Founded in 1888, Messiniakos Gymnastic Club ( el, Μεσσηνιακός Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος) is one of the oldest athletic club in Greece with

Panagiotis Benakis Panagiotis Benakis ( el, Παναγιώτης Μπενάκης; c. 17001771) was a Greek businessman from Kalamata in the 18th century, during the Ottoman rule over Greece, he was in contact of Catherine the Great during the Orlov Revolt. He wa ...

its first president. Messiniakos' traditional colours are green and white and in 1924 adopted as symbol a platanus foil. Messiniakos has made a name of itself in many sports (

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 ...

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 Summ ...

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

, weight-lifting etc.) and has produced very good athletes, such as OFI's Brazilian footballer Davidson and

Louis Tsatoumas Louis Tsatoumas ( el, Λούης Τσάτουμας, born 12 February 1982) is a Greek long jumper. Biography He won his first major senior medal in 2007 at the European Indoor Athletics Championships, where he claimed the silver medal behind ...

in track and field, who is one of the biggest hopes for Greek athletics. The club used to be home to the

Papaflessia Papaflessia ( el, Παπαφλέσσεια) is an annual international track and field meeting that is held in Kalamata, Greece. The meeting falls within the European Athletic Association's calendar of meeting. The event caters to both men and women ...

international athletics meeting. The volleyball team had excellent appearances in the First Division, but is not participating at the current time.

Football team

The football team participated in the

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 ...

in the 2006-07 season. Its president is international businessman Stavros Papadopoulos. Papadopoulos is the former owner of

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 ...

and Apollon Kalamaria. He bought both those teams when they were in the Third Division and Second Division, respectively, and invested substantial money into those teams and eventually took both those teams up to the first division. Papadopoulos has shown he has the same plan for Messiniakos. He bought the team a few years back when it was just a local team, not even in

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 ...

. He has invested money into the team and brought in talented young players. During this time the team has achieved promotion from a non-league team all the way up to the second division, but has been relegated to the

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 ...

for the upcoming season after finishing in second last place in 2007. The next years the football team weakened and now it plays in Messenia local League.

Volleyball team

The volleyball women's team of Messiniakos plays in A2 Ethniki (2015-16). The women's team has played one time in

A1 Ethniki The Greek Basket League (GBL), often also referred to as the Greek A1 Basketball League, or Greek Basketball Championship (originally called Panhellenic Basketball Championship), and also known as the Stoiximan Basket League for sponsorship reaso ...

, in 1984-85 season. The men's volleyball has also played in

A1 Ethniki Volleyball The A1 Ethniki ( el, Α1 Εθνική Κατηγορία), often referred to as the Greek Volleyball League, is the highest professional volleyball league in Greece. It is run by the Hellenic Volleyball Federation. It is considered one of the top n ...

during 1985-88 period.

References

External links

Official page
1888 establishments in Greece Sport in Kalamata Football clubs in Peloponnese (region) Association football clubs established in 1888 {{Greece-footyclub-stub