Panachaiki F.C. (

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 ...

: Παναχαϊκή ΓΕ ΠΑΕ ) is a Greek professional

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

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

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 ...

, that competes in

Super League Greece 2 The Super League Greece 2 () is the second division of professional Association football, football in Greece, serving as a feeder league to the top level Super League Greece, Super League 1. Made up of 20 teams in two groups, it is usually played ...

, the second tier of Greek football. Founded in 14 June 1891, they have reached the

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 ...

semi-finals twice (

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

). It was the first Greek club outside both the

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

and

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 ...

metropolitan areas to represent Greece in a European competition, the

1973–74 UEFA Cup The 1973–74 UEFA Cup was the third season of the UEFA Cup, the third-tier club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played over two legs at White Hart Lane, London, England, and at De Kuip, Rotterdam, the Netherlands. It was wo ...

. In 1979, the department became professional and independent. They have played their home games in various grounds since their first official game in 1899, mainly the

Kostas Davourlis Stadium Kostas Davourlis Stadium is a stadium in Patras, Greece. It is the home of Panachaiki F.C.. Work on the grounds started in 1935. Originally called Stadium of Panachaiki, it has been officially renamed Kostas Davourlis in 1992 after the great fo ...

, their traditional home ground, and the

Pampeloponnisiako Stadium Pampeloponnisiako Stadium (, "Pan-Peloponnese Stadium") is a stadium located in Patras, Greece. It was built in 1981 and was originally known as the National Stadium of Patras (Εθνικό Στάδιο Πατρών, ''Ethniko Stadio Patron''). ...

History

Establishment

The history of Panachaiki began in 1891, when ''Panachaikos Gymnastikos Syllogos'' (Pan-Achaean Gymnastic Club) was founded. In 1894, a rival sports club, ''Gymnastiki Eteria Patron'' (Gymnastic Company of Patras), was founded in Patras by former Panachaikos' members. The football department was founded in 1899 and played its first friendly game against a team of British sailors the same year, winning 4–2. In 1902, Morphy established a football team and a Gymnastics Company, playing many friendly games with each other and other clubs from Patras.

Early years

1923–1940

Panachaiki's first sections were founded in 1923. The players on the football team were athletes from the club's other departments,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

immigrants and members of the British community of Patras. Due to the lack of rivals, the first games were played against the crews of foreign warships arriving in the city. In 1924, Panachaiki had two equivalent soccer teams, A and B, since both the Panachaikos and the Gymnastics Company had football sections. As a result, some players left Panachaiki and created other clubs in the following years. At the same time, in 1922, with the

Asia Minor Catastrophe Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

, thousands of refugees arrived in Patras, bringing with them their love of football and establishing several new clubs. This situation led to the secession of the associations from SEGAS and the establishment of the Hellenic Football Federation of Patras in 1927. In the same year, the new association founded a championship, in which Panachaiki was a leading contender, prevailing many times until 1959. The championship was organized by Panachaiki from 1923–24 to 1925–26. At that time, the Greek championship was a tournament between the champions of Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, with the Hellenic Football Federation excluding provincial clubs for many years. Patras, due to disagreements between the clubs and disobedience to the Epirus Achaia, failed to organize a regular championship and this resulted in its exclusion from the Greek championship. Nevertheless, the Athenian clubs held friendly games in the city, culminating on 11 August 1945, when Panachaiki played a Greek XI at home, losing 7–1. In 1928, Panachaiki faced Panathinaikos, who won 4–3. In 1929, they played against AEK, losing 0–1, 0–2 and 0–6, while against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

they were defeated 2–5 in the same year, followed by 1–7 and 0–7 defeats in 1930 and 1934 respectively. The significant difference in ability was due, among other factors, to the Athens and Piraeus teams' 25 years of experience in tournament events.

1940–1953

In 1940, all sporting activity in

was suspended due to

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 ...

. Some friendly games were played during the occupation, while in 1943 a Patras cup was organized. Upon the end of the war, the local championship was restarted. Several Panachaiki players were killed during the

Greco-Italian war The Greco-Italian War (), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian campaign in Greece, Italian invasion of Greece, and War of '40 in Greece, took place between Italy and Greece from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. This conflict began the Balk ...

. In this period, Panachaiki played in the Patras Championship, but failed to qualify for the

Panhellenic Championship 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 repl ...

1954–1961: National championships

Panachaiki participated in the Panhellenic Championship for the first time in the 1953–54 season. It was in this year that the Championship first admitted teams from outside Athens, Piraeus, and Thessaloniki. A Regional Championship was inaugurated, consisting of a Southern Group and a Northern Group. Panachaiki participated in the Southern Group and won, thus qualifying for the final round of the Panhellenic Championship, where they finished in 6th and last place. Two seasons later, the team took third place in the Southern Group behind Olympiacos and Ethnikos Piraeus, while the 1956–57 also brought a third-place finish. In 1957–58, Panachaiki finished second in the Southern Group, and in 1958-59 were beaten in the qualifiers by Panegialios in the Southern Group, as they were again the following year.

1961–1975

In 1962-63, Panachaiki participated in the first season of the newly established second tier, 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 ...

(known since 2019 as the Football League). From then until 2007, Panachaiki would not compete in a lower league. Panachaiki immediately starred in the Beta Ethniki, targeting promotion every year, which they secured in 1969. But Panachaiki's first year in the

Alpha Ethniki 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 ...

was disastrous, as they were accused of attempting to fix a match against

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

and docked 13 points. They finished bottom of the table and were relegated. The following year, however, Panachaiki performed well again in the Beta Ethniki and returned immediately to the top flight. Panachaiki had their greatest success in the early- and mid-1970s. In 1971, they returned to the Alpha Ethniki and a golden era began with a team of Davourlis, Rigas, Stravopodis, Michalopoulos and others achieving success, culminating in qualification for the UEFA Cup. The club ended the season 6th with 11 wins, 14 draws, 9 defeats, and a total of 40 goals scored and 35 conceded. At this time, the club's average match attendance was 8,773, the second highest among the provincial teams. In 1972-73, Panachaiki took 4th position in the league and qualified for the UEFA Cup. They denied PAOK the championship with a 5–3 in the last game at the Toumba Stadium. The team subsequently took part in the

, eliminating

Grazer AK Grazer Athletiksport Klub (; abbreviated as GAK), better known simply as Grazer AK, is an Austrian sports club based in the city of Graz in the federal state of Styria. The football section was once among Austria's most popular clubs, enjoying s ...

before losing to

Twente Twente ( , Tweants dialect: ''Tweante'') is a region in the eastern Netherlands. It encompasses the most urbanised and easternmost part of the province of Overijssel. Twente is most likely named after the Tuihanti or Tvihanti, a Germanic people ...

. Former

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

manager

Wilf McGuinness Wilfred McGuinness (born 25 October 1937) is an English former football player and manager, who played for Manchester United and twice for England in his short playing career. McGuinness succeeded Sir Matt Busby as manager of Manchester United ...

took over as head coach for the 1974–75 season, before returning to England eighteen months later. In 1974, Panachaiki finished sixth. Kostas Davourlis' record 10 million drachma transfer to Olympiacos was a powerful blow to the red-black fans' dreams of winning a championship. In 1975, Panachaiki finished in seventh place.

1976–2004

In 1975-76, Panachaiki finished tenth and began their downward spiral, as the club's star players began to leave and the team aged. Every year thereafter, the team finished in the bottom half of the table until their eventual relegation to the Beta Ethniki in 1980-81. Since then, Panachaiki have tended to oscillate between the first and second tiers of Greek football. Panachaiki were again relegated from the Alpha Ethniki in 1987-88. Fans demonstrated on the main streets of the city, setting up barricades and clashing with the police, leaving 15 injured. In the summer of 1996, Panachaiki participated in the

Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was discon ...

, taking part in a European event for the second time. In 2003, with the intervention of then-minister Evangelos Venizelos, Panachaiki were punished for debts and eliminated from the Football League.

2004–2015

In 2004, Panachaiki were absorbed by Patraikos, a debt-free Beta Ethniki team. This created the "Panahaiki GI 2005", who took part in the Beta Ethniki in 2005. Nevertheless, the team was relegated the following season to 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 ...

. Although they managed to rise to the Beta Etniki in 2011, Panachaiki were relegated and fined EUR 300,000 for bribery in a match against Olympiakos Chersonissos. Simultaneously, in relation to the same case, a fine and a five-year ban were imposed upon the club's chairman

Alexis Kougias Alexios Kougias (; 23 January 1951 – 28 February 2025) was a Greek lawyer, Penology, penologist. Early life Kougias was born in Petroupolis on 23 January 1951. He studied law at the University of Thessaloniki and at the University of Athe ...

. However, the EPAA Appeals Committee later allowed the team to continue in the second tier and replaced the original penalty with a 5-point deduction. Kougias was also acquitted. In 2015, Panachaiki's chairman left the club. The team were relegated the same year to the Gamma Ethniki with a squad of only 13 players.

Recent years

In 2016, Panachaiki, having been relegated to the third tier, went into the hands of the club's amateur department. Fifteen city entrepreneurs created the "Panachaean Alliance" in order to take over the reins of the group and start efforts to clear debts from previous administrations. In the post of technical director, veteran international footballer and former Panachaiki player

Kostas Katsouranis Kostas Katsouranis (; born 21 June 1979) is a Greek former professional footballer. A versatile midfielder, who won the Super League Greek Footballer of the Year Award in 2005 and 2013, as well as the Cosme Damião Award for Footballer of the Y ...

was hired by the "alliance" to take over the organization of the football section. The team were crowned league champions in 2016-17 and returned to the Beta Ethniki. 20130814 AT-GR Kostas Katsouranis 2490

On 21 June 2017, the Deputy Minister of Sports tabled an amendment to the

Hellenic Parliament The Parliament of the Hellenes (), commonly known as the Hellenic Parliament (), is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Greece, located in the Old Royal Palace, overlooking Syntagma Square in Athens. The parliament is the supreme demo ...

concerning article 10 of the new Sport Law, which states inter alia that, from the 2016–17 season onwards, if an A.A.E. is relegated to an amateur league and goes into liquidation, and a new A.A.E. is set up for the same sport by the same founding sports club, any liability falls to the persons who are responsible. The amendment was passed by a majority in Parliament a few days later, paving the way for the creation of a new football club under the name "PAE Panachaiki 1891" and the club's current iteration. During the 2018–19 season, Panachaiki was the only team to beat

PAOK PAOK (, Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινοπολιτών, ''Panthessalonikeios Athlitikós Ómilos Constantinopoliton'', ''Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans''), commonly ...

, who did not lose a single league game that season. Panchaiki defeated the Thessaloniki club 2–1 at home in the Greek Cup round of 16.

Stadiums

The team's privately owned arena is the

, with a capacity of 11,321 spectators. Panachaiki have also used the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

-operated

, which has a capacity of 23,588. Pampeloponisiako stadio.jpg, Pampeloponisiako Stadium is also used for

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

events. File:Panachaiki vs Rodos.JPG,

in a sold-out match; Panachaiki vs Rodos for the 2008–09 Gamma Ethniki season.

Honours

Domestic

Leagues

* Super League 2 : Winners (6) ( record):

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

1969 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the ...

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

: Winners (3):

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

: * O.P.A.P. Championship : Winners (1):

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

Cups

: ''Semi-finals (2)'':

European record

Season to season

* Finished 2nd in the South Group and 6th in the promotion playoffs

Participation history

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

(26) * Second Division (30) (2022–present) * Third Division (7)

Players

Current squad

Notable players

;Greece * Kostas Andriopoulos * Christos Apostolidis *

Kostas Davourlis Kostas Davourlis (, 4 January 1948 – 23 May 1992) born in Agyia, Patras, popularly nicknamed The Black Prince, was a former Greek footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A gifted and talented player, he was voted by the Greek s ...

* Christos Eleftheriadis * Paris Georgakopoulos *

Grigoris Georgatos Grigoris Georgatos (; born 31 October 1972) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left-back. He was nicknamed the “''Greek Roberto Carlos”'' and ''"the crazy bald"'' ''()'' due to his highly-aggressive play on the pitch a ...

Takis Ikonomopoulos Panagiotis "Takis" Ikonomopoulos (; 19 October 1943 – 10 February 2025) was a Greek professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a ...

* Petros Leventakos *

Andreas Michalopoulos Andreas Michalopoulos (; 23 February 1948 – 4 January 2022) was a Greek footballer who played as a striker for Panachaiki. Club career Michalopoulos played for Panachaiki when the team qualified for the 1973–74 UEFA Cup. Before the UEF ...

Manolis Pappas Manolis Pappas (; born 1951) is a former Greek footballer (midfielder). He was a member of the Panachaiki football team that qualified for the 1974 UEFA Cup. He started his career in Ethnikos Piraeus before being transferred to Panachaiki in th ...

* Themis Rigas * Dimitris Spentzopoulos * Vassilis Stravopodis ;South America *

Fabián Caballero Néstor Fabián Caballero (31 January 1978 – 27 September 2024), commonly referred to as Tyson, was an Argentine-Paraguayan professional footballer who played as a forward. Caballero had a 19-year career, playing in Argentina, Paraguay, Eng ...

* Luciano de Souza ;Africa *

Nicolas Dikoume Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to: People Given name * Nicolas (given name) Mononym * Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer * Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer Surname Nicolas * Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...

Joël Epalle Joël Dieudonné Martin Epalle Newaka (born 20 February 1978) is a Cameroonian football manager and former player who manages Val d'Europe FC. He mainly played as a right midfielder, but throughout his career he also played as a second strike ...

* Raymond Kalla *

Olivier Makor Oliver Makor (born 9 October 1973) is a Liberian former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Over his career, he played for Persik Kediri, Proodeftiki F.C., Proodeftiki FC, Egaleo FC and Ionikos FC, among oth ...

Amaechi Ottiji Amaechi Ottiji (28 December 1969 – 25 December 2004) was a Nigerian footballer who played as a forward for clubs in Nigeria, Greece and Germany. Club career Born in Enugu, Ottiji began playing football for Calabar Rovers. He played for Enug ...

;Europe * Demetris Kizas * Walter Wagner *

Nenad Vukčević Nenad Vukčević (born 25 November 1974) is a Montenegrin association football, football manager and former player who recently served as a manager of FK Podgorica. A forward (association football), forward, he played for clubs in FR Yugoslavia, ...

Krzysztof Nowak Krzysztof Nowak (; 27 September 1975 – 26 May 2005) was a Polish footballer who played as a midfielder, best known for his stint with German club VfL Wolfsburg. Nowak began playing football in 1985. He slowly rose in prominence and in 1996 mov ...

* Mihail Majearu *

Boško Mihajlović Boško Mihajlović (Serbian Cyrillic: Бошко Михајловић; born October 10, 1971) is a Serbian former footballer. Mihajlović started his career in FK Proleter Zrenjanin in 1992. He played 6 seasons for Proleter (1992-1997) and then ...

Björn Enqvist Bjorn, Bjorne (English, Dutch), Björn (Swedish, Icelandic, Dutch, and German), Bjørn (Danish, Faroese and Norwegian), Beorn (Old English) or, rarely, Bjôrn, Biorn, or Latinized Biornus, Brum (Portuguese), is a Scandinavian male given name, or ...

Personnel

Ownership and current board

Technical staff

Notes

References

* Papageorgiou, V.G., ''Patraikon Imerologion'', 1906 * * Ιkonomopoulos, V., ''Patras Sports Panorama'', 1994 * * Kokkovikas, K., ''The sports past of Achaia'', 2004 * Patras Municipality, ''100 years of football in Patras'', 2006

External links

Official websites * News sites *Panachaiki o
sportfmpatras.gr
Media *
Official YouTube channel
{{Football in Greece Association football clubs established in 1891 Football clubs in Western Greece Achaea Sport in Patras 1891 establishments in Greece Super League Greece 2 clubs