Founded on 10 March 1925, Olympiacos is themost successful club inGreek football history,[5] having won 47league titles, 28Cups (18 doubles), fourSuper Cups, all records,[6] and three international titles (TheUEFA Youth League in2023-24, theUEFA Europa Conference League in2023–24 and theBalkans Cup in1963).[7] The club has171 titles (79 national, 27 regional, 37 others, and three international), and as of 2018 was ninth in the world in total titles won by a football club.[8] The club's dominating success is further evidenced in that all other Greek clubs have won a combined total of 41 league titles. while Olympiacos also holds the record for the most consecutive Greek League titles won, with seven in a row in two occasions (1997–2003 and2011–2017), breaking their own previous record of six consecutive wins in the 1950s (1954–1959), when Olympiacos was unequivocally nicknamed Thrylos (Greek:Θρύλος, "The Legend"). Having won the2014–15 League title, Olympiacos became the only football club in the world to have won five or more consecutive championships five times in their history.[9] They are also the only Greek club to have won six consecutivenational Cups (1957–1963) as well as sixLeague titles undefeated (1937,1938,1948,1951,1954,1955).[10] Olympiacos are one of only three clubs to havenever been relegated from the top flight of Greek football, and by winning the2012–13 title, their 40th in total, they added afourth star above their crest, each representing 10 league titles.[11]
Internationally, Olympiacos is the only Greek football club in history to have wonmajor European trophies, winning theUEFA Youth League and theUEFA Europa Conference League, both in 2023–24. With their2024 triumph, they became the first club outside the biggest four European leagues (Premier League,Serie A,La Liga andBundesliga) to win aUEFA competition since 2011, and they added a 5th star above their crest, representing their European victory.[12][13] They are also the highest ranked Greek club in theUEFA rankings, occupying the 36th place in the ten-year ranking,[14] and the 43rd in the five-year ranking as of 2024.[15] They are one of the founding members of theEuropean Club Association.[16] Olympiacos FC is the only football club to have won two UEFA European titles in the same season.[17][18]
Olympiacos is the most popular football club in Greece,[19][20][21] and gathering strong support fromGreek communities all over the world.[22][23] With 83,000 registered members as of April 2006, the club was ninth in the 2006 list of football clubs with the most paying members in the world, which increased to 98,000 in 2014.[24] Olympiacos share many longstanding rivalries: withPanathinaikos, with whom they contest in the "derby of the eternal enemies", the most classic football derby in Greece and one of the best-known around the world,[25][26][27][28][29][30][31]withAEK,withPAOK and until the 1990'swithEthnikos Piraeus, when Ethnikos was relegated from the top division of Greek football.
Olympiacos was founded on 10 March 1925, in thecity ofPiraeus. The club's initial aim, as stated in the statutes, was the systematic cultivation and development of its athletes' possibilities for participation in athletic competitions, the spreading of theOlympic athletic ideal and the promotion of sportsmanship and fanship among the youth according to egalitarian principles, by stressing a healthy, ethical and social basis as its foundation. Members of "Piraikos Podosfairikos Omilos FC" (Sport and Football Club of Piraeus) and "Piraeus Fans Club FC" decided, during a historical assembly,[32] to dissolve the two clubs in order to establish a new unified one, which would bring this new vision and dynamic to the community.Notis Kamperos, a senior officer of theHellenic Navy, proposed the nameOlympiacos and the profile of a laurel-crownedOlympic winner as the emblem of the new club.Michalis Manouskos, a prominent Piraeus industrialist, expanded the name to its complete and current status,Olympiacos Syndesmos Filathlon Pireos. Besides Kamperos and Manouskos, among the most notable founding members were Stavros Maragoudakis, the post office director; Nikos Andronikos, a merchant; Dimitrios Sklias, aHellenic Army officer; Nikolaos Zacharias, an attorney; Athanasios Mermigas, a notary public;Kostas Klidouchakis, who became the firstgoalkeeper in the club's history; Ioannis Kekkes, a stockbroker; and above all, the Andrianopoulos family. Andrianopoulos, a family of well-established Piraeus merchants, played a pivotal role in the founding of Olympiacos. The five brothers,Yiannis,Dinos,Giorgos,Vassilis, andLeonidas Andrianopoulos raised the reputation of the club and brought it to its current glory.[3] Yiannis, Dinos, Giorgos, and Vassilis were the first to play, while Leonidas, the youngest of the five, made his debut later on and played for the club for eight years (1927–1935). The club's offensive line, made up of the five brothers, became legendary, rising to a mythical status and soon Olympiacos gained enormous popularity and became the most successful and well-supported club in Greece. Back then, their fan base consisted mainly of the working class, with the team's home ground atNeo Phaliron Velodrome, before moving to its currentKaraiskakis Stadium. They becamePiraeus Champions in 1925 and 1926.[33]
In 1926, theHellenic Football Federation was founded and organised thePanhellenic Championship in the1927–1928 season. This was the first national championship, where the regional champions fromEPSA league (Athens),EPSP league (Piraeus) andEPSM league (Thessaloniki) competed for the national title during play-offs, withAris becoming the first champion. The Panhellenic Championship was organised in this manner up until 1958–59. However, in the second season (1928–29) a dispute arose between Olympiacos and the Hellenic Football Federation and as a result, the club did not participate in the championship, withPanathinaikos andAEK Athens deciding to follow Olympiacos. During the course of that season, the three of them played friendly games with each other and formed a group calledP.O.K.
Olympiacos line-up in 1928
Meanwhile, the club continued to dominate the Piraeus Championship, winning the 1926–27, 1928–29, 1929–30 and 1930–31 titles and started establishing themselves as the leading force in Greek football; they set a record by remaining undefeated against all Greek teams for three consecutive seasons (14 March 1926 to 3 March 1929), counting 30 wins and 6 draws in 36 games. Those results ignited an enthusiastic reception from the Greek press, who called OlympiacosThrylos ("Legend") for the first time in history.[34] Thefourth Panhellenic Championship took place in 1930–31 and found Olympiacos winning the Greece national league title for the first time ever, which was a milestone that marked the beginning of a very successful era in Olympiacos history. Olympiacos put in a great performance during the competition and won the title very convincingly with 11 wins, 2 draws and only one game lost. They managed to score 7 wins in 7 matches at home, beating Panathinaikos, AEK Athens, Aris,Iraklis andPAOK with the same score: 3–1. The sole exception was the match againstEthnikos, where Olympiacos netted 4 goals and won with 4–1. Besides the Andrianopoulos brothers and Kostas Klidouchakis, other notable players of the first era in the club's history (1925–1931) wereAchilleas Grammatikopoulos,Lalis Lekkos,Philippos Kourantis, Nikos Panopoulos, Charalambos Pezonis and Kostas Terezakis.
The rise of the new decade marked a substantial rise in Panhellenic Championship's popularity throughout Greece. In October 1931, Giorgos andYiannis Andrianopoulos, emblematic players and founding members of Olympiacos, retired from active football. However, new heroes emerged, such asGiannis Vazos,Christoforos Raggos,Theologos Symeonidis,Michalis Anamateros,Spyros Depountis,Aris Chrysafopoulos, Nikos Grigoratos, Panagis Korsianos as well as the iconic brothersGiannis andVangelis Chelmis and the club won five Championships in nine seasons (1932–33, 1933–34, 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38) and by 1940, Olympiacos had already won six Championships in the eleven first seasons of the Panhellenic Championship.[3] Especially Giannis Vazos, Christoforos Raggos and Theologos Symeonidis composed a formidable trio of attacking players, scoring numerous goals and became nothing short of legendary.Giannis Vazos played for 18 years for Olympiacos (1931–1949), and managed to score 450 goals in 364 games (179 goals in 156 official games) for the club, being the club's second all-time scorer, winning also theGreek Championship top scorer award four times (1933, 1936, 1937 and 1947).
In addition, the club managed to win the1936–37 and1937–38 Championship titles undefeated. Ιn Greek Cup, the team did not manage to win the competition in its first four editions, despite some outstanding wins such as the record-setting 1–6 away victory against Panathinaikos inLeoforos Stadium in 1932 (V. Andrianopoulos 16', 68', 88',Raggos 24',Vazos 69', 70'), which is the biggest away victory in thisderby's history.[3][35]
On 28 October 1940,Fascist Italy invaded Greece, and several Olympiacos players joined the Hellenic Army to fight against theAxis invaders.[3] Chistoforos Raggos was heavily injured in his left leg in January 1941, and wasn't able to play football again. Leonidas Andrianopoulos suffered severefrostbite in the Albanian front and almost died, while Nikos Grigoratos was injured in the leg during theBattle of Klisura.[36] Furthermore, after the subsequentGerman occupation of Greece, Olympiacos players joined theGreek Resistance and fought fiercely against theNazis.[3] Olympiacos playerNikos Godas, an emblematic figure for the club, wascaptain of theGreek People's Liberation Army (ELAS) and fought against the Germans in many fronts.[37] He was executed wearing Olympiacos shirt and shorts, as was his last wish: "Shoot me and kill me with my Olympiacos shirt on, and do not blindfold me, I want to see the colours of my team before the final shot."[38][39] Michalis Anamateros was also an active member of the Greek Resistance and was killed in 1944. Olympiacos paid a heavy price during the destructive war, the Axis occupation and the ensuingGreek Civil War and the club's progress was put on temporary hold.[3]
After the war, Olympiacos saw many of its key-players of the pre-war era retire, with many significant changes being made in the team's roster. Olympiacos captain and prolific scorerGiannis Vazos remained in the club, along with Giannis Chelmis. New important players joined the club, such asAndreas Mouratis,Alekos Chatzistavridis,Stelios Kourouklatos andDionysis Minardos. As soon as regular fixtures recommenced, the Piraeus club returned to their dominant position in Greek football. From 1946 to 1959, Olympiacos won 9 out of the 11 Greek Championships (1947,1948,1951,1954,1955,1956,1957,1958,1959), bringing home 15 Championship titles in a total of 23 completed seasons of the Greek League. The six-straight Greek Championships won by Olympiacos from 1954 to 1959 was an unmatched achievement inGreek football history, an all-time record which stood for 44 years, up until Olympiacos managed to win seven-straight Greek Championships from 1997 to 2003.[3]
On 13 September 1959, Olympiacos made its debut in Europe againstMilan for the1959–60 European Cup and became the first Greek club that ever played in the European competitions.[42] The first leg was held at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and Olympiacos took the lead with a goal byKostas Papazoglou (1–0), which was the first goal ever scored by a Greek club (and by a Greek player as well) in the European competitions.[43] Milan's prolific goalscorerJosé Altafini equalised the match with a header in the 33rd minute, after a cross byGiancarlo Danova.Ilias Yfantis scored an outstanding goal and gave Olympiacos the lead again in the 45th minute of the game, when he controlled the ball betweenCesare Maldini andVincenzo Occhetta and unleashed a powerful volley, burying the ball into the back of the net (2–1).[43] Altafini scored his second goal once again with a header (72nd minute), after a free-kick byNils Liedholm. The match ended 2–2, with Olympiacos putting in a great performance against theItalian champions, despite the fact that they had no foreign players in their roster, while Milan had four world-class foreign players, such as Altafini, Liedholm,Juan Alberto Schiaffino andErnesto Grillo.[43] In the second leg Milan won 3–1 (Giancarlo Danova 12', 26', 85'–Ilias Yfantis 68') and qualified for the next round, despite Olympiacos' good performance especially in the second half.
First international success and Márton Bukovi era (1960–1972)
In 1963, Olympiacos became the first ever Greek club to win a non-domestic competition, winning theBalkans Cup, which marked the first international success by any Greek football club. The Balkans Cup was a very popular international competition in the 1960s (the 1967 final attracted 42.000 spectators),[44] being the second most important international club competition for clubs from the Balkans (after theEuropean Champions' Cup).[44] Olympiacos topped his group after some notable wins, beatingGalatasaray 1–0 at the Karaiskakis Stadium (Stelios Psychos 49'),[45] as well asFK Sarajevo (3–2) andFC Brașov (1–0), bagging also two away draws against Galatasaray (1–1) inMithatpaşa Stadium (Metin Oktay 78' –Aristeidis Papazoglou 6') and FK Sarajevo inKoševo Stadium (3–3).[45] In the final, they facedLevski Sofia, winning the first match in Piraeus (1–0,Giorgos Sideris 37') and losing the second match inVasil Levski Stadium with the same score.[45] In the third decisive final inIstanbul (a neutral ground), Olympiacos beat Levski 1–0 in Mithatpaşa Stadium with a goal byMimis Stefanakos in the 87th minute and won the Balkans Cup.[46]
The club went on to win the1963 and1965 Greek Cups, completing seven Greek Cup titles in nine years. However, the years 1959–1965 were not fruitful for Olympiacos in the Greek Championship, as the team was not able to win the title for six years. This mediocre performance led Olympiacos board to hire the legendaryMárton Bukovi as the club's head coach, withMihály Lantos (prominent member of theHungary national team of the 1950s widely known as the "Mighty Magyars" or "Aranycsapat") as his assistant coach.[47] The innovative Hungarian coach, pioneer of the4–2–4 formation (along withBéla Guttmann andGusztáv Sebes) was a solid tactician and favoured attacking football and very demanding training sessions.[47] Bukovi's innovatory tactics and groundbreaking training methods transformed Olympiacos and created a powerful, attacking team with constant player movement and solid combination game that often played spectacular football.[48] Under Bukovi's guidance and with the great performance of key players such asGiorgos Sideris,Nikos Gioutsos,Kostas Polychroniou,Vasilis Botinos,Aristeidis Papazoglou,Pavlos Vasileiou,Giannis Gaitatzis,Christos Zanteroglou,Grigoris Aganian,Mimis Plessas,Giannis Fronimidis and Orestis Pavlidis, Olympiacos won 2 straight Greek Championships (1966,1967).[48] They won the 1966 title with 23 wins and 4 draws in 30 games and in the decisive away match againstTrikala, an estimated 15,000 ecstatic Olympiacos fans swarmed into the city ofTrikala to celebrate the win (0–5) and the Championship title after seven years.[49][50]
The next season 1966–67, Olympiacos won 12 out of the first 14 games in the league, which was an all-time record in Greek football history, which lasted for 46 years and up until 2013, when Olympiacos, under coachMíchel's guidance, broke his own record by winning 13 out of the 14 first matches of the2013–14 season.[51] They won the title in a convincing way and with some notable wins, like the 4–0 smashing victory against arch-rivals Panathinaikos at the Karaiskakis Stadium (Vasileiou 17',Sideris 20', 35', 62'), where Olympiacos played spectacular football and missed a plethora of chances for a much bigger score.[52] Bukovi became a legend for the club's fans and his creation, the Olympiacos team of 1965–67, became nothing short of legendary. A special anthem was written for Bukovi's Olympiacos and became popular throughout Greece:"Του Μπούκοβι την ομαδάρα, τη λένε Ολυμπιακάρα" ("Bukovi's mighty team is called Olympiacos").[53]
Shortly before the end of the 1966–67 season, amilitary coup d'état took place andthe Colonels seized power in Greece, establishing a dictatorship. The regime of the Colonels had devastating consequences for Olympiacos.[3] In December 1967,Giorgos Andrianopoulos, club legend and president of the club for 13 years (1954–1967) was forced out of the club's presidency by the military regime.[54] Furthermore, the regime cancelled the transfer ofGiorgos Koudas to Olympiacos[55] and days later another blow was delivered to the club: Márton Bukovi, already a legend and architect of the great 1965–67 team, was forced out of Greece by the military junta, being labelled a communist.[56][57] He left Greece on 21 December 1967, along with Mihály Lantos.[58]
In European competitions, they managed to eliminateCagliari in the1972–73 UEFA Cup, a major force in Italian football during the late 1960s and the early 1970s, (1970 Serie A Champions,1972 Serie A title contenders), with world-class Italian international players likeGigi Riva,Angelo Domenghini,Enrico Albertosi,Pierluigi Cera,Sergio Gori andFabrizio Poletti.[60] Olympiacos managed to beat Cagliari twice, 2–1 in Piraeus and 1–0 inCagliari, becoming the first ever Greek football club to win on Italian soil.[60] In the next round they faced thecompetition's defending championsTottenham Hotspur, who were undefeated for 16-straight games in all European competitions. Olympiacos did not manage to qualify against Spurs, but they managed to get a 1–0 win in Piraeus, which ended Tottenham's undefeated streak and marked the first ever victory of a Greek football club against an English side.[61] Two years later, Olympiacos entered the1974–75 European Cup and they were drawn to faceKenny Dalglish'sCeltic, one of the strongest teams in European football at that time[62] andsemi-finalists of the previous season. The first leg was played inCeltic Park,where Celtic had never been defeated, running an undefeated streak of 36 straight home games in all European competitions (27 wins, 9 draws) from 1962 to 1974. Olympiacos took the lead throughMilton Viera's strike in the 36th minute, with Celtic equalising late in the game.[63] The away draw gave Olympiacos the advantage and they finished the job in Piraeus, after a spectacular 2–0 win against theScottish Champions withKritikopoulos andStavropoulos finding the net.[64] In the next round, they were drawn to play againstAnderlecht for a place in the quarter-finals of the competition. Anderlecht won the first leg with 5–1 and Olympiacos' task seemed impossible. In the second leg in Greece, however, Olympiacos put on a dominant display and almost reached a winning score in a match that was marked by refereeKároly Palotai's decisions.[65] Olympiacos beat Anderlecht 3–0, while Palotai disallowed four Olympiacos goals[66] and did not give at least three clear penalties committed by Anderlecht players,[67] while Stavropoulos was shown a red card for no good reason.[68] The match is widely known in Greece as the"Palotai massacre"[69][70] with Olympiacos coming close to one of the biggest comebacks in European Cup history.
Domination in the early 1980s, four consecutive League titles (1975–1987)
Predrag Đorđević won a record 12 Greek League titles with Olympiacos and is the club's record foreign goalscorer with 158 goals in 493 official matches[73]
The 1998–99 season was undoubtedly one of the best seasons in Olympiacos history.[3] They won the1998–99 Greek Championship quite convincingly, with ten points difference from AEK and 11 from third-placed Panathinaikos, and also celebrated the domesticdouble,[3] bringing home the1998–99 Greek Cup after a convincing 2–0 win against arch-rivals Panathinaikos in the final (Mavrogenidis 54',Ofori-Quaye 90'), despite the fact that they played for more than 60 minutes in the game with ten players.[75] In European competitions, they entered the1998–99 UEFA Champions League group stage, being drawn in a group withAjax, Porto andCroatia Zagreb. They won the group and qualified to the quarter-finals, gathering 11 points with 3 home wins against Ajax (1–0), Porto (2–1) and Croatia Zagreb (2–0) and two away draws inPorto (2–2) andZagreb (1–1). In the quarter-finals of the competition, they facedJuventus, with the first leg inTurin. Juventus took a 2–0 lead, but Olympiacos scored a crucial away goal in the 90th minute of the game with a penalty byAndreas Niniadis, a goal that caused the 10.000 Olympiacos fans who travelled to Italy[76] to erupt into joyous ecstasy. In the second leg in Athens, Olympiacos totally dominated the match, and scored the goal that put them in the driving seat in the 12th minute of the game, whenSiniša Gogić's powerful header found the back of the net afterGrigoris Georgatos's superb cross. They also missed an outstanding chance to double the lead, whenGiorgos Amanatidis' powerful header from short distance was saved byMichelangelo Rampulla.[77] Olympiacos kept the ticket to the semi-finals in his hands until the 85th minute, when Juventus, who hadn't produced any chances in the game, equalised the score after a crucial mistake byDimitris Eleftheropoulos, who had been the team's hero in all the previous games.[77] Despite the big disappointment from the way the qualification to the semi-finals was lost, the presence of the team in the Champions League quarter-finals, one of their best European campaigns, combined with the domestic double, marked a very successful season for the club, arguably the best in their long history.[3]
In 2004, Olympiacos rehired Dušan Bajević and signed the1999 World Footballer of the Year and2002 World Champion Brazilian superstarRivaldo and the2004 European championAntonis Nikopolidis. The end of the season found Olympiacos winning the domestic double and having a decentChampions League display, gathering ten points in a tough group alongsideLiverpool, Monaco andDeportivo de La Coruña and losing the qualification to the knockout phase in the last four minutes of the last game against the eventual European champions Liverpool atAnfield. Bajević left the club and the Norwegian coachTrond Sollied was hired in his place.[80] They club signedCypriot strikerMichalis Konstantinou from Panathinaikos, 2004 European champion defenderMichalis Kapsis fromBordeaux and the versatilebox-to-boxIvorian midfielderYaya Touré. During the2005–06 season, Olympiacos won all the four derbies against their major rivals, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens, something only achieved once more, during the season1972–73. The combined goal total in these four matches was 11–3 in favour of Olympiacos. They also beat AEK Athens 3–0 in the Greek Cup Final to clinch their second-straight double and managed to win an all-time record of 16 consecutive matches in the championship, breaking their own past record.[81]
After a record-breaking season, in the 2006 summer transfers, Trond Sollied signedMichał Żewłakow,Júlio César andTomislav Butina among others. However, he did not live up to expectations in the2006–07 Champions League and was replaced by Takis Lemonis at the end of 2006. Lemonis transferred the young starVasilis Torosidis, and led Olympiacos in their third consecutive championship, but failed to win the Greek Cup after a surprise elimination byPAS Giannina.[82]
In the summer of 2007, Olympiacos made very expensive transfers likeLuciano Galletti,Darko Kovačević,Raúl Bravo,Lomana LuaLua,Cristian Ledesma andLeonel Núñez. They also brought back the solid Greek defenderParaskevas Antzas and signed the very talented young strikerKostas Mitroglou fromBorussia Mönchengladbach. Furthermore, they accomplished the most lucrative sale in Greek football history after selling striker-midfielderNery Castillo toUkrainian clubShakhtar Donetsk for the record sum of €20 million ($27.5M).[83] Because of a clause in Castillo's contract, Olympiacos received €15 million, with the remaining €5 million given directly to the player.[84] Furthermore, a controversy started between the team and Rivaldo, as Olympiacos did not wish to renew the player's contract despite the fact that Rivaldo had featured heavily in the club's successful campaigns, both in Greece and abroad. Former playerIlija Ivić was selected for the role of the team's football director. The team did not start well in the Greek championship, but it achieved a stunning performance in theChampions League, qualifying for the last 16 as they finished second in their group, level on 11 points with group winners Real Madrid, eliminatingWerder Bremen andLazio.[85] However, the team's less than satisfactory performance in the league, coupled with the defeat fromChelsea inStamford Bridge for the knockout phase, prompted club ownerSokratis Kokkalis to sack coach Takis Lemonis. The team's assistant manager,José Segura, coached the team for the remainder of the season. Olympiacos managed to win both the Greek Championship and Cup, but Segura left the club at the end of the season.
In the summer of 2008, Olympiacos made prominent transfers, signingDudu Cearense,Avraam Papadopoulos,Diogo Luis Santo andMatt Derbyshire and appointedErnesto Valverde as the new coach with a three-year contract worth approximately €6 million.[86] The 2008–09 season started badly for Olympiacos, with the team losing their first few official matches, againstAnorthosis Famagusta for theChampions League third qualifying round, and was eliminated from the tournament, which resulted to a seat in theUEFA Cup first round, where Olympiacos beatNordsjælland to qualify for the group stage. The team also started well in the2008–09 Super League Greece, winning every match at home, but facing difficulties away. They ended up winning the Greek Championship and the Greek Cup, celebrating the 14th double in Olympiacos history. After an impressive UEFA Cup run at home, with some spectacular wins againstBenfica (5–1) andHertha BSC (4–0), the team managed to get through to the round of 32, facing French sideSaint-Étienne.
In the summer of 2009, Olympiacos signed major players, such asOlof Mellberg from Juventus for €2.5 million,[87] midfielderJaouad Zairi fromAsteras Tripolis andEnzo Maresca fromSevilla. Many other players returned from loan spells, such as former Real Madrid defenderRaúl Bravo,Georgios Katsikogiannis and midfielder Cristian Ledesma. Olympiacos appointed formerBrazil legendZico as their coach and started the2009–10 season with great success, as they qualified for theChampions League final 16, finishing second inGroup H only 3 points behindArsenal,[88] despite the absence of numerous first-team players due to injuries. They faced Bordeaux in the final 16 and lost the first match at home (0–1). In the second match, despite Bordeaux's early lead, Olympiacos levelled the match and missed some great chances to score a second goal, before eventually losing in the dying moments of the match (1–2). Domestically, Olympiacos secured a 2–0 derby win over arch-rivals Panathinaikos, with striker Kostas Mitroglou scoring twice.[89] However, this was only a highlight in an otherwise below-par season for the club, as they not only lost the championship to Panathinaikos, but were also defeated in four out of their six playoff games, eventually finishing last, in the 5th position of the league table;[90] this result marked the team's worst ranking since being placed 8th in 1988, and meant that the club would start theirEuropa League campaign from the second qualifying round the following season.
New presidency, seven consecutive League titles and European ascent (2010–2017)
In 2010,Evangelos Marinakis, a successful shipping magnate, bought the team from Sokratis Kokkalis.[3] During the first year of his presidency, Marinakis appointed fans' favourite Ernesto Valverde as coach (who came back for a second tenure in the club) and signed players with international pedigree, such asAlbert Riera,Ariel Ibagaza,Kevin Mirallas,Marko Pantelić andFrançois Modesto.[3] As a result, Olympiacos won theGreek title for the 38th time in its history, 13 points ahead of second-placed Panathinaikos.
In the2011–12 season, the team's roster was strengthened with players likeJean Makoun,Pablo Orbaiz,Iván Marcano,Rafik Djebbour andDjamel Abdoun and with Ernesto Valverde as their coach for the second straight season, Olympiacos had a very successful campaign both domestically and internationally. They won both theGreek league and theGreek Cup to complete the 15th domestic double in the club's history.[3] In European competitions, Olympiacos had a solid Champions League campaign, having been drawn inGroup F against Arsenal,Borussia Dortmund andMarseille. Despite delivering nine points in the group, with two emphatic wins against Arsenal and Dortmund at home (both with a 3–1 scoreline) and an away win against Marseille (0–1), they lost the qualification to the knock-out stage after Marseille's controversial 2–3 away win in Dortmund in game 6, with Marseille scoring two goals in the last five minutes of the match to come back from an early 2–0 Dortmund lead.[3] Olympiacos continued inEuropa League where he was drawn to play againstRubin Kazan. The Greek champions eliminated the Russian side with two wins (1–0 in bothKazan and Piraeus) and were up to play againstMetalist Kharkiv in the Last 16 of the competition.[3] They won the first match in Ukraine withDavid Fuster scoring the winning goal (0–1) but in the second match, despite their early lead and the plethora of missed chances (they hit the woodwork twice in the first half), they conceded two goals in the last nine minutes of the game and lost the qualification to the quarter-finals.
At the end of the season, Ernesto Valverde announced his decision to return to Spain, thus ending his second successful spell at Olympiacos. The club announced the PortugueseLeonardo Jardim as their new head coach.[3] The team performed very well in the Greek league and had a decent Champions league campaign, gathering nine points inGroup B, after wins against Arsenal (2–1 at home) andMontpellier (1–2 inMontpellier, 3–1 in Piraeus). Despite the relatively good results, Leonardo Jardim was replaced by the Spanish coach andReal Madrid legendMíchel. The team went on to celebrate the 16th double in their history by winning their40th Greek Championship, 15 points ahead the second PAOK, as well as their 26thGreek Cup after a 3–1 win againstAsteras Tripolis in the final. The 40th Greek championship title gave Olympiacos thefourth star on top of the club's emblem, which was a major goal for the club and especially for the fans.[3]
The expectations for the2013–14 season were very high, especially after the signing of players such as strikerJavier Saviola,Joel Campbell,Roberto,Alejandro Domínguez,Vladimír Weiss,Delvin N'Dinga andLeandro Salino. Olympiacos had a great season both domestically and internationally.[3] In Europe, they were drawn inGroup C of the2013–14 Champions League alongsideParis Saint-Germain, Benfica andAnderlecht. After a strong performance in the group, Olympiacos finished second with ten points and qualified for theLast 16 at the expense of Benfica (1–0 win in Piraeus, 1–1 draw inLisbon) and Anderlecht (0–3 win inBrussels, 3–1 win in Piraeus). In the round of 16, they were drawn to play againstManchester United. Olympiacos, after a solid display, won the first leg with a comfortable 2–0 (Alejandro Domínguez 38', Campbell 55'), in a match where they dominated totally and missed chances to even extend the lead.[3] Despite the two-goal advantage which put them within touching distance of a quarter-final place for the first time since 1999, Olympiacos lost 3–0 in the second leg inOld Trafford, having missed an outstanding double chance to equalise the score in the 40th minute. The Greek champions pushed on in the last ten minutes to find the crucial away goal, but to no avail. Although the ticket to the quarter-finals slipped out of the club's hands, Olympiacos' overall performance and the fact that the club managed to qualify to the knockout phase (round of 16) of the Champions League for the third time in six years (2007–08,2009–10,2013–14), marked a very successful European campaign. Domestically, Olympiacos won their history's41st Greek Championship very convincingly, 17 points ahead of second-placed PAOK.[3] He also participated in theInternational Champions Cup 2014 where he won 3rd place.
In the2014–15 season, Olympiacos entered the2014–15 Champions Leaguegroup stage with hopes to repeat the previous year's performance; they were drawn alongside Atlético Madrid, Juventus andMalmö FF.[3] They had a solid performance in the group, managing to beatlast year's runners-up Atlético 3–2 andeventual finalists Juventus 1–0 at the Karaiskakis Stadium, but they lost the qualification for the knockout stage in the last game: Olympiacos beat Malmö FF 4–2 at home but at the same time Juventus were drawing against Atlético in Italy, securing the crucial one point they needed to qualify. Had Olympiacos and Juventus finished with the same points, Olympiacos would have qualified due to best aggregate score (away goals) of their two games (1–0 Olympiacos win in Piraeus, 3–2 Juventus win inTurin).[3] The third place in the group gave Olympiacos the ticket for the next round ofUEFA Europa League, where they were eliminated by the eventual runners-upDnipro Dnipropetrovsk. Domestically, the team had a very successful season, winning the 17th double in their history. They won their42nd Greek Championship with 12 points difference from the second Panathinaikos and their27th Greek Cup, beatingSkoda Xanthi 3–1 in the final.[91]
The2015–16 season started with a new manager replacement, asMarco Silva took over the management over his fellow countrymanVitor Pereira,[92] while the squad was strengthened with the world-class presence ofEsteban Cambiasso and a number of other players with European competition experience, includingKostas Fortounis,Felipe Pardo,Sebá,Manuel Da Costa,Brown Ideye andAlfreð Finnbogason.[93] In a toughChampions League group that includedBayern München,Arsenal andDinamo Zagreb, Olympiacos managed to record 9 points through a 3–2 away win over the Gunners at theEmirates Stadium, considered by many as one of the club's most important European victories, as well as two more wins against Dinamo (1–0 away and 2–1 at home). Last matchday saw the team face Arsenal at the Karaiskakis stadium, needing a 1–0 or 2–1 defeat to the Gunners, as the worst-case scenario, to advance to theknockout phase of the competition based on theaway goals rule; the Red-Whites eventually lost 3–0 and continued their European journey in theUEFA Europa League, where they were eliminated byAnderlecht in the first knockout stage.[92] Despite the above, Olympiacos broke the record for most European competition victories recorded by a Greek club, with 97 over the 96 of second-placedPanathinaikos as of the summer of 2016.[94] Domestically, Olympiacos had perhaps their most successful season in years, as the team managed to secure their43rd Greek Championship, and 6th consecutive, on the last day of February 2016, considered a national record for the earliest time, within a league campaign, when a title is clinched.[92] The team managed to finish their league campaign with a 30-point difference over their arch rivalsPanathinaikos, who came in second. The team's 85 points over the course of 30 matchdays, including a 28–1–1 overall result breakdown with 13 away wins and a perfect 15 victories out of 15 home games, are also considered a national record.[94] However, despite the club's expectations of doing the double, they did not manage to win theGreek Cup as they finished runners-up to rivalsAEK after a 2–1 loss in the final.
The2016–17 season proved to be rather tumultuous for the club, despite the signing of such key players asÓscar Cardozo,Tarik Elyounoussi,Alaixys Romao,Aly Cissokho andMarko Marin.[95] The main issues that arose were the team's shock elimination from Israeli outfitHapoel Be'er-Sheva, after a 1–0 aggregate defeat, in thethird qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, and the highly frequent change of managers, leading the club to having been coached by five individuals over the same season:Marco Silva,Victor Sánchez (responsible for the elimination from Hapoel),Paulo Bento,Vasilis Vouzas andTakis Lemonis. The team'sUEFA Europa League journey was not as successful as other European campaigns, starting with a difficult 3–1 aggregate victory (1–1 before extra time) overArouca in the playoffs, continuing with the team's qualification from thegroup stage but only as second-placed toAPOEL (in a group that also includedYoung Boys andAstana), and ending with a heavy 5–2 aggregate defeat toBesiktas in the last 16 of theknockout stage (with goalkeeperNicola Leali being highly responsible for 4 out of the 5 goals conceded[96]), despite having advanced from the last 32 thanks to a 3–0 aggregate win overOsmanlispor. The frequent manager change negatively affected the team's stability and rhythm in domestic competitions as well. Firstly, Olympiacos failed to qualify for theGreek Cup final after being ousted byAEK, who advanced on the away goals rule after a 2–2 aggregate draw. Secondly, despite the fact that the Reds clinched their44th Greek Championship, and 7th consecutive for the second time in Greek football history, they only managed to do so with a six-point difference (67 to 61) overPAOK.
European successes, three consecutive Greek League titles (2017–2023)
Aggregate victories overPartizan (5–3) andRijeka (3–1) in the two final qualifying rounds ensured the Red-Whites' presence in Group D of the competition, considered perhaps the toughest in Olympiacos' European history due toBarcelona,Juventus andSporting CP being the opponents.[97] A disheartening 2–3 defeat in the hands of Sporting at Thrylos' European season opener,[98] combined with a 3–2 loss to AEK despite being 0–2 up, led to Hasi's dismissal from the club and his replacement byTakis Lemonis.[99] The latter decided to focus on getting the squad back on track in domestic competitions, at a time when Olympiacos eventually got eliminated from Europe ahead of the Christmas break for the first time in 12 years.[100] Following a home goalless draw against Barcelona and five defeats, the Red-Whites only managed to acquire one point during their entire Champions League group stage campaign, something considered a setback for the club after their 7 previous UEFA Champions League campaigns (2007–08, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16), in which they gathered at least 9 points in all of the groups (11 points in 2007–08, 10 points in 2009–10, 9 points in 2011–12, 9 points in 2012–13, 10 points in 2013–14, 9 points in 2014–15 and 9 points in 2015–16), with three qualifications to the knockout stage (Last 16) of the competition. Despite their one-point group stage exit, the worst European records by a Greek team in the history of European competitions both belong toAEK Athens: AEK's zero (0) point campaign inGroup E of the2018–19 UEFA Champions League and AEK's zero (0) point campaign as well in theGroup H of the2004–05 UEFA Cup, a lower-tier UEFA competition.Panathinaikos has also a one-point campaign inGroup G of the2016–17 UEFA Europa League.[101] Despite being in theSuper League lead halfway through the season, Lemonis was dismissed on grounds of dressing room instability, andÓscar García was subsequently appointed with a vision of increasing attacking efficiency and discipline.[102] Domestically, Olympiacos'Greek Cup run ended in the quarter-finals, marking their third consecutive year that they failed to lift the Cup. In theSuper League the Red-Whites conceded the title to AEK three matchdays before completion, thus ending a run of seven consecutive championship wins and leading to the dismissal of García after two months at the club's helm, withChristos Kontis finishing the season as caretaker manager. PortuguesePedro Martins was appointed head coach in order to lead Olympiacos at the following 2018–19 season.[103]
In the2018–19 season, the Reds tried to recover from their disastrous last season. Starting with consecutive qualifications over Swiss sideFC Luzern (agg: 7–1) as well as English sideBurnley (agg: 4–2), the club earned a spot at theEuropa League group stages, in which they faced Italian giantsAC Milan, Spanish sideReal Betis as well asF91 Dudelange. Having 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses, Thrylos needed a 2-goal or more victory against Milan in the last match to advance to the Round of 32, which they eventually earned with a 81st-minute penalty byKostas Fortounis, eliminating the Rossoneri. The 2018–19 campaign eventually came to an end byDynamo Kyiv in the Round of 32, with a 2–2 draw in Piraeus, followed by a 1–0 defeat in Kyiv. Domestically, despite having a way better season compared to 2017–18, the Red-Whites fell short championsPAOK, finishing just 5 points behind, while also suffering from a shock elimination toLamia in thecup, ending the season trophyless for the second year in a row.
Despite his failure on a domestic level,Pedro Martins kept his position as manager of the team, who, having kept key players from last season, such asDaniel Podence,Guilherme andMady Camara as well as strengthening the squad withMathieu Valbuena,Youssef El-Arabi andRúben Semedo, led the club toone of its greatest seasons in the past decade. Starting atChampions League 2nd qualifying round, Olympiacos defeated emphaticallyViktoria Plzeň (agg: 4–0),İstanbul Başakşehir (agg: 3–0) andFC Krasnodar (agg: 6–1), comfortably securing their return in thegroup stage and becoming the only Greek club to achieve 3 successive qualifications to the group stage of the competition. Having been drawn to eventual winnersBayern Munich, London sideTottenham Hotspur andRed Star Belgrade, the Reds got a hard-fought point at their first game against Spurs at Karaiskakis, despite being down 0–2 in the 30th minute, with goals byDaniel Podence andMathieu Valbuena on 44th and 54th minute respectively. They then went on to lose their 3 next fixtures, needing a win inTottenham Hotspur Stadium to keep qualification dreams alive. Despite being 2–0 up, a crucial mistake byYassine Meriah in the dying seconds of the first half gave Spurs the motivation to eventually win 4–2. Olympiacos then won their last game against Crvena Zvezda at home thanks to a late El Arabi penalty, to continue in theEuropa League. In the Round of 32, Thrylos got one of their brightest moments in their history, as they managed to eliminate their European rivalsArsenal on away goals (agg: 2–2), with a late El Arabi goal in the last minute of extra time inEmirates stadium, advancing to the last 16, where they facedWolves. After a 1–1 draw in Piraeus without their fans, the competition stopped due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, eventually resuming in August 2020, where Olympiacos' campaign stopped after a 1–0 defeat inMolineux Stadium with many controversial decisions by refereeSzymon Marciniak. Domestically, the Reds won their first league title since 2017 with a record 91 points, 18 points clear of PAOK and almost managing to complete an undefeated run before losing 0–1 to PAOK in the third-to-last matchday. They also won the double by defeatingAEK Athens 1–0 in thecup final, marking one of their most successful seasons both domestically and internationally.
The2020–21 season started well for Olympiacos, securing their presence in theChampions Leaguegroup stage for the 2nd year in a row, defeating Cyprtiot championsOmonia Nicosia 2–0 on aggregate. However, their campaign was rather mediocre having 1 win and 5 losses, in a group against Portuguese championsFC Porto, English giantsManchester City and FrenchMarseille. They still however got 3rd-place finishing above Marseille on head to head away goals, both tied on 3 points. In theEuropa League, they managed to defeatPSV Eindhoven beating them 4–2 at home and losing 2–1 atPhilips Stadion, going through thanks to a 88th-minute goal byAhmed Hassan. They then had to faceArsenal once again in the Round of 16, this time however losing 2–3 on aggregate despite beating them 0–1 inEmirates and closing their campaign with a win. Domestically they dominated theleague once again, finishing 26 points above 2nd-placed PAOK, to whom they lost theGreek Cup in the dying moments of the final.
The beginning of the2021–22 season had Olympiacos being eliminated in theChampions League, where they lost to BulgarianLudogorets Razgrad 4–1 on penalties after 2 draws in Piraeus (1–1) and Razgrad (2–2) in the third qualifying round. They then beatŠK Slovan Bratislava in the play-off round to secure aEuropa League group stage spot. In a group withEintracht Frankfurt,Fenerbahçe andAntwerp, Olympiacos finished second behind Eintracht with 3 wins and 3 losses and qualified for theknockout-round play-offs, where they met Italian sideAtalanta, who eliminated them 5–1 on aggregate. Despite securing anotherGreek League title, Thrylos failed to winthe cup for the second year in a row being eliminated by PAOK again on away goals. Martins remained manager of the club and renewed his contract for a fifth year, becoming one of the managers with the longest stay in the club.
After four seasons and winning 3 League titles with the club, Martins got fired from Olympiacos, in August 2022, and Spanish trainerCarlos Corberán was appointed as the new head coach.[104] He was succeeded byMichel, who later resigned and the 2022–23 season was completed byJosé Anigo.
UEFA Europa Conference League Winners & UEFA Youth League Winners (2023–24)
The2023–24 Season began withDiego Martinez in charge, until being sacked in December, having the team in 4th place in the League and out of theEuropa League, to be replaced byCarlos Carvalhal, whose stint only lasted for 2 months before being replaced byJosé Luis Mendilibar. Domestically, the club finished 3rd for the second consecutive time, and was eliminated in the Round of 16 of theGreek Cup.[105][106]
However, the European campaign of this season proved to be the best in Olympiacos history. Beginning in the Europa Leaguethird qualifying round, the club ensured a group stage participation for the third season in a row, after knocking out BelgianKRC Genk and Serbian rookiesFK Čukarički. There, they secured the 3rd place, finishing with 7 points and transferring to theEuropa Conference League. After knocking out Hungarian championFerencváros in the play-offs with 2Ayoub El Kaabi goals, they faced IsraeliMaccabi Tel Aviv in the Round of 16, and got stunned by a 1–4 defeat at Karaiskakis Stadium. However, in the return fixture inTSC Arena, in front of 49 loyal supporters, the Red-Whites managed to achieve one of the greatest comebacks in the history of European football, by winning 6–1 on extra time and becoming the only football club to overcome a 3-goal home deficit inUEFA competitions.[107]
Entering a European quarter-final for the first time since1998–99, their next opponent wereFenerbahçe, whom they beat 3–2 at home, thanks to goals fromKostas Fortounis,Stevan Jovetić andChiquinho. In the second leg inŞükrü Saracoğlu, the game ended 1–0 in favour of Fenerbahçe, thanks to a 12th-minuteİrfan Kahveci goal. Eventually, the tie went to an extra time and then to a penalty shootout. There, 21-year old goalkeeperKonstantinos Tzolakis made history, saving 3 penalties in total, including the decisive one byLeonardo Bonucci and earning Olympiacos its first-ever appearance in a European semi-final in their 99-year history, winning 2–3 on penalties.[108]
In the semi-final, Olympiacos had to faceAston Villa, whom at the time were 4th in thePremier League and were in one of their best seasons underUnai Emery. Despite entering the tie as massive underdogs, Olympiacos crushed the Villans with a 6–2 aggregate score, winning both legs and having El Kaabi scoring 5 goals, tying a record held byCristiano Ronaldo andRadamel Falcao. This marked the first time a Greek Club entered the final of a European competition since 1971. Their final opponent, was Italian powerhouseACF Fiorentina, who themselves appeared in thelast year's final, losing 1–2 toWest Ham in the last minute of the match.[109]
Thefinal was held in rival'sAEKAgia Sophia Stadium on 29 May, the same dayConstantinople fell 571 years prior. Pressure was immense going into the game, with thousands of fans coming to support the team in the stadium and hundreds of thousands of others watching the game in the streets ofPiraeus. A close game, poor in chances and with a lot of tension ended in a 0–0 draw after 90 minutes. With everything looking like the tie would be settled on penalties, a 116th minute cross bySantiago Hezze landed onEl Kaabi's head, who put the ball inTerracciano's net to make it 1–0, causing delirium among millions of Olympiacos fans all over the world. After aVAR check byArtur Soares Dias, the goal was confirmed and the game ended in that score, with Olympiacos making history and becoming the onlyGreek football club to win a UEFA competition.[110] This has been described by many as the greatest achievement in the history ofGreek Football, since theGreek national team'sEuro 2004 victory.[111] The club's achievement is highlighted by the fact that their odds of winning the competition after their 1–4 home loss to Maccabi in the Round of 16, were at just 0.1%.[112]
Five weeks earlier, Olympiacos Youth U-19 team celebrated winning theUEFA Youth League beating Milan in the final that held at theColovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland, to secure their first title in the competition.Olympiacos Youth U-19 team faced Flamengo in Under-20 Intercontinental Cup but was defeated with a score of 2-1.
When, in 1925, the merger of the two clubs of Piraeus, Athlitikos Podosfairikos Syllogos Pireos and Omilos Filathlon Pireos, gave birth to the new football club, the latter was unanimously baptisedOlympiacos Club of Fans of Piraeus, a name inspired from theAncient Olympic Games, the morality, the vying, the splendor, the sportsmanship and the fair play ideal that were represented inAncient Greece. Consequently, afterNotis Kamperos's proposal, the club adopted the laurel-crowned adolescent as their emblem, which symbolises the Olympic Games winner, a crest that underwent minor changes through the ages. Red and white were chosen as the colours of the crest; red for the passion and victory and white for the virtue and purity.[114][115]
The typical kit of the team is that of a shirt with red and white vertical stripes, and red or white shorts and socks. The shirt has taken different forms during the history of the club, for example with thin or wider stripes. The second most common kit is the all-red one and next the all-white one. Olympiacos has used several other colours during its history as an away or third kit, with the most notable of them being the monotint black or silver one. The most common kits of Olympiacos during their history are these below (the year of each one is indicant):
Since 1979, when football became professional in Greece, Olympiacos had a specific kit manufacturer and since 1982 a specific shirt sponsor as well. The following table shows in detail Olympiacos kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors by year:
TheKaraiskakis Stadium, situated at Neo Faliro inPiraeus, is the current (since 2004) and traditional home of Olympiacos. With a capacity of 32,115,[118][2] it is the largest football-only stadium and the second largest football stadium overall in Greece. It was built in 1895 asNeo Phaliron Velodrome, to host thecycling events for the1896 Summer Olympics inAthens, and the pitch was covered with curm. Olympiacos started using it since its foundation in 1925. In 1964, the stadium was renovated and was given its current name afterGeorgios Karaiskakis, a military commander of theGreek War of Independence, with an athletics track around the pitch.[119]
Olympiacos left the Karaiskakis Stadium temporarily to play home matches at the newly builtAthens Olympic Stadium in 1984. After a five-year use (1984–1989) of the biggest stadium in Greece, the team returned to their traditional home, where they played until 1997. It was then that Olympiacos got back to the Athens Olympic Stadium, where they stayed for another period of five years (1997–2002). In 2002, the Olympic Stadium was closed for renovation works due to the2004 Summer Olympics and Olympiacos moved to theGeorgios Kamaras Stadium inRizoupoli, home ofApollon Smyrnis, for the following two seasons (2002–2004).
Meanwhile, the Karaiskakis Stadium had fallen in disrepair and was not any more suitable for football matches. In 2003, its use passed to Olympiacos in order to build a football-only ground, to be used for thefootball tournament of the 2004 Olympics. In return, Olympiacos got exclusive use of the stadium until 2052, covering all maintenance costs and also paying 15% of revenue to the Greek State. The old stadium was demolished in the spring of 2003 and the new one was completed on 30 June 2004 at a total cost of €60 million.[120] Nowadays, the Karaiskakis Stadium is one of the most modern football grounds in Europe,[citation needed] also hosting the museum of Olympiacos,[121] with several facilities around.[citation needed]
Olympiacos' traditional fanbase comes from the city of Piraeus, where the club is based, as well as a good part of the rest of the Athens area. The club's popularity increased during the 1950s after winning consecutive titles and setting several records, and they became the best-supported football club in the country. Traditionally, Olympiacos used to represent the working class, but the club has always attracted fans from all the social classes and their fanbase is not associated with any specific social group any more.[122][123]
Olympiacos is the most popular Greek club according toUEFA[19] and numerous polls and researches.[124] Several newspapers and magazines' polls rank Olympiacos as the most popular club in Greece with a percentage varying between 30 and 40% among the fans and more or less 30% in total population, which corresponds to around three and a half millions of supporters in Greece.[20][125] The club is overwhelmingly popular in Piraeus, where almost half of its population supports Olympiacos,[126] while their support in the whole of Athens reaches 30% of the fans, making them the 3rd most popular club in the Greek capital. They are also the most popular club in the working class with a percentage of 37% and in all age groups,[126] as well as among both male and female fans;[127] the vast majority of their fans comes from the centre-left and centre-right of thepolitical spectrum.[126] Outside of Athens, Olympiacos is the most popular club inCentral Greece, thePeloponnese, andThessaly. Additionally, they have the highest average all-time attendance in Greek football, having topped the attendance tables in most of the seasons in Super League Greece history.[128]
In 2006, Olympiacos was placed in the top ten of the clubs with the most paying members in the world, holding ninth place, just ahead of Real Madrid.[129] As of April 2006, the club had some 83,000 registered members.[130] Olympiacos andRed Star Belgrade fans have developed a deep friendship, calling themselves the "Orthodox Brothers".[131] Usually, Olympiacos supporters from several fan-clubs attend Red Star's matches, especially against their old rivalPartizan, and vice versa. More recently, the Orthodox Brothers have started to include fans ofSpartak Moscow in their club.
Olympiacos fans are renowned for their passionate and fervent support to the team, with the atmosphere at home matches regarded as intimidating. When they playedNewcastle United at home in the2004–05 UEFA Cup, the match was televised in the United Kingdom onChannel 5 and the guest commentator was formerEngland internationalTony Cottee, who was constantly mentioning how great the atmosphere was. During the game he was asked whether it was the most atmospheric stadium he had been to and replied: "I'd have to say it probably is. You hear a lot about various places and the atmosphere there but when you go you realise it's not all that... But this place is the real deal."[132] The experiencedCzech international wingerJaroslav Plašil paid further testament to the hostile atmosphere created by Olympiacos fans at home before his team Bordeaux visit the Karaiskakis Stadium, where he had played during his time with Monaco and stated, "It was one of the most intense atmospheres I've ever experienced in a stadium, so I expect it will be a bit like hell for us. Their supporters really can help their team."[133] Former Paris Saint-Germain superstar strikerZlatan Ibrahimović spoke of his admiration for Olympiacos supporters after an Olympiacos–Paris Saint-Germain match on 17 September 2013: "They played in front of their fantastic public. Olympiacos supporters were amazing. My friend Olof Mellberg played here and he talked to me about the supporters. I never saw it live, but now I understand. It's amazing. It's a big advantage for Olympiacos."[134][135] PSG billionaire ownerNasser Al-Khelaifi stated, "I have big respect for the fans here. I've never seen fans like Olympiacos' fans in my life."[136] PSG andBrazil internationalwingerLucas Moura in an interview with goal.com stated that Olympiacos home ground was the most intense and heated stadium he's ever played in.[137][138][139]
The history of the Karaiskakis Stadium and Olympiacos was marked by the worst tragedy that ever hitGreek sports, known as theKaraiskakis Stadium disaster. On 8 February 1981, Olympiacos hostedAEK Athens for aleague match, which ended 6–0, in an unprecedented triumph for the host team of Piraeus. During the last minutes of the game, thousands of Olympiacos fans at the Gate 7 rushed to the exit, to get to the stadium's main entrance and celebrate with the players, but the doors were almost closed and the turnstiles still in place, making the exit almost impossible.[140] As people continued to come down from the stands, unable to see what happened, the stairs of Gate 7 became a death trap; people were crushed, tens of fans were seriously injured and twenty-one young people died, most of them bysuffocation.[141]
In memory of this event, every year on 8 February, there is a memorial service at the stadium in honour of the supporters that died in that incident. The service is attended by thousands of fans every year, who are rhythmically shouting the phrase, "Αδέρφια, ζείτε, εσείς μας οδηγείτε." (Adhélfia, zíte, esís mas odhiyíte, "Brothers, you live, you are the ones who guide us."). At the tribune part of the stadium where Gate 7 is now, some seats are coloured black instead of red, shaping the number "7", whereas there is also a monument on the eastern side of the stadium, bearing the names of all 21 supporters killed on that day in the stadium.[142]
Even though this incident affected almost solely the fanbase of Olympiacos, other teams occasionally pay their respects to the people killed as well, as they consider the incident to be a tragedy not only for one team, but for the whole country. In the past, even foreign teams, such asLiverpool andRed Star Belgrade, have honoured the incident's victims.[143]
Traditionally, Olympiacos' main rival isPanathinaikos and their so-called "derby of the eternal enemies" is a classic local derby inAttica, the most famous fixture inGreek football and one of the most well known around the world.[122] The two clubs are themost successful, having won together a total of 67League titles (Olympiacos 47, Panathinaikos 20), and the most popular football clubs in Greece. The rivalry also encompasses social, cultural and regional differences; Olympiacos, coming from the famous port of Piraeus, used to be very popular in the working to middle classes, while Panathinaikos, of downtown Athens, was considered the representative of middle to higher social classes, although this differentiation has weakened nowadays and the two clubs have similar fanbases.[123] Most recent notorious incidents include a fan's death in 2007, during a pre-arranged clash between hooligans on the occasion of a women's volleyball game between the two clubs, which caused major upset in Greece,[144] and the abandonment of a derby in 2012 after riots at theAthens Olympic Stadium, which resulted in major fires in parts of it.[145]
Olympiacos also shares a traditionalrivalry withAEK Athens, in one more local derby of the Greek capital with the other member of the so-calledBig three,[146] but also withPAOK, in the fiercest inter-cityrivalry in Greece between the most popular clubs of the two largest Greek cities, Athens andThessaloniki, a rivalry that erupted in the 1960s for the sake of footballerGiorgos Koudas.[147] A popular rivalry used to be thePiraeus derby, between Olympiacos andEthnikos Piraeus, the second most successful football club in the region, but the fixture has faded-out due to Ethnikos' constant presence in lower divisions in the last decades. It remains a derby in water polo where Olympiacos and Ethnikos compete in the top division.
They are also the highest ranked Greek club in theUEFA rankings, occupying the 36th place in the ten-year ranking, and the 43rd in the five-year ranking as of 2024. They are one of the founding members of theEuropean Club Association. They are also the Greek club with the most wins in all European competitions, leading also the table with the most home and away wins,[148][149] and the Greek team with the most games played in European level, celebrating their 200th match on 23 February 2010, againstBordeaux in the2009–10 UEFA Champions League first knockout round. Olympiacos also holds the all-time record attendance for a Greek club of 75,263 in a1982–83 European Cup match againstHamburg at theAthens Olympic Stadium.[150]
Olympiacos has also won theBalkans Cup in1963, at a time when the competition was considered the second most important in the region after theEuropean Cup,[7] becoming the first ever Greek club to win an international competition.
TheUEFA Youth League trophy won by Olympiacos U-19 in the 2023–24 season.
The youth team of Olympiacos in the 2024 season as European champions played thefinal of theU20 Intercontinental Cup againstFlamengo and the red and white team were defeated with a score of 2-1, nevertheless the youth of Olympiacos made a historic participation in the final of the competition.[155]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
^[1]Archived 15 December 2014 at theWayback Machine, Έλαβον(2022): ΟΣΦΠ 34%, ΠΑΟ 28%, ΑΕΚ 25%, ΠΑΟΚ 10%, Άρης 3%. Ύστερα από 15ετή έρευνα δύο πανεπιστημιακοί στο βιβλίο τους καταγράφουν την ιστορία και γεωγραφία του ελληνικού ποδοσφαίρου, 30 June 2009, ΤΑ ΝΕΑ – tanea.gr (in Greek)
^[2]Archived 27 April 2011 at theWayback Machine,Περισσότερους φιλάθλους η Μπαρτσελόνα, πρώτη ελληνική ομάδα ο Ολυμπιακός (in Greek)
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