Kavala F.C.

Kavala Football Club[1] (Greek: Αθλητικός Όμιλος Καβάλα, lit. Athletic Club Kavala) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Kavala, Greece. They compete in the Gamma Ethniki, the third tier of the Greek football league system. The club's home ground is the Anthi Karagianni Stadium.

Kavala
Full nameΑθλητικός Όμιλος Καβάλα
(Athletic Club Kavala)
Nickname(s)Argonauts
Light Brigade of the North
Short nameAOK
Founded1965 (1965)
GroundAnthi Karagianni Stadium
Capacity10,550
InvestorGiannis Diamantidis
ChairmanAntonis Antoniou
ManagerTimos Kavakas
LeagueGamma Ethniki
2022–23Gamma Ethniki (Group 1), 2nd
WebsiteClub website

History

The club was formed in 1965 from the merger of Phillipoi Kavala, Iraklis Kavala and A.E. Kavala.[2]

They have had a few runs in the top division of the Greek League. They were promoted to Alpha Ethniki for the first time in 1969 and stayed up for six years (1970 through 1975). They returned to top division in 1976 and played again for six seasons.

In 1982 the club were relegated to the Beta Ethniki (second tier of Greek football). After 11 years in Beta Ethniki and one year in Gamma Ethniki (third tier – 1988–89) they were promoted to Alpha Ethniki. Their "black" period began for the team in which they played only in Beta Ethniki and Gamma Ethniki.

2009–2010 season
Wilson Oruma
Charles Itandje

In 2009 they signed Miltiadis Sapanis and EURO 2004 winner Fanis Katergiannakis. Kavala were promoted for the first time in 9 years to Greeces top division. In their quest to remain in the top flight they have signed Pepe Reina's back up at Liverpool, Charles Itandje and recently acquired Brazilian Denílson (January 2010 transfer window) a 2002 World Cup Winner. Additional season signings include Craig Moore, Željko Kalac, Ebi Smolarek, Diogo Rincón, Sotiris Leontiou, Serge Dié, Wilson Oruma and Frédéric Mendy. This combined with coach Aad de Mos meant that Kavala set the league alight. They subsequently achieved notable victories in the 2009–2010 season against Iraklis FC, Panionios, AEK FC and Panathinaikos FC.

2010–2011 season

Ending in 6th place, the team entered the transfer season. In July, the Spanish goalkeeper, Javier Lopez Vallejo (who played in Real Zaragoza) was added to the roster. The team's owner sought the new manager throughout Europe and settled on the Serbian coach Dragomir Okuka who lasted until November, when he was replaced by Henryk Kasperczak. In Kasperczak's debut as a coach, Kavala beat AEK, 2–1, in what was considered a very good appearance.

But in March 2011, Kasperczak, retired as the coach of this team, and he was replaced by Ioannis Matzourakis, who was the coach in Kavala FC team in the seasons 1985–1986. Kavala finished 7th and later faced the threat of relegation to Football League (Greece) due to the match-fixing scandal.[3] After an appeal, the team managed to avoid relegation by starting the new league with 8 points less.[4] On 23 August, however, the Professional Sports Committee stripped both Kavala and Olympiakos Volou from their professional licence and demoted them to the Delta Ethniki.[5]

2011–2012 season

Kavala competed in Delta Ethniki Group 1. They only finished 4th, but were promoted two divisions to the Football League for 2012/13 after it was ruled that their demotion to Delta Ethniki in 2011 was as a result of government intervention and should not have been implemented by the football authorities.[6]

2013–2014 season

Ιn September 2013 Germans investors take the management of Kavala F.C. The agreement provides that the new investors will "catch" and a significant part of its debts to old players.

Indeed, the Germans will be able to buy a majority stake of the shares of FC paying €500,000 clause of the first season and €700,000 for the second, respectively.

Crest

The emblem of the club is the ancient trireme, as architecture engineer Christos Batsis designed it. According to the instigator of the emblem of Kavala, the boat is a trireme, where the oars are the footballers, the cloth the administration and the fancy the fans of the club. These three elements together lead Kavala to the harbors that are the targets the team puts each time. All of this certainly has to do with the fact that Kavala is a coastal city and its world closely related to the wet element. The original element of the emblem of Kavala was hanging on the door of the design of the late Christos Batsis until he died.

For a while, the emblem contained the then name of the "Puma Nea Kavala Football Club" team.

  • Old crest.
    Old crest.
  • Puma's crest.
    Puma's crest.
  • Current crest.
    Current crest.

Stadium
Anthi Karagianni Stadium

The Anthi Karagianni Municipal Stadium (Greek: Δημοτικό Στάδιο Ανθή Καραγιάννη), formerly the Kavala National Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Kavala, Greece. It is the homebase of Kavala FC. The stadium was built in 1970, and currently has a seating capacity of 10,500. It is named after the paralympic athlete, Anthi Karagianni, who won three silver medals in the 2004 Paralympic Games.

Honours

League

Cup
  • Kavala FCA Cup
    • Winners: 2017–18

Achievements
  • Greek Cup
    • Semi-finals: 1964–65, 1994–95, 2009–10

League participation
  • First Division (19): 1969–1975, 1976–1982, 1994–1995, 1996–2000, 2009–2011
  • Second Division (23): 1965–1969, 1975–1976, 1982–1989, 1990–1994, 1995–1996, 2000–2001, 2002–2003, 2008–2009, 2012–2014, 2021–2022
  • Third Division (15): 1989–1990, 2001–2002, 2003–2008, 2014–2021, 2022–present
  • Fourth Division (1): 2011–2012

Sources:[7][8]

Recent seasons
Season Category Position Cup
2000–01 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 13th ↓ GS
2001–02 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 4th ↑ GS
2002–03 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 14th ↓ 1R
2003–04 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 17th 1R
2004–05 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 3rd 1R
2005–06 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 7th 3R
2006–07 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 5th 1R
2007–08 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 1st ↑ 1R
2008–09 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 3rd ↑ 4R
2009–10 Super League (1st division) 6th SF
2010–11 Super League (1st division) 7th ↓ 5R
2011–12 Delta Ethniki (4th division) 4th ↑ —
2012–13 Football League (2nd division) 11th 4R
2013–14 Football League (2nd division) 13th ↓ 1R
2014–15 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 3rd —
2015–16 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 4th —
2016–17 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 6th —
2017–18 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 3rd —
2018–19 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 1st 1R
2019–20 Football League (3rd division) 6th 5R
2020–21 Football League (3rd division) 2nd ↑ —
2021–22 Super League 2 (2nd division) 14th ↓ —
2022–23 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 2nd —

Best position in bold.

Key: 1R = First Round, 2R = Second Round, 3R = Third Round, 4R = Fourth Round, 5R = Fifth Round, GS = Group Stage, QF = Quarter-finals, SF = Semi-finals.

Notable wins
Season Match Score
1979–80 Kavala – Olympiacos 1–0
1978–81 Kavala – Olympiacos 1–0
1970–71 Kavala – Panathinaikos 1–0
1973–74 Kavala – Panathinaikos 1–0
1976–77 Kavala – Panathinaikos 1–0
1998–99 Kavala – Panathinaikos 2–1
2009–10 Panathinaikos – Kavala 0–2
1971–72 Kavala – AEK Athens 1–0
1980–81 Kavala – AEK Athens 1–0
1998–99 Kavala – AEK Athens 2–1
2009–10 Kavala – AEK Athens 2–1
2010–11 Kavala – AEK Athens 2–1
2012–13 AEK Athens – Kavala (for Greek Cup) 0–1
1970–71 Kavala – PAOK 1–0
1973–74 Kavala – PAOK 1–0
1980–81 Kavala – PAOK 1–0
2010–11 PAOK – Kavala 0–2
1965–66 Kavala – Aris (for Greek Cup) 1–0
1970–71 Kavala – Aris 2–1
1972–73 Kavala – Aris 3–1
1977–78 Kavala – Aris 1–0
1981–82 Kavala – Aris 3–2
1996–97 Kavala – Aris 3–1
1996–97 Aris – Kavala 1–3
1998–99 Kavala – Aris 3–1
1999–00 Kavala – Aris 1–0
2004–05 Kavala – Aris (for Greek Cup) 2–1

Players

Current squad
As of 16 April 2022

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 Panagiotis Stathakis
2 DF Greece GRE Giannis Kazantzidis (captain)
3 DF Serbia SRB Miloš Spasić
4 DF Serbia SRB Dragan Nedeljković
5 DF Greece GRE Pantelis Panourgias
6 DF Lithuania LTU Vilius Armalas
7 MF Greece GRE Michalis Marinakis
8 MF Austria AUT Dino Musija
9 FW Greece GRE Nikos Sampanidis
10 FW Greece GRE Okan Suleiman
11 FW Serbia SRB Lazar Stakić
13 MF Greece GRE Andreas Giannakos
16 DF Greece GRE Vangelis Thalassinos
17 FW Nigeria NGA Sunday Alimi
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF Greece GRE Dimitrios Thomaidis
19 MF Greece GRE Christos Retsos
20 GK Greece GRE Konstantinos Papapostolou
22 DF Greece GRE Apostolos Stikas
26 DF Israel ISR Orel Cohen
28 DF Greece GRE Christoforos Karagiannis
30 FW Brazil BRA Caiuby
31 DF Serbia SRB Stefan Jaraković
41 DF Greece GRE Stathis Belevonis (on loan from Panetolikos)
47 MF Greece GRE Pavlos Grosdanis
72 FW France FRA Yanis Ammour (on loan from AEK Athens B)
87 MF Germany GER Patrick Ebert (vice-captain)
97 GK Greece GRE Ilias Kyritsis (third-captain)
99 FW Serbia SRB Bogdan Stamenković

Other squad players

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
21 DF Greece GRE Giorgos Chatzigeorgiou
23 GK Greece GRE Giannis Karipidis
27 MF Greece GRE Giorgos Theodoros Tachtatzidis
29 FW Greece GRE Panagiotis Boutzatzas
32 MF Greece GRE Dimitris Papadopoulos
35 DF Greece GRE Dimitris Vordonarakis
No. Pos. Nation Player
38 DF Greece GRE Grigoris Pertzemlidis
40 FW Greece GRE Nikos Draganidis
45 FW Greece GRE Stelios Kamaridis
46 DF Greece GRE Theodoros Klepousniotis
49 DF Greece GRE Giorgos Labaditis
52 DF Greece GRE Michalis Aposoglou

Personnel
Technical staff
Owner Canada Alex Haditaghi
President Greece Stavros Kouros
Curator of Football Greece Argyris Spanidis
Technical director

Coaching Staff
  • Manager: Greece Panagiotis Dilberis (caretaker)
  • Assistant manager: Greece Nikos Karabiberis
  • Assistant manager: Greece Georgios Angelidis
  • Goalkeeping coach: Greece Nikos Soumoulidis
  • Fitness coach: Greece Kyriakos Fourkalas

Notable Managers


The following managers won at least one national trophy when in charge of Kavala F.C.:

Name Period Trophies
North Macedonia Jane Janevski 1975–1977 Football League
Greece Georgios Paraschos 1995–1996 Football League
Greece Stratos Voutsakelis 2007–2008 Gamma Ethniki
Greece Konstantinos Anyfantakis 2017–2018 Kavala FCA Cup
Greece Pavlos Dermitzakis 2018–2019 Gamma Ethniki

Most Serving Managers
Name Period Days
Serbia Béla Pálfi 1969–1975 2065
Greece Georgios Paraschos 1995–1997, 1999–2000 941
Greece Vassilis Daniil 1979–1981 911
Greece Pavlos Dermitzakis 2018–2020 730
North Macedonia Jane Janevski 1975–1977 730

Record players
Name Apps
Greece Georgios Mallios171
Greece Georgios Koltsis124
Greece Konstantinos Vakirtzis117
Greece Georgios Peglis114
Greece Anestis Athanasiadis109
Poland Leszek Pisz101
Greece Kyrillos Kallimanis91
Bulgaria Ivan Mitev85
Greece Anastasios Tsapanidis82
Greece Panagiotis Logaras79
Name Goals
Poland Leszek Pisz26
Nigeria Benjamin Onwuachi24
Greece Nikos Soultanidis23
Greece Anestis Athanasiadis22
Greece Giorgos Papandreou21
Greece Georgios Nasiopoulos19
Greece Georgios Mallios10
Poland Bartosz Tarachulski8
Ivory Coast Serge Dié7
Greece Dimitrios Orfanos7

Source:

References
  1. Kavala FC. uefa.com.
  2. "Kavala's History". Archived from the original on 2009-05-21.
  3. "Relegation for Olympiakos Volou and Kavala" (in Greek). Contra.gr. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  4. "Olympiakos Volou and Kavala escape relegation" (in Greek). Contra.gr. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  5. "Olympiakos Volou and Kavala to Delta Ethniki" (in Greek). Contra.gr. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  6. "EPO - Hellenic Football Federation".
  7. Abbink, Dinant & Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (2003-08-07). "Greece – Final Tables 1959–1999". RSSSF.
  8. Abbink, Dinant & Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (2005-05-18). "Greece – List of Second Level Final Tables". RSSSF.
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