Irodotos Football Club, short for ''Podosferikós Athlitikós Sýllogos Alikarnassoú Iródotos'' (, meaning ''Irodotos Football Sports Club of

Halicarnassus Halicarnassus ( ; Latin: ''Halicarnassus'' or ''Halicarnāsus''; ''Halikarnāssós''; ; Carian language, Carian: 𐊠𐊣𐊫𐊰 𐊴𐊠𐊥𐊵𐊫𐊰 ''alos k̂arnos'') was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Caria, in Anatolia.

'') and also simply known as Irodotos, 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

Nea Alikarnassos Nea Alikarnassos (, meaning New Halicarnassus) is a town and a former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Heraklion, of which it is a municipal unit. The ...

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 the ancient historian

Herodotus Herodotus (; BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus (now Bodrum, Turkey), under Persian control in the 5th century BC, and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the '' Histori ...

, descended from

Asia Minor Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...

, whose bust is also used as the club logo. Irodotos was established in 1932 by refugees from

(and specifically the site of modern

Bodrum Bodrum () is a town and district of Muğla Province, Turkey. About 200 thousand people live in the district, which covers 650 km2 and includes the town. It is a port town at the entrance to the Gulf of Gökova. Known in ancient times as Hal ...

, then still called

), who were displaced following the Greco-Turkish War in 1922. By acclamation, Irodotos is considered the third most successful club in

in terms of achievements, due to its consistent presence in the

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

national divisions, but has maintained a considerable fan base, and a longstanding rivalry with local

Superleague Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

side OFI, despite the fact the two haven't met in national competitions for almost 30 years. The club currently competes in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, the second 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 ...

, while also administering amateur men's football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

departments. In the past it also had departments for

wrestling Wrestling is a martial art, combat sport, and form of entertainment that involves grappling with an opponent and striving to obtain a position of advantage through different throws or techniques, within a given ruleset. Wrestling involves di ...

cycling Cycling, also known as bicycling or biking, is the activity of riding a bicycle or other types of pedal-driven human-powered vehicles such as balance bikes, unicycles, tricycles, and quadricycles. Cycling is practised around the world fo ...

women's football Women's football most often refers to: * Women's association football Women's football may also refer to: * Women's gridiron football * Women's Australian rules football * Ladies' Gaelic football * Women's rugby league * Women's rugby union ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

. Its colours are blue and white.

History

Early years and legacy

Several years after the public housing development of

was founded (in 1925), former

residents and refugees established a sports club in order to strengthen the collective consciousness ties between the inhabitants of the settlement. The club was named after

(), thus commemorating the ancient historian native to

. The club was officially established as ''Podosferikos Athlitikos Syllogos Alikarnassou Irodotos'' (or P.A.S.A. Irodotos) by then community president, Michalis Eleftheriadis and other prominent figures of the refugee community. In its early years, and until the end of the German occupation of Crete, Irodotos' sporting activities were primarily mild, before reverting to full activity in 1948. Irodotos joined the Third Division of the regional

Heraklion Football Clubs Association The Heraklion Football Clubs Association ( or Ε.Π.Σ.Η.) is an association responsible for administering football in the region of Heraklion. It is based in the city of Heraklion and is a member of the Hellenic Football Federation. The associ ...

, managing consecutive promotions to reach the First Division and compete against historical clubs such as OFI and

Ergotelis Ergotelis Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, Crete, which competes in the Heraklion Football Clubs Association, FCA Heraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, ...

. Irodotos promoted to national competitions (e.g. the

Beta Ethniki The Football League () was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super League 2 as the new second tier ...

, second tier of the

) in 1960, and played in the competition until 1965, when the club was relegated to the newly established

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 ...

(third level in the league pyramid). In total, Irodotos has played 12 seasons in the Second National Division (relegated for the last time in 1982) and 16 times in the

, thus making it the club with the third most appearances in professional competitions based in

, behind ex-

Greek Superleague The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

local rivals OFI and

. Furthermore, Irodotos has reached the

Greek Football 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 ...

Quarter-finals once in 1987–88 (losing to competition finalists

Panathinaikos Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club based in the City of Athens. Panathinaikos is one of the mos ...

) and the Round of 16 twice, the first time during the 1981−82 season (eliminated by eventual competition winners

AEK A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Established ...

) and for a second time during 1988−89, when they were eliminated by club rival OFI.

Recent years

In recent years, Irodotos have played primarily in the

, from which they were last relegated in the end of the 2014–15 season after being deducted fifteen points by the

Hellenic Football Federation The Hellenic Football Federation (HFF), (), is the governing body of football in Greece. It contributes in the organisation of Super League Greece 2. It is also responsible for the organization of the Greek Cup, Gamma Ethniki (3rd ranked men's f ...

in response to the murder of visiting fan Kostas Katsoulis by Irodotos hooligans in the municipal

Stadium during a

Football League 2 The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL) ...

home match vs.

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμι� ...

. After the tragic incidents that took place in 2015, Irodotos made a triumphant return to the

winning four trophies in a single season during 2016−17. More specifically, Irodotos was crowned champion of the Heraklion FCA Championship, while also managing to win the Heraklion FCA Cup, along with the

Greek Football Amateur Cup Greek Amateur Cup (Greek: Κύπελλο Ερασιτεχνικών Ομάδων Ελλάδος) was the most known competitions for amateur AND semi-professional teams in Greece, organised by the Hellenic Football Federation . It was founded in ...

and eventually the Greek Amateurs' Super Cup. Their next season in the

saw them win the Group 8 title and qualify to the

promotion play-offs, where they eventually celebrated their return to the 2nd tier of the

after a 36-year absence.

Players

Current squad

Honours

Domestic

Leagues

* Third Division **Winners (1): 1975–76 *Fourth Division **Winners (3): 1991–92, 2003–04,

2020–21 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 ...

Cups

** Winners (1): 2016–17 *

Amateurs' Super Cup Greece The Amateurs' Super Cup Greece introduced from the 2013–14 season and is a single final played on a neutral ground, which sets the Hellenic Football Federation. In Amateurs' Super Cup Greece compete the winning team of Gamma Ethniki Cup with the ...

** Winners (1): 2016–17

Regional

Leagues

* Heraklion FCA Championship **Winners (7): 1964−65, 1968−69, 1971−72, 1975−76, 2000−01, 2001−02, 2016−17

Cups

* Heraklion FCA Cup **Winners (8): 1975−76, 1994−95, 2001−02, 2005−06, 2007−08, 2012−13, 2015−16, 2016−17

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Irodotos Football clubs in Heraklion Football clubs in Crete Association football clubs established in 1932 1932 establishments in Greece