Athens Kallithea F.C.

Athens Kallithea Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ "Athens Kallithea FC", ΠΑΕ Άθενς Καλλιθέα) is a Greek professional football club based in Kallithea, a city and a suburb in the Athens urban area, Greece, which competes in the Super League 2, the second tier of the Greek football league system.

Athens Kallithea
Full nameAthens Kallithea Football Club
Founded18 August 1966
GroundGrigoris Lamprakis Stadium
Capacity6,300
OwnerFC Athens LLC
ChairmanTed Philipakos
ManagerAlekos Vosniadis
LeagueSuper League Greece 2
2022–23Super League Greece 2, 2nd
WebsiteClub website

The club has finished as high as ninth in the Greek top flight (2004–05) and has reached as far as the quarterfinal stage of the Greek Cup on five occasions (1969–70, 1978–79, 1986–87, 2001–02, 2009–10).[1]

History

Founding and early history

The club was founded on 18 August 1966 from the merger of five local clubs: Esperos, Iraklis, AE Kallitheas, Kallithaikos, and Pyrsos.[2]

In 1970, Kallithea's Grigoris Lambrakis Stadium, named after the Greek liberal politician and peace activist Grigoris Lambrakis, was opened to the public.

Early 2000s in first division

In 2002, Kallithea achieved promotion to Greece's top division for the first time. The club's first win in the competition was a 3–2 upset of PAOK at Toumba Stadium, thanks to two goals from Theofanis Gekas, on 14 September 2002.

After finishing ninth in 2004–05, Kallithea was relegated from the top division in 2005-06.

Recent history

In the 2021-22 season, Kallithea finished second in Super League 2, seven points back of league winners Levadiakos for promotion to Super League 1, which was the club's most successful season since it last appeared in the top division in 2005–06.

In September 2022, the club rebranded as Athens Kallithea FC. The presentation of the club's rebranding and 22/23 home and away shirts was met with widespread acclaim in Greece[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and abroad,[10][11][12][13][14][15] with London-based Versus calling it "one of the cleanest football rebrands ever."

In the 2022-23 season, AKFC missed out on promotion to Super League 1 by one point, finishing second in Super League 2 for the second consecutive season.

Stadium

Athens Kallithea FC play at Grigoris Lamprakis Stadium in the Athenian district of Kallithea, located 2 km south of the Acropolis and 1 km west of Andrea Syngrou Avenue, the main road linking the Athens city center to Poseidonos Avenue and the Athens Riviera.

Built in 1970, and named after the Greek liberal politician and peace activist Grigoris Lambrakis, it is a multi-use public stadium with a seating capacity of 6,300.

The stadium is commonly referred to by its nickname “El Paso,” a reference to Clint Eastwood’s 1965 Spaghetti Western film For a Few Dollars More (which had the Greek title Duel in El Paso), as the stadium was built on the site of a quarry and features a tall rock along the north side of the pitch, which was thought to be reminiscent of scenes from the film.[16]

Crest and colors

Historical

The first crest of Kallithea consisted of four circles representing the four groups of the merger of 1966, then becoming five circles with the addition of Pyrsos in 1967, which caused an issue with the Hellenic Olympic Committee. As a result, the club introduced a new crest with five stars in a diagonal line. The club's colors were blue and white, which were the colors of the two main groups of the merger, Esperos Kallitheas and Iraklis Kallitheas.

Current

In September 2022, the club rebranded as Athens Kallithea FC and presented a new visual identity. The club's founding year 1966 and traditional five stars representing the founding merger of the club have been maintained as part of the identity, while the new Athens Kallithea FC crest is a stylized AK monogram with five points that reference the five stars. The club's traditional blue and white have been maintained but with an updated blue, and gold has been introduced as a complementary color. The design work was executed by German studio Bureau Borsche, which also handled the rebranding of Inter Milan and Venezia FC.[17]

Players

Current squad
As of 11 September 2023[18]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Greece GRE Thanasis Pantos
2 DF Venezuela VEN Josua Mejías
3 DF Greece GRE Leonidas Rossi
4 MF Togo TOG Alaixys Romao
5 MF Greece GRE Orestis Tsintonis
6 MF Greece GRE Konstantinos Bouloulis
7 MF Greece GRE Andreas Vasilogiannis
8 MF Spain ESP Javier Matilla
9 FW Greece GRE Nikolaos Ioannidis
10 MF Brazil BRA Demethryus
11 DF Greece GRE Nikos Kenourgios
12 MF United States USA Constantine Edlund
13 GK Greece GRE Panagiotis Vosniadis
14 DF Greece GRE Georgios Manthatis
16 DF Poland POL Wiktor Matyjewicz
17 MF France FRA Anthony Mounier
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF Argentina ARG Nicolás Marotta
21 DF Greece GRE Spyros Vlachos
22 MF Greece GRE Georgios Moustakopoulos
23 MF France FRA Michaël Pereira
24 DF Greece GRE Stelios Pozatzidis
25 FW Greece GRE Giannis Loukinas
26 FW Greece GRE Panagiotis Kynigopoulos
27 MF Portugal POR Thierry Moutinho
33 FW Finland FIN Eetu Vertainen (on loan from Triestina)
35 MF Greece GRE Lampros Kakakios
44 DF Greece GRE Konstantinos Koltsidas
55 MF Uruguay URU Damián Silva
70 GK Greece GRE Konstantinos Kotsaris
77 DF Syria SYR Abdul Rahman Weiss
99 GK Greece GRE Andreas Sakelliadis

Honours

Third Division: 3

  • 1976, 1993, 2010

Fourth Division: 1

  • 2020

References
  1. "Greece – Cup data (from Quarterfinals on)". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2022-12-05. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  2. "Greece – Mergers and name changes". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-02-03.
  3. "Η Athens Kallithea FC έχει μια αποστολή για το ελληνικό ποδόσφαιρο". Kathimerini. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  4. "Athens Kallithea FC: Οι νέες ποδοσφαιρικές εμφανίσεις συνάντησαν τη μόδα και είναι εντυπωσιακά stylish". Lifo. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  5. "Η Καλλιθέα ξανασυστήνεται με μοντέλο και παρουσίαση φανέλας αλά Βενέτσια!". Gazzetta.gr. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  6. "Καλλιθέα: Στη νέα εποχή με φανέλες αλά Βενέτσια, νέο όνομα και έμβλημα". Sport24. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  7. "Με άρωμα... Βενέτσια οι νέες φανέλες της Καλλιθέας!". Spor FM. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  8. "Athens Kallithea FC: Η πιο μοδάτη ελληνική ομάδα". Sportday. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  9. "Οι φανέλες της Καλλιθέας είναι ό,τι πιο ωραίο έχουμε δει στο ελληνικό ποδόσφαιρο φέτος". Oneman.gr. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  10. "Introducing Athens Kallithea: Your new second team". Goal.com. Archived from the original on 2022-09-24. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
  11. "Athens Kallithea Follow Venezia FC's Path With New Home & Away Shirts". Soccerbible. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  12. "Athens Kallithea FC and Kappa Team up for one of the Cleanest Football Rebrands Ever". Versus. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  13. "Il restyling più bello dell'anno è quello dell'Athens Kallithea FC, in Grecia". Rivista Undici. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  14. "Il vostro prossimo club preferito si trova in Grecia e si chiama Athens Kallithea FC". NSS. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  15. "Nace el hermano pequeño del Venezia: Athens Kallithea". 25 Gramos. Archived from the original on 2022-09-29. Retrieved 2022-09-29.
  16. "Stadium". Athens Kallithea FC.
  17. "Athens Kallithea FC present new visual identity and 22/23 home and away shirts". Athens Kallithea FC.
  18. "Roster". Athens Kallithea FC.
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