Athens Kallithea F.C.

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Athens Kallithea
Athens Kallithea FC crest (2022).png
Full nameAthens Kallithea Football Club
Founded18 August 1966
Ground Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium (temporary)
Capacity6,300
Owner Andrew Barroway
ChairmanTed Philipakos
Manager Massimo Donati
League Super League Greece
2023–24 Super League Greece 2, 1st (promoted)
Website Club website
Soccerball current event.svg Current season

Athens Kallithea Football Club is a Greek professional football club based in Kallithea, a city and a suburb in Athens, which competes in the Super League, the top tier of the Greek football league system.

Contents

The club has finished as high as ninth in the Greek top flight (2004–05) and has reached as far as the quarterfinal stage of the Greek Cup on five occasions (1969–70, 1978–79, 1986–87, 2001–02, 2009–10). [1]

History

Founding and early history

The club was founded on 18 August 1966 from the merger of five local clubs: Esperos, Iraklis, AE Kallitheas, Kallithaikos, and Pyrsos. [2]

In 1970, Kallithea's Grigoris Lambrakis Stadium, named after the Greek liberal politician and peace activist Grigoris Lambrakis, was opened to the public.

Promotion to the first division

On 28 April 2002, Kallithea clinched their first-ever promotion to Greece's top division with a 0-1 win over Chalkidona FC at Neapoli Stadium on a goal by Theofanis Gekas. [3]

The club's first win in the competition was a 3–2 upset of PAOK at Toumba Stadium, thanks to two goals from Gekas, on 14 September 2002.

After four seasons in the top flight, Kallithea were relegated in the 2005-06 season.

Recent history (2021 to present)

In August 2021, New York-born Greek-American Ted Philipakos, a former Chief Executive Officer and Chief Brand Officer at Venezia FC, [4] led the takeover of Kallithea FC [5] with his brother and former professional footballer Peter Philipakos and investor Andrew Barroway.

In the 2021-22 season, Kallithea finished second in Super League 2, seven points back of league winners Levadiakos for promotion to Super League 1, which was the club's most successful season since it last appeared in the top division in 2005–06.

In September 2022, the club rebranded as Athens Kallithea FC. [6] The presentation of the club's rebranding was met with widespread acclaim in Greece [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] and abroad, [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] with London-based Versus calling it "one of the cleanest football rebrands ever."

In the 2022-23 season, AKFC missed out on promotion to Super League 1 by one point, finishing second in Super League 2 for the second consecutive season. [20]

After two consecutive second-place finishes, AKFC were crowned 2023-24 Super League 2 South Group champions and was promoted to Super League Greece. [21]

Crest and colors

The first crest of Kallithea consisted of four circles representing the four groups of the merger of 1966, then becoming five circles with the addition of Pyrsos in 1967, which caused an issue with the Hellenic Olympic Committee. As a result, the club introduced a new crest with five stars in a diagonal line. The club's colors were blue and white, which were the colors of the two main groups of the merger, Esperos Kallitheas and Iraklis Kallitheas.

In September 2022, the club rebranded as Athens Kallithea FC and presented a new visual identity, including a new crest and the addition of accents of gold to the uniform and a different shade of blue. The design work was executed by German studio Bureau Borsche, which also handled the rebranding of Inter Milan and Venezia FC. [22]

Players

Current squad

As of 11 September 2024 [23]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
1 GK Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Thanasis Pantos
2 DF Flag of Venezuela (state).svg  VEN Josua Mejías
3 DF Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  BIH Nemanja Nikolić
4 MF Flag of Togo (3-2).svg  TOG Alaixys Romao
5 DF Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  CZE Matěj Hanousek
6 DF Flag of Moldova.svg  MDA Andrei Moțoc
7 MF Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Andreas Vasilogiannis
8 MF Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Javier Matilla
9 FW Flag of Latvia.svg  LVA Roberts Uldriķis
10 MF Flag of Brazil.svg  BRA Demethryus
11 DF Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Nikos Kenourgios
13 GK Flag of Spain.svg  ESP Bernabé Barragán
14 DF Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Georgios Manthatis
17 MF Flag of Senegal.svg  SEN Mor Ndiaye
18 FW Flag of Italy.svg  ITA Elia Giani (on loan from Pisa)
No.Pos.NationPlayer
19 DF Flag of Argentina.svg  ARG Nicolás Marotta
20 MF Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Giannis Sardelis
23 DF Flag of Finland.svg  FIN Pyry Soiri
24 GK Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Ioannis Gelios
25 FW Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Giannis Loukinas (captain)
26 MF Flag of Italy.svg  ITA Alessandro Mercati
27 MF Flag of Portugal.svg  POR Thierry Moutinho
28 MF Flag of France.svg  FRA Mathieu Valbuena
30 MF Flag of Senegal.svg  SEN Samba Lélé Diba
37 DF Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Giannis Tsivelekidis
55 DF Flag of Poland.svg  POL Wiktor Matyjewicz
58 DF Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Triantafyllos Pasalidis
77 DF Flag of France.svg  FRA Nicolas Isimat-Mirin
99 GK Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Andreas Sakelliadis

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Constantine Edlund(at KTP until 31 December 2024)
No.Pos.NationPlayer
FW Flag of Greece.svg  GRE Giannis Toulgeroglou(at Asteras Varis until 30 June 2025)

Honours

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References

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