Kallithea FC
Encyclopedia
Kallithea F.C. is a Greek
professional football club based in Kallithea
, currently competing in the Football League (see Greek football league system
).
The club was founded on 18 August 1966, from the merger of five local clubs: Esperos
, Iraklis, AE Kallitheas, Kallithaikos, and Pyrsos.
The five stars in Kallithea's club logo represent the five founding clubs.
. In 1969, the club earned promotion
to the second division
, for the first time.
In 2002 Kallithea achieved promotion to top flight
, for the first time. The first match there in the club's history was a 1-0 loss to Olympiacos at Georgios Kamaras Stadium
, on 25 August 2002. The club's first win in the competition came on 14 September, a 3-2 upset of PAOK F.C. at Toumba Stadium
, thanks to two goals from Theofanis Gekas
.
After a 9th place finish in 2004-05
, Kallithea was relegated back the following season. In 2006-07
and 2007-08
, the club finished 7th and 6th in the second level, respectively.
on five occasions: in 1969-70 (eliminated by Aris Thessaloniki
), in 1978-79 (eliminated by Panachaiki FC), in 1986-87 (by OFI Crete
, who won the competition that year),in 2001-02 (ousted by Olympiacos) and in 2009-10 (eliminated by Panathinaikos,who won the double that year).
Kallithea plays its home matches at Gregoris Lambrakis Stadium
in Kallithea. The stadium was built in 1970, and currently has a seating capacity of 4,250.
The ground is commonly referred to by its nickname, El Paso. The site of the stadium used to be a quarry
, explaining the tall rock lining the north end of the stadium. When the stadium was being built in the 1960s, Clint Eastwood
's Spaghetti Western
s were very popular in Greece, and the stadium's nickname is a reference to Eastwood's 1965 film For a Few Dollars More
(which had the Greek title Duel in El Paso), as the stadium's backdrop reminded people of the scenery in the movie.
Theofanis Gekas
Anastasios Kyriakos
Leonidas Vokolos
Bledar Kola
Foto Strakosha
Todor Yanchev
Yves Triantafyllos
Kanfory Sylla
Daniel Kenedy
Perica Ognjenović
Sources:
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
professional football club based in Kallithea
Kallithea
Kallithea is the 8th largest municipality in Greece and the 4th biggest in the Athens urban area...
, currently competing in the Football League (see Greek football league system
Greek football league system
The Greek football league system includes five levels in which teams can possibly make it to Super League Greece, Greece's highest division of football.-Promotion and relegation:Super League Greece: Bottom three clubs relegated to Football League....
).
Background
The club's full name is Gymnastikos Syllogos Kallithea , meaning Gymnastic Club of Kallithea, which is shortened to G.S. Kallithea .The club was founded on 18 August 1966, from the merger of five local clubs: Esperos
Esperos
Esperos is a sports club in Kallithea , founded in 1943 during the Nazi occupation of the country ....
, Iraklis, AE Kallitheas, Kallithaikos, and Pyrsos.
The five stars in Kallithea's club logo represent the five founding clubs.
League
Kallithea's first season of competitive football was in 1966-67 in the third tier of Greek footballGamma Ethniki
Football League 2, formerly known as Gamma Ethniki, is the third highest professional football league in Greece.-History:It began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 1983 it was changed to professional...
. In 1969, the club earned promotion
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...
to the second division
Beta Ethniki
Football League, former Beta Ethniki, is the second highest professional football league in Greece.-History:In its first years, the system of conduct was very intriguing. It began in 1954 as regional championship, separated in two groups, North and South. Then, the participating teams were the...
, for the first time.
In 2002 Kallithea achieved promotion to top flight
Super League Greece
The Superleague Greece is the highest professional football league in Greece. It was formed on July 16, 2006 and replaced Alpha Ethniki at the top of the Greek football league system. The league consists of 16 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each...
, for the first time. The first match there in the club's history was a 1-0 loss to Olympiacos at Georgios Kamaras Stadium
Georgios Kamaras Stadium
Georgios Kamaras Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Athens, Greece. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Apollon Smyrnis. The stadium holds 14,856 and was built in 1948. It was used by Olympiacos for about 3 years as home ground, due to the construction...
, on 25 August 2002. The club's first win in the competition came on 14 September, a 3-2 upset of PAOK F.C. at Toumba Stadium
Toumba Stadium
Toumba Stadium is a football stadium in Thessaloniki, Greece, owned by the multisports club A.S. PAOK. It was built in 6 September 1959 as the club's prime sporting venue and served the home ground for the club's football team, which was participating in the then national football league. The...
, thanks to two goals from Theofanis Gekas
Theofanis Gekas
Theofanis Gekas is a Greek football striker who currently plays for the German club Eintracht Frankfurt. He has been the top goalscorer of the Greek League and the Bundesliga in previous seasons...
.
After a 9th place finish in 2004-05
Alpha Ethniki 2004-05
-League standings:* NB:Olympiakos and Panionios originally both had 3 points deducted as punishment for the incidents before their match on Jan 9 but these deductions were cancelled on appeal.- References :* * * *...
, Kallithea was relegated back the following season. In 2006-07
Beta Ethniki 2006-07
-Standings:-Results:-Top scorers:- Teams by region :...
and 2007-08
Beta Ethniki 2007-08
-League table 2007-2008:1 Panthrakikos had one game with Chaidari zeroed and 1 point deducted.2 Pierikos had 3 points deducted.-Results:-Top scorers:Last updated April 20, 2008- Teams by region :...
, the club finished 7th and 6th in the second level, respectively.
Cup
Kallithea has reached as far as the quarterfinal stage of the Greek CupGreek football Cup
The Greek Football Cup , commonly known as the Greek Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Football Cup OPAP, is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation....
on five occasions: in 1969-70 (eliminated by Aris Thessaloniki
Aris Thessaloniki F.C.
Aris Football Club , also known as God of war and the Yellows, is a Greek football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Macedonia. Formed in 1914, the club was a founding member of Macedonian Football Clubs Association as well as the Hellenic Football Federation, they currently compete in...
), in 1978-79 (eliminated by Panachaiki FC), in 1986-87 (by OFI Crete
OFI Crete
OFI , the Sportfriends Association Heraklion, is a Greek association football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. Outside Greece, the club is generally known as OFI Crete F.C., however, the name Crete is not actually part of the club's official title.OFI is the club with most...
, who won the competition that year),in 2001-02 (ousted by Olympiacos) and in 2009-10 (eliminated by Panathinaikos,who won the double that year).
Stadium
Kallithea plays its home matches at Gregoris Lambrakis Stadium
Gregoris Lambrakis Stadium
Grigoris Lambrakis Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Kallithea, Greece.It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of Kallithea F.C...
in Kallithea. The stadium was built in 1970, and currently has a seating capacity of 4,250.
The ground is commonly referred to by its nickname, El Paso. The site of the stadium used to be a quarry
Quarry
A quarry is a type of open-pit mine from which rock or minerals are extracted. Quarries are generally used for extracting building materials, such as dimension stone, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, and gravel. They are often collocated with concrete and asphalt plants due to the requirement...
, explaining the tall rock lining the north end of the stadium. When the stadium was being built in the 1960s, Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
's Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western
Spaghetti Western, also known as Italo-Western, is a nickname for a broad sub-genre of Western films that emerged in the mid-1960s in the wake of Sergio Leone's unique and much copied film-making style and international box-office success, so named by American critics because most were produced and...
s were very popular in Greece, and the stadium's nickname is a reference to Eastwood's 1965 film For a Few Dollars More
For a Few Dollars More
For a Few Dollars More is a 1965 Italian spaghetti western film directed by Sergio Leone and starring Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Cleef and Gian Maria Volonté. German actor Klaus Kinski also plays a supporting role as a secondary villain...
(which had the Greek title Duel in El Paso), as the stadium's backdrop reminded people of the scenery in the movie.
Notable former players
Alexandros AlexandrisAlexandros Alexandris
Alexandros "Alekos" Alexandris is a former Greek football striker.-Club career:Alekos Alexandris began his career where he was born and raised, in the historic PELOPAS of Kiato, Greece soccer team and in 1986 played for Veroia. After Veroia he moved to Greece giants AEK Athens in 1991 where he won...
Theofanis Gekas
Theofanis Gekas
Theofanis Gekas is a Greek football striker who currently plays for the German club Eintracht Frankfurt. He has been the top goalscorer of the Greek League and the Bundesliga in previous seasons...
Anastasios Kyriakos
Anastasios Kyriakos
Tasos Kyriakos is a Greek football defender and midfielder. He currently plays for PAS Giannina F.C..Kyriakos started his career at his hometown with Apollon Larissa and he later moved to the local giants Larissa, then playing in Beta Ethniki.Since 2002 he has been playing in the Greek First...
Leonidas Vokolos
Leonidas Vokolos
Leonidas Vokolos is a former Greek footballer. He started his career playing for Panionios. Afterwards, he was transferred to Greek giants Panathinaikos, where he won the Double in 2004. He then played for PAOK FC, Kallithea F.C...
Bledar Kola
Bledar Kola
Bledar Kola is a former Albanian football player.-Early life:Kola originates from Mirdita, Albania, but later moved to Greece where his playing career took off.-Club career:...
Foto Strakosha
Foto Strakosha
Fotaq "Foto" Strakosha is a retired Albanian goalkeeper. Strakosha is one of Albania's most popular and greatest goalkeepers who captained the national team for a number of years before his retirement in 2005...
Todor Yanchev
Todor Yanchev
Todor Yanchev is a Bulgarian professional football midfielder, who plays for CSKA Sofia. He mainly plays as a defensive midfielder.-Career:...
Yves Triantafyllos
Yves Triantafyllos
Yves Triantafyllos is a former French-Greek football forward , regarded by some as one of the best strikers in Greece in the early 1970s...
Kanfory Sylla
Kanfory Sylla
Kanfory Sylla is a Guinean football Defensive all-arounder who is currently unattached. He played for İstanbul BB and Konyaspor in Turkey's Super League.-International football:...
Daniel Kenedy
Daniel Kenedy
Daniel Kenedy Pimentel Mateus dos Santos, known as Kenedy , is a retired Guinea-Bissauan/Portuguese footballer. As a midfielder or defender, he played on the left side of the pitch.-Club career:...
Perica Ognjenović
Perica Ognjenovic
Perica Ognjenović , is a Serbian footballer mainly as a forward....
Current squad 2010/11
- As of 21 September, 2011
League history
|
Sources: