Panathinaikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club,

Panathinaikos A.O. 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 ...

or PAO (; ''Panathinaïkós Athlitikós Ómilos'', "All-Athenian Athletic Club"), 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

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 ...

, Greece. Created in

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

as "Podosfairikos Omilos Athinon" (''Football Club of Athens'') by

Georgios Kalafatis Giorgos Kalafatis ( el, Γιώργος Καλαφάτης; 17 March 1890 – 19 February 1964) was a Greek football pioneer, player, coach, track and field athlete and the founder of Panathinaikos Athens multi-sports club. Sports career Bein ...

, they play in the

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

, being one of the most

successful Success is the state or condition of meeting a defined range of expectations. It may be viewed as the opposite of failure. The criteria for success depend on context, and may be relative to a particular observer or belief system. One person migh ...

clubs in Greek football and one of the three clubs which have never been relegated from the top division. Amongst their major titles are 20 Greek Championships, 19 Greek Cups, achieving eight times the

Double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

, and 3

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 Football (soccer), association football one-match ...

s. They are also one of the two clubs that won a championship undefeated, going without a loss in a top-flight campaign in the 1963–64 season. Panathinaikos is also the most successful Greek club in terms of achievements in European competitions. It is the only Greek team that has reached the European Cup (later renamed

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

) final in 1971 (which they lost to

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

2–0), and also the semi-finals twice, in 1985 and 1996. It is also the only Greek team that has played for the Intercontinental Cup (1971). Furthermore, they have reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League on another two occasions (in 1992 and 2002), as well as the quarter-finals of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

twice (1988 and 2003). They have also won the

Balkans Cup The Balkans Cup was an international football competition for clubs from Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, Turkey, and Yugoslavia. It was introduced in 1961 and was very popular in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42,000 spectators), being t ...

in 1977. Panathinaikos is a member of the

European Club Association The European Club Association (ECA) is a body representing the interests of professional association football clubs in UEFA. It is the sole such body recognised by the confederation, and has member clubs in each UEFA member association. It was fo ...

. Since the 1950s, the club maintains some of the oldest and most successful

academies An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

in Greece, producing talent for the first team and feeding the

Greece national football team The Greece national football team ( el, Εθνική Ελλάδας, ) represents Greece in men's international football matches and is controlled by the Hellenic Football Federation, the governing body for football in Greece. Greece play most ...

. They have played their home games in the

Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium ( el, Γήπεδο Απόστολος Νικολαΐδης), commonly known as Leoforos Alexandras Stadium or Leoforos Stadium, is a football stadium and multi-sport center in Athens, Greece. It was inaugurated in 19 ...

, considered their traditional home ground, and the

Athens Olympic Stadium The Olympic Stadium of Athens " Spyros Louis" ( el, Ολυμπιακό Στάδιο Αθηνών "Σπύρος Λούης", ''Olympiakó Stádio Athinon "Spyros Louis"'') is a sports stadium in Athens, Greece. It is a part of the Athens Olympic ...

. According to research and polls, Panathinaikos is the second most popular football team in Greece, behind

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 ...

.
'' Έλαβον: ΟΣΦΠ 39%, ΠΑΟ 30%, ΑΕΚ 15%, ΠΑΟΚ 11%, Άρης 5%. Ύστερα από 15ετή έρευνα δύο πανεπιστημιακοί στο βιβλίο τους καταγράφουν την ιστορία και γεωγραφία του ελληνικού ποδοσφαίρου'', 30 June 2009, Τanea.gr (in Greek), ''H πιο πρόσφατη... «απογραφή»: 36% Oλυμπιακοί (1,677 εκατομμύρια), 30,2% Παναθηναϊκοί'', Sentragoal, Βαγγέλης Μπραουδάκης (in Greek) They hold a long-term rivalry with Olympiacos F.C., Olympiacos, the clash between the two teams being referred to as the "

derby of the eternal enemies The derby of the eternal rivals ( el, Ντέρμπι των αιωνίων αντιπάλων), also called mother of all battles (Greek: μητέρα των μαχών), is a football local derby in the Athens urban area (Athens/Piraeus) between ...

History

Early years

According to the official history of the club, Panathinaikos was founded by

Giorgos Kalafatis Giorgos Kalafatis ( el, Γιώργος Καλαφάτης; 17 March 1890 – 19 February 1964) was a Greek football pioneer, player, coach, track and field athlete and the founder of Panathinaikos Athens multi-sports club. Sports career Bein ...

on 3 February 1908, when he and 40 other athletes decided to break away from

Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos Panellinios G.S. (Greek (language), Greek: Πανελλήνιος Γ.Σ.), full name, Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos (Greek (language), Greek: Πανελλήνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος), is a Greece, Greek sports club, mult ...

following the club's decision to discontinue its football team. The name of the new club was "Podosferikos Omilos Athinon" (''Football Club of Athens''). It was founded with the aim of spreading and making more known this new sport (

) to the Athenian and Greek public in general. Also, the intention of the founders was to create a team for all of Athens and to be connected with the rest of the European football movement, which was already active. The first president elected was Alexandros Kalafatis, brother of Giorgos. The ground of the team was in

Patission Street Patission Street ( el, Οδός Πατησίων) is one of the major streets in central Athens, Greece. Though it is known as Patission, its name for its stretch between Panepistimiou Street and Amerikis Square, was changed to 28 October Street, ...

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

athlete John Cyril Campbell was brought in as coach, the first time that a foreigner was appointed as the coach of a Greek team.

Konstantinos Tsiklitiras Konstantinos "Kostas" Tsiklitiras ( el, Κωνσταντίνος "Κώστας" Τσικλητήρας; 30 October 1888 – 10 February 1913) was a Greek athlete and Olympic champion. Born in Pylos, he moved to Athens in 1905 to study commerce ...

, the great Greek athlete of the early 20th century, played as goalkeeper for the new team. Podosfairikos Omilos Athinon POA 1908

In 1910, after a dispute among a number of board members, Kalafatis with most of the players—also followed by Campbell—decided to pull out of POA and secured a new ground in

Amerikis Square Amerikis Square ( el, Πλατεία Αμερικής, ''Plateia Amerikis'', "America Square") is located in central Athens, Greece. It is an open area adjacently to Patision Street, on the western borders of Kypseli. Formerly called Agamon Squar ...

. Subsequently, the name of the club changed to Panellinios Podosferikos Omilos ("Panhellenic Football Club") and its colours to green and white. By 1914, Campbell had returned to England but the club was already at the top of Greek football with players such as

Michalis Papazoglou Michalis Papazoglou was a Greek athlete from Constantinople. He started with track and field sports but when he came to Athens in the early 1910s, he joined the football club PPO (later to become PAO). He was the man who had the idea of adoptin ...

, Michalis Rokkos and

Loukas Panourgias Loukas Panourgias ( el, Λουκάς Πανουργιάς, 4 September 1899 – Athens, 17 January 1981) was a Greek athlete and footballer. At the age of 12 he went to Athens and a year later he formed an unofficial team called ''Niki''. Soon ...

. In 1918, the team adopted the

trifolium Clover or trefoil are common names for plants of the genus ''Trifolium'' (from Latin ''tres'' 'three' + ''folium'' 'leaf'), consisting of about 300 species of flowering plants in the legume or pea family Fabaceae originating in Europe. The genus h ...

(

shamrock A shamrock is a young sprig, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the Christian Holy Trinity. The name ''shamrock'' comes from Irish (), which is the diminutive of ...

) as its emblem, as proposed by

. In 1921 and 1922, the Athens-Piraeus FCA organized the first two post-

WWI World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

championships, in both of which PPO was declared champion. By that stage, the club had outgrown both the grounds in Patission Street and Amerikis Square, due mainly to its expansion in other sports, and began to look at vacant land in the area of Perivola on

Alexandras Avenue Alexandra's Avenue (Greek: Λεωφόρος Αλεξάνδρας ''Leoforos Alexandras'') is a main east–west thoroughfare running from Patission Street/28 October Street and Kifissias Avenue in the northern part of the city of Athens, Greece. ...

as its potential new ground. After long discussions with the

Municipality of 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 a ...

, an agreement was finally reached and in 1922 ''Leoforos'' ("Avenue" in Greek) was granted to the club. The move to a permanent home ground also heralded another—final—name change to Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (PAO), "''All-Athenian Athletic Club''", on 15 March 1924, from now on a

multi-sport 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 ...

. However, the decision was already taken by 1922. In 1926, the

Hellenic Football Federation The Hellenic Football Federation (HFF), also known as the Greek Football Federation ( el, Ελληνική Ποδοσφαιρική Ομοσπονδία; ΕΠΟ, translit=Ellinikí Podosferikí Omospondía; EPO) is the governing body of associat ...

(HFF) was founded and the first

Greek Championship The Super League Greece 1 ( el, Ελληνική Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), or Super League 1, is the highest professional association football league in Greece. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and replaced ''Alpha Ethniki'' at the top of ...

under its authority took place in 1927. Aggelos Messaris 1930

Panathinaikos won undefeated the Championship of 1929–30 under the guidance of

József Künsztler József Künsztler (1897 in Budapest – 1977 in Nicosia) was a Hungarian footballer and manager. He won one Greek championship as manager with Panathinaikos F.C. in 1930 and 8 Cypriot championships with APOEL FC. Until today, he is the coa ...

and

Angelos Messaris Angelos Messaris (Greek: Άγγελος Μεσσάρης; 1910-1978) was a Greek footballer. He played for Panathinaikos and he is widely regarded as the best Greek player of the pre-war era. This is probably also due to the myth that for deca ...

as the team's star player. Other notable players of this ''Belle Époque'' period of the team were

Antonis Migiakis Antonis Migiakis ( el, Aντώνης Mηγιάκης; born 23 October 1911 – 19 November 1999) was a star forward for Greek football team Panathinaikos in the 1930s. He is probably best remembered for his memorable performance in his team's 8� ...

Diomidis Symeonidis Diomidis Symeonidis (1908 – 24 April 1981) was a Cypriot footballer, one of the founders of APOEL. Symeonidis was born in 1908 and was, along with his brother Christos, a footballer of Aetos - a local Nicosia club - until 1926 when he met Ge ...

Mimis Pierrakos Mimis Pierrakos, Greek: Μίμης Πιερράκος; 1906 – November 1940) was a Greek footballer. Football career A co-player of Angelos Messaris and the top goalscorer for Panathinaikos in 1936, with 18 goals in 10 games. He played for ...

and

Stefanos Pierrakos Stephanos or Stefanos, in Greek , is a masculine given name derived from the Greek word (''stéphanos''), meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", from the verb (''stéphein''), "to encircle, to wreathe". In Ancient ...

, among others. They thrashed rivals Olympiacos F.C., Olympiacos 8–2, a result that still remains the biggest win either team has achieved against its rival, with Messaris scoring three goals. The team also defeated

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Howard, Former President of the Jama ...

1–4 away 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 Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...

. Messaris, who scored again three goals, became a hero and chant for the fans.

Crisis and WWII years

In 1931, a serious disagreement between leading board member Apostolos Nikolaidis from one side, and some players (most notably

) and club's officials on the other side, regarding the

professionalization Professionalization is a social process by which any tradesman, trade or occupation transforms itself into a true "profession of the highest integrity and competence." The definition of what constitutes a profession is often contested. Professional ...

in the Greek football, which lasted two years, damaged the club and led to a counterproductive period. In the meantime, the HFF

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 im ...

had commenced in 1932. The last bright moment for the Greens before World War II was winning the Cup for the first time in 1940 against Aris, 3–1. In 1940, with the break out of the

Greco-Italian War The Greco-Italian War (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνοϊταλικός Πόλεμος, ''Ellinoïtalikós Pólemos''), also called the Italo-Greek War, Italian Campaign in Greece, and the War of '40 in Greece, took place between the kingdom ...

, many players of the club joined the

Hellenic Army The Hellenic Army ( el, Ελληνικός Στρατός, Ellinikós Stratós, sometimes abbreviated as ΕΣ), formed in 1828, is the land force of Greece. The term ''Hellenic'' is the endogenous synonym for ''Greek''. The Hellenic Army is the ...

was killed during the war (later, during the 1950s, his bones were transferred from Albania back to Athens). During the Axis Occupation of Greece from 1941 to 1944, many players of the team became members of

United Panhellenic Organization of Youth The United Panhellenic Organization of Youth, abbreviated EPON ( el, Ενιαία Πανελλαδική Οργάνωση Νέων (ΕΠΟΝ)), was a Greek resistance organization that was active during the Axis Occupation of Greece in World ...

(PEAN) resistance organization., while

had a leading role in the resistance group of

Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz Jerzy Iwanow-Szajnowicz ( el, Γεώργιος Ιβάνωφ-Σαϊνόβιτς, ''Georgios Ivanof-Sainovits''; 14 December 1911 – 4 January 1943) was a Polish-Greek athlete who fought as a saboteur in the Greek Resistance during World War II a ...

.P After this long crisis period, Panathinaikos had to wait until 1949 to win again a Greek Championship under the guidance of the Austrian coach

Johann Strnad Johann "Hans" Strnad (~1893 – ~1950) was an Austrian football player and manager. Club career Born in Vienna. While playing with Wiener Sport-Club, he played one match for the Austria national football team on April 14, 1918 in a match in Buda ...

. That same year, Vangelis Panakis and

Kostas Linoxilakis Kostas Linoxilakis ( el, Κώστας Λινοξυλάκης; 5 March 1933 – 3 December 2014) was a Greek former international and Olympic footballer. Career Linoxilakis started his career at Asteras Athens and was centre back of Panathinaikos ...

came to the club and quickly became the side's new star players. Panathinaikos was again champion for the 1952–53 Panhellenic Championship. Until 1959, the team had also won seven of the last eight Athens Championships, the regional championships organised in Greece. In 1959,

Mimis Domazos Dimitris "Mimis" Domazos ( el, Δημήτρης "Μίμης" Δομάζος, born 22 January 1942) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. His nickname was ''"The General"'' ''( el, "Ο Στρατηγός ...

, the emblematic captain of the team, made his first appearance with Panathinaikos and the same year took place the first season under the new system of Alpha Ethniki (

1959–60 Alpha Ethniki The 1959–60 Alpha Ethniki was the 24th season of the highest football league of Greece and the first season of the nationwide league after the league replaced the ''Panhellenic Championship''. The season began on 25 October 1959 and ended on 31 ...

). Panathinaikos was the champion team.

1960s: The Golden Decade, the Bobek's rejuvenation

During the next years, Panathinaikos were again champions in 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1969 and 1970. Moreover, the team won two more Greek Cups, in 1967 and 1969. Also, during these years, a long process of rejuvenation took place in the club. Notable players retired, such as Panakis, Linoxilakis,

Takis Loukanidis Takis Loukanidis ( el, Τάκης Λουκανίδης, 25 September 1937 – 11 January 2018) was a Greek footballer of the 1950s–60s. Career Born in Paranesti, a village in the broader area of Drama, Loukanidis' father was killed by Bulgari ...

and

Andreas Papaemmanouil Andreas Papaemmanouil ( el, Ανδρέας Παπαεμμανουήλ; 18 February 1939 – 1 March 2020) was a Greek professional footballer who played as a forward and a later manager. Early life Papaemmanouil was born on 18 February 1939 in ...

, and the team had to count on young players like Domazos,

Antonis Antoniadis Antonis Antoniadis (Greek: Αντώνης Αντωνιάδης, born 25 May 1946) is a former Greek footballer. He scored 243 goals during his 22-years long career. He started his career in 1964 playing for Aspida Xanthi before moving to Pana ...

Anthimos Kapsis Anthimos Kapsis ( el, Άνθιμος Καψής; born 3 September 1950) is a Greek former International footballer who played as a sweeper. Career Born in Astypalaia, Kapsis' family moved to Keratsini when he was young. Kapsis played for the P ...

Kostas Eleftherakis Kostas Eleftherakis ( el, Κώστας Ελευθεράκης, born 18 July 1950) is a Greek former international football player who played as a midfielder. His nickname was ''"the Deer"'' ''( el, "το Ελάφι")''. Club career He started h ...

and

Takis Ikonomopoulos Panagiotis "Takis" Ikonomopoulos ( gr, Παναγιώτης "Τάκης" Οικονομόπουλος; born 19 October 1943) is a Greek former international football player who played as a goalkeeper. He was nicknamed ''"The Bird"'' ''( gr, "Τ� ...

Stjepan Bobek Stjepan Bobek (; 3 December 1923 – 22 August 2010) was a Croatian and Yugoslav professional football striker and later football manager. Usually a forward or attacking midfielder, Bobek was renowned for his technique, vision and goalscoring ...

was the main contributor to this process. In 1963, he became the club's head coach, changing the playing style of the team to a 4–3–3 and created a new team based on young players (the "Bobek's rejuvenation"). Under his guidance, Panathinaikos won the Championship of 1964 without a loss, making them one of the two teams that has won the Greek Championship (with its modern system) undefeated. Notable players of the team included Panakis, Domazos,

Totis Filakouris Panagiotis "Totis" Filakouris (born 1 March 1947) is a Greek former footballer who played as a forward. Fylakouris played for Panathinaikos for ten years from 1965 until 1975 and was a member of the team that played in the final of the Europea ...

Frangiskos Sourpis Frangiskos Sourpis ( el, Φραγκίσκος Σούρπης; born 4 March 1943) is a former Greek footballer, centre-back for Panathinaikos from 1962 until 1973. Career Born in Kifisia, Sourpis was talented at the pole vault and volleyball, ...

and

Aristidis Kamaras Aristidis "Kamaras" Katrodaylis ( el, Αριστείδης "Καμάρας" Κατροδαύλης; born 2 March 1939) is a retired Greek footballer and lawyer. He started his career at Apollon Athens as a defender. His career at Apollon didn' ...

. With the establishment of the Greek military regime, the president of the club,

, was forced out of the presidency. The contract of Bobek was canceled by the State, while Apostolos Nikolaidis, the old player, manager and official of the club, went on trial. In 1967, the great

Béla Guttmann Béla Guttmann (; 27 January 1899 – 28 August 1981) was a Hungarian footballer and coach. He was born in Budapest, Austria-Hungary, and was Jewish. He was deported by the Nazis to a Nazi slave labor camp where he was tortured; he survived the ...

came as coach, but he soon left and ex-player

Lakis Petropoulos Lakis Petropoulos ( el, Λάκης Πετρόπουλος, 29 August 1932 – 30 June 1996) was a Greece, Greek association football, football player and manager. He played for Panathinaikos F.C., Panathinaikos and capped 3 times for Greece natio ...

was appointed. Under his guidance, Panathinaikos won the championships of 1969 (with a double) and 1970.

Puskás years and the epic road to Wembley

1971 Champions League Final Ajax - Panathinaikos

1970–71 European Cup finalists

In 1971, under the guidance of

Ferenc Puskás Ferenc Puskás (, ; born Ferenc Purczeld; 1 April 1927 – 17 November 2006) was a Hungarian football player and manager, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time and the sport's first international superstar. A forward, ...

, Panathinaikos were

1970–71 European Cup The 1970–71 season of the European Cup club football tournament was won by Ajax in the final against Panathinaikos. It was the first time the cup went to Ajax, beginning a three-year period of domination, and the second consecutive championshi ...

finalists, the first and only Greek team until today, losing 2–0 to

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. In the road to the final, they eliminated

Jeunesse Esch Jeunesse Esch (full name ''Association Sportive la Jeunesse d'Esch/Alzette'') is a football club, based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. The side play in the National Division, the highest league in the country, and have won th ...

, Slovan Bratislava, Everton and

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

. Notable players included the captain

and the goalkeepers

and

Vasilis Konstantinou Vasilis Konstantinou ( el, Βασίλης Κωνσταντίνου; born 19 November 1947) is a former Greek football goalkeeper whose career spanned three decades: the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. Club career Born in Marousi, Konstantinou played fo ...

was the top scorer in the competition scoring ten goals. In the same year, Panathinaikos played for the

1971 Intercontinental Cup The 1971 Intercontinental Cup was an association football tie held over two legs in December 1971 between the runners-up of the 1970–71 European Cup, Panathinaikos, replacing European Cup winners Ajax which declined to participate, and Nacional ...

(due to the refusal of Ajax to participate), where they lost to Uruguayan club

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

(1–1 in Greece, 2–1 in Uruguay).

was the scorer for the Greek club. During the last amateur years of Greek football, the ''Trifolium'' won one more Championship in 1972. Antonis Antoniadis was again top scorer with 39 goals (also second in Europe). His record remains until today in the Greek league. With the collapse of the

military regime A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

, Apostolos Nikolaidis became again active for the club and was appointed honorary president of Panathinaikos. In 1975, one of the greatest coaches of his era, the Brazilian

Aymoré Moreira Aymoré Moreira (24 April 1912 – 26 July 1998) was a Brazilian football player and coach, who played as a goalkeeper. He was a brother of Zezé Moreira and Ayrton Moreira, both of whom were also successful coaches in Brazilian football. Ca ...

, who mainly worked in Brazil ( World Cup Champion with the Brazilian national team in 1962), was appointed. After a year and a half of poor results, however, he was replaced by

Kazimierz Górski Kazimierz Klaudiusz Górski (2 March 1921 – 23 May 2006) was a coach of Poland national football team and honorary president of the Polish Football Association. He was also a football player, capped once for Poland. Playing career He was bor ...

. With Górski, Panathinaikos won the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

in 1977, followed by a

victory in the same year. Notable foreign players who played for the team during the late 1970s include

Juan Ramón Verón Juan Ramón Verón (; born 17 March 1944) is an Argentine football coach and former professional player. He played as a midfielder or forward most notably for Estudiantes, where he won three consecutive Copa Libertadores titles. He is the fath ...

, Araquem de Melo and Óscar Álvarez.

Vardinogiannis era (1979–2012)

In 1979, Greek football turned professional. The Vardinogiannis family purchased PAO's football department and Giorgos Vardinogiannis became president. Panathinaikos were one of the first Greek clubs that formed a women's team in 1980, but that department is currently inactive. The transformation period lasted a few years, but in 1982 the club won its first professional era trophy, the Greek Cup, and during the 1980s they would go on winning two championships (1984, 1986), four more Greek Cups (1984, 1986—with a 4–0 against Olympiacos F.C., Olympiacos in the final—, 1988, 1989) and the

in 1988. The great star of the team during these years was

Dimitris Saravakos Dimitris Saravakos ( el, Δημήτρης Σαραβάκος; born 26 July 1961), nicknamed "The Kid" ''( el, "ο Μικρός")'', is a Greek former international footballer who played as a forward. Saravakos is widely considered to be one of t ...

, nicknamed "The Kid." Saravakos, a high-technique explosive midfielder and iconic captain of Panathinaikos, was the alsolute idol for the fans during the 1980s, while other players included

Nikos Sarganis Nikos Sarganis (Greek language, Greek: Νίκος Σαργκάνης; born 13 January 1954) is a Greek former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Career Born in Rafina, Att ...

Spiros Livathinos Spyros Livathinos ( el, Σπύρος Λιβαθηνός; born 8 January 1955) is a former football player who played as a midfielder, coach and current scout of Panathinaikos. Career Born in Patras, Livathinos started his football career in th ...

Velimir Zajec Velimir Zajec (born 12 February 1956) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who last managed Dinamo Zagreb. Club career Zajec began his career at Dinamo Zagreb in 1974, aged 18. During 10 years at the club, he helped them ...

Juan Ramón Rocha Juan Ramón Rocha (born 8 March 1954) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Greek Super League 2 club Thesprotos. Playing career Born in Santo Tomé, Corrientes, Rocha began his profess ...

Christos Dimopoulos Christos Dimopoulos ( el, Χρήστος Δημόπουλος, born 6 September 1959) is a retired Greek footballer who played as a forward for PAOK and Panathinaikos F.C.. His nickname was "Fonias" (''Φονιάς'', meaning Killer) of Greek ...

and

Giannis Kyrastas Giannis Kyrastas ( el, Γιάννης Κυράστας; 25 October 1952 – 1 April 2004) was a Greece, Greek soccer, footballer and Coach (sport), football manager. Club career Born in Piraeus, Kyrastas started his football career in Olympi ...

. In the 1984–85 season, Panathinaikos, with coach

Jacek Gmoch Jacek Wojciech Gmoch (born 13 January 1939 in Pruszków) is a former Polish footballer, who later became a trainer and manager of the Poland National Team. While having a successful football career he graduated in communication from the Warsaw ...

and stars

and

Ioannis Kyrastas Giannis Kyrastas ( el, Γιάννης Κυράστας; 25 October 1952 – 1 April 2004) was a Greek footballer and football manager. Club career Born in Piraeus, Kyrastas started his football career in Olympiacos, where he played his firs ...

, made a run in Europe, eliminating

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

, Linfield and

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or simply Göteborg, is a Swedish professional football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it is the ...

to reach the semi-finals of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, where they were knocked out by

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. In 1987–88, they made it also to the quarter-finals of the

, eliminating

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

and

Budapest Honvéd Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population of ...

. Dimitris Saravakos was top scorer of the competition. The 1990s were an even more successful period for the club, both nationally and internationally. Four Greek championships (1990, 1991, 1995, 1996), four Greek Cups (1991, 1993, 1994, 1995) and two

s (1993, 1994) were awarded to the club. In the 1991–92 season, Panathinaikos reached also the last eight of the

and took part in the first ever European tournament to have a group stage. In 1995–96, with

Juan Ramon Rocha ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

as coach and key players

Krzysztof Warzycha Krzysztof Ireneusz Warzycha (, el, Κριστόφ Βαζέχα; born 17 November 1964) is a Greek-Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward for Ruch Chorzów and for Greek club Panathinaikos. At international level, he repre ...

Józef Wandzik Józef Wandzik (born 13 August 1963) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Tarnowskie Góry, Wandzik began his career at Rodlo Gorniki, before moving to Ruch Chorzów. After a couple of year ...

Stratos Apostolakis Stratos Apostolakis ( el, Στράτος Αποστολάκης; born 17 May 1964), nicknamed The Turbo, is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defender or a defensive midfielder. Career Apostolakis was no stranger to contro ...

, Georgios Georgiadis,

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 ...

Giannis Kalitzakis Giannis Kalitzakis ( el, Γιάννης Καλιτζάκης; born 10 February 1966) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a center back. His nickname was ''"The Ninja"'' due to his hard acrobatic tackles and very strong defens ...

Giorgos Donis Georgios Donis ( el, Γεώργιος Δώνης; born 22 October 1969) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder and currently a manager. He is the current manager of Saudi Arabian club Al-Fateh. He was the first eve ...

and Juan Jose Borrelli, Panathinaikos reached the Champions League semi-finals, finishing first in the group stage against

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

Aalborg BK Aalborg Boldspilklub is a Danish sports club based in the city of Aalborg. The club is also known as AaB for short (cf. logo) or Aalborg BK. Through time the club has had branches in cricket, tennis, ice hockey, handball, and basketball, but curre ...

and eliminating

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning record 15 Ekstraklasa champions titles, a ...

in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals, Panathinaikos faced

, recording an impressive 0–1 first leg away victory with Krzysztof Warzycha scoring the winning goal. Ajax had a record of 22 undefeated international matches until then, with Panathinaikos breaking their series. The Greek team, however, suffered a 0–3 defeat on the second leg. Thus, Panathinaikos was denied entry to a Champions League final once more. Georgios Karagounis 2010

In the summer of 2000, President Giorgos Vardinogiannis resigned from his duties with complaints for the refereeing situation in Greece and passed his shares to his nephew

Giannis Vardinogiannis Giannis Vardinogiannis ( el, Γιάννης Βαρδινογιάννης, born 7 April 1962) is a Greek billionaire shipping magnate, the eldest son of petroleum tycoon Vardis Vardinogiannis. He is included in the Lloyd's List ''Most influential ...

, who changed the style of the club's management.

Angelos Anastasiadis Angelos Anastasiadis (; born 8 March 1953) is a Greek football manager and former international footballer. He previously coached numerous clubs in Greece including PAOK, Panathinaikos, Platanias and PAS Giannina as well as the Greece and Cyp ...

was initially appointed coach of the team and later the ex-player

. With the arrival of coach

Sergio Markarian Sergio may refer to: * Sergio (given name), for people with the given name Sergio * Sergio (carbonado), the largest rough diamond ever found * ''Sergio'' (album), a 1994 album by Sergio Blass * ''Sergio'' (2009 film), a documentary film * ''Se ...

, Panathinaikos reached the quarter-finals of the

2001–02 UEFA Champions League The 2001–02 UEFA Champions League was the 47th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club football tournament, and the 10th since its rebranding from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The tournament was won by R ...

, being eliminated by

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. Panathinaikos had passed the first

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

as the top club against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

and

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as FC Schalke 04 (), Schalke 04 (), or abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional German football and multi-sports club originally from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine ...

, and the second group stage as second against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

, Porto and

Sparta Prague ) but refer to Spartans as "''Rudí''" ( en, The Dark Reds/The Maroons).'' Letenští'' , ground = Generali Česká pojišťovna Arena , capacity = 19,416 , clubname = Sparta Prague , image = Sparta Praha logo.png , image_size = 160px , fu ...

. In the first leg of the quarter-finals, Panathinaikos managed to defeat

by 1–0 in

. The second leg in

Camp Nou Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...

was to be an eventful one. Panathinaikos scored first thanks to a beautiful goal by

Michalis Konstantinou Michalis Konstantinou ( el, Μιχάλης Κωνσταντίνου; born 19 February 1978) is a Cypriot retired football striker. He played for the Cyprus national football team, and he is the all-time leading scorer with 32 goals in 85 appea ...

but eventually was eliminated as Barcelona scored three goals. Ιn Europe, Panathinaikos made it to the quarter-finals of UEFA Cup quarter-finals. En route, the Greek team had knocked-out

Litex Lovech Litex ( bg, Литекс) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Lovech, which currently competes in the Second League. The club was founded in 1921 as Hisarya Sports Club. The club's home ground is the Gradski Stadion ...

, Fenerbahçe (with an impressive 4–1 win in Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium),

Slovan Liberec FC Slovan Liberec (), commonly referred to as Slovan Liberec or simply Slovan, is a Czech football club based in the city of Liberec. The club is one of the most successful in the Czech Republic, having won three league titles and the domesti ...

and

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 ...

. During the quarter-finals, although winning the first match in

Estádio das Antas The Estádio das Antas (officially Estádio do Futebol Clube do Porto) was the third (and longest occupied) stadium of the Portuguese football side FC Porto. It was in use from 1952 to 2004, replacing the earlier Campo da Constituição, 1.6km ( ...

against eventual winners of the trophy

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix GOIH (; born 26 January 1963), is a Portuguese professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Italian Serie A club Roma. Once dubbed "The Special One" by the British ...

, with the header of

Emmanuel Olisadebe Emmanuel Olisadebe (; born 22 December 1978) is a former professional footballer who played as a striker most notably for the Poland national team. He scored 11 international goals in 25 caps between 2000 and 2004, and participated in the 200 ...

, they were eliminated in the second leg after extra time. Notable players of this team included

Takis Fyssas Takis Fyssas ( el, Τάκης Φύσσας, born 12 June 1973) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a left back. He works as the sporting director of the Greece national team. He was previously the technical director of the ...

Giorgos Karagounis Georgios Karagkounis ( el, Γεώργιος Καραγκούνης; born 6 March 1977), known as Giorgos Karagounis ( el, Γιώργος Καραγκούνης), is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. In his club ...

Antonis Nikopolidis Antonis Nikopolidis ( el, Αντώνης Νικοπολίδης; born 14 January 1971) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, and former manager of the Greece under-21 national team. He is regarded among the best ...

Angelos Basinas Angelos Basinas ( el, Άγγελος Μπασινάς , born 3 January 1976) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He could also operate as a central midfielder and a centre back. He is best remembered ...

, Nikos Lyberopoulos,

Giourkas Seitaridis Georgios "Giourkas" Seitaridis ( ; born 4 June 1981) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a right-back and occasionally as a centre-back. He has last played in 2013 for Greek Superleague side Panathinaikos, having played previ ...

Sotirios Kyrgiakos Sotirios Kyrgiakos ( el, Σωτήριος Κυργιάκος, born 23 July 1979) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Kyrgiakos made his first football steps with a local team, Thyella Megaloc ...

Paulo Sousa Paulo Manuel Carvalho de Sousa, CavIH (; born 30 August 1970) is a Portuguese football manager and former professional player who played as a defensive midfielder. Starting his career at Benfica, he also represented Sporting CP in his countr ...

Goran Vlaović Goran Vlaović (born 7 August 1972) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a striker. Club career Born in Nova Gradiška, Vlaović started his professional career with Osijek in 1989 and moved to HAŠK Građanski in 1992, before goi ...

, Rene Henriksen,

Joonas Kolkka Joonas Einari Kolkka (born 28 September 1974) is a Finnish retired professional footballer who played as a left winger most of his career, but could also play on the right wing. Having started his career in his native Finland, he went on to play ...

Jan Michaelsen Jan Munk Michaelsen (born 28 November 1970) is a former Danish footballer and currently is the head of coaching at Nykøbing FC. He made 20 international appearances, scored one goal for the Danish national team. He is the son of former Danish f ...

and

, considered by the fans one of the best teams in the club's history. During

2002–03 Alpha Ethniki The 2002–03 Alpha Ethniki was the 67th season of the highest football league of Greece. The season began on 24 August 2002 and ended on 25 May 2003. Olympiacos won their seventh consecutive and 32nd Greek title. Olympiacos and Panathinaikos fin ...

season, they lost the Greek championship in the last two games by arch-rivals Olympiacos. Under the guidance of Israeli coach

Itzhak Shum Itzhak Shum ( he, יצחק שום; born 1 September 1948 in Kishinev, Moldavian SSR) is a retired Israeli football player and manager, and currently the owner of Hapoel Kfar Saba. Playing career He played 78 times and scored 10 goals for Is ...

, Panathinaikos managed to win the championship in 2004. They won also the

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

, beating Olympiacos 3–1 in the final, making the double. New players like

Ezequiel González Ezequiel "Equi" González (; born 10 July 1980 in Rosario) is a former Argentine midfielder. Career González started playing professionally at home-based first division Rosario Central in 1997. His success in the club from Rosario (Santa Fé) ...

, Lucian Sanmartean and Markus Münch had signed the summer before. In the Champions League, they came third in the group stage facing

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB Stu ...

and Rangers. However, Shum was unexpectedly fired early in the next season ( 2004–05) and

Zdeněk Ščasný Zdeněk Ščasný (born 9 August 1957) is a Czech football manager and former player. Ščasný has won the Czech league championship five timesthree times as a player and twice as a coachand the Czech Cup three timestwice as a player and once ...

succeeded him on the bench. Panathinaikos finished second in the championship, while in the Champions League they came again third in the group stage facing Rosenborg, PSV and Arsenal. They continued in the

, where they were eliminated by

Sevilla Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spain, Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the Guadalquivir, River Gua ...

. In 2005, major changes were made in the team's roster. Players like

and

departed, while others like

Flávio Conceição Flávio da Conceição (born 12 June 1974) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Conceição enjoyed a successful career in Spain, where he played for two clubs—including Real Madrid with whom he won six ma ...

Igor Bišćan Igor Bišćan (; born 4 May 1978) is a Croatian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of the Croatia national under-21 team. In his playing career, he was a versatile player and could play almost every position in th ...

and

Andreas Ivanschitz Andreas Ivanschitz ( hr, Ivančić; born 15 October 1983) is an Austrian retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. During the career, Ivanschitz played for Rapid Wien, Red Bull Salzburg, Panathinaikos, 1.FSV Mainz 05, Levante ...

arrived. Ščasný gave his seat to

Alberto Malesani Alberto Malesani (; born 5 June 1954) is an Italian football manager and former player. As a manager, he is mostly remembered for his successful spell with Parma during the late 1990s, where he won the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup, and the Superc ...

. At the start of the 2006–07 season, Malesani left the team and was replaced by

Hans Backe Hans Roland "Hasse" Backe (; born 14 February 1952) is a Swedish football manager and former player who most recently led Finland's national team. Prior to this he managed the New York Red Bulls. He has coached clubs in Sweden, Norway, Greece, ...

, who left only three months after his appointment;

Víctor Muñoz Víctor Muñoz Manrique (born 15 March 1957), known simply as Víctor in his playing days, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and a manager. An all-around midfield unit, he was best known for his great physical strengt ...

was his replacement. For the 2007–08 season, Panathinaikos hired

José Peseiro José Vítor dos Santos Peseiro (born 4 April 1960) is a Portuguese football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the manager of the Nigeria national team. After an unassuming career as a player, he went on to coach several ...

On 22 April 2008, and under pressure from the fan base, main shareholder Giannis Vardinogiannis gave a press conference in which he announced the decision of his family to reduce their share in the club to 50%—after 30 years of full ownership—through an €80 million increase of the company's capital stock. After the negotiations and the share capital increase, the Vardinogiannis family would hold 56% of the club, the amateur Club 10% and the other shareholders 34% (with main investors Andreas Vgenopoulos,

Pavlos Giannakopoulos Pavlos D. Giannakopoulos (Greek: Παύλος Δ. Γιαννακόπουλος; 20 August 1929 – 10 June 2018) was a Greek businessman, owner and president of Panathinaikos B.C. and president of Panathinaikos AC. Vianex Along with his broth ...

Adamantios Polemis Adamantios Polemis is a Greek major shipowner and shareholder of Panathinaikos FC Panathinaikos Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο. ), known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Pa ...

and

Nikos Pateras Nikos Pateras is a Greek major shipowner, president (from 2008 to 2010) and shareholder of Panathinaikos FC. He is member of the Pateras family, a historic shipping family from Chios island. He is president of Pacific & ...

). Nikos Pateras was selected to be the new president of the club. Olympique de Marseille - Girondins de Bordeaux 2007 2008 Djibril Cissé

Following the major changes in 2008, Panathinaikos hired

Henk ten Cate Hendrik Willem ten Cate (born 9 December 1954) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. In the 2005–06 season, he was assistant to Frank Rijkaard at Barcelona when the team won the UEFA Champions League and La Liga titles. ...

as coach and bought many expensive players, such as

Gilberto Silva Gilberto Aparecido da Silva (; born 7 October 1976) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder most notably for English Premier League club Arsenal, Super League club Panathinaikos F.C., Clube Atlétic ...

from Arsenal and

Gabriel In Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam), Gabriel (); Greek: grc, Γαβριήλ, translit=Gabriḗl, label=none; Latin: ''Gabriel''; Coptic: cop, Ⲅⲁⲃⲣⲓⲏⲗ, translit=Gabriêl, label=none; Amharic: am, ገብር� ...

from

Fluminense Fluminense Football Club (), known as Fluminense, is a Brazilian sports club best known for its professional football team that competes in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the first tier of Brazilian football and the Campeonato Carioca, ...

. In the 2008–09 season, the Greens proved that they could hold their weight in the Champions League by reaching the last 16. However, they disappointed in the

, finishing third in the regular season, though they managed to come second overall after the playoff mini-league. The 2009–10 season was a successful one for Panathinaikos. During the summer transfer period, the club bought

Djibril Cissé Djibril Cissé (; born 12 August 1981) is a French former professional footballer who played as a forward. He started his career at AC Arles in 1989, at the age of eight. After seven years at the club, he had a six-month spell at Nîmes Olym ...

from

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Kostas Katsouranis Kostas Katsouranis ( el, Κώστας Κατσουράνης; born 21 June 1979) is a Greek former international footballer. A versatile midfielder, who won the Super League Greek Footballer of the Year Award in 2005 and 2013, as well as the Co ...

from Benfica,

Sebastián Leto Sebastián Eduardo Leto (born 30 August 1986) is a former Argentine professional footballer who played as a winger or forward.He is now assistant manager at Al-Gharafa SC. Club career Lanús Born in Alejandro Korn, Leto began his career wit ...

from

and various other players, spending more than €35 million in total. Henk ten Cate left in December to be replaced by

Nikos Nioplias Nikos Nioplias ( el, Νίκος Νιόπλιας; born 17 January 1965) is a Greek professional football manager and former player. Playing career Club His career began with OFI Crete in 1983, winning the Greek Cup in 1987, and he remained fo ...

. The team managed to reach the last 16 of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

, eliminating

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

after two amazing matches in

Olympic Stadium of Athens The Olympic Stadium of Athens " Spyros Louis" ( el, Ολυμπιακό Στάδιο Αθηνών "Σπύρος Λούης", ''Olympiakó Stádio Athinon "Spyros Louis"'') is a sports stadium in Athens, Greece. It is a part of the Athens Olympic ...

and

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...

. Panathinaikos also won both the

and the

, beating

by 1–0 in the final of the latter, thanks to a goal by

. In 2011, due to financial problems and management disagreements, Panathinaikos sold Cissé for €5.8 million to

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

and first-choice

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Alexandros Tzorvas Alexandros Tzorvas ( el, Αλέξανδρος Τζόρβας; born 12 August 1982) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Early career Ηe began his career as a member of the renowned (domazos academy) ...

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

to reduce the budget. New players then entered, such as

Quincy Owusu-Abeyie Quincy Jamie Owusu-Abeyie (born 15 April 1986), often known simply as Quincy, is a former professional footballer who plays as a forward or left winger for Dutch amateur club SV Robinhood. Quincy is also a rapper, who goes by the name BLOW. H ...

, Toché, Vitolo and Zeca. The club also changed their president and chose Dimitris Gontikas to be the new chairman. Panathinaikos failed to qualify to the group stage of 2011–12 Champions League after they were knocked out by

Odense BK Odense Boldklub (; also known as Odense BK or the more commonly used OB) is a Danish professional football club based in the city Odense. The club has won three Danish championships and five Danish Cup trophies. OB play in the Danish Superliga ...

4–5 on aggregate.

Recent years (2012–)

Panathinaikos' downfall continued as a result of the serious riots in the Panathinaikos–Olympiacos derby of 18 March 2012. The entire board quit and Panathinaikos remained headless for about two months. However, the owner of

Skai TV Skai TV (Greek: ΣΚΑΪ) is a Greek free-to-air television network based in Piraeus. It is part of the Skai Group, one of the largest media groups in the country. It was relaunched in its present form on 1 April 2006 in the Athens metropolita ...

Giannis Alafouzos Giannis Alafouzos ( el, Γιάννης Αλαφούζος, born 2 July 1957) is a Greek businessman, shipowner, and member of the Alafouzos family from Santorini. Early life Giannis Alafouzos was born in 1957 and is the son of businessman, sh ...

, devised a plan to take Vardinogiannis' shares (54.7%) and make them available to fans around Greece so that everyone could contribute a desired amount, so that Panathinaikos could overcome the crisis. His plan seemed to be working, as a new 20-member board was elected with Dimitris Gontikas at the president's chair again, though it was yet to be seen how the fans would respond to Panathinaikos' call for help. On 2 July 2012, the PAO Alliance 2012 finally opened to the public so that everyone could be a member and contribute a desired amount in return for privileges. After a few weeks of operation, 8,606 members had signed up, some of which were current or former Panathinaikos players, including

Jean-Alain Boumsong Jean-Alain Boumsong Somkong (born 14 December 1979) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender. He began his senior career with French club Le Havre in 1997 before joining AJ Auxerre in 2000. His performances at Auxerre ...

Sotiris Ninis Sotiris Ninis ( el, Σωτήρης Νίνης; born 3 April 1990) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a right winger for Super League club PAS Giannina. Ninis was formerly a member of the Greek national t ...

, Gilberto Silva and Djibril Cissé, among others. On 18 July 2012, marked a historical day in Panathinaikos history, as Giannis Vardinogiannis gave his shares—54.7% of Panathinaikos—to the Panathinaikos Alliance, thereby allowing Panathinaikos to have a fresh start with their own fans at the steering wheel, who through elections (amongst the members of the Alliance) they compose the board of directors and elect the club's president. The first president elected was

. The first season with the Panathinaikos Alliance at the helm was nothing short of abysmal for the club. While still enduring financial troubles, Panathinaikos finished sixth in the championship and failed to qualify for the European competition for the first time in 16 years. Marcus Berg

For the 2013–14 season, the membership had risen up to 9,305 members. Starting the football year, both fans and journalists were very skeptical of Panathinaikos' chances of a successful season, and many people expected the team to suffer relegation from the

. In May 2013,

Yannis Anastasiou Giannis Anastasiou ( gr, Γιάννης Αναστασίου; born 5 March 1973) is a Greek professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of Super League club Panetolikos. As a player, Anastasiou played as a strike ...

was appointed manager, and he planned a team based on players from the Panathinaikos Youth Academies joined by experienced foreign players looking to revive their careers. Despite the early skepticism, Panathinaikos' fans supported the team through the rough start, and the season turned out to be a massive success in light of the dire financial situation of the club and the young and inexperienced squad. The club finished fourth in the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of Se ...

and second after the playoffs (meaning they qualified for the 2014–15 Champions League), with

Marcus Berg Bengt Erik Markus Berg (; born 17 August 1986) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Allsvenskan club IFK Göteborg, which he captains. Beginning his footballing career in Sweden with IFK Göteborg in the early 2000s, ...

the top scorer of the team. Panathinaikos also won the

2013–14 Greek Football Cup The 2013–14 Greek Football Cup was the 72nd edition of the Greek Football Cup. A total of 46 clubs, 16 less than last edition, were accepted to enter. The competition commenced on 14 September 2013 with the First Round and concluded on 26 Apri ...

after a 4–1 win over PAOK. On 2 November 2015, after bad performances and a home draw with

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

, manager

was sacked and replaced by

Andrea Stramaccioni Andrea Stramaccioni (; born 9 January 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player who last managed Qatari club Al Gharafa. A football coach with experiences as a youth coach of Roma and Inter Milan, he was put in charge of first team ...

. Further successive poor results under the latter's reign, combined with loss of dressing room control, led to the dismissal of Stramaccioni on 1 December 2016, with former Panathinaikos player and

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 ...

international

Marinos Ouzounidis Marinos Ouzounidis ( el, Μαρίνος Ουζουνίδης, born 10 October 1968) is a Greek football manager and former professional player. Playing career Ouzounidis started his professional career playing for Greek club Skoda Xanthi as a de ...

taking over the management at the club. Ouzounidis had some great moments with Panathinaikos and was generally liked by the fans. His resignation, due to problems with owner Giannis Alafouzos sparked another wave of disappointment and hatred against Alafouzos from the fans. On 24 April 2018 UEFA decided to exclude Panathinaikos FC from participating in the next UEFA club competition for which it would otherwise qualify in the next three seasons as a result of Financial Fair Play breaches

was announced as the new coach on 3 July 2018. Coach Donis had a great start of the season despite beginning with −6 points in the championship, counting 6 consecutive wins that put Panathinaikos on top of the table. However, due to problems with his salary and a clash with Giannis Alafouzos, he was forced to resign in 2019. This situation made the relations between Alafouzos and the fans worse, with protests and demonstrations during games against him. Panathinaikos remained one of the top clubs in Greece, but its absence from European tournaments was a major factor in the fans' disappointment with the ownership. During the summer of 2020, a series of bad decisions were made from Giannis Alafouzos, who chose to let most of the players that had contributed to a very good season go. Spaniard Dani Poyatos signed on as head of the club on 22 July 2020 for two years, taking over from George Donis' work. Poyatos was sacked after a poor start of the season on 12 October and was replaced by

László Bölöni László Bölöni ( ro, Ladislau Bölöni; born 11 March 1953) is a Romanian professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Ligue 2 club Metz. He is best known for his time at Sporting CP as a manager where he introduced C ...

. After a disappointing fifth position in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

and the failure to guide them to a European qualification spot Bölöni was sacked and replaced by Ivan Jovanović. During the 21-22 season under the management of Ivan Jovanović, the team achieved its major goal of returning to European Competitions finishing fourth, and won their 19th

, beating PAOK 1-0 in the final ending an eight-year trophy drought. Ivan Jovanović was offered a two year extension to his contract, which he accepted. For the third qualifying round of the

2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League is the second season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final will be played at Fortuna Arena in Prague, Czech Republic. The winner ...

, Panathinaikos FC drew Czech football club

SK Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in th ...

with the first leg taking place in

Eden Arena Fortuna Arena (formerly known as Sinobo Stadium, Eden Aréna and Synot Tip Arena) is a football stadium, in Prague-Vršovice, Czech Republic. The stadium has a capacity of 19,370 people and it is the biggest and the most modern football stadi ...

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

on Thursday the 4th of August and the second leg in

a week later. These were the first matches in European Competition for the club in five years. SK Slavia Prague won the tie 3-1, thanks to a 2-0 victory in home soil and a 1-1 draw in Athens. Contrary to the disappointment in Europe, Panathinaikos had a very strong start to the season in the domestic league, winning twelve and drawing one matche by until the break for the

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

Crest and colours

Crest evolution

File:Podosfairikos Omilos Athina.JPG, 1908 File:Panathinaikos-football-seal.png, 1995–present White was the colour that was first used by the team in 1908 (probably like that of the first crest). The first symbol of the club was an

association football ball A football (also known as football ball, soccer ball, or association football ball specifically in the United Kingdom) is the ball used in the sport of association football. The name of the ball varies according to whether the sport is called " ...

of the era. In 1911, the colours changed to green and white. In 1918,

proposed the

, symbol of harmony, unity, nature and good luck, as emblem of Panathinaikos. The officials of the club were looking for a universal, non-nationalistic or localistic, symbol aiming to represent the whole

at the country and further at the world. Papazoglou used to have it sewn on his shirt since he was competing for a club in his native

Chalcedon Chalcedon ( or ; , sometimes transliterated as ''Chalkedon'') was an ancient maritime town of Bithynia, in Asia Minor. It was located almost directly opposite Byzantium, south of Scutari (modern Üsküdar) and it is now a district of the cit ...

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

(present-day Istanbul, Turkey). He was possibly inspired by Billy Sherring, an

Irish Canadian ga, Gael-Cheanadaigh , image = Irish_Canadian_population_by_province.svg , image_caption = Irish Canadians as percent of population by province/territory , population = 4,627,00013.4% of the Canadian population (2016) , po ...

athlete who had won the Athens 1906 Olympic

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

(1906 Intercalated Games) wearing a white outfit with a big green shamrock on the chest. Georgios Chatzopoulos, member—and later president—of the club and director of the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, took over to design the new emblem for the team. Up to the end of the 1970s, a trifolium (green or white) was sewed on heart's side of the jersey and was big in size. With the beginning of professionalism, the crest of the F.C. was created, accompanied by the club initials and the year of founding, 1908. Until today, the team's traditional colours are green and white (green for health,

nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

, such as physiolatry, and white for

virtue Virtue ( la, virtus) is moral excellence. A virtue is a trait or quality that is deemed to be morally good and thus is valued as a foundation of principle and good moral being. In other words, it is a behavior that shows high moral standard ...

), although the white sometimes is omitted, used as trim or as an alternative. During the first years after the establishment of green as Panathinaikos' primary colour, players were wearing green shirts, white shorts and green socks. During the 1930s, an appearance with characteristic horizontal strips was established. This motive was used also in the next decades as primary or second choice. Since then, the uniform style has changed many times, but green has always remained the team's primary colour.

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Since 1979, when football became professional in Greece, Panathinaikos had a specific kit manufacturer and since 1983 a specific shirt sponsor as well. The following table shows in detail Panathinaikos kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors by year: Panathinaikos shirt

Stadiums and facilities

Panathinaikos' traditional home ground since the early 1920s is the

, the oldest active football stadium in Greece, in the Ampelokipoi district of central

. The stadium is located on

and is most commonly referred to as ''Leoforos'' (

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 ...

for "Avenue"). It is considered one of the most historic stadiums in Greece, as it was used by the

as home ground for many years (most recently for the

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

qualifying matches) and even by Panathinaikos' biggest rivals,

and Olympiacos F.C., Olympiacos, on various occasions. Panathinaikos left ''Leoforos'' in 1984 to play in the newly built

. In 2000, then-club president Angelos Filippidis announced a return to the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, following a €7 million renovation. Capacity was reduced from 25,000 to 16,620, new dressing rooms were built and modular stand roofing was added in compliance with

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

requirements, but in 2004, stricter standards were announced and the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium would need further expansion were it to remain suitable for UEFA-sanctioned matches. This was precluded by local zoning regulations and the team had to return to the Olympic Stadium once more until a new stadium, the proposed Votanikos Arena, was built. The ''Leoforos'' ground was due for demolition. On 27 January 2007, the board of Panathinaikos decided to reuse the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium for the team's 2007–08 domestic league and UEFA Cup home games. Additionally, the club officials decided to install new lawn, new seats and upgrade the press conference room and the restrooms. As of October 2013, and due to the club's and the country's financial troubles, the construction of the Votanikos Arena has stopped and consequently the plans for the demolition of the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium have been put on hold. After another five-year spell at the Olympic Stadium, the team has returned to its traditional home ground once again. The current president of the club,

, declared his intention for another renovation of the stadium and the capacity increase, while the

Panathinaikos Movement The Panathinaikos Movement ( el, Παναθηναικό Κίνημα) is a Greek political party, founded in 2012. The Panathinaikos Movement is the first political and social political party in the history of the country, founded by people wit ...

made its propositions for a total reconstruction. In 2019 the owner of Panathinaikos basketball team presented a funding plan for the construction of the new football and basketball stadiums. The Greek government confirmed in 2022 the construction of the Panathinaikos F.C. New Stadium, new stadiums in the Panathinaikos F.C. New Stadium, Votanikos area near Eleonas metro station to be completed by 2026. Paiania (training ground), Paiania has been the training ground of Panathinaikos since 1981, the same year that the Panathinaikos F.C. Academy was reorganized into one of the best in Greece. It became the farm that trained its top tier teams' notable players, such as

, and the Greece national team. In 2013, the club and academy would be moved from Paiania to that of the new Georgios Kalafatis Sports Center in Koropi, to be owned by the club and academy.

Financial information

Until 1979, football was in Greece amateur. The team, such as the other departments of

, depended on the financial support of the club's members, while the president (responsible for all athletic departments) was elected by the Board members. In 1979, Greece's football turned professional and the Vardinogiannis family purchased the football department. Giorgos Vardinogiannis became the new president. Vardinogiannis family were the owners of the club the next decades. On 22 April 2008, growing pressure of the fan base over the past 30 years compelled the main shareholder representative of the club, Giannis Vardinogiannis, to announce at a press conference the family would reduce their financial stake in the club from 100 percent to 50 percent through an €80 million increase issue of the company's capital stock. Negotiations followed and the following were agreed: Nikos Pateras was selected to be the new president; the Vardinogiannis family would hold 56 percent of the club, the amateur club 10 percent (same as before) and a group of new shareholders 34 percent (

and Andreas Vgenopoulos, plus other minor shareholders). In 2011, financial problems and management disagreements caused the club to reduce the budget and sell many players. In 2012, the owner of

, devised a plan to take Vardinogiannis' shares (54.7%) and make them available to fans around Greece so that everyone could contribute, so that Panathinaikos could overcome the crisis. His intention was to create a new, for the Greek athletic standards, List of fan-owned sports teams, supporter-owned football club. On 2 July 2012, the Panathenaic Alliance finally opened to the public so that everyone could be a member and contribute a desired amount in return for privileges. A few days later, Giannis Vardinogiannis gave his shares—54.7% of Panathinaikos—to the Alliance, while the other shareholders maintained their percentage. The members of the Alliance elected a board of directors and club president. The first president elected was

. In 2013, was decided the move of the team from the previous training center of Paiania to a new one, owned by the club. Located in the area of Koropi, Georgios Kalafatis Sports Center became the new training ground and academy base of Panathinaikos. For the 2014–15 Panathinaikos F.C. season, 2014–15 season, the membership had risen up to 8,495 members contributing a total of €2,680,041. Panathinaikos currently is a partially List of fan-owned sports teams#Greece, supporter-owned football club. According to the latest accounts in 2016 Panathenaic Alliance shares have been reduced to (15%),

through Sortivo International Ltd and his own shares is the largest shareholder at (74%).

suddenly decided to quit the team in September 2017, announcing his departure in a written statement and inviting potential investors to express their interest in buying the team. With rapidly growing doubts about the commitment and the sporting progression of the club, Alafouzos eventually decided to re-invest in the playing and coaching staff around June 2021. Current sponsorships: *Shirt sponsor: Stoiximan *Sport clothing manufacturer: Kappa (brand), Kappa *Official sponsors: Cosmote, Vivartia, Piraeus Bank, Avance *Supporters: Powerade, Marks & Spencer

Supporters

Panathinaikos was founded by middle class athletes (with

as a key figure) aiming of spreading and making more known football to the Athenian and Greek public in general. Also, their intention was to create a team for all of Athens and to be connected with the rest of the European football movement, which was already active. Today, according to UEFA and numerous polls and researches by the biggest newspapers and poll companies in a span of 20 years, Panathinaikos is the second most popular football team in Greece, with the difference behind Olympiacos F.C., Olympiacos to be varied between 2% to 9% among the fans.
, ''Περισσότερους οπαδούς ο Ολυμπιακός. Ακολουθούν ΠΑΟ, ΑΕΚ, ΠΑΟΚ'', 30 June 2009, Sport24.gr (in Greek)
''Αυτοί είναι οι οπαδοί στην Ελλάδα – Ο Ολυμπιακός έχει τους περισσότερους φιλάθλους στην Ελλάδα, μετά από εκείνους που δεν υποστηρίζουν καμία ομάδα. Δεύτερος ο Παναθηναϊκός, τρίτη η ΑΕΚ και ακολουθεί ο ΠΑΟΚ.'', 26 June 2012, Gazzetta.gr (in Greek) They have the highest popularity in

metropolitan area according to many of the corresponding polls, having also a large fanbase in all Greek prefectures, in Cyprus and in the Greek diaspora. They historically have a large fanbase among the highly-educated Greek upper class (traditionally representing the old Athenian society), while they are also very popular among the middle and lower classes. Panathinaikos supporters hold both records of the most season tickets sales (31,091 in 2010) and highest average attendance for a unique season (44,942 in the 1985–86 season) in the history of Greek football. The main organized supporters of Panathinaikos are known as Gate 13 (established in 1966), the oldest fan association in Greece, which consists of around 80 clubs alongside Greece and Cyprus. Gate 13 style of supporting includes the use of green fireworks, large and small green flags, displaying of banners and especially the creation of colorful and large choreographies, noisy and constant cheering and other supporters stuff. Gate 13 has over the years become a part of the club by affecting club decisions and by following the club on all occasions. They share a traditional friendship with the Hungarian club Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros and Ultras SK Rapid Wien, Rapid Wien, based mainly on the common green and white colours. Moreover, they have been sharing since the early 10s' close relations with GNK Dinamo Zagreb, Dinamo Zagreb's Bad Blue Boys (based on their common rivalry with Red Star and Olympiacos fans, capital city teams and mutual respect for each other's ultras achievements) and also with Fedayin of

based on the capital city team factor, their mutual respect and the ancient Athens and ancient Roma cultural connection. PALEFIP (Panhellenic club of Panathinaikos friends) is another supporters organization. Panathenaic Alliance, a collective organisation of the fan base, is the major shareholder of the football club, making it currently the only List of fan-owned sports teams, supporter-owned football club in Greece. The members of the Alliance, through elections, compose the board of directors and elect the club's president.

, founded in 2012, is also a Greek political party founded by people with an initial common their love for the sports club of Panathinaikos and the wish for a new stadium for the football team, despite the bureaucracy of the Greek state.

Seasons in the 21st century

Key: R32 = Round of 32, R16 = Round of 16, QF = Quarter-finals, SF = Semi-finals, RU = Runners up, C = Champions.

Statistics and records

holds the record for Panathinaikos appearances, having played 502 first-team matches between 1959 and 1980. Striker Krzysztof Warzycha comes second, having played 390 times. The record for a goalkeeper is held by

, with 303 appearances.

is the club's top goalscorer with 288 goals in all competitions between 1989 and 2004, having surpassed

' total of 180 in January 1998. Panathinaikos record home attendance is 74,493, for a Greek League match against

in 1986 at the Olympic Stadium. The record attendance for a Panathinaikos match at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium is from 1967, when 29,665 spectators watched the Cup Winners' Cup game between Panathinaikos and FC Bayern Munich, Bayern Munich. Panathinaikos is one of the two clubs in the history of Greek football to finish a Super League Greece, top-flight (after 1959) campaign unbeaten. This happened in the 1963–64 Alpha Ethniki, 1963–64 season. One-Club players

Super League top scorers

Most goals in a season

Top scorers in European competitions

Uefa Champions League UEFA Cup

Domestic team's records

International record

Honours

Domestic

*Super League Greece, Super League **Winners (20): 1929–30, 1948–49 Panhellenic Championship, 1948–49, 1952–53 Panhellenic Championship, 1952–53, 1959–60 Alpha Ethniki, 1959–60, 1960–61 Alpha Ethniki, 1960–61, 1961–62 Alpha Ethniki, 1961–62, 1963–64 Alpha Ethniki, 1963–64, 1964–65 Alpha Ethniki, 1964–65, 1968–69 Alpha Ethniki, 1968–69, 1969–70 Alpha Ethniki, 1969–70, 1971–72 Alpha Ethniki, 1971–72, 1976–77 Alpha Ethniki, 1976–77, 1983–84 Alpha Ethniki, 1983–84, 1985–86 Alpha Ethniki, 1985–86, 1989–90 Alpha Ethniki, 1989–90, 1990–91 Alpha Ethniki, 1990–91, 1994–95 Alpha Ethniki, 1994–95, 1995–96 Alpha Ethniki, 1995–96, 2003–04 Alpha Ethniki, 2003–04, 2009–10 Super League Greece, 2009–10 *

**Winners (19): 1939–40 Greek Football Cup, 1939–40, 1947–48 Greek Football Cup, 1947–48, 1954–55 Greek Football Cup, 1954–55, 1966–67 Greek Football Cup, 1966–67, 1968–69 Greek Football Cup, 1968–69, 1976–77 Greek Football Cup, 1976–77, 1981–82 Greek Football Cup, 1981–82, 1983–84 Greek Football Cup, 1983–84, 1985–86 Greek Football Cup, 1985–86, 1987–88 Greek Football Cup, 1987–88, 1988–89 Greek Football Cup, 1988–89, 1990–91 Greek Football Cup, 1990–91, 1992–93 Greek Football Cup, 1992–93, 1993–94 Greek Football Cup, 1993–94, 1994–95 Greek Football Cup, 1994–95, 2003–04 Greek Football Cup, 2003–04, 2009–10 Greek Football Cup, 2009–10, 2013–14 Greek Football Cup, 2013–14, 2021–22 Greek Football Cup, 2021–22 *

**Winners (3): 1988, 1993, 1994 * Football Cup of Greater Greece, Greater Greece Cup: **Winners (1): 1970

European competitions

* UEFA Champions League, European Cup / UEFA Champions League ** Runners-up (1): 1971 European Cup Final, 1971 ** Semi-finals (2): European Cup 1984-85, 1985, 1995–96 UEFA Champions League, 1996 ** Quarter-finals (2): 1991–92 European Cup, 1992, 2001–02 UEFA Champions League, 2002 * UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League ** Quarter-finals (2): UEFA Cup 1987-88, 1988, 2002–03 UEFA Cup, 2003 *

** Winners (1): 1977 Balkans Cup, 1977

Worldwide competitions

* Intercontinental Cup ** Runners-up (1): 1971 Intercontinental Cup, 1971

Doubles

*Winners (8): 1968–69, 1976–77, 1983–84, 1985–86, 1990–91, 1994–95, 2003–04, 2009–10

Trebles

*Winners (1): 1976–77 1976–77 Alpha Ethniki, 1976–77 Greek Football Cup, 1977 Balkans Cup

Regional

* SEGAS and FCA Championship **Winners (2): 1910–11 Panhellenic Championship, 1910–11, 1922 * Athens Football Clubs Association#List of Champions, Athens FCA Championship **Winners (17) (record): 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1930, 1931, 1934, 1937, 1939, 1949, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959

Players

Current squad

Panathinaikos B and Academy

Out on loan

Retired numbers

13 – Ιn honour of Gate 13

Former players

Contribution to the Greece national team

Giorgos Kalafatis greek national team 1919

Overall, Panathinaikos has a significant contribution to the

, the founder of Panathinaikos, was the member of the Greece national team that participated in the Inter-Allied Games in Paris, while later he was also a player/manager for Greece in the Football at the 1920 Summer Olympics, 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp. During the next decades, Panathinaikos highlighted some of the best Greek players in the history of Greek football, who contributed also to the national team (Antonis Migiakis, Migiakis, Kostas Linoxilakis, Linoxilakis, Takis Loukanidis, Loukanidis, Mimis Domazos, Domazos, Antonis Antoniadis, Antoniadis, Anthimos Kapsis, Kapsis, Takis Ikonomopoulos, Ikonomopoulos, Dimitris Saravakos, Saravakos etc.). Six Panathinaikos players were members of the first appearance of the national team in a FIFA World Cup, World Cup in 1994 (Dimitris Saravakos, Saravakos, Thanasis Kolitsidakis, Kolitsidakis, Stratos Apostolakis, Apostolakis, Ioannis Kalitzakis, Kalitzakis, Nikos Nioplias, Nioplias, Spiros Marangos, Marangos). Five players of the club were part of the golden team of 2004 that won the

(UEFA Euro 2004 squads#Group A, UEFA Euro 2004):

, Giannis Goumas, Dimitris Papadopoulos (footballer), Dimitris Papadopoulos, Kostas Chalkias

Personnel

Technical staff

Club staff

Management

Gallery

File:Stjepan Bobek.jpg,

, head coach (1963–67) File:Puskás, Bestanddeelnr 924-5181.jpg,

, head coach (1970–74)

References

External links

Official websites *
Panathinaikos
at Super League Greece, Super League
Panathinaikos
at

Panathinaikos
at FIFA News sites * Panathinaikos o
newspao.gr
* Panathinaikos o
panathinaikos24.gr
* Panathinaikos o
leoforos.gr

Panathinaikos news
from Nova Sports Media
Official YouTube channel
{{Authority control Panathinaikos F.C., Association football clubs established in 1908 Panathinaikos A.O., Football Football clubs in Athens 1908 establishments in Greece Unrelegated association football clubs

History

Early years

Crisis and WWII years

1960s: The Golden Decade, the Bobek's rejuvenation

Puskás years and the epic road to Wembley

1970–71 European Cup finalists

Vardinogiannis era (1979–2012)

Recent years (2012–)

Crest and colours

Crest evolution

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Stadiums and facilities

Financial information

Supporters

Seasons in the 21st century

Statistics and records

Super League top scorers

Most goals in a season

Top scorers in European competitions

Domestic team's records

International record

Honours

Domestic

European competitions

Worldwide competitions

Doubles

Trebles

Regional

Players

Current squad

Panathinaikos B and Academy

Out on loan

Retired numbers

Former players

Contribution to the Greece national team

Personnel

Technical staff

Club staff

Management

Gallery

See also

References

External links