Olympiacos Men's Volleyball ( el, Ολυμπιακός, ), commonly referred to as Olympiacos, Olympiacos Piraeus or with its full name as Olympiacos CFP, is the men's
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 ...
department of the major
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 ...
Olympiacos CFP
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 ...
, based in
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...
,
Attica
Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean S ...
Cups
CUPS (formerly an acronym for Common UNIX Printing System) is a modular printing system for Unix-like computer operating systems which allows a computer to act as a print server. A computer running CUPS is a host that can accept print jobs ...
, 6 League Cups, all national records, and 2 Super Cups. They are the only volleyball club in Greece to have won a European competition, with 2 CEV Cup Winners' Cup/CEV Top Teams Cups (1996, 2005), and a traditional powerhouse in European volleyball, having been runners-up in all three main CEV competitions, two times in 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 ...
(with seven final four participations), two in the
CEV Cup
The CEV Cup is the second tier official competition for men's Volleyball clubs of Europe. The competition takes place every year.
Until 2000, it was the CEV Cup Winners' Cup. In 2000 it was renamed CEV Top Teams Cup and in 2007 it was renamed CE ...
and one in the
CEV Challenge Cup
The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe.
It started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed CEV Challenge Cup.
History
* CEV Cup (1980� ...
, totalling seven European finals.
Domestically, Olympiacos holds the record for the most consecutive championships won, with eight in a row (1987–1994), and for winning seven championships undefeated (1968, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1988, 1991, 2018). Internationally, their most successful period was between 1992 and 2005, when they came to be included amongst the top volleyball powers in Europe. During this period, apart from their two European trophies, they progressed to eleven final fours in total, seven of them consecutive between 1992 and 1998 (the first four in the CEV Champions League and the next three in the CEV Cup Winners' Cup); they also won a fourth place in the CEV Super Cup and a third in the
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship
The FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship is an international men's club volleyball competition organised by the '' Fédération Internationale de Volleyball'' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested ...
. Olympiacos came to European prominence again by playing in the
2017–18 CEV Challenge Cup
The 2017–18 CEV Challenge Cup was the 38th edition of the CEV Challenge Cup
The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe.
It started in the 1980–81 season under the nam ...
2017–18 CEV Women's Challenge Cup
The 2017–18 CEV Women's Challenge Cup was the 38th edition of the European Challenge Cup volleyball club tournament, the former "CEV Cup".
Format
The tournament is played on a knockout format, with 37 teams participating. Initially 10 teams pl ...
. In this way, Olympiacos became the first volleyball club that had men and women playing simultaneously in European finals, and one of the very few to have won European trophies in both departments.
Given the fact that Olympiacos is one of the most popular sports clubs in Greece, the men's volleyball department also receives great home support. Apart from some top Greek players such as Marios Giourdas, Giorgos Ntrakovits, Sakis Moustakidis, Vasilis Kournetas, Antonis Tsakiropoulos, Kostas Christofidelis,
Mitar Tzourits
Mitar Djuric ( el, Δημήτρης Τζούριτς, sr-Cyrl, Митар Дурић; born ) or Dimitris Tzourits is a Serbian-Greek male volleyball player. He competed at the 2011 FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship with Trentino Volle ...
, Olympiacos has also attracted over the years some foreign world-class players including
Ivan Miljković
Ivan Miljković ( sr-cyrl, Иван Миљковић ; born 13 September 1979) is a Serbian volleyball player, a member of Serbia men's national volleyball team in 1998–2012, Olympic Champion 2000, European Champion (2001, 2011), medalist o ...
,
Lorenzo Bernardi
Lorenzo Bernardi (born 11 August 1968) is an Italian professional volleyball coach and former player, a silver medallist at the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, two–time World Champion (1990, 1994), and a two–time European Champion (1989, 1995). ...
,
Jeff Stork
Jeffrey Malcolm Stork (born July 8, 1960 in Longview, Washington) is an American former volleyball player. He was a member of the US national team that won the gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympi ...
Bengt Gustafsson Bengt Gustafsson may refer to:
* Bengt Gustafsson (astronomer) (born 1943), Swedish professor of astronomy
*Bengt-Åke Gustafsson
Bengt-Åke Gustafsson (born 23 March 1958) is a Swedish ice hockey coach and former ice hockey player. Gustafss ...
Vasa Mijić
Vasa Mijić (born 11 April 1973) is a Serbian volleyball player, who won the gold medal with the Yugoslavian Men's National Team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Standing at 1.86 m, he played as a libero. Career
Mijić was named ''Best Digger'' at t ...
Osvaldo Hernández
Osvaldo Hernández Chambell (born 11 July 1970 in Camagüey) is an Italian volleyball player originally from Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the isl ...
and
Fabian Drzyzga
Fabian Drzyzga (born 3 January 1990) is a Polish professional volleyball player who plays as a setter for Asseco Resovia. He was a participant in the Olympic Games (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020) and is a two–time World Champion (2014, 2018).
Personal ...
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 ...
Greek League Cup The EPAE Cup, known as the Greek League Cup, a now defunct football competition, took place only once, in the year 1989–90 season. AEK Athens is the only winner of the League Cup, beating Panionios (3–3 and 3–1 on penalties), Aris (5–2), ...
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 ...
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 ...
CEV Challenge Cup
The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe.
It started in the 1980–81 season under the name CEV Cup. In 2007 it was renamed CEV Challenge Cup.
History
* CEV Cup (1980� ...
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship
The FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship is an international men's club volleyball competition organised by the '' Fédération Internationale de Volleyball'' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested ...
Olympiacos fans are renowned for their passionate and fervent support to the team, with the atmosphere at home matches regarded as extremely intense and intimidating to such an extent that is rarely seen in volleyball matches. In the decade of the 1900s and the early 2000s, Olympiacos was among the top powers in European volleyball (7 consecutive European Final Four participations, four in the CEV Champions League –1992, 1993, 1994, 1995– and three in the CEV Cup Winners' Cup –1996, 1997, 1998–, winners of the 1996CEV Cup Winners' Cup, twice Runners-up of the CEV Champions League in 1992 and 2002, twice Runners-up of the CEV Cup Winners' Cup in
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...
and
1998
1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''.
Events January
* January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...
FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship
The FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship is an international men's club volleyball competition organised by the '' Fédération Internationale de Volleyball'' (FIVB), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested ...
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saron ...
, an estimated 20,000 Olympiacos fans crowded the
Peace and Friendship Stadium
The Peace and Friendship Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Ειρήνης και Φιλίας, Stadio Eirinis kai Philias), commonly known by its acronym SEF, is a multi-purpose indoor arena that is located in Piraeus, on the coastal zone of Attica, Gre ...
for the semi-final against
CSKA Moscow
CSKA Moscow (russian: ЦСКА Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. It was created in 1911 in the Russian Empire on base of OLLS (Skiing Society, founded 1901). Later, during the Soviet era, it was a central piece of the big So ...
Karch Kiraly
Charles Frederick "Karch" Kiraly () (born November 3, 1960) is an American volleyball player, coach and broadcast announcer. In the 1980s he was a central part of the United States men's national volleyball team, U.S National Team that won gold ...
,
Hall of Famer
A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...
and three times Olympic gold medalist, a key member of il Messaggero Ravenna at the time, talked about the 1992 CEV Champions League Final in a 2018 interview: "''That particular CEV Champions League Final Four in Piraeus was really a very special experience. Even now as we speak, the first thing that comes to my mind was the unbelievable atmposhere that we all lived in that volleyball game in Athens 26 years ago. In that day I cherished the Greek supporters and the passion of Olympiacos fans for volleyball. It was something unique."''
In the 1996 CEV Cup Winners' Cup Final Four which was held again in Piraeus and the Peace and Friendship Stadium, an estimated 18,000 to 20,000 Olympiacos fans filed into SEF and created the most intense atmosphere, pushing the team to their first ever European title against the
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
side Bayer Wuppertal, after a hard-fought 3–2 win. After the victory, hundreds of ecstatic Olympiacos fans stormed the court and celebrated the title with the players.
Olympiacos hosted the Final Four of the CEV Top Teams Cup in 2005 and Olympiacos supporters relived some of the 1990s moments. 15,000 fans packed the Peace and Friendship Stadium and provided once again an electric atmosphere, helping Olympiacos to win their second European title, after a 3–0 win against the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
side Ortec Nesselande Rotterdam in the final.
In 2018 Peace and Friendship Stadium lived once again some of its timeless glory, as an estimated 12,000 Olympiacos fans created an extraordinary atmosphere in the final of the
2017–18 CEV Challenge Cup
The 2017–18 CEV Challenge Cup was the 38th edition of the CEV Challenge Cup
The CEV Challenge Cup is the third tier official competition for men's volleyball clubs from the whole of Europe.
It started in the 1980–81 season under the nam ...
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n star Paul Buchegger talked about the atmosphere in the post-game interview: "''The atmosphere, the fans were really great. It was a "red hell", when I entered the court I had
goose bumps
Goose bumps, goosebumps or goose-pimples are the bumps on a person's skin at the base of body hairs which may involuntarily develop when a person is tickled, cold or experiencing strong emotions such as fear, euphoria or sexual arousal.
The ...
. I have never played in front of such a big crowd."''
Notable players
File:Ivan Miljković.jpg,
Ivan Miljković
Ivan Miljković ( sr-cyrl, Иван Миљковић ; born 13 September 1979) is a Serbian volleyball player, a member of Serbia men's national volleyball team in 1998–2012, Olympic Champion 2000, European Champion (2001, 2011), medalist o ...
File:Lorenzo Bernardi2 (cropped).JPG,
Lorenzo Bernardi
Lorenzo Bernardi (born 11 August 1968) is an Italian professional volleyball coach and former player, a silver medallist at the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, two–time World Champion (1990, 1994), and a two–time European Champion (1989, 1995). ...
File:Tom Hoff 2008.jpg, Tom Hoff
File:Fabian Drzyzga 2014 01.jpg,
Fabian Drzyzga
Fabian Drzyzga (born 3 January 1990) is a Polish professional volleyball player who plays as a setter for Asseco Resovia. He was a participant in the Olympic Games (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020) and is a two–time World Champion (2014, 2018).
Personal ...
Apostolos Armenakis
Apostolos Armenakis (born ) is a Greek male volleyball player. He was part of the Greece men's national volleyball team
The Greece men's national volleyball team is the national team of Greece. It is governed by the Hellenic Volleyba ...
*
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 ...
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
...
Giorgos Lykoudis 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
* Gio ...
Dimitris Mitropoulos
Dimitri Mitropoulos ( el, Δημήτρης Μητρόπουλος; The dates 18 February 1896 and 1 March 1896 both appear in the literature. Many of Mitropoulos's early interviews and program notes gave 18 February. In his later interviews, howe ...
Stelios Prosalikas
Stelios Prosalikas ( el, Στέλιος Προσαλίκας, born ) is a retired Greek male volleyball player and volleyball coach. As a player, he had 44 appearances with Greece men's national volleyball team. He played for Olympiacos for 10 yea ...
*
Kostas 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 Roumeliotis Nikos ( el, Νίκος, ''Níkos'') is a Greek given name. It originates from Greek ''Nikolaos'', which means "victory of the people".Liddell & Scott, Abridged Greek Lexicon Although used as a proper first name, Nikos is also a popular nickname of t ...
Jorge Elgueta
Jorge Elgueta (born ) is a former Argentine male volleyball player and current coach. He was part of the Argentina men's national volleyball team. He competed with the national team at the Volleyball at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Men's tournamen ...
*
Pablo Meana
Pablo Meana (born June 10, 1975 in Necochea) is a male volleyball player from Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina ...
Luiz Felipe Fonteles
Luiz Felipe Marques Fonteles (born 19 June 1984) is a Brazilian volleyball player, member of the Brazil men's national volleyball team in 2005–2016 and currently plays for Japanese team, JTEKT Stings, on club level. He is the 2016 Olympic ...
Hristo Tsvetanov
Hristo Tsvetanov ( bg, Христо Цветанов; born 29 March 1978, in Cherven Bryag) is a Bulgarian male volleyball player who was a member of the Bulgaria men's national volleyball team. He was a part of the Bulgarian national team that ...
Andrey Zhekov
Andrey Zhekov ( bg, Андрей Жеков; born March 12, 1980) is a former Bulgarian volleyball player and current head coach of Levski Volley. He entered the national team in 1998 at the age of 18. 190 cm tall and weighing 82 kg Zhe ...
*
Justin Duff
Justin Duff (born 10 May 1988) is a Canadian volleyball player, a member of Canada men's national volleyball team and Polish club Espadon Szczecin, a bronze medalist of NORCECA Championship (2011, 2013).
In July 2016, he was named to Canada's 2 ...
Gavin Schmitt
Gavin Charles Schmitt (born 27 January 1986) is a former Canadian volleyball player, who started playing volleyball in Saskatoon for the Saskatchewan Huskies volleyball club and eventually went on to win the silver medal with the Canada men's nat ...
*
Liberman Agámez
Liberman Cristhofer Agámez Urango (born 15 February 1985) is a Colombian volleyball player. He was member of the Colombia men's national volleyball team (2005-2015).
In 2017, he signed a contract with Sporting.Tomislav Čošković
* Rolando Despaigne
*
Osvaldo Hernández
Osvaldo Hernández Chambell (born 11 July 1970 in Camagüey) is an Italian volleyball player originally from Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the isl ...
Olli Kunnari
Olli Kunnari (born February 2, 1982) is a Finnish volleyball player. He is one of the key players in the Finnish national volleyball team. During the early years of his career, he played in the Finnish Champion league. In year 2004, he left F ...
Christian Pampel
Christian Pampel (born 6 September 1979 in Gehrden) is a volleyball player from Germany. He currently plays and coaches at TSV Mimmenhausen.
Career
Christian Pampel started his career in Hochstetten in 1995. After three years in the Volleyb ...
Lorenzo Bernardi
Lorenzo Bernardi (born 11 August 1968) is an Italian professional volleyball coach and former player, a silver medallist at the Olympic Games Atlanta 1996, two–time World Champion (1990, 1994), and a two–time European Champion (1989, 1995). ...
Fabian Drzyzga
Fabian Drzyzga (born 3 January 1990) is a Polish professional volleyball player who plays as a setter for Asseco Resovia. He was a participant in the Olympic Games (Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020) and is a two–time World Champion (2014, 2018).
Personal ...
Vasa Mijić
Vasa Mijić (born 11 April 1973) is a Serbian volleyball player, who won the gold medal with the Yugoslavian Men's National Team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Standing at 1.86 m, he played as a libero. Career
Mijić was named ''Best Digger'' at t ...
*
Ivan Miljković
Ivan Miljković ( sr-cyrl, Иван Миљковић ; born 13 September 1979) is a Serbian volleyball player, a member of Serbia men's national volleyball team in 1998–2012, Olympic Champion 2000, European Champion (2001, 2011), medalist o ...
Tine Urnaut
Tine Urnaut (born 3 September 1988) is a Slovenian volleyball player who plays for JTEKT Stings and the Slovenian national team. With Slovenia, he was the runner-up of the European Volleyball Championship three times, in 2015, 2019 and 2021.
Ca ...
Jeff Stork
Jeffrey Malcolm Stork (born July 8, 1960 in Longview, Washington) is an American former volleyball player. He was a member of the US national team that won the gold medal in the 1988 Summer Olympics and the bronze medal in the 1992 Summer Olympi ...
Ernardo Gómez
Ernardo "Harry" Andrés Gómez Cañas (born July 30, 1982 in Bolívar) is a Venezuelan former professional volleyball player, who won the gold medal with the Venezuela national team at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Rep ...
*
Iván Márquez
Luciano Marín Arango, aka "Iván Márquez" (born June 16, 1955) is a Colombian guerrilla leader, member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), part of its secretariat higher command and advisor to the Northwestern and Caribbea ...
Osvaldo Hernández
Osvaldo Hernández Chambell (born 11 July 1970 in Camagüey) is an Italian volleyball player originally from Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the isl ...
Olli Kunnari
Olli Kunnari (born February 2, 1982) is a Finnish volleyball player. He is one of the key players in the Finnish national volleyball team. During the early years of his career, he played in the Finnish Champion league. In year 2004, he left F ...
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 ...
Roberto Piazza
Roberto Piazza (born 29 January 1968) is an Italian professional volleyball coach and former player. He is the current head coach of the Netherlands national team and Allianz Milano.
Honours As a player
* CEV Cup
** 1987–88 – with Maxic ...
Alberto Giuliani
Alberto Giuliani (born 25 December 1964) is an Italian professional volleyball coach. He is the current head coach of the Turkey national team and the Greek team, Olympiacos.
Personal life
His son, Ludovico (born 1998) is a volleyball player, p ...
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 ...