A.O. Giouchtas F.C., short for Athlitikos Omilos Archanes “Giouchtas” ( el, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Αρχανών “ο Γιούχτας”, translated ''Athletic Club of Archanes “Giouchtas”'') and also known simply as Giouchtas, is a Greek

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 ...

club, based in

Archanes Archanes ( el, Αρχάνες, Godart & Olivier abbreviation: ARKH) is a former municipality in the Heraklion regional unit, Crete, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Archanes-Asterousia, of which it is a ...

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 club is named after

Mount Juktas A mountain in north-central Crete, Mount Juktas ( el, Γιούχτας - ''Giouchtas''), also spelled Iuktas, Iouktas, or Ioukhtas, was an important religious site for the Minoan civilization. Located a few kilometers from the palaces of Knossos ...

, overlooking the town of

. The club was founded in 1957 and its traditional colors are green and white. They currently compete 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 ...

, and host their home games in the Archanes National Stadium, known also as “Markomichelakio Stadium”. They have previously played for two seasons in the

during 2013-15.

History

Giouchtas was established on July 25, 1957 as a means to spread sports in the

region. The club eventually gained its own football ground after a local doctor, Michalis Markomichelakis donated 8,119 square meters of land for a stadium to be built. The venue was completed in 1962, and was named ''“Markomichelakio”'', in honor of this generous donation. Giouchtas have enjoyed relative success in regional competitions, having won the Heraklion FCA Cup on two consecutive occasions in 2009 and 2010. In 2007, Giouchtas managed a promotion to the Delta Ethniki, the fourth tier of the

. They played in the fourth Division until 2013, when they earned promotion to the

for the first time in club history. They played two season in the third Division before being relegated in 2015. In 2018, Giouchtas won their first Heraklion FCA Championship, managing a return to the

after a three-year absence.

Honours

Domestic

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

**Winners (1):

2022–23 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 b ...

Regional

* Heraklion FCA Championship **Winners (1): 2017−18 * Heraklion FCA Cup **Winners (2): 2008−09, 2009−10

References

External links

* {{Greek Third Division/Football (soccer) Football clubs in Heraklion Football clubs in Crete Association football clubs established in 1957 1957 establishments in Greece Gamma Ethniki clubs