G.S. Iraklis Thessalonikis, also known as Iraklis CONDITO after its title sponsor, is a

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

team based in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area) and the capital cit ...

Macedonia Macedonia (, , , ), most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a former administr ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

. Created in 1921, it serves as the men's

section of the multi–sport club of G.S. Iraklis Thessalonikis. The team's colors are

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. They play their home matches at Mikra National Indoor Hall. As of 2022, the team competes in the second–tier level Greek Pre League. The team evolved in one of the most successful departments of G.S. Iraklis Thessalonikis and one of the best teams in

and

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, as they have won 5 times the Greek league (2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012) and reached 3 times (2005, 2006, 2009) the final of the

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tota ...

History

Iraklis volleyball european final fours map

Iraklis was one of the first Greek clubs which encouraged volleyball before

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. After the war, they were always among the top teams in

. The first national championship was played in 1968 and Iraklis was also able to contribute to the National Teams with plenty of players. During the 1970s, Iraklis participated twice in the championship finals, due to the contribution of Nikos Antoniadis. In 1987, 1989 and 1992 Iraklis made it to the European Cup and in 1997 came the outburst of the team. Thanks to an organized effort, Iraklis played three consecutive Championship finals and finally won its first title -the Greek Cup- in 2000. Two years later, the team won both the Championship and the Cup titles, while finishing third in the

final-four held in

Opole Opole (; ; ; ) is a city located in southern Poland on the Oder River and the historical capital of Upper Silesia. With a population of approximately 127,387 as of the 2021 census, it is the capital of Opole Voivodeship (province) and the seat of ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. The next four years Iraklis dominated in Greece, confirming his superiority by winning one Championship (2005), three Greek Cups (2004, 2005, 2006) and two Greek Super Cups (2004, 2005), but mostly by participating in three more

final-fours. In 2004 in

Belgorod Belgorod (, ) is a city that serves as the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River, approximately north of the border with Ukraine. It has a population of It was founded in 1596 as a defensiv ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, the team finished in the fourth place. Next year, the presence of world-class players such as

Lloy Ball Lloy James Ball (born February 17, 1972) is an American former volleyball player, who was a member of American national team from 1993 to 2008. Ball is a four-time Olympian, and a gold medalist of Beijing 2008. He is also a gold medalist of the ...

Thomas Hoff Thomas John "Tom" Hoff (born June 9, 1973) is a retired American volleyball player. He was a middle blocker and has been with the U.S. national team from 1996 until 2009. He is a three-time Olympian in volleyball, having played in 2000, 2004, ...

and

Clayton Stanley Clayton Iona "Clay" Stanley (born January 20, 1978) is an American former volleyball player, who was a member of United States men's national volleyball team, a participant of the Olympic Games ( Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012), Oly ...

helped the team to reach the final-four which took place in

. Iraklis beat Lokomotiv Belgorod in the semi-final, but lost 1-3 to

Tours VB Tours VB is a professional men's volleyball club which is playing their home matches at the Salle Robert Grenon in Tours, France. Tours VB plays in LNV Ligue A, top volleyball league in France. According to Media Guide book, the annual budget o ...

in the final, despite the outstanding support by the fans. In 2006, Iraklis made it again to the final in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, to be beaten by

Sisley Treviso Volley Treviso is a professional volleyball team based in Treviso. They were known at the past with the sponsorship name Sisley. The team plays at the Serie B. Achievements * Italian Volleyball League (9): 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2004 ...

3-1. About 4,000 Iraklis fans traveled to

to support the team. The following season marked the beginning of a transitional period. Many of the top players were released from the team, while the budget was cut in half. Even so, the team's dominance in Greece continued. In 2007, Iraklis finished third in regular season, but managed to win the Championship beating

Olympiacos S.C. Olympiacos Men's Volleyball (, ), commonly referred to as Olympiacos, Olympiacos Piraeus or with its full name as Olympiacos SFP, is the men's professional volleyball department of the major Greek multi-sport club, Olympiacos SFP, based in P ...

in the semi-finals and

Panathinaikos VC Panathinaikos V.C. (), also known simply as Panathinaikos, or with its full name Panathinaikos A.O. (, transliterated "Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos", ''Panathenaic Athletic Club'') is the professional volleyball team of the major Athens bas ...

in the finals, having both times a disadvantage. The next Championship (2007–08) had the same conclusion. Iraklis defeated

in the finals without losing a single game and won the championship for the fourth time in their history.

Notable players

* Andreas Andreadis *

Theodoros Bozidis Theodoros Bozidis (born ) is a retired Greek volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team at the 2002 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in Argentina. Clubs * Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnastikos Syllogos ...

* Theodoros Chatziantoniou *

Konstantinos Christofidelis Konstantinos "Kostas" Christofidelis (Greek: Κώστας Χριστοφιδέλης; born ) is a former Greek male volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team. He competed with the national team at the 2004 Summer ...

* Christos Dimitrakopoulos *

Marios Giourdas Marios Giourdas (sometimes written as Gkiourdas) (Greek: Μάριος Γκιούρδας; born 2 March 1973) is a Greek male former volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team. He competed with the national team a ...

* Theoklitos Karipidis *

Chrysanthos Kyriazis Chrysanthos Kyriazis (born ) is a retired Greek volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team at the 2002 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in Argentina. At club level, he played for Olympiacos. Clubs * Olym ...

Konstantinos Prousalis Konstantinos Prousalis (; born 6 October 1980) is a Greeks, Greek former volleyball player. He is the current head coach of G.S. Iraklis Thessaloniki (men's volleyball), Iraklis Thessaloniki. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball ...

Nikos Samaras Nikos Samaras (1 July 1970 – 4 January 2013) was a Greek volleyball player, who competed for various Greek, Italian, Spanish and Turkish clubs. Samaras was born in Stuttgart. He led Orestiada, helping the team to become successful in Gree ...

Nikolaos Smaragdis Nikolaos "Nikos" Smaragdis (; born ) is a Greek volleyball player. He has been capped 195 times with Greece national team. Career Smaragdis has won the Hellenic Championship 10 times. He is the only Greek Volleyball player to have achieved thi ...

Georgios Stefanou Georgios Stefanou (born 12 January 1981) is a Greek volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team. He competed for the national team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. He most notably played for Olympiaco ...

Theodoros Baev Theodoros Baev (, ; born 31 May, 1977) also written as Zlatkov Bayev and Tontor-Zlatko Baev, is a Bulgarian-born Greek retired volleyball player.Andrej Kravárik Andrej Kravárik (born 28 July 1971) is a Slovak-Greek former volleyball player and current coach. He spent the biggest part of his playing career at Iraklis Thessaloniki V.C., Iraklis Thessaloniki, where he enjoyed great success. He was also coa ...

Rodrigo Quiroga Rodrigo Daniel Quiroga (born March 23, 1987) is an Argentine volleyball player member of the Argentina men's national volleyball team and Polish club Jastrzębski Węgiel. He participated at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Rodrigo won the silver medal ...

* Frank Depestele *

Aleh Akhrem Aleh Akhrem or Olieg Achrem (born 12 March 1983) is a Belarusian professional volleyball coach and former volleyball player, a former member of the Belarus national team, with which he competed in the 2013 European Championship. He serves as a ...

Plamen Konstantinov Plamen Georgiev Konstantinov () (born 14 June 1973) is a former Bulgarian volleyball player. He is currently the head coach of Lokomotiv Novosibirsk and the Bulgaria men's national volleyball team. Personal life Konstantinov was born in Sofia; ...

Freddy Brooks Freddy Brooks (born 10 August 1969) is a Cuban former volleyball player. He competed with the Cuban men's national volleyball team at the 1992 and 1996 Summer Olympics. Brooks won a silver medal at the 1990 FIVB World Championship and a gold m ...

* Joël Despaigne *

Rolando Jurquin Rolando Jurquin Despaigne (born June 7, 1987) is a Cuban volleyball player, who plays as a wing-spiker. He was a member of the national squad of Cuba that claimed the bronze medal at the 2007 Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Sporti ...

Frantz Granvorka Frantz Granvorka (born 10 March 1976) is a former French volleyball player, a member of France men's national volleyball team in 1996–2007, a participant of the 2004 Olympic Games, a bronze medalist of the 2002 World Championship, a silver me ...

Simon Tischer Simon Tischer (born 24 April 1982) is a German retired volleyball player. He was born in Schwäbisch Gmünd. International career Simon Tischer was a member of the Germany men's national volleyball team, German National team for many years. He t ...

Matej Černič Matej Černič (born 13 September 1978) is an Italian volleyball player who won the silver medal with the Italian men's national team at the 2004 Summer Olympics, held in Athens. He is of Slovene ethnicity and belongs to the Slovene minority in ...

Slobodan Boškan Slobodan Boškan (Serbian Cyrillic: Слободан Бошкан, born 18 August 1975) is a Serbian former volleyball player, a member of Serbia men's national volleyball team, 2000 Olympic volleyball champion, medalist of European Championship ...

* Marcus Nilsson * Sinan Cem Tanık *

( FIVB

Hall of Fame A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or Wiktionary:fame, fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actu ...

) * Brook Billings *

Notable coaches

* Alekos Leonis * Flavio Gulinelli * Anders Kristiansson ( FIVB

)

Honours

Domestic

Greek League * Winners (5): 2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012 * Runners-up (8): 1971, 1975, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006, 2011

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

* Winners (6): 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2012 * Runners-up (4): 2001, 2011, 2018, 2019

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup (), formerly known as the Friendship and Solidarity Cup () is a Greek association football one-match competition, which is contested annually either between the champions of the previous Super League Greece season and the hold ...

* Winners (4) (record): 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 * Runners-up (2): 2000, 2006 Greek A2 League * Winners (1): 2015

European

* Runners-up (3):

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

* Third place (1):

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

* Fourth place (1):

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

References

External links

Official websites

* * * * {{Men's CEV Champions League 2008–09 Iraklis V.C. Volleyball clubs in Greece Sports clubs and teams in Thessaloniki Volleyball clubs established in 1921 1921 establishments in Greece