A.O. Giouchtas F.C., short for Athlitikos Omilos Archanes “Giouchtas” (, translated ''Athletic Club of Archanes “Giouchtas”'') and also known simply as Giouchtas, is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club, based in

Archanes Archanes (, Godart & Olivier abbreviation: ARKH) is a former municipality in the Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Archanes-Asterousia, of which ...

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

. The club is named after

Mount Juktas A mountain in north-central Crete, Mount Juktas ( - ''Giouchtas''), also spelled Iuktas, Iouktas, or Ioukhtas, was an important religious site for the Minoan civilization. Located a few kilometers from the palaces of Knossos and Fourni and the ...

, overlooking the town of

. The club was founded in 1957 and its traditional colors are green and white. They currently compete in the

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki (, C National Division) is the Greek football league system, third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 1983 it was changed to professional. Although no ...

, the third tier of the

Greek football league system The Greek football league system consists of two professional leagues, one nationwide non-professional league and several regional non-professional leagues. Cup eligibility Greek Football Professional Cup: Levels 1 to 2 Greek Football Ama ...

, and host their home games in the Archanes National Stadium, known also as “Markomichelakio Stadium”. They have previously played for two seasons in the

during 2013-15.

History

Giouchtas was established on July 25, 1957 as a means to spread sports in the

region. The club eventually gained its own football ground after a local doctor, Michalis Markomichelakis donated 8,119 square meters of land for a stadium to be built. The venue was completed in 1962, and was named ''“Markomichelakio”'', in honor of this generous donation. Giouchtas have enjoyed relative success in regional competitions, having won the Heraklion FCA Cup on two consecutive occasions in 2009 and 2010. In 2007, Giouchtas managed a promotion to the

Delta Ethniki Delta Ethniki () was the fourth level of Greek football championship. During the period of its existence, it was the lowest national division of the Greek championship. It was founded in the 1982–83 season and abolished in the 2012–13 season, ...

, the fourth tier of the

. They played in the fourth Division until 2013, when they earned promotion to the

for the first time in club history. They played two season in the third Division before being relegated in 2015. In 2018, Giouchtas won their first Heraklion FCA Championship, managing a return to the

after a three-year absence.

Honours

Domestic

* Third Division **Winners (1):

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

Regional

* Heraklion FCA Championship **Winners (1): 2017−18 * Heraklion FCA Cup **Winners (2): 2008−09, 2009−10

Players

Current squad

References

External links

* {{Greek Third Division/Football (soccer) Football clubs in Heraklion Football clubs in Crete Association football clubs established in 1957 1957 establishments in Greece Gamma Ethniki clubs