Iraklis Volleyball Club ( el, ΤΑΠ Γ.Σ. Ηρακλής), or Iraklis Volley, is a

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Sum ...

team based in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

, Macedonia,

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...

. It plays in A1 Greek Volleyball League. Founded in the 1920s, they evolved in one of the most successful departments of G.S. Iraklis multi-

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

and one of the best teams in

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

, as they have won 5 times the Greek league (2002, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012) and reached 3 times (2005, 2006, 2009) the final of the

CEV Champions League The CEV Champions League is the top official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe. The competition is organised every year by the European Volleyball Confederation. Formula (2018–19 to present) Qualification A tot ...

Men's Team

History

Iraklis volleyball european final fours map

Iraklis was one of the first Greek clubs which encouraged volleyball before

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. After the war, they were always among the top teams in

. The first National Championship was played in 1968 and Iraklis was also able to contribute to the National Teams with plenty of players. During the 70's, Iraklis participated twice in the championship finals, due to the contribution of Nikos Antoniadis. In 1987, 1989 and 1992 Iraklis made it to the European Cup and in 1997 came the outburst of the team. Thanks to an organized effort, Iraklis played three consecutive Championship finals and finally won its first title -the Greek Cup- in 2000. Two years later, the team won both the Championship and the Cup titles, while finishing third in the

final-four held in Opole,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. The next four years Iraklis dominated in Greece, confirming his superiority by winning one Championship (2005), three Greek Cups (2004, 2005, 2006) and two Greek Super Cups (2004, 2005), but mostly by participating in three more

final-fours. In 2004 in

Belgorod Belgorod ( rus, Белгород, p=ˈbʲeɫɡərət) is a city and the administrative center of Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Seversky Donets River north of the border with Ukraine. Population: Demographics The population of B ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, the team finished in the fourth place. Next year, the presence of world-class players such as

Lloy Ball Lloy James Ball (born February 17, 1972, in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American volleyball player, a member of American national team in 1993–2008, a participant of the Olympic Games (Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, Athens 2004) and gold medalist ...

Thomas Hoff Thomas John "Tom" Hoff (born June 9, 1973) is a retired American volleyball player. He was a middle blocker and has been with the U.S. national team from 1996 until 2009. He is a three-time Olympian in volleyball Olympics: 2000, 2004 and 2008 ...

and

Clayton Stanley Clayton Iona "Clay" Stanley (born January 20, 1978) is an American volleyball player, a member of United States men's national volleyball team, a participant of the Olympic Games ( Athens 2004, Beijing 2008, London 2012), Olympic Champion 2008, ...

helped the team to reach the final-four which took place in

. Iraklis beat Lokomotiv Belgorod in the semi-final, but lost 1-3 to

Tours VB Tours VB is a professional men's volleyball club which is playing their home matches at the Salle Robert Grenon in Tours, France. Tours VB plays in LNV Ligue A, top volleyball league in France. According to Media Guide book, the annual budget o ...

in the final, despite the outstanding support by the fans. In 2006, Iraklis made it again to the final in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, to be beaten by Sisley Treviso 3-1. About 4,000 Iraklis fans traveled to

to support the team. The following season marked the beginning of a transitional period. Many of the top players were released from the team, while the budget was cut in half. Even so, the team's dominance in Greece continued. In 2007, Iraklis finished third in regular season, but managed to win the Championship beating Olympiacos S.C. in the semi-finals and

Panathinaikos VC Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos ( el, Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, literally in English: "Panathenaic Athletic Club" or Panathinaikos A.C.), also known simply as Panathinaikós , is a major Greek multi-sport club ba ...

in the finals, having both times a disadvantage. The next Championship (2007–08) had the same conclusion. Iraklis defeated

in the finals without losing a single game and won the championship for the fourth time in their history.

Current squad

Season 2016–2017

Technical and managerial staff

Notable former players

File:Nikos Samaras.JPG, Nikos Samaras File:Plamen konstantinov.jpg,

Plamen Konstantinov Plamen Georgiev Konstantinov ( bg, Пламен Георгиев Константинов) (born 14 June 1973) is a former Bulgarian volleyball player, a member of Bulgaria men's national volleyball team, head coach of Lokomotiv Novosibirsk and ...

File:Tom Hoff 2008.jpg,

File:Rolando Despaigne.png, Rolando Jurquin Despaigne File:Matej Černič 4.jpg, Matej Cernic File:Frantz Granvorka.jpg, Frantz Granvorka File:Lloy Ball (2008).jpg,

File:Brook Billings.jpg,

Brook Billings Brook Michael Billings (born April 30, 1980 in Santa Barbara, California) is an American indoor volleyball player, who plays as an opposite-hitter for the U.S. National Team. He joined the team in May 2002. College highlights 2002 Earned A ...

; Argentina *

Rodrigo Quiroga Rodrigo Daniel Quiroga (born March 23, 1987) is an Argentine volleyball player member of the Argentina men's national volleyball team and Polish club Jastrzębski Węgiel. He participated at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Rodrigo won the silver me ...

; Belgium * Frank Depestele ; Belarus * Olieg Achrem ; Bulgaria *

; Cuba * Freddy Brooks *

Joël Despaigne Joël Despaigne Charles (born 2 July 1966, in Santiago de Cuba), more commonly known as Joël Despaigne, is a retired volleyball player from Cuba who represented his native country in two consecutive Summer Olympics: the 1992 Summer Olympics in ...

* Rolando Despaigne *Ricardo Vante ; France * Frantz Granvorka ; Germany * Simon Tischer ; Greece *

Andreas Andreadis Andreas Andreadis (born 14 January 1982) is a Greek male volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team at the 2006 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in Japan. He currently plays for Greek club AONS Milon.

*Nikos Antoniadis * Theodoros Baev *

Theodoros Bozidis Theodoros Bozidis (born ) is a retired Greek male volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team at the 2002 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in Argentina. Clubs * Iraklis Thessaloniki Gymnasticos Syllogos ...

* Akis Chatziantoniou *

Konstantinos Christofidelis Konstantinos "Kostas" Christofidelis (Greek: Κώστας Χριστοφιδέλης; born ) is former a Greek male volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team. He competed with the national team at the 2004 Summer ...

* Christos Dimitrakopoulos *

Marios Giourdas Marios Giourdas (sometimes written as Gkiourdas) (Greek: Μάριος Γκιούρδας; born 2 March 1973) is a Greek male former volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team. He competed with the national team a ...

* Theoklitos Karipidis * Andrej Kravárik *

Chrysanthos Kyriazis Chrysanthos Kyriazis (born ) is a retired Greek male volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team at the 2002 FIVB Volleyball Men's World Championship in Argentina. He played for Olympiacos. Clubs * Olympiacos ...

Konstantinos Prousalis Konstantinos Prousalis ( el, Κωνσταντίνος Προύσαλης; born 6 October 1980) is a Greek male volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team. He competed with the national team at the 2004 Summer Olymp ...

* Nikos Samaras *

Nikolaos Smaragdis Nikolaos "Nikos" Smaragdis ( el, Νικόλαος «Νίκος» Σμαραγδής; born ) is a Greek male volleyball player. He has been 195 times capped with Greece men's national volleyball team, Greece national team. Career Smaragdis has won ...

* Georgios Stefanou ; Italy *

Matej Černič Matej Černič (born 13 September 1978) is an Italian volleyball player who won the silver medal with the Italian men's national team at the 2004 Summer Olympics, held in Athens. He is of Slovene ethnicity and belongs to the Slovene minority in ...

; Serbia * Slobodan Boškan ; Sweden * Marcus Nilsson ; Turkey * Sinan Cem Tanık ; USA *

( FIVB Hall of Fame) *

Notable coaches

* Alekos Leonis * Flavio Gulinelli *

Anders Kristiansson Anders is a male name in Scandinavian languages and Fering North Frisian, an equivalent of the Greek Andreas ("manly") and the English Andrew. It originated from Andres via metathesis. In Sweden, Anders has been one of the most common names fo ...

( FIVB Hall of Fame)

Honours

Domestic

Greek League * Winners (5): 2001–02, 2004–05, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2011–12 * Runners-up (8): 1970–71, 1974–75, 1998–99, 1999-00, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2005–06, 2010-11

Greek Cup The Greek Football Cup ( el, Κύπελλο Ελλάδος Ποδοσφαίρου), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Kypello Elladas is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second most ...

* Winners (6): 1999–00, 2001–02, 2004–05, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2011–12 * Runners-up (4): 2000–01, 2010–11, 2017–18, 2018–19

Greek Super Cup The Greek Super Cup ( el, Σούπερ Καπ Ελλάδος), officially known as the Cup of Friendship and Solidarity ( el, Κύπελλο Φιλίας και Αλληλεγγύης) was a Greek association football one-match competition which w ...

* Winners (4) (record): 2004, 2005, 2007, 2008 * Runners-up (2): 2000, 2006 Greek A2 League * Winners (1): 2018-19

European

* Runners-up (3): 2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09 * Third place (1): 2001-02 * Fourth place (1): 2003-04

Sponsorships

*Great Sponsor: Pame Stoixima *Official Sport Clothing Manufacturer:

Patrick (sportswear company) Patrick is a sportswear company headquartered in Oudenaarde, East Flanders, Belgium. History 1892 - 1894: Start and official registration of the shoe factory of Eugene Bénéteau Eugene Bénéteau was a 19th-century shoemaker in the little t ...

*Official Broadcaster:

Nova Sports Nova Sports is a Greek sports pay television network owned by Nova, a subsidiary of Greek telecommunications company of the same name. It was launched in 1994 as ''SuperSport'' and at the time was the first premium sports service in Greece. It i ...

Women

Current Squad 2012/2013

External links

;Official Sites
Iraklis VC - Official Site
;Press
Blue Arena
{{Men's CEV Champions League 2008–09 Iraklis Thessaloniki Iraklis V.C. Greek volleyball clubs Sports clubs in Thessaloniki Volleyball clubs established in 1921 1921 establishments in Greece