Kalamata Football Club ( el, Π.Σ. "Η Καλαμάτα") is a Greek professional

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

Messenia Messenia or Messinia ( ; el, Μεσσηνία ) is a regional unit (''perifereiaki enotita'') in the southwestern part of the Peloponnese region, in Greece. Until the implementation of the Kallikratis plan on 1 January 2011, Messenia was a ...

Kalamata Kalamáta ( el, Καλαμάτα ) is the second most populous city of the Peloponnese peninsula, after Patras, in southern Greece and the largest city of the homonymous administrative region. As the capital and chief port of the Messenia reg ...

. They compete in the

Super League Greece 2 The Super League Greece 2 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λίγκα 2) is the 28 team two-group second division of professional football in Greece, being a feeder-league to the top-level Super League usually played from September to May. His ...

, the second 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 home ground is the Kalamata Metropolitan Stadium.

Creation and early years

Kalamata FC was formed in 1967 when local teams Apollon Kalamata FC and Kalamata Sports Club were forced to merge by the

Greek Junta The Greek junta or Regime of the Colonels, . Also known within Greece as just the Junta ( el, η Χούντα, i Choúnta, links=no, ), the Dictatorship ( el, η Δικτατορία, i Diktatoría, links=no, ) or the Seven Years ( el, η Ε ...

. The

Phoenix Phoenix most often refers to: * Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore * Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States Phoenix may also refer to: Mythology Greek mythological figures * Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...

, which was the emblem of the

dictatorship A dictatorship is a form of government which is characterized by a leader, or a group of leaders, which holds governmental powers with few to no limitations on them. The leader of a dictatorship is called a dictator. Politics in a dictatorship are ...

, was chosen as the team's crest and was removed after the Greek restoration of democracy in 1974.

History

The team has competed in the Greek first division seven times, in 1972–73, 1974–75, from 1995–96 to 1997–98, and from 1999–2000 to 2000–01. Kalamata F.C. achieved its first two promotions to the first division, in 1972 and 1974, under President Lykourgos Gaitanaros. Its first two promotions in the early 1970s are considered the team's first golden era. The team could not stick in the top flight though, and would not have a resurgence until the 1990s. Liberopoulos

Businessman Stavros Papadopoulos bought the team in 1992, while the club was stuck in

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 division. Upon his arrival, Papadopoulos began pouring a substantial amount of money into the club, and by 1995 the team had achieved promotion to the first division. The team dropped back to the second division for one season in 1997, but again achieved promotion to the first division the very next year, and remained in the top flight until Papadopoulos sold the team in 2000. After Papadopoulos' departure Kalamata fell to the second division and has since stayed in the lower divisions. The Papadopoulos era of Kalamata F.C. saw the signing of many international players from

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

, such as

Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...

Afo Dodoo Afo Dodoo (born 23 November 1973) is a Ghanaian former footballer who played at both professional and international levels as a defender. Career Club career Dodoo began his career in Ghana with Ashanti Gold, before moving to Greece in 1995 to ...

Ebenezer Hagan Ebenezer Benyarko Hagan (born 1 October 1975 in Kumasi) is a former Ghanaian International Association football, footballer who last played for Sekondi Hasaacas F.C. in the Ghana Premier League. Career He played eight years in Greece for Kala ...

Peter Ofori-Quaye Peter Ofori-Quaye (born 21 March 1980) is a Ghanaian former footballer who played as a striker. Ofori-Quaye spent most of his career in the Greek division and amassed 33 goals in his 10 seasons in the league. During a 1997–98 UEFA Champions ...

and

Derek Boateng Derek Owusu Boateng ( ; born 2 May 1983) is a Ghanaian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Born in Ghana, Boateng went on to play professional football in Greece, Sweden, Israel, Germany, Spain, Ukraine, England, ...

. Johnson later transferred from Kalamata to

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

and later played for Fenerbahçe, Hagan transferred to

Iraklis Gymnasticos Syllogos Iraklis ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ηρακλής, en, Gymnastics Club Heracles), commonly referred to as Iraklis, is a Greek multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki. The club was founded in 1908 as "Mace ...

and then to PAOK, Ofori-Quaye was sold for a club record US$3.5 million to

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 ...

, and

left for

Panathinaikos 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 ...

. Kalamata FC is credited with starting the trend among Greek clubs of signing African talent since the late 1990s. The Papadopoulos era also saw the uncovering of a wealth of young Greek talent, including Greek international player

Nikos Liberopoulos Nikolaos "Nikos" Liberopoulos ( el, Νίκος Λυμπερόπουλος; born on 4 August 1975) is a retired Greek former professional international footballer who played as a forward. He is famous for his aim-to-goal shot, his innate in-pla ...

, who made his name at Kalamata before moving to Panathinaikos, and from there to

AEK A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

and

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

After being demoted to the second division in 1997, they eventually started to bring in young Brazilian talent, as well as some veterans of the biggest teams in Brazil. The Brazilians helped the team gain promotion to the first division right away in 1998. According to Brazilian media and insiders, Papadopoulos' son Daniil, a former high level amateur athlete in America, was supposedly instrumental in spotting some of the Brazilian talent and sending them to Kalamata FC. One of them,

Hilton Assis Hilton or Hylton may refer to: Companies * Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name ** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, f ...

(1999-2000), turned out to be the first cousin of Brazil and Barcelona FC super star

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deployed as a winger. Wide ...

. Hilton was once a promising player in Brazil who starred for

Internacional Sport Club Internacional (), commonly known as Internacional or simply Inter, is a Brazilian professional football club based in Porto Alegre. They play in the Série A, the first division of the Brazilian league, as well as in Campeonat ...

of Porto Alegre, but serious knee operations curtailed his career. When he was healthy he was Kalamata's top goal scorer, but he returned to the Brazilian first division after Papadopoulos sold the team. Kalamata's long-standing rivals are

Paniliakos Paniliakos Football Club ( el, Πανηλειακός Α.Ο. Πύργου) is a Greek association football club based in Pyrgos, Elis, Greece. The club plays in Gamma Ethniki, the third tier of Greek football. It plays its home matches at the Pyrg ...

and

Egaleo Aigaleo or Egaleo ( el, Αιγάλεω ) is a suburban municipality in the western part of Athens, belonging to the West Athens regional administrative unit. It takes its name from Mount Aigaleo. Its population was 69,946 at the 2011 census. Ge ...

Crest and colours

Kalamata F.C.'s official colours are black and white, and the team is known in Greece as the "Black Storm" (Μαύρη Θύελλα).

Stadium

Kalamata plays its home matches at Kalamata Metropolitan Stadium in

. The stadium was completed in 1976, and currently has a seating capacity of 5,400.

Supporters

Kalamata F.C.'s most famous supporters' club is the "Bulldogs Fan Club".

Rivals

Kalamata's long-standing rivals are

, located in Pyrgos in the western

Peloponnese The Peloponnese (), Peloponnesus (; el, Πελοπόννησος, Pelopónnēsos,(), or Morea is a peninsula and geographic regions of Greece, geographic region in southern Greece. It is connected to the central part of the country by the Isthmu ...

, and

, in

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

suburb of Egaleo.

Messiniakos Founded in 1888, Messiniakos Gymnastic Club ( el, Μεσσηνιακός Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος) is one of the oldest athletic club in Greece with Panagiotis Benakis its first president. Messiniakos' traditional colours are green ...

is Kalamata's cross-town rival, but Messiniakos generally competed in lower leagues.

Players

Current squad

Honours

Domestic

League titles

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

:Winners (2): 1971–72 (Group 1), 1973–74 (Group 2) * Third Division :Winners (1): 2020–21 (South Group) *

Fourth Division Fourth or the fourth may refer to: * the ordinal form of the number 4 * ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971 * Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision * Fourth (music), a musical interval * ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...

:Winners (2): 1984–85, 2010–11

Regional

League titles

* Messinia FCA Championship :Winners (2): 1980−81, 2016−17

Cups

* Messinia FCA Cup :Winners (4): 1953−54, 1982−83, 2016−17, 2017−18

League Participation

* First Division (7): 1972–1973, 1974–1975, 1995–1998, 1999–2001 *

(20): 1967–1972, 1973–1974, 1975–1977, 1993–1995, 1998–1999, 2001–2010, 2021–present * Third Division (21): 1977–1980, 1981–1982, 1985–1993, 2011–2016, 2017–2021 *

(4): 1982–1985, 2010–2011 * Messinia FCA Championship (2): 1980–1981, 2016–2017

European matches

Notable Former Managers

Bo Petersson Bo Petersson (born 10 July 1946 in Kalmar) is a Swedish football manager and former football player. Career He played for Älvsjö AIK, Råsunda IS, Spårvägens FF, Vasalunds IF, AIK, IFK Östersund, Visby AIK and Danderyds SK. After he reti ...

(1995–97) * Eduardo Amorim (1997–98) *

Andreas Michalopoulos Andreas Michalopoulos ( el, Ανδρέας Μιχαλόπουλος; 23 February 1948 – 4 January 2022) was a Greek footballer who played as a striker for Panachaiki. Career He played for Panachaiki when the team qualified for the 1973–7 ...

(2003–04)

Notable Former Players

;

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 with ...

* Panagiotis Drougas *

Nikos Georgeas Nikolaos "Nikos" Georgeas ( el, Νικόλαος "Νίκος" Γεωργέας, born 27 December 1976) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right-back. He is the current administrative director of AEK Athens Academy. Club c ...

* Sotiris Liberopoulos * Thomas Troupkos *

Kostas Frantzeskos Kostas Frantzeskos ( el, Κώστας Φραντζέσκος, born 4 January 1969) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. Frantzeskos is better known for his deadly free-kick accuracy. He scored 57 free kick goals during h ...

* Fanouris Goundoulakis * Aristeidis Galanopoulos * Christos Kalantzis * Thanasis Kostoulas * Sokratis Kopsachilis *

Ilias Anastasakos Ilias Anastasakos ( el, Ηλίας Αναστασάκος; born 3 March 1978) is a Greeks, Greek Association football, football player who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for Olympiacos Assou. He is the co-director of ...

* Vangelis Kaounos * Alekos Dedes *

Thanasis Sentementes Thanasis Sentementes ( el, Θανάσης Σεντεμέντες) is a Greek footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association footbal ...

Panagiotis Bachramis Panagiotis Bachramis ( el, Παναγιώτης Μπαχράμης; 12 March 1976, in Kalamata – 13 August 2010, in Kyparissia) was a Greek professional footballer who played as midfielder. On August 13, 2010, he was killed when a speedboat st ...

Giorgos Bistikeas Giorgos, Yiorgos or Yorgos ( el, Γιώργος) is a common abbreviation of the given name Georgios. Notable people with the name include: Persons Giorgos * Giorgos Agorogiannis, Greek footballer * Giorgos Alkaios, pop musician and singer * Gi ...

* Vaggelis Koutsoures * Christos Kelpekis *

Kyriakos Stamatopoulos Kyriakos Stamatopoulos (born 28 August 1979) is a Greek Canadian former football goalkeeper who is the head goalkeeper coach for AIK. He is nicknamed "Stam" () and he is also often referred to as Kenny Stamatopoulos. Early life Stamatopoulos mo ...

Dimitrios Konstantopoulos Dimitrios Konstantopoulos ( el, Δημήτριος Κωνσταντόπουλος; born 29 November 1978) is a Greek former international football player who played as a goalkeeper. After playing amateur football with Iraklis Ampelokipi, Kons ...

* Nikos Zapropoulos *

Christos Mikes Christos Mikes ( gr, Χρήστος Μικές; born 23 September 1971) is a Greek retired professional footballer who played as a defender. Career Mikes started his career with Zavlani. In 1989, he moved to Panachaiki, in where he played the n ...

* Vasilios Georgopoulos *

Makis Belevonis Makis Belevonis ( gr, Μάκης Μπελεβώνης, born 19 December 1975) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right back. Belevonis spent many years in the Greek first division with OFI Crete, Kalamata and Panetoliko ...

Dimitris Markos Dimitris Markos ( el, Δημήτρης Μάρκος; born 31 January 1971) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He now works as a scout for OFI. Club career Markos started his football career in 1987 at Naous ...

* Lysandros Georgamlis * Antonis Mavreas * Dimitris Spetzopoulos ;

;

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Elvio Mana Elvio Mana (born 1955) is an Argentine football player. Mana began his playing career with Quilmes and appeared in nine Primera Division Argentina matches for the club. He moved to Greece where he had spells with Kalamata, Panachaiki and Kavala ...

* Sergio Espinoza * Raul Valian * Luis Kadijevic *

Armando Gigliotti Armando may refer to: * Armando (given name) * Armando (artist) (1929–2018), the name used by Dutch artist Herman Dirk van Dodeweerd * Armando (producer) Armando Gallop (sometimes written as Armando Gallup) (February 12, 1970 – December 17, ...

;

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

* Alessandro Soares * Jeronimo Hilton * Sandro Luiz Scapin ;

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

* Arjan Xhumba *

Arjan Bellaj Arjan Bellaj (born 1 February 1971) is an Albanian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Bellaj played for PAS Giannina, Kalamata F.C., Apollon Athens F.C., Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. and Panionios F.C. in the Greek ...

;

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

* Carlos Marcora ;

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

* Ivan Tasic ;Sweden * Peter Larsson

References

External links

PAE Kalamata
- Official site
Bulldogs Fan Club
- Supporters' club site
Onsports.gr Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kalamata F.C. Sport in Kalamata Association football clubs established in 1967 Football clubs in Peloponnese (region) 1967 establishments in Greece Super League Greece 2 clubs

Creation and early years

History

Crest and colours

Stadium

Supporters

Rivals

Sponsors

Players

Current squad

Honours

Domestic

League titles

Regional

League titles

Cups

League Participation

European matches

Notable Former Managers

Notable Former Players

References

External links