Panegialios ( el, Παναιγιάλειος Γ.Σ. (''Panegialios Gymnastics Club'', referring to

Aigialeia Aigialeia ( el, Αιγιάλεια, ) is a municipality and a former Provinces of Greece, province (επαρχία) in the eastern part of the Achaea regional unit, Greece. The seat of the municipality is the town Aigio. The municipality has an ar ...

, a subprefecture covering the northeastern part of

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

) is a

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

Aigio Aigio, also written as ''Aeghion, Aegion, Aegio, Egio'' ( el, Αίγιο, Aígio, ; la, Aegium), is a town and a former municipality in Achaea, West Greece, on the Peloponnese. Since the 2011 local government reform, it is part of the municipali ...

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 ...

. Panegialios has a long tradition in Greek football championships and has several appearances in the Greek Super League (former A' Ethniki), 2nd Division and 3rd Division. Additionally the team has reached twice the semi-finals of the Greek Cup competition. Panegialios is one of the most successful and popular teams in Achaea and

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

History

The club was founded on 25 February 1927 in Egio by local selected community members. The man who inspired the idea of the formation of a football club in Egio was Zisimos Livas. Livas, a well-known architect, together with Nick Gardeniotis, C. Sakellaropoulos, Ir. Anastasopoulos, K. Eliopoulos, K. Liritzis, Chr. Papandianos, etc. have established Panegialios G.S. It is worth to mention that the effort for the formation of a football club in Egio had begun from Livas in 1924. Until 1927 Livas and the other co-founders have raised money in order to establish the club. Finally in February 1927 they submitted the statute foundation of the club to the local judicial authorities.

Nicknames

Panegialios nickname since the late-1950s was Mavri Thiella (Black Storm). Also his players called Pasades tou Aigiou because they were very well paid for that era.

Greek cup

Panegialios has a big tradition in Greek Cup and twice reached the semi finals, in 1959 and 1981. Both has lost the qualification in the final from Olympiacos Piraeus. Additionally the club has reached the quarter finals twice.

Crest and colours

Like most old football clubs, Panegialios did not initially have any badge displayed on their shirts. The club's crest depicts two wrestlers of Greco-Roman wrestling. It is quite unusual for a football club to have a crest that refers to wrestling but the explanation has to do with Panegialios founder, Zisimos Livas. Livas was a lover Greco-Roman wrestling and had been an athlete of wrestling in Panellinios G.S. So in 1954 after the death of Zisimos Livas, the President of the Club Sotirios Panagiotopoulos in order to honor him, has decided to adopt the club the two wrestlers as a crest. The colours of the team are black and white since 1927.

Stadium

Panegialios home ground is Aeghio Municipal (formerly "National") Stadium which has two stands along the sides of the pitch. The stadium has two almost identical stands, with electronic projectors, a modern canteen as well as a café. The stadium was inaugurated on April 29, 1949. In this location the stadium was formerly a football stadium, with no stands and surrounding arenas and other infrastructure, which was the seat of Panegyalos since its foundation in 1927. In 1983, it was placed on turf and 2011 plastic coating on the arena that surrounds the pitch of the football field. The stadium also had two similar small petals that raised the capacity of over 11,000 spectators. The petals were demolished during its refurbishment in 1985 except for a small section double of the western platform. The record at the stage was 1963 in a match for the First National Division (

Alpha Ethniki 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 ...

), between Panegialios and

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 ...

, with 14,119 spectators.

Supporters

Panegialios F.C. has always had loyal supporters. The first fan club was created during the 1970s. It was called Sindesmos Filathlon Aigiou (S.F.A.) and later changed in Sindesmos Filathlon Panaigialeiou. In 2006 Bianconeri Club has established with strong presence in Panaigialios matches until nowadays.

League divisions

League appearances

Panegialos league appearances in national divisions since 1958-59. It is one of the few clubs that has participated in all four national Greek divisions. *

- 7 appearances *

Beta Ethniki The Football League ( el, Φούτμπολ Λιγκ) was the second highest professional football league in Greece since its inception in 1962 as ''Beta Ethniki'' and until 2019. It then served as a third tier after the creation of the Super Lea ...

- 21 appearances *

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki ( el, Γ΄ Εθνική Ερασιτεχνική Κατηγορία, C National Amateur Division) is the third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 198 ...

- 17 appearances *

Delta Ethniki Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also r ...

- 15 appearances

National

* 2012–13: Gamma Ethniki (Third division) (South Group) 1st * 2013–14:

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

(South Group): 5th * 2014–15:

(South Group): 6th * 2015–16:

: 12th * 2016–17:

: 8th * 2017–18:

: 16th * 2018–19: Gamma Ethniki (Third division) 12th

Notable players

*Sergio Espinosa *

Kristen Viikmäe Kristen Viikmäe (born 10 February 1979) is an Estonian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He now plays beach soccer. Club career Born in Tallinn, Viikmäe started his career with FC Flora Tallinn, and has since played fo ...

* Nikos Alefantos *

Savvas Papazoglou Savvas Papazoglou ( el, Σάββας Παπάζογλου; born 20 June 1934) is a 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 ...

Grigoris Aganian Grigorios or Gregorios ( el, Γρηγόριος “watchful; alert; awake”, from ''ἐγρήγορᾰ'' ), and the variant Grigoris (Γρηγόρης), are the Greek forms of the name Gregory. It can refer to: * Grigoris (catholicos), 4th-centu ...

* Lakis Sofianos * Nikos Karamanlis *

Kostas Davourlis Kostas Davourlis ( el, Κώστας Δαβουρλής, 4 January 1948 – 23 May 1992) born in Agyia, Patras, popularly nicknamed The Black Prince, was a former Greek footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. A gifted and talented play ...

* Mixalis Kritikopoulos *

Armanto Gkoufas Armando Goufas ( el, Αρμάντο Γκούφας; born 2 February 1995) is a Greek-born Nicaraguan footballer who plays as a forward for Aris Petroupolis and the Nicaragua national team. Early life Goufas was born in Athens to a Greek father ...

Honours

Domestic competitions

Greek FCA Winners' Championship The FCA Winners' Championship ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Πρωταθλητριών Ε.Π.Σ.) was a Greek football league competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all local Football Clubs' Associations championships in Greece. ...

**Winners (1): 1961–62 *

** Winners (1): 1980-81 *

** Winners (2): 1978-79, 2012-13 *

** Winners (6): 1992-93, 1994-95, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2011-12 * Achaea FCA Championship ** Winners (5): 1968-69, 1975-76, 1976-77, 1988-89, 2019-20 * Achaea FCA Cup ** Winners (4): 1936-37, 1993-94, 2006-07, 2008-09 * Achaea FCA Super Cup ** Winners (1): 2007

References

External links

Official website
{{Super League Greece teamlist Aigio Association football clubs established in 1927 Football clubs in Western Greece 1927 establishments in Greece Gamma Ethniki clubs