P.O. Atsaleniou, short for Panathlitikos Omililos Atsaleniou ( el, Παναθλητικός Όμιλος Ατσαλένιου, translated ''Pan-athletic Club of Atsalenio'') and also known simply as Atsalenios or POA, is a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in the suburb ''Atsalenio'' of

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban A ...

, the largest city on the island of

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

. The club's short name Atsalenios can literally be translated ''made of steel'' ( el, ατσάλι, being the

word for ''

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

''). The club currently competes in the

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki ( el, Γ΄ Εθνική Ερασιτεχνική Κατηγορία, C National Amateur Division) is the third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 198 ...

, the third tier of the

Greek football league system The Greek football league system includes four levels in which teams can possibly make it to the Super League 1, Greece's highest division of football. Cup eligibility Greek Football Professional Cup: Levels 1 to 2 Greek Football Amateur Cup: L ...

. The club's crest is a vine leaf and its traditional colours are green and white.

History

Atsalenios was founded in 1951 as the ''Pan-athletic Club of Atsalenio'' by

Asia minor Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...

refugees occupying the Atsalenio suburb, located in the southern area of the city of

. Since 1960, the club hosts its home games at the Atsalenios Stadium, a privately owned

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

stadium with a capacity of 1,500 spectators. In 1964, the club competed in the

Beta Ethniki The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) 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 Lea ...

, the second tier of the

for the first time in its history. Since 1976, Atsalenios has consecutively competed at national competitions, either as an amateur or professional club playing in the

Delta Ethniki Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also r ...

, the fourth tier of the

. In 2003, Atsalenios was promoted to the

, featuring in seven consecutive seasons before being relegated in 2010. The club has since briefly resurfaced in the

2013–14 Gamma Ethniki The 2013–14 Gamma Ethniki was the 31st season since the official establishment of the third tier of Greek football in 1983. It was scheduled to start on 22 September 2013. 93 teams were separated into six groups, according to geographical crit ...

, where it was relegated to Heraklion FCA regional competitions for the first time in 38 years, after finishing 8th in the

Group 5. Then it once again achieved promotion to the

during the 2015−16 season, when the club was crowned champions of

by finishing first in the regional league, and eventually placing first in the 2016 FCA Winners' Championship. Atsalenios currently holds the record for most Heraklion FCA Cup trophies won since the competition was established in 1971, with a total of 12 wins. The club has also claimed 9 Heraklion FCA Championships, second-most behind modern Superleague regulars OFI. Atsalenios maintains its own football academies, having produced a number of players that have since moved on to more prestigious clubs in

, such as

OFI Crete OFI may refer to: * Overseas Filipino Investors, Filipino expatriates who contribute to the economy of the Philippines through remittances, buying property, and creating businesses * OFI Crete, a Greek association football club based on the island ...

and

Ergotelis The Gymnastics Club «Ergotelis» Heraklion Crete ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος «O Εργοτέλης» Ηρακλείου Κρήτης, Γ.Σ. Εργοτέλης), commonly known simply as Ergotelis ( el, Εργοτέλης), ...

, as well as other

Greek Superleague The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

clubs. Some of the most renowned players to emerge from Atsalenios' infrastructure segments include Michalis Sifakis (former Greek champion with

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

, 15 international caps with the

Greece national football team The Greece national football team ( el, Εθνική Ελλάδας, ) represents Greece in men's international football matches and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece play most ...

), his father

Myron Myron of Eleutherae ( grc, Μύρων, ''Myrōn'' ), working c. 480–440 BC, was an Athenian sculptor from the mid-5th century BC. He was born in Eleutherae on the borders of Boeotia and Attica. According to Pliny's '' Natural History'', Agelad ...

( 1986−87 Greek Cup winner with

Manolis Roubakis Manolis Roubakis ( el, Μανώλης Ρουμπάκης; born 6 January 1979) is a Greek professional footballer who plays for Atsalenios in the Greek Football League 2. Despite being right-footed, his natural position is left back; however, he ...

Petros Giakoumakis Petros Giakoumakis ( el, Πέτρος Γιακουμάκης; born 3 July 1992) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a forward for Cypriot First Division club Olympiakos Nicosia, on loan from Lamia. Career Born in Crete, Giakoumakis ...

and others.

Players

Current squad

Honours

Domestic

**Winners (2): 2002−03, 2012−13 * FCA Winners' Championship **Winners (2): 1988, 2016

Regional

* Heraklion FCA Championship **Winners (9): 1962−63, 1965−66, 1970−71, 1973−74, 1984−85, 1987−88, 1994−95, 1996−97, 2015−16 * Heraklion FCA Cup **Winners (12) (record): 1974−75, 1977−78, 1983−84, 1985−86, 1986−87, 1990−91, 1996−97, 1997−98, 2000−01, 2002−03, 2014−15, 2018–19

Notable former players

;Greece * Michalis Sifakis *

Michail Fragoulakis Michail Fragoulakis ( el, Μιχαήλ Φραγκουλάκης; born 15 July 1983) is a Greek professional footballer who plays for the Greek Gamma Ethniki club Giouchtas. Career Born in Heraklion, Fragoulakis began his football career with th ...

Giorgos Giakoumakis Giorgos Giakoumakis ( gr, Γιώργος Γιακουμάκης; born 9 December 1994) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC and the Greece national team. Club career Early ca ...

Grigorios Athanasiou Grigoris Athanasiou ( el, Γρηγόρης Αθανασίου; born 9 March 1984) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He is left-handed. Career Born in Eleftherio-Kordelio, Athanasiou began playing football with Akratitos in S ...

* Dimitris Hasomeris * Dimitris Karademitros * Stefanos Vavoulas *

Thanasis Patiniotis Athanasios "Thanasis" Patiniotis (Greek : Θανάσης Πατινιώτης, born 1 October 1993) is a professional Greek footballer, who plays for Atsalenios. He plays as a midfielder for Atsalenios. Although the player had an agreement wit ...

Anestis Anastasiadis Anestis Anastasiadis (Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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, th ...

;Europe * Miguel Agostinho Oliveira * Marco Meireles ;Africa * Ebus Onuchukwu * Rasheed Alabi * Edouard Oum Ndeki ;America * Fernando Benitez *

Abel Masuero Abel Masuero (born 6 April 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Chacarita Juniors. Career Masuero began his professional playing career in 2007 with Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata. He made his professiona ...

Managerial history

Rajko Janjanin Rajko Janjanin ( sr-Cyrl, Pajкo Jaњaнин; born 18 January 1957) is a Yugoslav of Croatian Serb descent former international football player, who played as a midfielder. Club career Janjanin started his professional career in 1975 playing fo ...

(1996–2002) *

Pavlos Dermitzakis Pavlos Dermitzakis ( gr, Παύλος Δερμιτζάκης; born 29 June 1969) is a Greek professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Super League 2 club Panserraikos. Playing career Dermitzakis began his f ...

(2002–2007) * Ioannis Taousianis (2007–2008) * Thanasis Kolitsidakis (2008–2009) * Manolis Patemtzis (2009–2015) * Vasilis Krasanakis (2015–2017 ) * Manolis Soutzis (2017–2018 ) * Manolis Skyvalos (2018–2020 ) * Antonis Androulakis (2020-2021) *

(2021- )

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atsaleniou Gamma Ethniki clubs Sport in Heraklion Football clubs in Heraklion Football clubs in Crete Association football clubs established in 1951 1951 establishments in Greece