Olympiacos CFP

History

Olympiacos CFP was founded on March 10, 1925 in Piraeus, as a football club initially, and the club’s aim, as stated in the statutes, is the systematic cultivation and development of its athletes’ possibilities for participation in athletic competitions, the spreading of the Olympic 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, 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 the Hellenic Navy, proposed the name Olympiacos and the profile of a laurel-crowned Olympic 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, a name that symbolizes and encompasses the morality, the honour, the vying, the splendor, the sportsmanship and the fair play value of the Olympic ideal of Ancient Greece, which was totally consistent with the club's emblem. Besides Kamperos and Manouskos, among the most notable founding members were Stavros Maragoudakis, the Post Office director, Nikos Andronikos, a merchant, Dimitrios Sklias, a Hellenic Army officer, Nikolaos Zacharias, an attorney, Athanasios Mermigas, a notary public, Kostas Klidouchakis, who became the first goalkeeper 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, Giorgos, Dinos, Vassilis and Leonidas Andrianopoulos raised the reputation of the club and brought it to its current glory. Yiannis, Giorgos, Dinos 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. Olympiacos is also known as Thrylos (The Legend), after the legendary, classic side of the 1950s which won a hatful of titles.

Olympiacos Football

Olympiacos football team is the most successful club in Greek football history, with 43 Greek League titles, 27 Greek Cups, 17 Doubles, 4 Greek Super Cups and 3 Greater Greece Cups, with a total of 77 national titles, all records. Olympiacos' dominating success can be further evidenced by the fact that all the other Greek clubs have won a combined total of 37 League titles.

Olympiacos also holds the record for the most consecutive Greek League titles, as they are the only team to have won seven consecutive League titles (1997–2003), having broken their own previous record of six consecutive from the club's trophy-laden era of the 50s (1954–1959), when Olympiacos gained unequivocally the nickname of Thrylos (The Legend).

In 2014–15 season, Olympiacos won their fifth consecutive Greek Championship and reached a historic milestone, as they became the only football club in the world to have won a series of five or more consecutive championships for five times in their history, a world record that was praised by FIFA in its congratulatory letter to the club. Olympiacos holds even more records in Greek football history; they are the only club to have won five consecutive Greek Cups from 1957 to 1961 and the only club to have won six Greek League titles undefeated (1937–1938, 1948, 1951, 1954–1955). They are also one of only three clubs to have never been relegated from the top flight of Greek football. As a result of the team's 40th League title in the 2012–13 season, Olympiacos earned the 4th star above their crest, each star representing 10 League titles of the record 42 they have currently amassed.

In European competitions, they have reached the quarter-finals of the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League —losing the semi-final spot in the last minutes of their second match against Juventus— and the quarter-finals of the 1992–93 European Cup Winners' Cup. Olympiacos are the highest ranked Greek team in the UEFA rankings, occupying the 21st place in Europe with 70.820 points, standing one place above Shakhtar Donetsk and two places above A.C. Milan. They have also won the Balkans Cup in 1963, becoming the first ever Greek club to win an international, non-domestic competition. Olympiacos is one of the founding members of the European Club Association in 2008.

Olympiacos Basketball

Olympiacos basketball team is one of the most successful clubs in European basketball, having won three Euroleague Championships, one Triple Crown, one Intercontinental Cup, twelve Greek Championships and nine Greek Cups. They are a traditional powerhouse of the Euroleague and besides their three European Championship titles (1997, 2012, 2013), they have also been four times Euroleague runners-up (1994, 1995, 2010, 2015) and have participated, altogether, in nine Euroleague Final Fours (1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2015). From 2006 to 2015, Olympiacos qualified 10 times in a row for at least the quarter-finals of the Euroleague, which was an all-time record in European basketball history –shared with FC Barcelona–, until it was eventually surpassed by the Catalan club in 2016. They play their home matches at Peace and Friendship Stadium.

They are the first Greek club that ever played in a Euroleague Final (1994), and they won their first Euroleague title in 1997, achieving the first Triple Crown ever for a Greek team. As European champions, Olympiacos played in the 1997 McDonald's Championship and reached the final of the tournament, where they met Michael Jordan's NBA champions, the Chicago Bulls. Based on all those achievements, FIBA declared Olympiacos as the Best European Team of the 1990s.

In 2012, they won their second Euroleague title in Istanbul by rallying from 19 points down in the championship game to beat CSKA Moscow 62–61 on the last shot of the game, achieving the greatest comeback in European basketball finals history, and one of the greatest ever seen in continental basketball. In 2013, Olympiacos won their third Euroleague title and became the first and only Greek club, and only the third club in European basketball history, to become back-to-back European champions in the modern Final Four era of the Euroleague, after beating Real Madrid 100–88 in the final of the 2012–13 Euroleague Final Four in London.

Domestically, Olympiacos have won 12 Greek League titles, 9 Greek Cups and 4 Doubles. They dominated Greek basketball during the decade of the 90s, when Greek Basket League was considered Europe's best professional league.

Olympiacos Men's Volleyball

Olympiacos volleyball team is the most successful Greek team both internationally and domestically, the only European title-winning team in Greece and a traditional powerhouse of European volleyball, ranked among the top European volleyball clubs; from the early 1990s to the mid 2000s they played in no less than 11 European Final Fours and reached 6 European Finals, winning 2 CEV Cup Winners' Cup / CEV Cups (1996, 2005), being twice Runners-up of the CEV Champions League (1992, 2002) and twice Runners-up of the CEV Cup Winners' Cup / CEV Cup (1997, 1998) as well. In 1992 they reached the third place in the world in the FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship, after a 3–0 win against Il Messaggero Ravenna.

Altogether, they have participated in 7 CEV Champions League Final Fours (1982, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2001, 2002), reaching the final twice (1992, 2002), in 4 CEV Cup / CEV Cup Winners' Cup Final Fours (1996, 1997, 1998, 2005), winning 2 titles (1996, 2005) and reaching the final in two other cases (1997, 1998), as well as in 1 CEV European Super Cup Final Four (1996). Along with Pallavolo Modena, they hold the record for most consecutive European Final Four participations with 7, four in the CEV Champions League (1992, 1993, 1994, 1995) and three in the CEV Cup (1996, 1997, 1998).

Domestically, they are the dominants of Greek volleyball, having won a record 27 Greek Championships, a record 17 Greek Cups, a record 14 Doubles, a record 4 Greek League Cups and 2 Greek Super Cups. They also hold the record for the most consecutive Greek Championships, as they are the only team to have won eight consecutive League titles (1987–1994). They have also won 6 Greek Championships undefeated (1968, 1974, 1979, 1981, 1988, 1991). Furthermore, Olympiacos is the only Greek club to have played in the FIVB Volleyball Men's Club World Championship and the CEV European Super Cup as well, having represented Greece successfully in all major European and Worldwide competitions.

Olympiacos Men's Water Polo

Olympiacos water polo team is one of the most successful and traditional teams in Europe, having won the LEN Champions League, the LEN Super Cup and the Triple Crown in 2002 and becoming the first club ever in water polo history (since the establishment of the modern Champions League format in 1996) to win four out of four competitions in a single year, thus completing the quadruple, comprising the aforementioned Triple Crown (LEN Champions League, Greek Championship, Greek Cup) and the LEN Super Cup. The only European clubs, besides Olympiacos, that have achieved such a rare feat after 2002 are Jug Dubrovnik, Pro Recco, Partizan and Crvena Zvezda. Besides their 2002 triumph, Olympiacos have also been twice runners-up of the LEN Champions League, reaching the final of the 2001 LEN Champions League in Dubrovnik and the final of the 2016 LEN Champions League in Budapest and twice runners-up of the LEN Cup Winners' Cup in 1998 and 1999.

Olympiacos is by far the most successful Greek water polo club in European competitions, being the only Greek club to have won the LEN Champions League, the LEN European Super Cup, as well as the Triple Crown and the only Greek club to have reached a total of 6 European finals. In 2002, they won both the 2002 LEN Champions League and the 2002 LEN Super Cup in Budapest, beating home teams Honvéd and Vasas respectively. Domestically, Olympiacos has won 30 Greek Championships, a record 18 Greek Cups, a record 15 Doubles and a record 2 Greek Super Cups.

Olympiacos Women's Water Polo

Olympiacos women's water polo team is one of the most successful clubs in European Water Polo, having won the LEN Euroleague in 2015, the LEN Super Cup also in 2015 and the LEN Trophy in 2014 and having, overall, a commanding presence in European competitions. Besides their LEN Euroleague, LEN Super Cup and LEN Trophy titles, they were runners-up of the LEN Super Cup in 2014 and runners-up of the LEN Trophy in 2008 and they have participated, altogether, in 5 Champions' Cup / Euroleague Final Fours (1996, 2010, 2011, 2015, 2016), as well as in 4 LEN Trophy Final Fours (2001, 2007, 2008, 2014), being semi-finalists of the same competition in 2009 and 2012. Domestically, Olympiacos have won 7 Greek Championships.

In 2014 Olympiacos won the LEN Trophy in the Final Four in Florence, beating home team Firenze 10–9 in the final. One year later, Olympiacos were crowned European Champions, winning the LEN Euroleague in the 2015 Final Four in Piraeus, after a thrilling, hard-fought 10–9 win in the final against the then-reigning champions Sabadell, who were undefeated for more than 3 years with 115 consecutive wins in all competitions. Olympiacos lifted the LEN Euroleague title undefeated and having won 8 straight matches without even a single draw. As European Champions, Olympiacos participated in the final of the 2015 LEN Super Cup and won the title after a 10–6 win against Plebiscito Padova, thus completing a continental Treble in 2015 (LEN Euroleague, LEN Super Cup, Greek Championship), winning season's all three available titles.

After the 2015 LEN Euroleague win of Olympiacos Women's Water Polo team, Olympiacos CFP became the only multi-sport club in European Water Polo history after Pro Recco to have been crowned European Champions with both its Men's and Women's departments and the only club with both its departments currently active (Pro Recco Women's department has been dissolved since 2012).

Olympiacos Women's Volleyball

Olympiacos women's volleyball is one of the most successful volleyball clubs in Greece, having won 4 Greek Championships, a record 7 Greek Cups and 4 Doubles.

Olympiacos holds the all-time record for winning seven consecutive Greek Cups –in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017–, holding also the record for winning four straight Doubles –in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016–. In European competitions, the department reached the quarter-finals of the Challenge Cup in season 2007–08.

Olympiacos Women's Basketball

Olympiacos Women's Basketball is the women's basketball department of the major Greek multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP, based in Piraeus. The department was initially founded in 1947, being one of the best women's basketball clubs in Greece during the 1950s and the early 1960s, when they won 3 Women's Division Center Championships (1956, 1958, 1959), which was the most important competition of Greek women’s basketball at the time (until 1967–68 when the Greek Women's Basketball League was officially organized). The department was dissolved in the mid-1960s and after a long period of inactivity, it was reorganized in 2015, creating a strong team with a roster based on Greek international players. In 2015–16 season, which was the first after its reorganization, Olympiacos won the double undefeated; they won the Greek League with 22 wins in 22 matches, sweeping arch-rivals Panathinaikos with 4–0 wins in the finals, and also clinched the Greek Cup title, beating Panathinaikos once again in the final (63–60). Olympiacos play their games at the 3,232-seat National Athletic Center "Makis Liougas" in Glyfada, Athens.

The Gate 7 Tragedy

The history of the Karaiskakis Stadium and Olympiacos was marked by the worst tragedy that ever hit Greek sports, known as the Karaiskakis Stadium disaster. On 8 February 1981, Olympiacos hosted AEK Athens for a League 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. 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 by suffocation.

In memory of this event, every year on February 8, there is a memorial service at the stadium in honor 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 colored 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.

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 as Liverpool F.C. and Red Star Belgrade have honored the incident's victims.