 | |
 Interactive map of Karaiskakis Stadium | |
| Full name | Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium |
|---|---|
| Former names | Neo Phaliron Velodrome (1895–1964) |
| Location | Piraeus,Attica, Greece |
| Coordinates | 37°56′46″N23°39′52″E / 37.94611°N 23.66444°E /37.94611; 23.66444 |
| Public transit |   Faliro  SEF |
| Owner | Hellenic Olympic Committee |
| Operator | Olympiacos |
| Type | Stadium |
| Executive suites | 40 |
| Capacity | 33,334 |
| Record attendance | 45,445 (Olympiacos vsAEK, 7 April 1965) |
| Field size | 120 x 80 m |
| Surface | Hybrid grass |
| Scoreboard | LED |
| Construction | |
| Built | 1895 |
| Opened | 1896 |
| Renovated | 1964, 2004 |
| Construction cost | € 60,000,000 |
| Architect |
|
| Tenants | |
| Olympiacos (1925–1984, 1989–1997, 2004–present) Ethnikos Piraeus (1924–2000) Greece national football team (1971–1976, 2004–2009, 2010–2017, 2024–present) Greece women's national football team (2008–2017) | |
TheGeorgios Karaiskakis Stadium (Greek:Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), commonly referred to as theKaraiskakis Stadium (Greek:Στάδιο Καραϊσκάκη,[ˈstaðiokaraiˈskaki]), is afootball stadium inPiraeus,Attica,Greece, and the home ground of the Piraeus football clubOlympiacos. It is named afterGeorgios Karaiskakis, a military commander andnational hero of theGreek War of Independence, who was mortally wounded in the area.
With a capacity of 33,334[2][3] it is the largest football-specific stadium and thesecond largest football stadium in Greece overall.
The stadium hosted the2023 UEFA Super Cup, since the original venue inKazan had to be moved due to Russia's suspension from UEFA.[4]
It was used during theAthens1896 Summer Olympics, as theNeo Phaliron Velodrome, where FrenchmanPaul Masson took the threetrack cycling gold medals.
It was renovated during the 1960s and hosted the European Winners' Cup final of 1970–1971, the first European football final that held in Greece, between Chelsea and Real Madrid. The first match ended with a score of 1–1, and in the replay Chelsea won 2–1 to claim the trophy.[5][6] The stadium was completely rebuilt in 2004 into a 32,115 capacity, all seaterstadium, ready for thefootball competition of the2004 Summer Olympics.[7][8][9]
The stadium was totally demolished and built again from the beginning, facing a different direction. This complete reconstruction took a record time of only 14 months, finishing just in time for the Olympic Games.[10]After the last deal ended in 1998, Olympiacos is using the stadium once again, on a 49-year lease from2003 until 2052 and is traditionally identified as the club's true home. In 2002, the president and owner of OlympiacosSocratis Kokkalis, when announced the project to rebuild Karaiskakis, expressed his wish for the new stadium to be also used by Ethnikos, if they wanted, as Karaiskakis is the historic home ofEthnikos OFPF and Atromitos Piraeus andOlympiacos SFP . Therefore, in the contract signed by the Hellenic Olympic Committee, the owner of the stadium, and Olympiacos, a clause was included, stating that should Ethnikos wish to return to the stadium, they may do so without sharing any significant maintenance or other stadium-related costs, as those are covered by Olympiacos. As of 2023, Ethnikos has not yet opted to do so.
The ticket sales average higher than any team's in recent decades for theSuper League Greece history (rarely have they dropped under the 5,000 mark) and are not expected to drop in the foreseeable future.
Sales for national team matches had also been higher, but this was for the most part due toGreece's success in theEuro 2004. As of 2008 and after Greece's disappointingEuro 2008 performance, the attendance of national team matches dropped drastically, leading the Ministry of Sport to change the venue toHeraklion, Crete.
In June 2005, Karaiskakis stadium hosted a movie theatre (Ciné Karaiskakis) with a cinema screen that is 20 m long and 10 m wide, operating daily between 9 and 11 p.m. (6 and 8 p.m. UTC) and later, every weekend. The movie screen featured movies includingBatman Begins and others. The stadium operated as a movie theatre for the last time on Saturday 13 August 2005.
Twenty-one supporters ofOlympiacos died in "Gate 7" (Θύρα 7) of the stadium, after a game betweenOlympiacos andAEK Athens (that ended 6–0), on 8 February 1981; an incident widely known as theKaraiskaki Stadium disaster. In memory of this event, at the tribune where Gate 7 is now, twenty-one seats are black colored instead of red, shaping the number "7". A monument on the eastern side of the stadium bears the names of the twenty-one supporters killed on that day in the stadium.[11]
Karaiskakis Stadium is classified as a 4-star football stadium by theUEFA organisation, allowing it to host the UEFA Europa League final if chosen. It hosts 40 VIP lounges and suites, that can hold up to 474[12] persons, a press conference hall, that can hold up to 130 seats, 200 seats for press and media coverage, an entire shopping mall, with restaurants, cafés, retail and clothing stores and a gym.
The stadium also hostsOlympiacos Museum, dedicated not only to the history of the football club, but to the history of all the departments of the multiple European title-winning multi-sport clubOlympiacos CFP. There are 10 automated ticket selling machines around the stadium enabling reservations through the internet or by phone. There is no extra charge for the parking area, which takes up to 1,000[13] cars. Due to its design, the stadium's tribunes have the ability to empty within 7 minutes. The stadium also has restaurants and stores opened during concerts and games and sometimes open with the daily general timetable of most Greek stores and shops.
The stadium is easily accessed through bypublic transport, atFaliro, which is less than five minutes fromPiraeus, and about 15 minutes from Athens city centre, atOmonia, and also through Athens driving routes, which is 8 km, about 15 minutes from downtownAthens.
Rihanna,[14]Aerosmith,[15][16]Evanescence,[17]50 Cent,[18]Scorpions,[19]Whitesnake,Imiskoumbria,Def Leppard[20] andSex Pistols have performed at the stadium.[citation needed]
v
Chelsea| 19 May 1971 | Real Madrid | 1–1 | Chelsea | |
Zoco 90' | Report | Osgood 56' | Attendance: 42,000 Referee:Rudolf Scheurer (Switzerland) |
vChelsea| 21 May 1971Replay | Real Madrid | 1–2 | Chelsea | |
| Fleitas 75' | Report | Dempsey 31' Osgood 39' | Attendance: 19,917 Referee:Anton Bucheli (Switzerland) |
v
Sevilla| 16 August 2023 (2023-08-16) | Manchester City | 1–1 (5–4p) | Sevilla | |
| 22:00UTC+3 |
| Report |
| Attendance: 29,207 Referee:François Letexier (France) |
| Penalties | ||||
| Preceded by | Summer Olympics Women's football gold medal match venue 2004 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | UEFA Super Cup Match venue 2023 | Succeeded by |
