Panathinaikos

It was February 3rd, 1908 when the track & field athlete of Panellinios Sports Club, Giorgos Kalafatis took the initiative to found a new Club that was to become the most glorified football team of Greece.

Initially the abbreviation of the team’s name was P.O.A (Football Club of Athens) and among the founding members, apart from G. Kalafatis, was also his brother Alexandros, and Mr. Doukakis, Bouboulis, Chrisis, Granitsas, Mantzakos, Papageorgiou, Gaetas, Demertzis, Stavropoulos, Paschos, Misakian, Reppas, Sapounias and Garoufalias.

In the beginning of 1910, the Club was renamed to P.P.O. (Panhellenic Football Club) and continued to be active and to gain a large number of sports fans. After the end of World War I, the football activity restarts with PPO having adopted the green colour and the emblem of the shamrock, which was designed by the director and member of Panathinaikos, Georgios Hatzopoulos. The shamrock was "brought" into Panathinaikos, by the athlete and later General Secretary of the Club, Michalis Papazoglou, which he bore in the team Chalcedona of Constantinople (Istanbul) where he had competed. In 1919 the Union of Football Clubs of Athens and Piraeus organised the first post-war championship in which Panathinaikos was pronounced champion.

The final name, Panathinaikos Athletikos Omilos (Panathinaikos Atletic Club) was resolute in 1922 and was made official in the General Assembly of the 15th of March, 1924. On the 26th of April, 1925 Panathinaikos played its first international game against the Yugoslavian team “Vittoria Zagreb”, in which the final score was 1-1. In 1926 he beat Austrian team Kaufenberg by 1-0. The same year he also played the first match in Thessalonica against AEK Thessalonikis (that later became PAOK), which he won by 2-0.

One of the most important personalities in the history of Panathinaikos was Apostolos Nikolaidis, a phenomenal athlete in football, track & field, basketball and volleyball. He took part in the Olympic Games of Antwerp in 1920 as footballer and as a track & field athlete. He was the president of the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association for 20 years. He had been a member of the Board of Directors of Panathinaikos for a number of years and in 1974 he became the president of the club. He is considered to be a symbol of Panathinaikos and for this reason the football field of Alexandras Avenue is named after him.

In 1928 a non-national was hired as head coach; the Hungarian Milko Forner. For first time the team is organised by way of a programme and it easily wins the Championship of Athens, with 8 victories in 8 matchups, in which it scores 41 goals and concedes only 3.

In 1930, with big star the legendary Angelos Messaris, the eminent "golden team" shatters Olympiakos in the traditional derby by 8-2 and is crowned the undefeated champion of Greece.

In 1950, included in the team’s roaster are two big stars that will make history wearing the colours of Panathinaikos. They are Kostas Linoxylakis (defenseman) and Vangelis Panakis (centre-forward).

In the summertime of 1959, Mimis Domazos is signed from side Amyna Ampelokipon and later on he will emerge as the natural leader of the team.

In the autumn of 1960, Panathinaikos participates for first time in the Champions Cup.

In May 1963, Stjepan Bobek becomes the new head coach of the team and Panathinaikos wins the Championship of 1964 with 24 victories and 6 draws, finishing the championship undefeated, a unique achievement, unsurpassed to this day.

In 1969, with Lakis Petropoulos as the head coach, Panathinaikos wins its first double crown.

On June 2nd, 1970, the legendary "Galloping major" Ferenc Pouskas signs on to Panathinaikos as the new head coach of the team.

On the 2nd of June 1971, Panathinaikos reaches the Champions Cup Final in Wembley stadium against Dutch giants Ajax. The “greens” lost 2-0, after having knocked-out Jeunesse Esch of Luxemburg, Slovan Bratislava of Czechoslovakia, Everton of England and Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia. The “epic of Wembley” is one of the finest moments in the history of the club.

In December 1971, Panathinaikos represented Europe in the International Cup facing the Champion of South America, Nacional Montevideo de of Uruguay.

In the 1984-85 season, Panathinaikos with head coach Jacek Gmoch and its big stars Dimitris Saravakos and Velimir Zajec realises an impressive journey. He eliminates in chronological order Feyenoord, Lindfield and Gotheborg on the way to reach the semi-final of the European Champions Cup. There he is eliminated by the almighty Liverpool, in part due to the butchering refereeing of Kaiser in the first match, in Anfield.

In May 1986, Panathinaikos prevails by the score of 4-0 over Olympiakos in final match of the Greek Cup.

In 1992, Panathinaikos participates in the first experimental mounting of the Champions League.

In 1996, Panathinaikos reached the semi-final of the Champions League, where he faced Ajax, achieving a historical victory in the last matchup in the Olympic Stadium of Amsterdam by the score of 1-0.

In January 1998, Krzysztof Warzycha scores his 181st goal in Panathinaikos jersey and becomes the top goal scorer in the history of the Club. Up to his retirement, he scored 244 goals and placed second in the all-time scorer list of the Greek Championship.

In May 2000, after 21 years in the presidency, Giorgos Vardinogiannis secedes. During his service, Panathinaikos won 6 championships, 9 cups and 4 doubles, 3 super cups and reached the semi-finals of the Champions Cup (1985) and the Champions League (1996).

In May 2004, Panathinaikos conquers the double (championship and cup) for the seventh time. The greatest team of the country won the championship and the cup after a victory of 3-1 over Olympiakos.

In April 2008, Panathinaikos FC through the initiative o Yannis V. Vardinoyannis expanded its shareholder base, thus laying the foundations for a healthy and competitive future.

In 2010 Panathinaikos wins the 8th double crown in the club's history by winning both the Hellenic Superleague and the Hellenic Football Federation Cup.

In 2014 Panathinaikos FC won it's 18th Hellenic Federation Cup Title.