Olympiacos F.C.

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Olympiacos

Full name	Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus F.C. (ΠΑΕ Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς)
Nickname(s)	Τhrylos (Legend) Erythrolefki (Red-Whites) Kokkini (Reds)
Founded	March 10, 1925
Ground	Karaiskakis Stadium Piraeus, Greece (Capacity: 33,334)
Chairman	Socrates Kokkalis
Manager	Temuri Ketsbaia
League	Super League Greece (Σούπερ Λίγκα Ελλάδα)
2008-09	Super League Greece, Champion
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Olympiacos F.C. (Greek: ΠΑΕ Ολυμπιακός), also known simply as Olympiacos, Olympiacos Piraeus or with its full name Olympiacos C.F.P. (Greek: Oλυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, transliterated "Olympiacos Syndesmos Filathlon Pireos"), Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus, is a Greek association football club, part of Olympiacos CFP, based in Piraeus, Athens.

Olympiacos is considered one of the big three football clubs in Greece and it is one of the only four teams that have never been relegated from the first division. Olympiacos is the most successful club in Greek football history, having won thirty-seven League titles, twenty-four Greek Cups and four Greek Super Cups, more titles than any other Greek team; in European competitions, they have reached the quarter-finals twice, in UEFA Champions League 1998–99 and European Cup Winners' Cup 1992–93. Olympiacos is also one of the founding members of the European Club Association.

The club's stadium is the newly rebuilt Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus. Olympiacos is the most popular Greek club with around two and a half million fans in Greece and was placed ninth on the list with the most paid up members in the world in 2006, having 83,000 registered members as of April 2006. They have a long-standing rivalry with Panathinaikos F.C. and AEK Athens F.C..

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early years and domestic success 1.2 Sporadic success and stone years 1.3 Absolute domination 2 Crest and colours 3 Stadium 4 Support 5 Rivalries 6 European campaigns 6.1 UEFA Club Rankings 7 Honours 8 Domestic competitions 8.1 National championship 8.2 National cups 9 European competitions 10 Major national & international tournaments 11 Football squad 11.1 Current roster 11.2 Out on loan 12 Club officials 12.1 Technical & medical staff 12.2 Board of Directors 13 Records 13.1 UEFA competition record 13.2 International records 13.3 National league records 14 Managerial history 15 Notable former players 16 References 17 External Links

[edit] History

[edit] Early years and domestic success

Olympiacos was founded on March 10, 1925, in the port of Piraeus, when the members of "Peiraikos Podosfairikos Omilos FC"(Sport and Football Club of Piraeus)and the "Piraeus Fans Club FC" decided, during a historical assembly, to dissolve the two clubs in order to establish a new unified one. decided, during a historical assembly, to dissolve the two clubs in order to establish a unified new one, with an emblem depicting the profile of an Ancient Olympic Games winner. Notis Kamberos announced the name Olympiacos and Michalis Manouskos completed it to its full name, Olympiacos Syndesmos Filathlon Pireos. The Andrianopoulos brothers, however, were those who significantly raised the reputation of the club and added glory to it. Members of a prosperous family, they made the name of Olympiacos known over Greece. Jimmy, 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. Olympiacos immediately caught the attention of locals, back then their fanbase consisted mainly of the working class,with the team filling the Piraeus Velodrome , present day Karaiskakis Stadium and becoming EPSP Champions (Enosi Podosferikon Somation Pireos - Regional Championship in Peiraias) the seasons 1925,1926,1927^[1]

In 1926, the Hellenic Football Federation was founded and organized the Panhellenic Championship ,the 1927-1928 seazon, the first national championship, were the regional champions from EPSA league(Athens), EPSP league(Peiraias) and EPSM league(Thessaloniki) compete for the national title through play-offs with Aris FC becoming the first champion. Up to 1958-59 the Panhellenic Championship was organized this way however the following season (1928-29) Olympiacos came to a dispute with the Hellenic Football Federation and did not participate in the championship with Panathinaikos and AEK Athens decided to follow Olympiacos and did the same. During that season they played friendly games with each other and together formed a group called P.O.K..The second Panhellenic Championship took place in 1929-30 and the 3rd found Olympiacos winning the Greek national league title, the 1930-31 season, for the first time in his history. It was going to be a very successful era.

By 1940, Olympiacos had already won six championships in eleven seasons and by 1960 they had won fifteen championships in twenty-three seasons, as well as nine Greek Cups, making for six doubles. The legendary Olympiacos team of the 1950s, with key performers such as Andreas Mouratis, Ilias Rossidis, Thanassis Bebis, Elias Yfantis, Kostas Polychroniou, Giorgos Darivas and Savas Theodoridis, won the title six consecutive times, from 1954 to 1959, combining it with the cup in 1957, 1958 and 1959 to celebrate the only third double in a row to have ever been won in Greek football history. Hence, Olympiacos is also known as Thrylos (Legend), after this classic side of the 1950s which won a hatful of titles. It is worth mentioning that Olympiacos for several seasons was not allowed to make use of the Karaiskakis Stadium and, with permission from Panathinaikos, found a temporary home in Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, the ground of the eternal enemy.

[edit] Sporadic success and stone years

The first championship as a Top National League, called Alpha Ethniki, was held for the first time in the 1959-60 season however the 60s and the early 70s were not as fruitful for Olympiacos, having won only two championships and six 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. Under Goulandris presidency, Olympiacos won the title three times in a row from 1973 to 1975, combining it with the cup in 1973 and 1975. The highlight for that side was the 1973-74 season, when Olympiacos won the league with record points (59) and goals (102). Following Goulandris resignation from the presidency in 1975, the team went through a relative "gay" period in the second half of the 1970s. However in the early 80s,when the the championship became professional, Olympiacos emerged again as the dominant power in the Greek football winning the title four times in a row (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983). Key players during this period included forward Nikos Anastopoulos, midfielder Tasos Mitropoulos and goalkeeper Nikos Sarganis. Alketas Panagoulias, who had also been manager of the Greek national football team and the United States national soccer team, coached the team between 1981 and 1983 and again in the 1986-87 season, earning the championship title in 1982, 1983 and 1987.

Olympiacos experienced its darkest days from the late-1980s until the mid-90s. In the mid-80s Olympiacos came into the hands of Greek businessman George Koskotas. Soon Koskotas was accused of and convicted for embezzlement, leaving Olympiacos deep in debt. On the pitch, the team without a serious management went nine seasons without a league title, 1988 to 1996. This period was known as Olympiacos' stone years. It is worth mentioning that 1987-88 was the worst season ever for Olympiacos, as the club finished 8th in the league, playing to avoid the relegation in most of the season.

[edit] Absolute domination

The situation improved after Socratis Kokkalis took over Olympiacos' shares in 1993. Having agreed to a settlement of the club's debts with the Greek government, a long term deal according 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 Dušan Bajević in 1996, who had just left AEK Athens, following a clash with the management team regarding financial issues and uncertainty. The same season Kokkalis signed for the Reds all the young talents he could find in the Greek market, such as Predrag Đorđević, Grigorios Georgatos, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Georgios Anatolakis and eventually Dimitris Mavrogenidis, Alexandros Alexandris, Giorgos Amanatidis, Andreas Niniadis, all of which proceeded to play for Olympiacos for at least five years and became household names.

Hence Olympiacos' era of domination began, with success attracting players of international magnitude like Zlatko Zahovič, Giovanni, and World Champions Rivaldo and Christian Karembeu. Olympiacos won seven consecutive championships, beating their own past record of six, with their best season being 1998-99, when they celebrated the Double and their qualification to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, their best ever European campaign. Following coaches had big shoes to fill and Kokkalis was not prepared to give them time to do it; Olympiacos employed eleven coaches in just four years. The most known are Ioannis Matzourakis, Takis Lemonis, Trond Sollied, Oleg Protasov, Siniša Gogić and Nikos Alefantos.

Despite the constant management changes, Olympiacos kept on winning championships, except for the season 2004–05, when they finished second, after switching three coaches in a year, losing the championship for the first time after seven years of absolute dominance. In 2004, Olympiacos appointed again Dušan Bajević and transferred 1999 World Footballer of the Year and reigning World Champion Brazilian Rivaldo. The end of the season found Olympiacos with both domestic trophies but without their manager Bajević, 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 four derbies against their major rivals, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens, something only achieved once more, during the season 1972–73. The combined goal total in these four matches was 11-3 in favour of Olympiacos. They also beat their second biggest rival AEK Athens 3-0 in the Greek Cup Final to clinch their second straight double and managed to win 16 consecutive matches in the championship, thus breaking their own record.

After the previous record-breaking season, in the 2006 summer transfers, Socrates Kokkalis put full faith in Trond Sollied and signed seven, though not expensive, players according to his recommendations, in hoping that the club will achieve the double for the third straight time for only the second time in Greek footballing history. However, Sollied did not live up to the club's expectations on the UEFA Champions League 2006–07 and was replaced by Takis Lemonis at the end of 2006. The new manager of the team, though a previous manager of Olympiacos, he transferred to the team young star Vasilis Torosidis, who proved to be a faithful defender. Though Lemonis won the third consecutive championship for Olympiacos, he didn't manage to win the Greek Cup, after a surprising elimination from PAS Giannina. Nevertheless, there was no doubt that Lemonis would remain as a coach.

In the summer of 2007, Olympiacos made very expensive transfers like Darko Kovačević and Luciano Galletti and was part of the most expensive transfer in Greek football history, by selling striker-midfielder Nery Castillo to the Ukrainian club Shakhtar Donetsk for the record sum of 20 million Euro (27.5 million US Dollars). Because of a clause in Castillo's contract, Olympiacos received 15 million Euro, whereas the other 5 million Euro were given directly to the player. Furthermore, a controversy started between the team and player Rivaldo, as Olympiacos wouldn't like to renew the player's contract, despite that he was proved to be very useful. Former player Ilija Ivic was selected to be the team's football manager. The team didn't start good in the Greek championship, but it achieved a stunning performance in the Champions League, managing to qualify to the next round after nine years of unsuccessful European campaigns. However, the team's awful performances in the league and the defeat from Chelsea for the Champions League in Stamford Bridge Stadium angered the president who decided to sack Takis Lemonis, and appoint the team's assistant manager, Jose Segura, just for the remaining matches of the season. The team finally managed to win another double, but Segura returned to his previous position.

In summer of 2008, Olympiacos made some prominent transfers with Diogo Luis Santo, Avraam Papadopoulos and Dudu Cearense signing in, along with the appointment of Ernesto Valverde from RCD Espanyol as manager, with a contract worth about 6,000,000 € for a three-year agreement.^[2] The 2008-09 season, Olympiacos started their official matches with disappointing performances, against Anorthosis Famagusta for the Champions League third qualifying round, and was eliminated from the tournament, which resulted to a seat in the UEFA Cup first round, where Olympiacos beat Nordsjælland to qualify to the group stage. The team also started good in the Super League Greece 2008–09, winning every match at home, but facing difficulties away. After an impressive UEFA Cup run at home, the team managed to get through to the round of 32, facing French side Saint-Étienne.

Olympiacos is by far the most successful club in Greek football history. Indeed they have more championships (37) to their name than arch-rivals Panathinaikos (19) and AEK Athens (11) put together, while the Reds have alone more titles (37) than all the other crowned teams together (36). Olympiacos also holds the Cup and Super Cup winning-record with 24 and 4 wins respectively, while the Balkans Cup that was won in 1963 was an important achievement in that era.

[edit] Crest and colours

When, in 1925, the merger of the two clubs of Piraeus, Athlitikos Podosfairikos Syllogos Pireos and Omilos Filathlon Pireos, gave birth to the new football club, the latter was unanimously baptized Olympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus, a name inspired from the Ancient Olympic Games, the morality, the vying and the splendor that they represented in ancient Greece. Consequently, the club adopted the laureate teen as their emblem, which symbolizes the Olympic Games winner. Red and white were chosen as the colours of the crest; red for the passion and white for the virtue.

The crest of Olympiacos underwent minor changes through the ages, while the typical kit of the team is that of a shirt with red and white vertical stripes, and red or white shorts and socks. The second most common kit is the all-red one and next the all-white one. Olympiacos has used several other colours during its history as an away or third kit, with the most notable of them being the monotint black or silver one. The most common kits of Olympiacos during their history are these below (the year of each one is indicant):

1971

1978

1979

1985

2008

The historical colours of Olympiakos are whites socks with a horizontal red stripe in the finish, white shorts, white t-shirts with three red vertical stripes in front and with a vertical red stripe on each back side.

[edit] Stadium

The Karaiskakis Stadium (Greek: Γήπεδο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), situated at the Faliro area of Piraeus, Greece, is the traditional and current home ground of Olympiacos. Named after Georgios Karaiskakis, national hero of the Greek War of Independence, it hosts Olympiacos home matches for the most of the club's history.

It was built in 1895 as a velodrome, to host the cycling events for the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens. Its official name was Neo Phaliron Velodrome (Greek: Ποδηλατοδρόμιο Νέου Φαλήρου) and the pitch was covered with curm. Olympiacos started using it since its foundation in 1925. In 1964, the stadium was renovated, taking its current name and the shape it had until 2003, with an athletics track around the pitch. Being one of the most important sport venues in Greece, it hosted the 1969 European Championships in Athletics and the 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup Final between Chelsea and Real Madrid.

The history of the Karaiskakis Stadium and Olympiacos was marked by the worst tragedy that ever hit Greek sports, known as the Karaiskakis Stadium disaster. In February 8, 1981, Olympiacos hosted AEK Athens for a League match, which ended 6–0, in an unprecedented triumph for the host team of Piraeus. During the last minutes of the game, thousands of Olympiacos fans at the gate 7 rushed to the exit, to get to the stadium's main entrance and celebrate with the players, but the doors were almost closed and the turnstiles still in place, making the exit almost impossible. As people continued to come down from the stands, unable to see what happened, the stairs of gate 7 became a death trap; people were poached, tens of fans were seriously injured and twenty-one young people died, most of them by suffocation.^[3]

Olympiacos left the Karaiskakis Stadium temporarily, to play home games at the newly built Athens Olympic Stadium, in 1984. After a five-year use of the biggest stadium in Greece, the team returned to their traditional home, where they played until 1997. It was then that Olympiacos got back to the Athens Olympic Stadium, where they stayed for another period of five years. In 2002, the Olympic Stadium was closed for renovation works due to the 2004 Summer Olympics and Olympiacos moved to the Georgios Kamaras Stadium in Rizoupoli, home of Apollon Smyrnis, for the following two seasons.

The Karaiskakis Stadium had fallen in disrepair and its use was passed to Olympiacos in April 2003; the club took the responsibility to build a new football-only ground in its place, to be used for the football tournament of the 2004 Olympics. In return, Olympiacos got exclusive use of the stadium until 2052, covering all maintenance costs and also paying 15% of revenue to the State. The old stadium was demolished in the spring of 2003 and the whole project was constructed in the record period of 14 months. It was completed in June 30, 2004 at a total cost of €60 million.^[4] Nowadays, the Karaiskakis Stadium is one of the most modern football grounds in Europe, with several facilities around and hosting the museum of Olympiacos.

[edit] Support

Olympiacos is the most popular of the Greek clubs according to polls that have been conducted in Greece. Olympiacos' traditional fanbase comes from the city of Piraeus, where the club is based, as well as a good part of the Athens area. The club gained increased popularity during the 1950s by winning consecutive titles and setting several records; thus, their fanbase was enlarged throughout Greece and they became the most well-supported football club in the country. Traditionally, Olympiacos was popular in the working class but through the ages the club has attracted fans from all the social classes and their fanbase has changed significantly.

Several newspapers and magazines have published polls in recent years, which give Olympiacos as the most popular club in Greece with a percentage varying between 29-37% among the fans and 20.3-29.3% in total population, which corresponds to around two and a half millions of supporters in Greece. The club is overwhermingly popular in Piraeus, where almost half of its population supports Olympiacos,^[5] while their percentage in the whole of Athens verges on 45.1% among the fans.^[6] The Red and White (Greek:Ερυθρόλευκοι) are also the most popular club in the working class with a percentage of 37%,^[5] in all age groups and among both male and female fans;^[7] in terms of politics, the vast majority of their fans comes from the centre and centre-right of the political spectrum.^[5] Apart from Athens, Olympiacos is the most popular club in Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, the Aegean and the Ionian Islands.^[8] Additionally, the club from Piraeus have the highest average all-time attendance in Greek football, having topped the attendance tables in most of the seasons in Super League Greece history.^[9]

In 2006, Olympiacos was placed in the top ten of the clubs with the most paid up members in the world, holding the ninth place just ahead of Real Madrid.^[10] As of April 2006, the registered members of the club were approximately 83,000.^[11] Olympiacos and Red Star Belgrade fans have developed a deep friendship, calling themselves the Orthodox Brothers. Usually, Olympiacos supporters from several fan-clubs attend Red Star's matches, especially against their old rival Partizan, and vice-versa. More recently, the Orthodox Brothers have started to include fans of Spartak Moscow in their club.

[edit] Rivalries

Traditionally, Olympiacos' main rival is Panathinaikos, in the so-called derby of the eternal enemies, the most classic rivalry not only in the Athens area, but in Greek football and sports in general, and one of the most well-known rivalries around the world.^[12] Each game between the two most successful and most popular Greek football clubs splits the Athens area and the whole of Greece in two, as they have been in direct competition continuously throughout their history; however, this derby is much more than just a football derby for their fans, it is a social, cultural and regional rivalry. On the one side Olympiacos is seen as the classic representative of the working class of the port city of Piraeus, while Panathinaikos is considered the club of the Athenian higher-class society, although this kind of distinction has been weakened and the two clubs have similar fanbases. Many times some violent incidents between the fans of the two sides have occurred, like the death of Mihalis Filopoulos, a Panathinaikos fan, in a clash of hooligans supporting the two clubs in 2007, for a women's volleyball match and not for a football game though.^[13]

The next major rival of Olympiacos is the third giant of the Greek football, AEK Athens, to which they share an intense animosity due to their strong on-pitch rivalry and their coexistence within the Greek capital, whereas it got worse when Dušan Bajević left AEK Athens to coach Olympiacos in 1996. As a result, the most successful manager in AEK Athens history has been seen as a traitor since then.^[14] The rivalry between Olympiacos and PAOK, although PAOK was rarely a primary contestant of Olympiacos, is a long-standing and the fiercest intercity rivalry in Greece. It dates back to the 1960s, when Olympiacos negotiated to acquire the player-symbol of PAOK, Giorgos Koudas, and is also based on the rivalry between Athens and Thessaloniki, the two major cities of the country. A classic rival of Olympiacos used to be Ethnikos Piraeus, the second most successful club of Piraeus, but the rivalry has languished now as Ethnikos Piraeus has not been contesting in the top tier of Greek football in recent years.

[edit] European campaigns

Olympiacos has a long presence in UEFA competitions. They made debut in September 13, 1959, in a game against Milan at the Karaiskakis Stadium for the European Cup 1959–60, being the first Greek team to compete in European competition. However, they were to play for a first time against Beşiktaş for the preliminary round of the European Cup 1958–59, but the Greek side finally withdrew. Olympiacos was also the first team from Greece to advance to the next round of any European competition, eliminating Zagłębie Sosnowiec for the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1963–64. Their best European campaigns came when they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League 1998–99, where they were eliminated by Juventus, and the quarter-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup 1992–93, before losing to Atlético Madrid.^[15]

One of the most important points that have marked Olympiacos history at European level is their tendency to be extremely strong at home games. This has been proved by some long-standing unbeaten sequences, especially in the UEFA Champions League, where Manchester United was the first team to beat Olympiacos at home for the tournament with its new format, in the latter's fifth consecutive participation in the top club's European competition. In addition, Olympiacos have succeeded some impressive wins at home, like the stunning 6-2 victory over the then Champions League runners-up Bayer Leverkusen in the UEFA Champions League 2002–03, and the achievement of the three consecutive large wins in the UEFA Cup 2008–09, 5-0 over Nordsjælland, 5-1 against Benfica and 4-0 versus Hertha Berlin.

[edit] UEFA Club Rankings

This is the current UEFA Club Rankings, including season 2008-09.^[16]

Last update: May 27, 2009

Rank	Team	Points
30	Newcastle	54.899
31	Ajax	54.825
32	Steaua Bucureşti	53.781
33	Espanyol	52.853
34	Olympiacos	52.632
35	Fenerbahçe	52.445
36	Bayer Leverkusen	51.339
37	Basel	51.050
38	Middlesbrough	48.899

[edit] Honours

Historically, Olympiacos is Greece's most successful team with a collection of 66 major trophies in national and international professional level competitions from the beginning of the first national championship in 1928.They have won 65 Domestic trophies and 1 Balkans trophy which make them The first most winning team in Greece. Olympiacos has won the Greek League Championship, which changes its name 3 times (Panhellenic, Alpha Ethniki and Superleague), a record 37 times in total and finished runners-up another 17 times.Olympiacos were the champions with the most titles independently under any Greek League Championship name. They also hold the record of most trophies in Greek Cup history, having won it 24 times and finish as runners-up 11 times but they have to share the Greek Super Cup record with rivals PAO and AEK because the 1980 Super Cup didn't held by EPO but from the Panhellenic Association of Sport Journalists (PSAT).Olympiacos were also runners-up of the unique Greek League Cup which was held on 1990.

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[edit] Domestic competitions

Domestic double

• Winners (14): 1947, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009

[edit] National championship

Super League Greece (2006-present)

• Winners (3): 2007, 2008, 2009
• Runners-up (0): -

Alpha Ethniki (1959-2006)

• Winners (19): 1966, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006
• Runners-up (14): 1961, 1962, 1964, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1977, 1979, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1995, 2004,

Panhellenic championship (1927-1959)

• Winners (15): 1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959
• Runners-up (3): 1939, 1949, 1953

[edit] National cups

Greek Cup

• Winners (24): 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009
• Runners-up (11): 1956, 1966, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1986, 1988, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2004

Greek Super Cup

• Winners (4): 1980, 1987, 1992, 2007
• Runners-up (1): 1971

Greek League Cup

• Winners (0): -
• Runners-up (1): 1990

[edit] European competitions

Balkans Cup (1960-1994)

• Winners (1): 1963
• Runners-up (0): -

UEFA Champions League

• Winners (0): -
• Quarter-finals (1): 1998-1999

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

• Winners (0): -
• Quarter-finals (1): 1992-1993

[edit] Major national & international tournaments

EPSP: Piraeus Regional League Tournament (1925-1959)

• Winners (24): 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1937, 1938, 1940, 1946, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959
• Runners-up (1): 1939

P.O.K.: International Easter Football Cup Tournament (1928-1964)

• Winners (12): 1928, 1929, 1934, 1936, 1943, 1945, 1946, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1959, 1964

P.O.K.: International Christmas Football Cup Tournament (1943-1962)

• Winners (9): 1948, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962

Greater Hellas' Cup (1967-1974)

• Winners (2): 1968, 1972

[edit] Football squad

Greek Football Teams are limited to three football players without EU citizenship. The squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country. Football players without European ancestry can claim Greek citizenship after playing in Greece for 7 years. Also, players from the ACP countries that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement count as non-EU players but with EU citizenship because of the Kolpak ruling.

[edit] Current roster

Roster update: 25 June 2009 ^[17]

No. Position Player 1 GK Leonidas Panagopoulos 2 DF Kyriakos Papadopoulos 3 DF Didier Domi 4 DF Olof Mellberg 5 DF Georgios Galitsios 6 MF Ieroklis Stoltidis 7 MF Luciano Galletti 8 MF Óscar 9 FW Matt Derbyshire 10 FW Diogo 11 MF Jaouad Zairi 14 DF Michał Żewłakow 15 DF Raúl Bravo 17 MF Andreas Vasilogiannis

No. Position Player 20 MF Dudu 21 DF Avraam Papadopoulos 22 FW Konstantinos Mitroglou 24 DF Leonardo 28 MF Cristian Raúl Ledesma 30 DF Anastasios Pantos 33 MF Ioannis Papadopoulos 35 DF Vasilis Torosidis 50 GK Pavel Kovac 71 GK Antonios Nikopolidis 78 GK Urko Rafael Pardo 88 MF Georgios Katsikogiannis - MF Aristides Soiledis - FW Giorgos Niklitsiotis

For Olympiacos F.C. transfers & statistics, see also Olympiacos F.C. season 2009-10, Olympiacos F.C. seasons and List of Greek football transfers summer 2009.

[edit] Out on loan

No. Position Player 27 MF Konstantinos Lambropoulos (on loan to Apollon Kalamarias until 30 June 2010)

[edit] Club officials

[edit] Technical & medical staff

[edit] Board of Directors

Position	Staff
President [18]	Sokratis Kokkalis
Managing Director	Sokratis Kokkalis
Vice-President	Petros Kokkalis
Vice-President	Georgios Louvaris
Vice-President	Savvas Theodoridis
Director of Football Department	Nikos Simakos
Director of Youth Football Department	Charalambos Zelenitsas
General Manager	Ioannis Chrysikopoulos
Team Manager	Kiriakos Dourekas

Last updated: June , 2009
Source: Olympiacos FC

[edit] Records

[edit] UEFA competition record

This is Olympiacos' record in UEFA competitions.^[19]

As of March 2, 2009

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA
UEFA Champions League	104	30	25	49	122	172
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	33	14	6	13	43	47
UEFA Cup	52	24	7	21	77	75
Total	189	68	38	83	242	294

[edit] International records

Season	Achievement	Notes
European Cup / UEFA Champions League
1974-75	Last 16	eliminated by Anderlecht 1-5 in Brussels, 3-0 in Athens
1982-83	Last 16	eliminated by Hamburg 0-1 in Hamburg, 0-4 in Athens
1983-84	Last 16	eliminated by Benfica 1-0 in Athens, 0-3 in Lisbon
1998-99	Quarter-finals	eliminated by Juventus 1-2 in Turin, 1-1 in Athens
2007-08	Last 16	eliminated by Chelsea 0-0 in Athens, 0-3 in London
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
1963-64	Last 16	eliminated by Lyon 1-4 in Lyon, 2-1 in Athens
1965-66	Last 16	eliminated by West Ham United 0-4 in London, 2-2 in Athens
1968-69	Last 16	eliminated by Dunfermline Athletic 0-4 in Dunfermline, 3-0 in Athens
1986-87	Last 16	eliminated by Ajax 0-4 in Amsterdam, 1-1 in Athens
1990-91	Last 16	eliminated by Sampdoria 0-1 in Athens, 1-3 in Genoa
1992-93	Quarter-finals	eliminated by Atlético Madrid 1-1 in Athens, 1-3 in Madrid
UEFA Cup
1989-90	Last 16	eliminated by Auxerre 1-1 in Athens, 0-0 in Auxerre
2004-05	Last 16	eliminated by Newcastle United 1-3 in Athens, 0-4 in Newcastle

Wins: Notable Season Match Score European Cup / Champions League 1974-75 Olympiacos - Celtic 2-0 1974-75 Olympiacos - Anderlecht 3-0 1983-84 Olympiacos - Ajax 2-0 1983-84 Olympiacos - Benfica 1-0 1997-98 Olympiacos- Porto 1-0 1998-99 Olympiacos - Ajax 1-0 2000-01 Olympiacos- Valencia 1-0 1 2002-03 Olympiacos - Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 2 2003-04 Olympiacos - Galatasaray 3-0 2004-05 Olympiacos - Liverpool 1-0 3 2004-05 Olympiacos - Monaco 1-0 4 2005-06 Olympiacos- Real Madrid 2-1 2007-08 Werder Bremen - Olympiacos 1-3 2007-08 Lazio - Olympiacos 1-2 2007-08 Olympiacos - Werder Bremen 3-0 Cup Winners' Cup 1971-72 Dynamo Moscow - Olympiacos 1-2 1992-93 Monaco - Olympiacos 0-1 UEFA Cup 1972-73 Cagliari - Olympiacos 0-1 1972-73 Olympiacos - Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 5 1999-00 Juventus - Olympiacos 1-2 2008-09 Olympiacos - Benfica 5-1 2008-09 Olympiacos - Hertha Berlin 4-0 Notes 1 Valencia was the runner-up of Champions League 2000-01 2 Bayer Leverkusen was the runner-up of Champions League 2001-02 3 Liverpool was the winner of Champions League 2004-05 4 Monaco was the runner-up of Champions League 2003-04 5 Tottenham Hotspur was the winner of UEFA Cup 1971-72

Wins: Biggest Season Match Score European Cup / Champions League 1974-75 Olympiacos - Anderlecht 3-0 1997-98 Olympiacos - Mozyr-ZLiN 5-0 1 2002-03 Olympiacos - Bayer Leverkusen 6-2 2003-04 Olympiacos - Galatasaray 3-0 2007-08 Olympiacos - Werder Bremen 3-0 Cup Winners' Cup 1968-69 Olympiacos - Dunfermline Athletic 3-0 1986-87 Olympiacos - Union Luxembourg 3-0 1986-87 Union Luxembourg - Olympiacos 0-3 1992-93 Chornomorets Odessa - Olympiacos 0-3 UEFA Cup 1993-94 Olympiacos - Botev Plovdiv 5-1 2008-09 Olympiacos - Nordsjælland 5-0 2008-09 Olympiacos - Benfica 5-1 2008-09 Olympiacos - Hertha Berlin 4-0 Notes 1 3rd Qualification round

[edit] National league records

Outline	Club	Record
Record win	Olympiacos	11-0 (vs Fostiras, 1973-74)
Most wins in a season	Olympiacos	30 (1999-00)
Most goals scored in a season	Olympiacos	102 (1973-74)
Fewest goals conceded in a season	Olympiacos	13 (1972-73)
Longest sequence of wins	Olympiacos	16 (8th day of 2005-06 - 23rd day of 2005-06)
Longest sequence of unbeaten matches	Olympiacos	58 (3rd day of 1972-73 - 27th day of 1973-74)

[edit] Managerial history

Dates	Name	Nationality
2009-	Temuri Ketsbaia
2008-2009	Ernesto Valverde
2007-2008	José Segura
2006-2008	Takis Lemonis
2005-2006	Trond Sollied
2004-2005	Dušan Bajević
2004-2005	Nikos Alefantos
2004-2005	Siniša Gogić
2003-2004	Oleg Protasov
2002-2003	Srečko Katanec
2000-2002	Takis Lemonis
1999-2000	Ioannis Matzourakis
1999-2000	Alberto Bigon
1996-1999	Dušan Bajević
1995-1996	Kazimierz Górski
1994-1995	Nikos Alefantos
1994-1995	Thijs Libregts
1993-1994	Ljupko Petrović
1990-1993	Oleg Blokhin
1989-1990	Imre Komora
1988-1989	Jacek Gmoch
1987-1988	Thijs Libregts
1986-1987	Alketas Panagoulias
1984-1985	Georg Keßler
1983-1984	Nikos Alefantos
1983-1984	Heinz Höher
1981-1983	Alketas Panagoulias
1981-1982	Helmut Senekowitsch
1980-1981	Kazimierz Górski
1977-1980	Todor Veselinović
1927-1977	* Non-Professional League System *
1925-1927	Yiannis Andrianopoulos

[edit] Notable former players

All players who have played in 50 or more such matches are listed below. Some players who have played fewer matches are also listed; these are players from the club's early days, when fewer matches were played in a season, and players who fell short of the 50 total but made a significant contribution to the club's history, for instance by setting a club record.

(Panhellenic Championship:period 1925-59)

Yiannis Andrianopoulos Dinos Andrianopoulos Giorgos Andrianopoulos Nikos Andrianopoulos Vassilis Andrianopoulos

Ilias Rossidis Savas Theodoridis Kostas Karapatis Stelios Kourkouklatos Thanasis Bebis

Andreas Mouratis Theologos Symeonidis Dionisis Minardos Filipos Kouradis Themis Moustaklis

Achilleas Grammatikopoulos Dimitris Kokkinakis Babis Kotridis Thanasis Kinley Giannis Vazos

(Alpha Ethniki:period 1959-79)

Yves Triantafyllos Romain Argyroudis Maik Galakos Nikos Gioutsos Thanasis Aggelis Giorgos Sideris Elias Yfantis Pavlos Grigoriadis Julio Losanta

Vasilis Siokos Kostas Davourlis Petros Karavitis Ioannis Kyrastas Rolland Courbis Antonio Justo Alcibar Miguel Alberto Nicolau Milton Viera Tassos Pappas

Michalis Kritikopoulos Babis Stavropoulos Leyteris Poupakis Christos Arvanitis Apostolos Gletsos Panagiotis Kelesidis Dimitris Persidis Kostas Lolios Georgios Delikaris

Rafael Perone Niels Sørensen Kostas Aidiniou Nikos Vamvakoulas Stavros Pappadopoulos Kostas Saraliotis Antonis Antoniadis Giorgos Kokolakis Dimitris Synetopoulos

(Professional Championship:period 1979-2006)

Andreas Bonovas George Kostikos Vasilis Papachristou Giorgos Semertzidis Giorgios Vaitsis Vagelis Kousoulakis Giorgos Gavasiadis Petros Karavitis Thodoros Paxatouridis Theo Pallas Nikos Vamvakoulas Petros Mixos Stavros Pappadopoulos Kostas Orfanos Ilias Talikriadis Panagiotis Sofianopoulos Petros Xanthopoulos Thodoros Paxatouridis Ilias Savidis Giorgos Myrtsos Alekos Rantos Georgios Amanatidis

Yiannis Gounaris Giorgos Mitsibonas Takis Nikoloudis Alexis Alexiou Nikos Anastopoulos Nikos Sarganis Takis Lemonis Tasos Mitropoulos Stratos Apostolakis Stelios Giannakopoulos Vassilis Karapialis Grigoris Georgatos Kyriakos Karataidis Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos Nikos Dabizas Lambros Choutos Stylianos Venetidis Paraskevas Antzas Anastasios Pantos Giotis Tsalouchidis Nikos Tsiantakis Giorgos Skartados

Christos Patsatzoglou Antonis Nikopolidis Ieroklis Stoltidis Alekos Alexandris Giannis Taralidis Giorgos Anatolakis Daniel Batista Savvas Kofidis Dimitris Mavrogenidis Herbert Neumann Minas Hantzidis Predrag Đorđević Ilija Ivić Siniša Gogić Miloš Marić Miloš Šestić Darko Kovačević Martin Novoselac Foto Strakosha Andreas Niniadis Michalis Konstantinou Lajos Détári

Christian Karembeu Derek Spence Roger Albertsen Bent Christensen Ahlström Pär Zetterberg Yuri Savichev Oleg Protasov Hennadiy Litovchenko Andrzej Juskowiak Rivaldo Giovanni Zé Elias Luciano de Souza Juan Gilberto Funes Gabriel Schurrer Vicente Estavillio Jorge Walter Barrios Fabian Estay Nery Castillo Peter Ofori-Quaye Rashidi Yekini

[edit] References

[edit] External Links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Olympiacos FC

Olympiacos CFP Official Website

• Olympiacos

Olympiacos Supporters Official Website

• Ultras:Gate 7

Olympiacos The Eternal Champion - RSSSF Official Website

• Greece: List of Champions 1905-Present

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