Panathinaikos A.O.

Panathinaikos A.O.
Panathinaikos Athletic Club emblem
Data
Established	1908
Hymn
Nicknames	Prasinoi (Greens), Trifili (clover)
Club colours	Green and white
Presidents	Football: Argiris Mitsou Basketball: Pavlos Giannakopoulos Volleyball: Vlasis Stathokostopoulos
Coaches	Football: Hans Bakke Basketball: Zelimir Obradovic Volleyball: Carlos Xavier Weber
Stadia	O.A.K.A. (Athens Olympic Sports Complex) Football stadium (Spyros Louis): 66,132 capacity Basketball stadium (Olympic Indoor Hall): 18,700 capacity
Address	Panathinaikos 12 Irodou Attikou Athens GR-151 24 Greece Tel.: +30 210 8093630 Fax: +30 210 8093644
Websites	Football: www.pao.gr Basketball: www.paobc.gr Volleyball: www.paovolleyball.gr Amateur departments: www.panathinaikos1908.gr

Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (Greek: Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, i.e. Pan-Athenian Athletic Club) is one of the most popular and historic multisport clubs in Greece. Panathinaikos is the club with the most sport departments (21) and most overall titles won by them (486) in the world. Panathinaikos (or P.A.O. as the club is often referred to by its initials) was founded by George Kalafatis in 1908, when he and forty athletes decided to break away from Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos when the club refused to form a football team. The club emblem is the three-leaf clover in green.

Over the years Panathinaikos has established departments in 21 sports. Some of them are:

• Football, established in 1908
• Athletics (track and field), established in 1919
• Volleyball, established in 1919
• Basketball, established in 1922
• Table tennis, established in 1924
• Cycling, established in 1928
• Swimming, established in 1930
• Water Polo, established in 1930
• Boxing, established in 1946
• Diving, established in 1947
• Chess, established in 1959
• Weightlifting, established in 1959
• Fencing, established in 1960
• Gymnastics, established in 1962
• Waterskiing, established in 1963
• Wrestling, established in 1965

Club history

Panathinaikos initially consisted of a single section, the football team. Before the club took the name P.A.O. it was called P.O.A. ("Podosfairikos Omilos Athinon", i.e. Athens Football Club). In 1909 it changed to P.P.O. ("Panellinios Podosferikos Omilos", i.e. Panhellenic Football Club). In 1918 the name changed once more to P.P.A.O. ("Panellinios Podosferikos kai Agonistikos Omilos" i.e. Panhellenic Football and Contest Club), the same year the club adopted green (in the place of red) as its official color and the clover as its emblem, which was designed by George Hadjopoulos, the president of the Greek National Gallery and a member of the club. Finally, in 1924 the name finalized to P.A.O.

Administration of PAO departments

Three of the departments are professional (football, basketball and volleyball) and they all are independently owned by very powerful business people. Football (PAE PAO) is owned by oil and media tycoons Vardinogiannis family (presently Giannis "Jigger" Vardinogiannis is more involved with the department), basketball (KAE PAO) is owned by pharmaceutical magnates Pavlos & Thanassis Giannakopoulos and volleyball (TAP PAO) is owned by restaurants and clubs owner Vlassis Stathokostopoulos. All the other departments belong to the "erasitechnis" (amateur) Panathinaikos, whose board members are elected in a regular basis by members of the club.

Football

Panathinaikos is one of the most successful Greek football clubs, playing consistently in European competitions. They have participated in one European Champions Cup Final (1971 at Wembley Stadium, London, where they lost 2-0 to Ajax Amsterdam) and have twice reached the semifinals of the same competition (later renamed the UEFA Champions League): in 1985 against Liverpool (0-4, 0-1) and in 1996 against Ajax (1-0, 0-3).

Currently (May 2006) Panathinaikos is the highest ranked Greek club in the official UEFA Team Ranking, placed in number 19. Olympiacos is in place 47 and AEK in place 57 [1].

Titles

(41)

• 20 Greek Championships (1911, 1930, 1949, 1953, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2004)

• 16 Greek Cups (1940, 1948, 1955, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004)

• 7 Doubles (1969, 1977, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1995, 2004)

• 4 Super Cups (1970, 1988, 1993, 1994)

• 1 Balkan Cup (1978)

Famous football players

Antonis Antoniadis, Stratos Apostolakis, Angelos Basinas, Georgios Delikaris, Mimis Domazos, Giorgos Donis, Kostas Eleftherakis, Takis Fyssas, Kostas Frantzeskos, Mike Galakos, Giorgos Georgiadis, Takis Ikonomopoulos, George Kalafatis, Ioannis Kalitzakis, Aristidis Kamaras, Giorgos Kapouranis, Anthimos Kapsis, Giorgos Karagounis, Ioannis Kirastas, Sotirios Kyrgiakos, Kostas Linoxilakis, Spiros Livathinos, Takis Loukanidis, Spiros Marangos, Angelos Messaris, Antonis Miyiakis, Apostolos Nikolaidis, Antonios Nikopolidis, Nikos Nioplias, Loukas Panourgias, Michalis Papazoglou, Mimis Pierrakos, Nikos Sarganis, Dimitris Saravakos, Giourkas Seitaridis, Kostas Tsiklitiras, Nikos Vamvakoulas

Juan Ramon Veron, Oscar Alvarez, Juan Ramon Rotcha, Juan Jose Borelli

Júlio César da Silva, Flávio Conceição

Rene Henriksen, Jan Michaelsen

Karlheinz Pflipsen, Markus Münch

Velimir Zajec, Aljoša Asanović, Robert Jarni, Goran Vlaović

Joonas Kolkka

Erik Mykland

Krzysztof Warzycha, Jozef Wandzik, Emmanuel Olisadebe

Paulo Sousa

Current roster

Goalkeepers
1	Mario Galinović
12	Pier-Owono Ebede
33	Markos Vellidis
41	Alexandros Tzorvas

Defenders
4	Elias Kotsios
5	Nasief Morris
8	Yannis Goumas (C)
19	Anthony Šerić
24	Loucas Vintra
31	Filippos Darlas
32	Theodoros Tripotseris
35	Stefanos Siontis
37	Ioannis Stathis

Midfielders
10	Ezequiel Gonzalez
14	Nordin Wooter
15	Srđan Andrić
18	Lucian Sanmartean
21	Kostas Haralabides
22	Alexandros Tziolis
25	Igor Biscan
27	Sotiris Leontiou
28	Giorgos Theodoridis
29	Mikael Nilsson
30	Anderson De Lima Freitas
45	Vladimir Gadhzev

Forwards
7	Fanis Gekas
11	Dimitris Papadopoulos
26	Evagelos Mantzios
34	Stelios Kritikos
40	Sandor Torghelle

Dispute of fans and Vardinogiannis

Currently, the administration of the football department is very unpopular with the majority of the fans. The main reasons are the decrease of the team's budget, the inability to counter the success of arch-rival Olympiacos, the loss of the team's best players (some of which went to Olympiacos) and their autocratic leadership.

Most of the fans wish Vardinogiannis family left Panathinaikos and the wildly popular president of the basketball team Pavlos Giannakopoulos took over.

Basketball

History

Panathinaikos B. C. is the most successful basketball team in Greece and one of the best in Europe. Twenty-six national championships, nine Greek Cups, three European Champions' Cups (or Euroleague) and one Inter-continental Cup adorn the team's trophy collection.

Within its 84 years of existence, Panathinaikos' basketball department has written many golden pages in its history. Legends of world baskeball have played with the club (Dominique Wilkins, Byron Scott, Dino Radja, Dejan Bodiroga, Nikos Gallis, Panagiotis Giannakis, Stojan Vrankovic, Fanis Christodoulou,Antonio Davis among others). These players, together with the presidency of Pavlos and Thanassis Giannakopoulos, have made the name of Panathinaikos one of the most well-known in Europe and the most successful team of the last decade in the continent (along with Maccabi Tel Aviv) with three Euroleague titles.

On April 1996 in Paris final-four (F4), Panathinaikos was the first Greek team to win the European Championships (now Euroleague), beating FC Barcelona in a unique final tournament, by 67-66. In September of the same year the team also won the Inter-continental cup, prevailing by 2-1 wins over Olympia of Argentina (83-89, 83-78, 101-76). In 2000 in Thessaloniki F4, Panathinaikos were the Champions of Europe for the second time, beating Maccabi 73-67 in the final. In 2002 in Bologna F4, Panathinaikos brought to Athens the most prestigious European trophy for the third time, beating Kinder Bologna 89-83 in the final.

Panathinaikos participated in the F4 of the Euroleague another four times: Tel Aviv in 1994(3rd), Zaragoza in 1995(3rd), Paris in 2001(2nd) and Moscow in 2005(3rd). Other significant successes are: the two participations in the semifinals of the Cup Winners Cup (1969, 1998), the course up to the semi-finals of the Champions Cup for the season 1971-72 (exclusion of the team Ignis Varese (78-70, 55-69). In the season of 1981-82, Panathinaikos participated in the finals of the Cup Champions Cup of that time, excluding consecutively CSKA Moscow and Lefski Sofia teams.

Titles

(43)

• 1 Intercontinental Cup (1996)

• 3 European Championships(Euroleague) (1996, 2000, 2002)

• 26 Greek Championships (1947, 1951, 1954, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1977, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005)

• 9 Greek Cups (1979, 1982, 1983, 1986, 1993, 1996, 2003, 2005, 2006)

• 3 Women's Greek Championships (1998, 2000, 2005)

• 1 Women's Greek Cup (2000)

Famous basketball players

Takis Koronaios, Liveris Andritsos, Nikos Boudouris, Fanis Christodoulou, Antonios Fotsis, Nick Galis know also as Nikos Galis, Panagiotis Giannakis, Giannis Giannoulis, Nikos Ikonomou, Memos Ioannou, John Korfas, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Konstantinos Patavoukas, David Stergakos

Marcelo Nicola, Hugo Sconochini, Pepe Sanchez

Arian Komazec, Stojan Vrankovic, Dino Radja

John Amaechi

Michael Koch

Odded Katash

Nando Gentile

Zarko Paspalj, Dejan Bodiroga, Zeljko Rebraca

Ferran Martinez

Ibrahim Kutluay

Alexander Volkov

Antonio Davis, Dominique Wilkins, Byron Dinkins, John Salley, Byron Scott, Johnny Rodgers, Darryl Middleton, Ariel McDonald, Tracy Murray

Current roster

Point Guards
5	Georgios Kalaitzis
11	Vassilios Spanoulis
13	Dimitrios Diamantidis

Shooting Guards
7	Jaka Lakovic
10	Nikolaos Hatzivrettas
14	Vlado Scepanovic

Small Forwards
4	Fragiskos Alvertis(C)
6	Dimitris Papanikolaou
16	Dusan Sakota

Power Forwards
8	Michael Batiste
12	Kostas Tsartsaris

Center
9	Patrick Femerling
15	Dejan Tomasevic

Volleyball

History

Panathinaikos has been one of the first athletic associations that created a volleyball club in Greece in 1919. The first dynamic presence of the team is dated in the years 1927 – 29 with many popular players of the time such as the historical member of the board Apostolos Nikolaidis as well as players such as Aravositas, Gkoumas, Arg. Nikolaidis, Papageorgiou and Papastefanou. In the following years the interest for volleyball became less until before the 2nd World War when Panathinaikos presented a powerful team with leader players such as Labrou, Vallidis, Momferatos, Tzoumanis, Proselentis, Lykouris, Kakridis k.a.

In the recent history, the volleyball club has demonstrated many titles and honors due to the fact that the team roster has always included some of the leading volleyball players. The first and most popular generation of players of 60’s was Andreas and Nikos Bergeles, as well as Iliopoulos, Leloudas, Chasapis, Emmanouil, Perros and Fotiou who opened the road for the next generations. The most important achievement of the team was the participation in the final of the European Cup in 1980 with players such as Georgantis, Agrapidakis, Koliopoulos, Iliopoulos, Papadopoulos, Malousaris, Gkountakos, Astras and Kokkinaras. In the following years, Panathinaikos team continued to dominate the Greek championship with players such as Kazazis, Tentzeris, Gontikas, Galakos, Dimitriadis, Margaronis, Karamaroudis and Andreopoulos.

One of the most successful periods were also the seasons 1994-95 and 1995-96 where Panathinaikos won 2 championships in a raw with Stelios Prosalikas as head coach and Andreopoulos, Triantafillidis, Filippof, Spanos, Hatziantoniou, Oyzounof, A. Kovatsef, P. Kovatsef, Karamaroudis, Mavrakis, Konstantinidis, Zakynthinos, Koutouleas, Tonef as players.

Today, after a difficult period, Panathinaikos is aiming again at the top. The renaissance of the team was demonstrated at the 2006 Top Teams Cup Final-4 in Palma de Mallorca, where Panathinaikos came third. Notable was the fan support, since it was the first major volleyball tournament in Europe where such a large number of fans (over 500) have travelled a long distance to support their team.

Titles

(42)

• 18 Greek Championships (1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1982, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2006)

• 3 Greek Cups (1982, 1984, 1985)

• 3 Doubles (1982, 1984, 1985)

• 19 Women's Greek Championships (1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1988, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1998, 2000, 2005, 2006)

• 2 Women's Greek Cups (2005 , 2006 )

• 2 Double (2005, 2006)

Famous volleyball players who played for Panathinaikos

Michalis Koliopoulos, Stelios Kazazis, Tasos Tentzeris, Akis Chatziantoniou.

Plamen Konstantinov

Andre Nascimento, Cleber De Oliveira

Dalibor Polak

Fabrice Bry

Dawid Murek

Clayton Stanley

Actual Roster

Libero (1)
7	Stefanou Georgios

Setters (2)
6	Psaras Athanasios
10	Marcelinho

Middle Blockers (3)
1	Andreadis Andreas
12	Smaragdis Nikolaos
14	Pantaleon Sotirios

Wing Spikers (5)
3	Kouroupis Victoras
8	Fotopoulos Panagiotis
15	Lappas Elias
17	Dante Amaral
18	Baev Theodoros (C)

Opposites (2)
2	Donas Efstathios
4	Gomez Hernando

Titles in other sports

Table Tennis

(112)

• Greek Championship Men Single (30x): 1930, 1931, 1940, 1951, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1959 [Mantzaroglou], 1961, 1964, 1966, 1972, 1973, 1973 [A Category], 1974, 1974 [A Category], 1975, 1975 [A Category], 1975 [Mantzaroglou], 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1986 [A Category], 1987, 1988
• Greek Championship Women Single (18x): 1948, 1949, 1950, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1958, 1959 [Mantzaroglou], 1959 [Spring], 1972, 1972 [A Category], 1973, 1973 [A Category], 1974, 1974 [A Category], 1976, 1976 [A Category], 1976 [Mantzaroglou]
• Greek Championship Men Double (21x): 1940, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1961, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988
• Greek Championship Women Double (6x): 1953, 1954, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975
• Greek Championship Men-Women Double (14x): 1955, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1978, 1979, 1982, 1986
• Greek Club's Championship - Overall Standings (7x): 1951, 1952, 1955, 1956, 1959, 1961, 1962
• Greek Club's Championship Men (6x): 1959, 1961, 1962, 1966, 1968, 1974
• Greek Club's Championship Women (3x): 1972, 1973, 1974
• Greek Cup Men (6x): 1966, 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1992
• Greek Cup Women (1x): 1969

Athletics

(59)

• Greek Championship (23x): 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1989, 1990
• Greek Indoor Championship (4x): 1986, 1989, 1990, 1994
• Greek Cross Country Championship (25x): 1930, 1931, 1932, 1934, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1983, 1996, 1997, 1998
• Greek Championship (Damen) (2x): 1949, 1950
• Greek Cross Country Championshipn (Damen) (5x): 1949, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986

Cycling

(51)

• Greek Championship (7x): 1956, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1969, 1973
• Greek Championship (Street) (29x): 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1992, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1997
• Greek Championship (Velodrom) (15x): 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1985, 1986, 1989, 1990

Boxing

(27)

• Greek Championship (26x): 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1954, 1955, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1992, 1985, 1986, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997
• Greek Cup (1x): 1988

Fencing

(27)

• Greek Team Championship (11x): 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974
• Greek Championship (16x): 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1980

Diving

(26)

• Greek Championship (Men, 5m. board) (19x): 1952, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1961, 1962, 1968, 1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1980, 1981
• Greek Championship (Men, 3m. board) (6x): 1969, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976
• Greek Championship (Men, Total Standings) (1x): 1965

Archery

(15)

• Greek Championship (Men and Women) (5x): 1992, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986
• Greek Championship (5x): 1992, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986
• Greek Championship Standard Bow (1x): 1993
• Greek Championship Women (4x): 1992, 1983, 1985, 1986

Swimming

(13)

• Greek Championship (13x): 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968

Shooting

(9)

• Greek Team - Championship (8x): 1960, 1964, 1992, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1990, 1991
• Greek Military Championship (1x): 1948

Chess

(8)

• Greek Championship (7x): 1964, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1976
• Greek Cup (1x): 1972

Weightlifting

(6)

• Greek Championship (6x): 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969

Pentathlon

(2)

• Greek Championship (2x): 1980, 1987

Wrestling

(2)

• Greek Championship (2x): 1982, 1984

Gymnastics

(1)

• Greek Championship (1x): 1972

Water Ski

(1)

• Greek Championship (1x): 1968

Futsal

(1)

• Greek Championship (1x): 1991

References

Panathinaikos 1908-1998 from Panos Fiamengos and the website of the Greek National "General Secretariat for Sports"

Most popular fan clubs are: Gate 13, Independents, Athens Fans, Cockneys and PALEFIP.

External links

• Official football site (in Greek and English)
• Official basketball site (in Greek and English)
• Official volleyball site (in Greek and English)
• Official amateur departments' site (in Greek)
• Gate 13 site (in Greek and English)
• Comprehensive Fan Site (in Greek)
• Multimedia Fan Site (in Greek)
• Panathinaikos, the Greek Sports Master - Unofficial Site (in English)