Nickname The Elder Arena Capacity 2,443 President Theodoros Drakopoulos Founded 1924 Head coach Vangelis Alexandris Championships 2 | History 1924 – Present Team colors White and Blue Website iraklisbc.gr Arena Ivanofeio Indoor Hall Location Thessaloniki, Greece | |
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Leagues Greek A2 Basket League, Greek Basketball Cup | ||
Iraklis saloniki basketball club
Iraklis Thessaloniki B.C. (Greek: ΚΑΕ Ηρακλής Θεσσαλονίκης, [iɾak'lis θesalo'nikis]) is a Greek professional basketball team that is located in Thessaloniki. It serves as the basketball section of the multi-sport club G.S. Iraklis. Iraklis will play in the Greek A2 for the 2015–16 season.
Contents
- Iraklis saloniki basketball club
- History
- Recent history 2005 present
- Home arena
- Supporters
- Notable players
- Honours
- References
The team colors are blue and white. Iraklis has won the Greek National Championship in 1928 and 1935, and has also reached the Greek Basketball Cup final three times. Several international national team players have played for the club including: Dimitris Diamantidis, Lazaros Papadopoulos, Sofoklis Schortsanitis, Nikos Chatzivrettas, Lefteris Kakiousis, Jure Zdovc, and Vasily Karasev, as well as NBA stars such as Roy Tarpley, Xavier McDaniel, and James Donaldson.
History
The parent athletic club was founded in 1908, and initially featured football. The club is named after Heracles (or Hercules), the mythical Greek demigod. The basketball team of Iraklis was established in 1924.
Iraklis won the inaugural Greek League championship in 1928. To win the championship, Iraklis had to eliminate AEK Athens and Near East, before beating VAO in the championship game. The team won its second Greek championship in 1935. Also in the team's history, three times Iraklis finished in second place in the Greek Championship (1936, 1962, and 1964), three times Iraklis has been a Greek Cup Finalist (1981, 1994, and 1996), and two times Iraklis made it to the semifinals of the European 2nd-tier level league Cup Winners' Cup.
Iraklis reached the semifinals of the 1994–95 FIBA European Cup, where they competed against Taugrés. Iraklis won the first game 79–78, but lost the next two games, to be eliminated 2–1 in a best of three series. In 1996, an Iraklis team led by former NBA players Xavier McDaniel and Roy Tarpley, reached the Greek Basketball Cup Final Four. By beating Apollon Patras in the semifinal, Iraklis reached the final, where it then lost 85–74 to Panathinaikos. Iraklis has also twice competed in the top European continental competitions. The club played in the European top-tier level European Champions' Cup in the 1995–96 season, and also competed in the FIBA SuproLeague during the 2000–01 season.
Recent history (2005-present)
In 2006, Iraklis was relegated to the Greek A2 Basket League, after finishing 13th in the first-tier Greek League. In 2010, after four seasons in the second-tier level Greek League, the team was promoted back up to the top-tier Greek Basket League. After one season in the Greek top-tier level, Iraklis was again relegated down to the A2, with two matches left in the season. At the end of the season, Iraklis chose to play in the third-tier level of Greek basketball, the Greek B Basket League, in order to clear its debts. The club was promoted to the Greek A2 Basket League in 2013, after finishing 2nd in its group, and after Peristeri failed to receive financial clearance to participate in the league.
Home arena
Iraklis plays its home games in the Ivanofeio Indoor Hall, an arena with a seating capacity of 2,443. The arena opened in 1987, and it was expanded to its current capacity in 1991. Ivanofeio is situated in the Thessaloniki city center, and it is owned by the GS Iraklis multi-sport club.
Supporters
The most prominent supporters' club of the team is Aftonomi Thira 10 (meaning Autonomous Gate 10), a fan club with a total of 15 branches in Northern Greece. The fan club is known for holding an antiracist stance, as it participates in the Ultras Antiracist Festival. Other activities of the fan club include the publication of a magazine, and the conducting of an annual festival. Other minor supporters' clubs are SFISE, Blue Boys, A.P.A.T.S.I., and Iraklis Fan Club of Athens. In a 2013 opinion poll, Iraklis was ranked as the 6th most popular basketball club in Greece, gathering 2.8% of the participating supporters' votes.