Cup and Euroleague), achievement which remains unbeatable by any other Greek team. The only European team that achieved such a tremendous achievement is CSKA Moscow in 2006. Olympiacos Volleyball Club The men's volleyball department is among the oldest and most historic departments of the Club. It was established in 1930 and is almost a "permanent resident" at the top of Hellenic Volleyball, having won 21 National Championships and 10 Hellenic Cups. Olympiacos Volleyball team is ranked among the top European teams with a constant presence at the European Championships finals and two Cup of Cups in 1996 & 2005. Honours Olympiacos Water Polo Club Olympiacos is among the founding members of the Hellenic Federation of Swimming Fans. Today the Federation has been renamed to Hellenic Federation of Swimming. During the history of water polo Olympiacos boasts a brilliant course marked with Championships and success both in Greece and abroad. (Total Titles: 31) The greatest moment in the club's history was its victory in the 2002 European Champions Cup, after beating Honved in the final. Olympiacos had also played in the final of the previous year, as well as two European Cup finals in the late 90's. In 2002, Olympiacos also won the European Super Cup, after beating in the final the European Cup-Winner. Swimming Department The swimming department was established roughly at the same time as Olympiacos S.C. itself, in 1925. The club is considered a "champion for life" in swimming and has produced legendary athletes, who were prominent in Greece and distinguished themselves in European and World Events. (Total Titles: 47) Sailing Department The sailing department was established in 1963 and since then, has won Olympic distinctions (3 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze medals), 2 gold medals in World Championships as well as 1 gold, 2 silver and 1 bronze medal in European Championships. It should be noted that the sailing department successfully organized the FINN World Championships in 1998 and 2002 at the club's new marine training facilities in Alexandras Square, Piraeus. The leading athlete in the FINN Category is World Champion and Olympiacos athlete, Aimilios Papathanassiou. Titles (35): Dragon: 1970, 1971, 1972. Finn: 1972, 1973, 1974, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006. Laser: 1976. Optimist: 1987. Soling: 1980, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1992, 1993. Star: 1986, 1987, 1995. Table Tennis Department The Table Tennis Department (Ping-Pong) was established in 1959 and has both a Men's and a Women's division. From 1962 to1967 they won every single women's Hellenic Championship, while from 1967 to 1986 they won all Hellenic Championships in the mixed categories. In the last few years, having benefited by the sponsorship of Thrilos SA, they have emerged even more confidently in title - challenging and have achieved important distinctions both in the men's and in the women's divisions. (Total Titles: 30) Men Single (4): 1980, 2003, 2004, 2005 Men Cup (3): 2003, 2004, 2005 Women Single (14): 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967, 1975, 1981, 1982, 1983, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 Women Cup (9): 1965, 1966, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 2001, 2005, 2006 Boxing Department The boxing department was established in 1948 and from 1968 until 1975 kept winning the Hellenic Championship. In 1970 they won the title in all categories! The department continues to produce athletes of the highest standards and often Pan-hellenic champions, while it boasts international achievements, as in the case of Vassilis Papoutsakis and Constantinos Petropoulos, who won 2nd place in their categories at the European Championship in 2001 and Vaggelis Papoutsakis 3rd place at the World Championship in 2001. (Total Titles: 3) Track & Field Department The track and field department was established in November 16, 1953 and since then it has produced Olympic medalists as well as World, European, Mediterranean, Balkan and Pan-Hellenic Champions. The department boasts some of the best athletes in the track and field events both in Greece and worldwide. Cases in point are Kenteris, Thanou, Maniani, Voggoli, Xanthou, Meletoglou, Dimotsios, Doupis, Polias, Polymerou, Papadias, Devetzi, Halkia, Karastamati, Iltsios, Redoumi, Papagianni and more Titles: Shooting Department The shooting departments is amongst the most upwardly mobile departments of Olympiacos. Its ranks include World Champion Yorgos Salavadakis, while Olympiacos athletes N. Sakelaropoulos, K. Savorianakis and Stylianos Karabinakis are part of the Hellenic National Team. Weight Lifting Department The weightlifting department began its activities in 1960 and is made up of the Men's, Adolescents, Youth and Children's divisions, while five of the club's athletes are part of the Hellenic National Team. To name a few of our athletes, Christos Spyrou (7th place at the Sydney 2000 Olympics), Yorgos Vitsaras, Efthymis Vitsaras, Dionyssis Bazinas, Kimonas Stavrou. The Department participates in all three divisions of the Pan-hellenic Championship (A, B, C). Wrestling Department The wrestling department has been functioning for more than 30 years and includes the Men's, Adolescents and Children's divisions. In 1977-78 Olympiacos wrestling team won the Hellenic Championship and that same year participated in the European Cup. It should be noted that the wrestling department has produced distinguished athletes. The younger generation is continuing the tradition of success such as Xenofon Koutsioumbas 3rd place at the Men's World Championship in 2001 and 3rd place at the European Championship in 2003 and Yorgos Koutsioumbas 3rd place at the Adolescent's World Championship in 2001 and 6th place at the European Championship in 2002. Tennis Department The tennis department was established in 1998 and is already successful, considering it has won a few distinctions in the children's and adolescents' tournaments where it has participated so far Rowing Department The Rowing Department was established in 1927 and it boasts big achievements and distinctions in the Hellenic and European Championships. The department includes rowing, canoe-kayak, kayak polo and kayak slalom. The new marine training facilities of Olympiacos in Alexandras Square have boosted the athletes of the department, who now train under excellent circumstances, that help them achieve their athletic goals See also | |||||||
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