Giorgos Kalafatis founded the football section of Panathinaikos Athletic Club (Football Club of Athens POA), on the 3rd of February 1908.
He was inspired after seeing football as an Olympic game in 1906 Olympics, in which he also participated. He was the first visionary of Panathinaikos idea and the main founder of the Club, assisted by his capable and worthy partners. Their initiative transfused magnitude and glory to the Club which become famous in Greece and well known worldwide
In December 1909 a rift occurred in the relations between G. Kalafatis and M. Marinakis. The founder of Panathinaikos took with him the majority of POA athletes and in January 1910 he created the Panhellenic Football Club (PPO).
The fans supported this new initiative, showing their confidence to G. Kalafatis and his teammates. G. Stavropoulos (pictured left) followed the founder in the new team.
The shamrock constitutes an ancient spiritual symbol for good luck and balance between the body, the soul and the spirit. Panathinaikos adopts the shamrock as its emblem in 1918.
The shamrock was proposed by Michalis Papazoglou and was designed by George Hatzopoulos, director of the National Museum of Art and member of Panathinaikos.
The emblem becomes a synonym of the team's history and is adored by the fans who were drawing self designed shamrocks all over the city.
Panathinaikos is growing and the Athenian neighborhood of Perivola, in the area of Ambelokipi, seemed to be an ideal solution for hosting the dreams of both athletes and fans.
G. Kalafatis really strained to find a solution for the playground, because in the very beginning the feedback of the Municipality (1920) was negative. Further to a Royal Charter the area was expropriated in favor of military officers and public servants (1923), "Kontouriotis" Center for refugees was also claiming the area for their needs.
Finally, in 1924 Panathinaikos managed to convince about its correct and legal requirement and so a solution was definitely given regarding the ground issue and the concession of a big part of the plot.
The works were starting...
In February 1920 the Panhellenic Football Club (PPO) is renamed Panhellenic Football and Sporting Club (PPAO).
"Gentlemen, we have the honor to inform you that our Panhellenic Football and Sporting Club, further to a decision of the General Assembly has been renamed Panathinaikos Athletic Club".
The Presidium of Panathinaikos informs all competent Authorities and Clubs about the renaming of Panathinaikos Athletic Club.
Further to the first wooden grandstand (1928) ever build in a Greek playground, the first covered tribune is constructed in 1933 and in 1938 the ground is illuminated disposing electrical lighting for the country's first evening matches.
Leoforos has already a capacity of approximately 8.000 spectators and the works go on. Grass is planted, a swimming pool in the basement to be used for the player's physiotherapy and recovery is built and other innovations of that period are implemented.
The fact that the basement of the stadium was used to build rooms for fencing, boxing, gymnastics and other sport disciplines of the Club constituted another important initiative.
During German occupation Leoforos ground was requisitioned and the Nazis used it for matches organized between their troops, after looting the shelves and displays where the trophies were exhibited.
Antonis Vrettos, the stadium's director, few days before the German withdrawal from Athens was the first to raise the Greek flag, a symbol of freedom, over Leoforos and the Athenian sky. This was a heroic act by Antonis Vrettos, who among other actions transformed the inaccessible rooms of Leoforos into shelters for the Resistance.
The fans are rolled up together with the team. Their admiration and love for Panathinaikos leads them to create the first official fan club in Greece.
Christos Moissidis was the inspirer. A heavy legacy was born...
Mimis Domazos is acquired from Amyna Ambelokipon. He is going to change the history of both Panathinaikos and the Greek football.
As the most outstanding player, the "General" marks a unique course being a recordman regarding the number of times he played in the first division!
They were the first that did it!
It was an incredible record, a unique achievement lasting for 55 years! The first one remains always the first! History rewrote the name of "Panathinaikos". This was during 1963-64 season when Yugoslav Stefan Bobek took the reins of the football team of the Shamrock, giving a breeze of fresh air by using the revolutionary system 4-3-3, totally unknown by that time in Greece.
The team started blooming! They won the championship achieving 24 victories and 6 draws, letting the rest of the sports world speechless! As this wasn't enough, during the next season Bobek's Panathinaikos won the championship again by bringing off 20 victories, 9 draws and just one defeat (on 18/10/1964 loosing 3-2 from the team of Ethnikos in Piraeus). Just one defeat in two years!
Panathinaikos fan club named "Gate 13" is established. The first generations showed how to be eternally devoted to the Club, keeping the ground increasingly crowded, whenever the team was competing.
In spite of the efforts implemented by the military junta to disband the fans and suspend the function of Gate 13, these were coming back much more united. Promoting the Club's ideals, the fan club was propagated worldwide in every place Panathinaikos' fans existed, to support all the games of the Club.
The scoring of 39 goals in just one season by Antonis Antoniadis marked a unique and unbeatable record in the history of Greek football.
The striker of Panathinaikos became the second top scorer in the European continent.
A law obliging all teams playing in the first division to go Public is voted.
The majority of the shares of the newly incorporated public Football Company are bought by Vardinoyiannis family. George Vardinoyiannis is the new President.
From 1981 and on the official name of Leoforos ground is "Apostolos Nikolaidis" stadium. This ground, a monument of the Greek football, the oldest still operative in Greece and an important multi sports center is named after the "Patriarch", in honor and recognition for his devotion to the Club.
In that ground the football team of Panathinaikos has played most games in its history. In that same ground the National team of Greece has been housed for 55 years.
In January 1998, Krzysztof Warzycha scores his 181st goal wearing Panathinaikos' shirt and becomes the first scorer in the history of the Club.
Having stayed during 21 years at the helm of Panathinaikos FC, George Vardinoyiannis announced his decision to leave. Yiannis Vardinoyiannis took the reins of the Club's management.
Millions of fans in Greece and abroad celebrate 100 years since Panathinaikos Athletic Club was found!
The pioneer of all sports marks the win of hundreds of Championships, Cups and European distinctions which forged the Club´s history for years, giving pride to all the friends of Panathinaikos, worldwide.
Yiannis Vardinoyiannis announced his family´s decision to invite prominent businessmen to participate in a share capital increase, giving them an opportunity to own Panathinaikos.
In that capital increase Andreas Vgenopoulos, Nikolas Pateras, Pavlos Yiannakopoulos, Michalis Zolotas, Adamantios Polemis, Yiannis Xylas and Giorgos Nikas participated with substantial amounts of money and became shareholders of the team.
The fans are united around their team and this fact leads into consecutive sold outs and into a Pan-Hellenic record concerning season tickets!
The quantity of 30.091 season tickets is the highest sold by any Greek team ever.
In May Yiannis Alafouzos announced his plan to establish a public owned football company under the name "Panathinaiki Symachia" (Panathinaikos Alliance). The company is going to manage the Club by receiving the majority of the shares held by Vardinoyiannis family (54%) and by registering members.
The transfer of the shares was completed in July and the management of Panathinaikos passed to the publicly owned company. Since November 2012 Yiannis Alafouzos is the President of the Football Company.
In June 2013 Panathinaikos acquired for the first time its οwn training installations in Koropi.
The training center is named "G.Kalafatis", in honor of the Club's great founder. Adequate works to modernize this sporting center precede immediately, in order to house the Academy and accommodate the high requirements of the team, according to European standards.
