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 the

Greek football league system The Greek football league system includes four levels in which teams can possibly make it to the Super League 1, Greece's highest division of football. Cup eligibility Greek Football Professional Cup: Levels 1 to 2 Greek Football Amateur Cup: ...

. It consists of 14 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 26 games. As of May 2022, Super League Greece is ranked 15th in the

UEFA ranking In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics based in weighted arithmetic means used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979 for men's football tournaments, and after applied in wome ...

of leagues, based on performances in European competitions over the last five years. Since the foundation of the first official Panhellenic Championship in 1927, only six clubs have won the title. The current champions are

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 numbe ...

, based in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saro ...

History

Origins

Between 1905 and 1912, a Panhellenic Championship was organised by the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (SEGAS). This championship was actually a local tournament among clubs from

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 ...

and

. After the

Balkan Wars The Balkan Wars refers to a series of two conflicts that took place in the Balkan States in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan States of Greece, Serbia, Montenegro and Bulgaria declared war upon the Ottoman Empire and def ...

and

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, two football associations were formed, one organising a football league in Athens and Piraeus, and one doing the same 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 metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. These were the Athens-Piraeus FCA (EPSAP) and the Macedonia FCA (EPSM). In 1923, a Panhellenic Champion was determined by a play-off game between the Athens-Piraeus and the Thessaloniki champions. Peiraikos Syndesmos won 3–1 against Aris. This panhellenic final was not repeated the following year as the EPSAP was split into the Athens FCA (EPSA) and Piraeus FCA (EPSP) following a dispute.

Panhellenic Championship

On November 14, 1926, the Hellenic Football Federation is founded and organizes the first Panhellenic Championship in the period 1927-28, in which, however,

, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens did not participate due to conflicts with the EPO. The initial events were held with teams from

and

, excluding the provincial ones. Previously, the local championships of the cities were held and in the final phase, sometimes only the first ones qualified, sometimes the first two or the first three teams. In the championship of 1938-39, which was held in two groups, teams outside Athens-Thessaloniki (

Doxa Drama Doxa Drama Football Club ( el, Δόξα Δράμας) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Drama, Macedonia, Greece. The club currently competes in the Super League 2, the second tier of the Greek football league system. Fo ...

, AEK Kavala and Filippi Kavala) participated for the first time. The maiden presence of provincial teams in a single group of the Panhellenic Championship took place in 1953-54 with the participation of Panachaiki from Southern Greece and Niki Volou from Central and Northern Greece.

Α΄ National division

In 1959 the ''Alpha Ethniki'' – the precursor of the current Super League – was set up as a national round-robin tournament. After several months of talks, the 1959–60 championship was the first nationwide league competition. It started on Sunday 25 October 1959 with the participation of 16 teams. The creation of a championship in the form of a single permanent national division rather than the way they have been held until then with the participation of the teams selected by the local competitions was a requirement of both the State and

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 fo ...

. The first wished to establish a fixed number of matches every Sunday in Greece to stimulate interest in PRO-PO while UEFA wished to nominate national champions with strict criteria and through joint events for all states. The Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) was obliged to proceed to the abolition of the competitions of the Football Clubs Associations (EPS) of Greece as qualifying stages for the Pan-Hellenic Championship. The first place was taken by Alpha Ethniki, a single division with clubs from all over the Greek territory and a stable participation, with the exception of those who would be relegated at the end of the season. The initial design provided for a number of teams well above the 10th of the 1958–59 Pan-Hellenic Championship and in particular 18 which, as the expanded division calendar would cover almost all the available dates of the year, would no longer participate in its local competitions their EPSs. Those would be the qualifier for the upcoming national division and not the participation in the final round of the current championship, so their significance was significantly reduced. On Saturday, 10 October 1959 at the General Assembly of the HFF, ie with the participation of all the members of the Association of Football Associations and in the presence of the General Secretariat of Sports (GGA) and representatives of the Karamanlis government, became the first national division of Greek football. The 1st game was set for 15 days. According to the general Assembly of HFF on 29 August 1959, it was decided that the newly created Alpha Ethniki would consist of 18 teams, with their determination being made in accordance with the positions in the local EPS competitions in the period 1958–59. The HFF, at its decisive General Assembly on Saturday, 10 October, decided to reduce the number of teams to 16 so that the racing program will not be extended in the summer. After the end of the first event in the summer of 1960, the teams did not increase despite HFF's initial intention, with the number 16 being considered the ideal for a championship in Greece and only 18 in 1967. The teams that participated in the first championship of the Alpha Ethniki were the following: *The top four of the Athens FCA Championship: Panathinaikos,

Panionios Panionios G.S.S. Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανιώνιος Γ.Σ.Σ.), the ''Pan- Ionian Gymnastics Club of Smyrna'' (Πανιώνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Σμύρνης, ''Panionios Gymnastikos Syllogos Smyrnis'' ...

, AEK Athens and Apollon Smyrnis. *The top four of the Piraeus FCA Championship:

, Ethnikos Piraeus, AE Nikaia and

Proodeftiki Proodeftiki Football Club, also known as Proodeftiki Piraeus, simply as Proodeftiki, or with its full name as A.O. Proodeftiki Neolea ( el, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Προοδευτική Νεολαία, transliterated "Athlitikós Όmilo ...

. *The top four of the Macedonia FCA (Thessaloniki) Championship: Aris, PAOK, Apollon Kalamarias and Iraklis. *The top two of the North Group of the Regional Championship:

and Megas Alexandros Katerini. *The first of the two Sub-Groups of the South Regional Championship: Pankorinthiakos and

Panegialios Panegialios ( el, Παναιγιάλειος Γ.Σ. (''Panegialios Gymnastics Club'', referring to Aigialeia, a subprefecture covering the northeastern part of Achaea) is a football club based in Aigio, Greece. Panegialios has a long tradition in ...

. On 25 October 1959, the Alpha Ethniki was launched. Panathinaikos won the first Alpha Ethniki's Championship, which became the champion of Greece for the fourth time in his history. He scored at 79 points with AEK Athens and beat 2–1 in the barrage, a match where he needed only a tie result in the neutral Karaiskakis Stadium. In such a case, after the half-hour extension, the competition announcement set the best goal difference. Through barrage and with the same score was also the third place for the demotion, with the winner Panegialios to overtake Pankorinthiakos again in the event of a draw. The scoring system was 3p the win, 2p the draw, 1p the defeat.

The next years

Time has been relentless for some teams that have participated in the first league of the Alpha Ethniki. The historic Ethnikos Piraeus, cup winner of Greece in 1933, participates in the

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 19 ...

, as well as Proodeftiki while AE Nikaia participates in the local championship of Piraeus. Apollon Kalamaria, Doxa Drama and Iraklis are fighting in the

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 Le ...

, while Pankorinthiakos, a few years after joining Alpha Ethniki, merged with Aris Korinthos and created PAS Korinthos, which reached the Alpha Ethniki at the 1990s and is now participating in the Gamma Ethniki. Megas Alexandros Katerini is the ancestor of

Pierikos S.F.K. Pierikos ( el, Σ.Φ.Κ. Πιερικός) is a Greek football club based in Katerini, Greece, part of the major multi-sport club of the same name. Their name was inspired from the State's name of Pieria. The club recently competed in ...

. In 1961, they merged with Olympos Katerini and created Pierikos who plays in the Gamma Ethniki. On 19 January 1979 a bill was passed in the

Hellenic Parliament The Hellenic Parliament ( el, Ελληνικό Κοινοβούλιο, Elliniko Kinovoulio; formally titled el, Βουλή των Ελλήνων, Voulí ton Ellínon, Boule of the Hellenes, label=none), also known as the Parliament of the He ...

under which football clubs became Football Incorporated Companies (PAE or ΠΑΕ in Greek). The Association of Football Incorporated Companies (EPAE, ΕΠΑΕ in Greek), under the supervision of the HFF, has since held the responsibility to hold the championship, with Makis Ithakisios being elected its first president. Initially the shares were owned by the sports union to which the football club belonged. Yet soon after, prominent Greek businessmen (shipowners, oil magnates, bankers etc.) began acquiring the newly formed PAEs by buying the majority of their shares, and then increasing their share capital, thus turning Greek football into a fully commercialised and highly profitable business for the decades to come. For a single racing season, 2000–01, the championship is renamed "Upper Category".

Rename

On 16 July 2006, was founded the copartnership ''Super League''. Members of the copartnership are the PAE's that have the right to participate in the professional football championship of the First Division. The main activity of the copartnership is the organization and conduct of the First Division's Championship according to the regulations and decisions of the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) and the supreme international football confederations (

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

Competition format

At present, 14 clubs compete in the Super League, playing each other in a 26-game home and away series. At the end of the season, the top 6 clubs face each other in a 10-game championship round to decide the Super League champions but also the teams to enter the

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 competi ...

and the UEFA Europa Conference League. The bottom 8 clubs face each other in play-outs to decide who gets relegated to Super League 2. In their place, the top two teams from Super League 2 are promoted. The number of teams to be relegated may change, depending on a licensing procedure that takes place at the end of the regular season. The Super League is currently entitled to one entrant into the

. The Champion currently enters the first qualifying round through the champion path. The three UEFA Europa Conference League spots go to the teams that finished 2nd to 3rd, with a European berth for the Greek Cup winner.

Clubs

2022–23 season

The following 14 clubs will compete in the Super League 1 during the

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

season.

Champions

Names of the championship through the years

1905–06 Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

to ''1926–27'': SEGAS Championship and Greece FCA Championship (not counted by HFF) * 1927–28 to 1958–59: HFF Panhellenic Championship * 1959–60 to 2005–06: Alpha Ethniki * 2006–07 to present: Super League Greece

SEGAS and FCA championships

Greek Championship

Panhellenic Championship * 1927–28 Aris (1) * ''1928–29'' ''Not held'' * 1929–30 Panathinaikos (1) * 1930–31

(1) * 1931–32 Aris (2) * 1932–33

(2) * 1933–34

(3) * ''1934–35'' ''Not finished'' * 1935–36

(4) * 1936–37

(5) * 1937–38

(6) * 1938–39

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

(1) * 1939–40

(2) * '' 1940–41'' ''Not finished ( WW2)'' * ''1941–42'' ''Not held ( WW2)'' * ''1942–43'' ''Not held ( WW2)'' * ''1943–44'' ''Not held ( WW2)'' * ''1944–45'' ''Not held ( WW2)'' * 1945–46 Aris (3) * 1946–47

(7) * 1947–48

(8) * 1948–49 Panathinaikos (2) * 1950–51

(9) * '' 1951–52'' ''Not Held'' * 1952–53 Panathinaikos (3) * 1953–54

(10) * 1954–55

(11) * 1955–56

(12) * 1956–57

(13) * 1957–58

(14) * 1958–59

(15) National League (Alpha Ethniki) * 1959–60 Panathinaikos (4) * 1960–61 Panathinaikos (5) * 1961–62 Panathinaikos (6) * 1962–63

(3) * 1963–64 Panathinaikos (7) * 1964–65 Panathinaikos (8) * 1965–66

(16) * 1966–67

(17) * 1967–68

(4) * 1968–69 Panathinaikos (9) * 1969–70 Panathinaikos (10) * 1970–71

(5) * 1971–72 Panathinaikos (11) * 1972–73

(18) * 1973–74

(19) * 1974–75

(20) * 1975–76 PAOK (1) * 1976–77 Panathinaikos (12) * 1977–78

(6) * 1978–79

(7) Professional League (A'Eth./Sup.League) * 1979–80

(21) * 1980–81

(22) * 1981–82

(23) * 1982–83

(24) * 1983–84 Panathinaikos (13) * 1984–85 PAOK (2) * 1985–86 Panathinaikos (14) * 1986–87

(25) * 1987–88

Larissa Larissa (; el, Λάρισα, , ) is the capital and largest city of the Thessaly region in Greece. It is the fifth-most populous city in Greece with a population of 144,651 according to the 2011 census. It is also capital of the Larissa regiona ...

(1) * 1988–89

(8) * 1989–90 Panathinaikos (15) * 1990–91 Panathinaikos (16) * 1991–92

(9) * 1992–93

(10) * 1993–94

(11) * 1994–95 Panathinaikos (17) * 1995–96 Panathinaikos (18) * 1996–97

(26) * 1997–98

(27) * 1998–99

(28) * 1999–00

(29) * 2000–01

(30) * 2001–02

(31) * 2002–03

(32) * 2003–04 Panathinaikos (19) * 2004–05

(33) * 2005–06

(34) * 2006–07

(35) * 2007–08

(36) * 2008–09

(37) * 2009–10 Panathinaikos (20) * 2010–11

(38) * 2011–12

(39) * 2012–13

(40) * 2013–14

(41) * 2014–15

(42) * 2015–16

(43) * 2016–17

(44) * 2017–18

(12) * 2018–19 PAOK (3) * 2019–20

(45) *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

(46) * 2021–22

(47) Source
epo.gr

Performance by club (1927–)

Performance by club (1959–)

* Season 1959–60 marked the beginning of the ''Alpha Ethniki'' – the precursor of the current Super League – as a national round-robin tournament.

Performance by city (1927–)

The six clubs that have won the championship are from a total of four cities:

Performance by region (1927–)

The six clubs that have won the championship are from a total of three regions:

Statistics

Top three ranking (1959–present)

Seasons in Alpha Ethniki and Super League Greece

The number of seasons that each team (in alphabetical order) has played in the top division from 1959–60 until

. A total of 69 teams had competed in at least one season at the top division.

, Panathinaikos and PAOK are the only teams to have played in the top division in every season since the league's inception in its modern form. The teams in bold participate in the 2022–23 Super League. *

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

avoided relegation in the 1973–74 season, but were forced to play in the

Cypriot A Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

the following season due to the

Turkish invasion of Cyprus The Turkish invasion of Cyprus began on 20 July 1974 and progressed in two phases over the following month. Taking place upon a background of intercommunal violence between Greek and Turkish Cypriots, and in response to a Greek junta-s ...

. Hence they are the only team to have played a single season in the Greek league and not been relegated.

Top Division Table (since 1959–60)

This index is an overall record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in Alpha Ethniki and Super League championships since 1959–60. The table is correct as of the end of the 2021–22 season. Points are based on 3–1–0 and no deductions are counted.

Per geographic region

All the geographic regions of Greece have been represented by at least one club in the first national division.

Central Greece Continental Greece ( el, Στερεά Ελλάδα, Stereá Elláda; formerly , ''Chérsos Ellás''), colloquially known as Roúmeli (Ρούμελη), is a traditional geographic region of Greece. In English, the area is usually called Central ...

has had the strongest presence with 26 clubs overall, of which 21 come from

Attica Attica ( el, Αττική, Ancient Greek ''Attikḗ'' or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the city of Athens, the capital of Greece and its countryside. It is a peninsula projecting into the Aegean ...

alone. Central Greece, Macedonia and the

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

together contain almost three-quarters of the clubs that participated in the top flight. Between 1967 and 1974, the Cypriot champion also participated in the Greek top competition, and five different Cypriot clubs participated during those years. The Greek islands of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

Lesbos Lesbos or Lesvos ( el, Λέσβος, Lésvos ) is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with approximately of coastline, making it the third largest island in Greece. It is separated from Asia Minor by the nar ...

and

Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...

have also been represented. A total of 73 clubs have participated at the first tier so far.

Top scorers and appearances

Golden Star

Based on an idea of Umberto Agnelli, the honor of '' Golden Star for Sports Excellence'' was introduced to recognize sides that have won multiple championships or other honours by the display of gold stars on their team badges and jerseys. The current officially sanctioned Super League stars are: * Star full

received in 2012–13 * Star full

Panathinaikos received in 2009–10 * Star full

received in 1992–93

Greek football clubs in European competitions

Main article: Greek football clubs in European competitions

UEFA ranking

Country rankings

As of 29 May 2022, the Greek Super League ranks 15th in the

UEFA coefficient In European football, the UEFA coefficients are statistics based in weighted arithmetic means used for ranking and seeding teams in club and international competitions. Introduced in 1979 for men's football tournaments, and after applied in w ...

database, with 28.200 points.

Club rankings

Broadcasting rights

Nova Sports Nova Sports is a Greek sports pay television network owned by Nova, a subsidiary of Greek telecommunications company of the same name. It was launched in 1994 as ''SuperSport'' and at the time was the first premium sports service in Greece. It ...

(premium channel) have taken the broadcasting rights for the home games of six teams of the Super League. The teams are Aris, Asteras Tripolis, Atromitos, Levadiakos, PAOK and PAS Giannina. Cosmote Sport (also a premium channel) have taken the broadcasting rights for the home games of eight teams of the Super League. The teams are AEK Athens, Ionikos, Lamia, OFI, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Panetolikos and Volos.

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through its international sports unit, it operates two main channels— Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

has pan-European broadcasting rights for the Super League (except Greece and Portugal). South Korean OTT

Coupang Play Coupang ( ko, 쿠팡) is a South Korean e-commerce company based in Seoul, South Korea, and incorporated in Delaware, United States. Founded in 2010 by Bom Kim, the company expanded to become the largest online marketplace in South Kor ...

has taken the broadcasting rights for Olympiakos matches.

Sponsorship

From 2007 to 2017, the Super League had

title sponsor Naming rights are a financial transaction and form of advertising or memorialization whereby a corporation, person, or other entity purchases the right to name a facility, object, location, program, or event, typically for a defined period of t ...

ship rights sold to one company, which were OPAP. From 2017 until 2019, the Super League has

ship rights sold to the company Souroti. OPAP' deal with the Super League expired at the end of the 2016–17 season. The Super League announced on 20 July 2017 that the new title sponsorship deal for the Super League was with the Souroti company. As well as sponsorship for the league itself, the Super League has a number of official partners and suppliers. The official ball supplier for the league is Nike. Also, Panini has held the licence to produce collectables for the Super League since 2008 (except 2018–19 season), including stickers (for their sticker album) and trading cards.

References

External links

Official website

Super League
at Curlie (based on DMOZ) {{UEFA leagues Professional sports leagues in Greece

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 wi ...

1 1959 establishments in Greece 1927 establishments in Greece Sports leagues established in 1959 Sports leagues established in 1927

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 ...

it:Campionato greco di calcio