Panthrakikos F.C.

Early years (1963–2001)

Panthrakikos F.C. was formed in the town of Komotini in 1963. Athlitiki Enosis Komotini (Athletic Union of Komotini) which was founded in 1936, and Orpheus Komotini which was founded in 1948 were merged and created Panthrakikos in 1963 and 1964 respectively. The club participated in regional leagues until 1969, when they joined the Beta Ethniki. They stayed in this division until being relegated in 1978, but were promoted back to Beta Ethniki after a single season. They remained here until 1983. Panthrakikos finished 1982–83 12th in Beta Ethniki, but were relegated to Gamma Ethniki due to restructuring of the leagues. In 1983–84 they finished 18th position and were further relegated to Delta Ethniki. The club was promoted again to the Gamma Ethniki, and participated there in 1985–86 and 1986–87. Relegation to Delta Ethniki followed the end of the 1986–87 season. After relegation in 1995-1996, Panthrakikos merged with Orpheus Xylagani and competed as Panthrakikos Xylagani on the founding status of Xylagani during the years 1996–1998. Competed again as Panthrakikos F.C. in lowest level of local leagues during the years 1998-2001, without any administration and without any investment. In that period, very few fans were take charge of administration.

New era (2001–present)

In 2001-2003 Panagiotis Margaritis take charge of administration as chairman and Sakis Skoulis as manager. They were promoted two seasons in a row, reaching the Delta Ethniki in 2003.
In 2004 prompting significant investment into the club from local entrepreneurs Thodoris Savakis, Tasos Karaolanis & Yiannis Kitzidis. Kostas Vasilakakis, a former player of Panthrakikos, was hired as manager in the summer of 2004. In season 2004–05 Panthrakikos were champions of Delta Ethniki and were again promoted, to the Gamma Ethniki. A third-place finish in 2005–06 saw them promoted once more, to the Beta Ethniki.
Three managers were hired in the first half of the season 2006-2007. Zisis Tsekos, Dimitrios Kalaitzidis and Yiannis Gounaris, were fired to be replaced by manager Kostas Vasilakakis and lead the club to an 11th-place finish. Panthrakikos started the 2007–08 season with a breach of league rules in their opening game, against Chaidari, and were penalised by a four-point reduction. Despite this penalty, Panthrakikos beat Ilisiakos 1–0 in the final game of the season to overtake PAS Giannena, finish third and gain promotion to Super League Greece for the first time.
Emilio Ferrera, was hired as manager in the summer of 2008, lead Panthrakikos to an 11th place finish in their first Super League season.

Stadium

The "Municipal Athletic Center" (ΔΑΚ – Δημοτικό Αθλητικό Κέντρο) was built in 1923 by the Hellenic Army near the railway station of Komotini. Panthrakikos has played there since 1963.

In 2009 the stadium was renamed to OPAP-Municipal Komotini Stadium (ΟΠΑΠ-Δημοτικό Γήπεδο Κομοτηνής) after the Greek betting organization OPAP which is the stadium sponsor.

The northern grandstand was built in 1950 (rebuilt 1963–1965) with a capacity of about 2,500 while the southern grandstand was built in 1970 with a capacity of about 1,500. The northern grandstand and southern grandstand were rebuilt in 2008 with a capacity of 1,608 (1,377 seats for gate 1 plus 231 seats for gate 7) and 1,090 (gate 5) respectively. In the southern grandstand at the back of, there is a big booth for the Radio and TV journalists (gate 4). Also there is special area for disabled (gate 3). The western grandstand was built in 2008 with a capacity of 2,002 (gate 6 – guests). Finally, the eastern grandstand was built in 2009 with a capacity of 1,498 (gate 2). The total capacity of OPAP-Municipal Komotini Stadium is 6,198 seats plus six booths, with ten persons capacity each of those. Building of southern grandstand is planned instead of existing construction, with a capacity of about 4,500 (total ~9,600).

Panthrakikos Athletic Center

The training center is called "Panthrakikos Athletic Center". It covers a field of 42,000 sq.m. located 4 km east of Komotini at Kikidio village.

First squad: The main building covers 360 sq.m.. Includes the administration office, the press room, first aid station, physiotherapy chamber and locker room. Three full-sized terrains (two with natural turf, one with synthetic turf) are used for the first squad trainings. A half-sized terrain is also used for the goalkeepers training.

Youth Team/Football Academies: Another building 200 sq.m., which includes locker room, showers and dining room for the Youth team and the football academies. Two half-sized terrains and one full-sized are used by the Youth Teams.

Team Statistics (1963–present)

According to combined sources

-¹Panthrakikos merged with Orfeas Xylagani and competed as Panthrakikos Xylagani in 1996-1998
-²Panthrakikos withdrew from the league during the period due to financial problems

Domestic Titles and honours

Current squad

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

Manager & Coaching Staff

Appearances and Goals from 2006 – present

Only with Panthrakikos F.C. As of 18 April 2016 according to combined sources

Appearances and Goals in Early years

According to combined sources

Former players

Former players without Wikipedia article, based on their long term presence in Panthrakikos, players worthy of mention are Filippos Aivazis who holds the record for most appearances and most goals in the Beta Ethniki, Apostolakis (1956-64 Orfeas Komotini, 1964-69 AO Kavala), Zacharias Tilios, Stavros Svintridis, Christos Doulgerakis, Archontis Katsaridis, Manolis Rakitzoglou, Vasilis Fotidis and Kostas Kalaitzidis.

Club crest and colours

Panthrakikos crest is a sparkling flamming torch in a circle. The torch is surrounded by the club's name and the year of establishment. Traditional club's shirts are green. The club crest sits on the left side of the chest. Traditional club's shorts are black with black socks. Alternative strips for the season 2009–2010 are orange shirts, black shorts and socks.

Traditional colours

Alternative colours