Panathinaikos Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο.  , known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO (Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος; Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos, All-Athenian Athletic Club), is a Greek professional football club based in the capital-city of Athens.The name Panathinaikos was inspired by the ancient work of Isocrates, Panathenaicus, where the orator praises the Athenians for their democratic education and their military superiority, used for the benefit of all Greeks.Today a part of Panathinaikos A.O., they are the oldest active football club in Greece, initially founded only to practice this sport Created in 1908 as Podosfairikos Omilos Athinon (Football Club of Athens) by Georgios Kalafatis, they play in the Super League Greece, being one of the most successful clubs in Greek football and one of three clubs which have never been relegated from the top division. Amongst their major titles are 20 Greek Championships, 18 Greek Cups, achieving eight times the Double, and 3 Greek Super Cups. They are also one of the two clubs that won a championship undefeated, going without a loss in a top-flight campaign in the 1963–64 season.Panathinaikos is also the most successful Greek club in terms of achievements in the European competitions. It is the only Greek team that has reached the European Cup (later renamed UEFA Champions League) final in 1971 (which they lost to Ajax Amsterdam 2–0),



and also the semi-finals twice, in 1985 and 1996. It is also the only Greek team that has played for the Intercontinental Cup (1971). Furthermore, they have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League on another two occasions (in 1992 and 2002), as well as the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup twice (1988 and 2003). They have also won the Balkans Cup in 1977. Panathinaikos is a member of the European Club Association.Since the 1950s, the club maintains some of the oldest and most successful academies in Greece, producing talent for the first team and feeding the Greek national football team. They have played their home games in the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, considered their traditional home ground, and the Athens Olympic Stadium.According to the most recent researches and polls, Panathinaikos is the second-most popular football team in Greece, with the percentage difference between Olympiacos and themselves varying between 2% to 9%. The club has million of fans inside Greece and millions of others in the Greek communities all over the world.They hold a long-term rivalry with Olympiacos, the clash between the two teams being referred to as the Derby of the eternal enemies. It is traditionally included among the worlds greatest football derbies.




According to the official history of the club, Panathinaikos was founded by Giorgos Kalafatis on 3 February 1908, when he and 40 other athletes decided to break away from Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos following the clubs decision to discontinue its football team. The name of the new club was Podosferikos Omilos Athinon (Football Club of Athens). It was founded with the aim of spreading and making more known this new sport (football) to the Athenian and Greek public in general. Also, the intention of the founders was to create a team for all of Athens and to be connected with the rest of the European football movement, which was already active. The first president elected was Alexandros Kalafatis, brother of Giorgos. The ground of the team was in Patission Street. Oxford University athlete John Cyril Campbell was brought in as coach, the first time that a foreigner was appointed as the coach of a Greek team. Konstantinos Tsiklitiras, the great Greek athlete of the early 20th century, played as goalkeeper for the new team.


The first team of 1908


In 1910, after a dispute among a number of board members, Kalafatis with most of the players—also followed by Campbell—decided to pull out of POA and secured a new ground in Amerikis Square. Subsequently, the name of the club changed to Panellinios Podosferikos Omilos (Panhellenic Football Club) and its colours to green and white. By 1914, Campbell had returned to England but the club was already at the top of Greek football with players such as Michalis Papazoglou, Michalis Rokkos and Loukas Panourgias.In 1918, the team adopted the trifolium (shamrock) as its emblem, as proposed by Michalis Papazoglou. In 1921 and 1922, the Athens-Piraeus FCA organized the first two post-WWI championships, in both of which PPO was declared champion. By that stage, the club had outgrown both the grounds in Patission Street and Amerikis Square, due mainly to its expansion in other sports, and began to look at vacant land in the area of Perivola on Alexandras Avenue as its potential new ground. After long discussions with the Municipality of Athens, an agreement was finally reached and in 1922 Leoforos (Avenue in Greek) was granted to the club.The move to a permanent home ground also heralded another—final—name change to Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (PAO), All-Athenian Athletic Club, on 15 March 1924, from now on a multi-sport club. However, the decision was already taken by 1922.


The champion team of 1930

In 1926, the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) was founded and the first Greek Championship under its authority took place in 1927.

anathinaikos won undefeated the Championship of 1929–30 under the guidance of József Künsztler and Angelos Messaris as the teams star player. Other notable players of this Belle Époque period of the team were Antonis Migiakis, Diomidis Symeonidis, Mimis Pierrakos and Stefanos Pierrakos, among others. They thrashed rivals Olympiacos 8–2, a result that still remains the biggest win either team has achieved against its rival, with Messaris scoring three goals. The team also defeated Aris 1–4 away in Thessaloniki. Messaris, who scored again three goals, became a hero and chant for the fans.“We scored eight against Olympiacos, and four more against Aris, hooray Angelos Messaris”





Angelos Messaris, the legendary player of the 30s