Atromitos F.C.

For other uses, see Atromitos.
Atromitos Athens
Full name APS Atromitos Athens Football Club
Π.Α.Ε. Α.Π.Σ. Ατρόμητος Αθηνών
Nickname(s) Atromitos (Fearless)
Founded 1923
Ground Peristeri Stadium,
Peristeri, Athens
Ground Capacity 10,300
Owner Georgios Spanos
President Georgios Spanos
Manager Georgios Korakakis
League Superleague Greece
2015–16 Superleague Greece, 8th
Website Club home page

Atromitos Athens Football Club (Greek: Π.Α.Ε. Α.Π.Σ. Ατρόμητος Αθηνών, PAE APS Atromitos Athinon, literally meaning "Fearless") is an association football club based in Peristeri, Athens that plays in the Superleague Greece. It was founded in 1923 and its home ground is Peristeri Stadium.

In recent years, Atromitos has been established itself as one of the most competitive and strong clubs in Greece. They were runners-up of the Greek Cup in 2011 and 2012 and since the 2011–12 Superleague season, the club has never finished below the five top teams at the table, finishing 4th in 2011–12, 3rd in 2012–13, 4th in 2013–14 and 4th as well in 2014–15 season. Their best performance in the league has been the third place, which they have achieved in the 1928 and 2013 seasons of the Greek Championship.

History

Early years

Atromitos FC was officially founded in May 1923 when Kalomvounis, Petos, Glykofridis, Stathopoulos, Synodinos, Rigopoulos, Stamatopoulos, and other students living in Victoria Square (which was then called Kyriakou Square) decided to form a football team.[1] That same year, Vaggelis Stamatis, a mathematics teacher and member of the Panhellenic football league, joined Atromitos' administration board – because of his prominence in pre-war Greek football history, Stamatis' involvement increased the new team's stature in Athenian football.[1]

First league steps

In 1924, Atromitos was accepted into the Greek football league.[1] At the time, Atromitos played at Aris Park, which was the home ground of Panellinios and Panathinaikos.[1] During their first season in the league's first division, they ended in third place behind Panathinaikos and AEK.[1] In 1928, they defeated Goudi 4–3 in the final game at Rouf Stadium to become champions of Athens.[1] That same year, they took part in the first Panhellenic Championship as Athens champions, which was organised by the HFF.[2] On 24 May 1928, they were beaten 3–1 by Aris Thessaloniki (who later became champions) in an away game, and were defeated again on 3 June by Ethnikos Piraeus (5–0). On 10 June, they managed a draw at home against Ethnikos (1–1), before losing again to Aris 3–1 seven days later.[1] Overall in the national championship, Atromitos finished third.[2]

During the following two years, Atromitos stayed in the upper part of the first division of Athens, and in 1929, they finished third behind Panathinaikos and AEK.[3] They repeated the feat in 1930[4] but they were relegated from the first division of Athens in 1931, as they came last with only one point.[5]

Move to Peristeri

In 1932, Ioseph Chourouktsoglou and Nikolaos Epioglou decided to move Atromitos to Peristeri. Earlier, it was located in the same area as Panathinaikos, and they had found it hard to establish a large fan base or develop a unique identity. There, they formed a merger with the local team of Astir Peristeriou (meaning "Star"), from which comes the crest of Atromitos, a blue star.

Before occupation of Greece, they played again in Panhellenic championship in the season of 1938–39.

Atromitos played in second division until May 1972 when, under the coaching of Savva Papazoulou, they were re-promoted to the first level. It proved a change too hard to handle, and they were demoted the following year. In 1975, a better-prepared Atromitos returned to the first division with a large fanbase, and ended the year in 13th place, securing their spot in the top flight. In 1976 they improved to end the season in 9th place, the best in the club's history. But, they relegated in 1977.

By 1981, Atromitos had succeeded in attracting renowned players such as Stylianopoulos, Álvarez, Toskas and Athanasopoulos. However, despite high expectations, the club played for the last time in the top flight, and once more returned to the lower divisions. After years of playing in the third division, Atromitos won promotion back to the second division in May 2002 by beating Levadiakos FC at Patra stadium. The team played again in the top flight between 2005–2008 by merging with Chalkidona and returned to the top flight after playing one season in the second division in 2008–2009.

In the 2010–2011 season Atromitos Fc made a historic run to the Greek Cup Final. However, they lost 3–0 to AEK.

2012–13 season

Atromitos finished the 1st half of the season in 4th place, together with Asteras Tripolis and 14 points from the top, but 4 points from 6th place, that doesn't redirect to the playoffs. On 6 January 2013, at the debut of Nikos Anastopoulos in the coaching position and the Portuguese footballer Fabio, Atromitos beat Kerkira 2–0, with two headers. From Sokratis Fytanidis at the 26th minute and from Stathis Tavlaridis at the 31st minute. In other words, the win was awarded to the team by the two centre backs. The team stayed in 4th with Asteras, but now 6 points from the 6th place. One matchday later, they managed to get the 0–0 from PAOK at Toumba, retaining the 6 points difference from PAS Giannina. On Matchday 18, they beat Platanias 1–0, getting to be only 3 points from 2nd place. The goal was scored by Eduardo Brito.

2013–14 season

The 2013–14 pre-season friendly against West Bromwich Albion was lost by 3–1.

2015–16 season

For the 2015–2016 season, Atromitos F.C has achieved an important qualification to the UEFA Europa League playoffs after recording two wins against Aik Solna, 3–1 in the first game in Sweden and 1–0 in the rematch at Peristeri Stadium. There they will face highly rated Fenerbahçe S.K. of Turkey.

Facilities

Stadium

The home ground of Atromitos was once well-maintained but has been recently neglected. In its early days, Peristeri had grown to become the fourth largest municipality in Greece. The first club home ground was the grounds of "Bravery", which was located beyond the last shanty town of Evangelistria.

In 1953, Atromitos moved to their present location, which contained only central stands for the spectators; the changing rooms consisted of a small room at the end of the stands. Much later, a larger stand was built with a capacity of 6,000 spectators. It was also used for non-football purposes, such as musical performances.

During the chairmanship of Victor Mitropoulos in EPAE, blue and white plastic seats were installed in the central stand. Before the Athens Olympics, Atromitos installed floodlights and renovated the running track so the ground could be used as a coaching facility during the Olympic Games. Under the football ground there are spaces and facilities for activities such as wrestling, chess and boxing.

Repairs to fragile parts of the stadium due to humidity and earthquake damage are expected to be carried out.

Training ground

Since summer of 2007, Atromitos FC possesses a modern Sports Complex, located in the center of Peristeri. During the summer of 2004, this same Sports Complex has been used as the Peristeri Olympic Boxing Hall and includes a 3.000 spectators main pitch, an auxiliary pitch as well as a 5-a-side pitch, such as the club's offices.

Plus, Atromitos FC possess installations situated on NATO Avenue, in the Aspropyrgos area. The Aspropyrgos training centre includes a football pitch, dressing rooms, a fully equipped gym and a massage area. The Aspropyrgos football pitch is also being used by the Atromitos U-21 and U-17 youth teams.[6]

Supporters

Atromitos are based in western Athens and their main supporters club is called "Fedayeen". Founded in 1980, they have a space underneath the stands. They are dedicated to support the local football team. The younger element of the support are known as the "Little Atoms".

Current squad

As of 7 July 2016[7]

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

No. Position Player
1 Greece GK Nikos Papadopoulos
2 Greece DF Giannis Kontoes
3 Argentina DF Mariano Bíttolo
5 Belarus MF Dzmitry Baha
6 Greece DF Sokratis Fytanidis
7 Brazil MF Eduardo Brito
8 Argentina MF Javier Umbides
9 France FW Anthony Le Tallec
10 Argentina MF Martín Tonso
11 Greece FW Dimitris Papadopoulos
13 Greece DF Giorgos Zisopoulos
14 France FW Nicolas Diguiny
15 Senegal MF Paul Keita
No. Position Player
18 Montenegro MF Miloš Stojčev
19 Greece DF Kyriakos Kivrakidis
20 Greece MF Thomas Vasiliou
24 Greece DF Nikolaos Lazaridis
25 Greece MF Michalis Bastakos
28 Greece MF Spyros Natsos
29 Greece FW Dimitris Limnios
30 Greece DF Alexandros Katranis
31 Greece DF Spyros Gougoudis
32 Greece MF Dimitris Grontis
33 Greece GK Christos Theodorakis
35 Belarus GK Andrey Harbunow

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
22 Greece DF Pantelis Theologou (to Cyprus Aris Limassol)

Honours

Superleague Greece

Greek Football Cup

Football League

Crest and colours

Crest evolution

Kit evolution

First

2006–07
2011–14
2015–16

Alternative

2006–07
2006–07
2015–16
2015–16

Personnel

Management

Ownership Greece Georgios Spanos
President & CEO Greece Georgios Spanos
Vice President Greece Evangelos Batagiannis
Vice CEO Greece Ekaterini Koxenoglou
General Director Greece Spyridon Sofianos
Technical Director Greece Ioannis Angelopoulos
Press Director Greece Pavlos Katonis
Marketing Director Greece Spyridon Boulousis
Security Director Greece Georgios Petrou
Computing Director Greece Roberto Panagos
Accountants Director Greece Vasilios Karakatsanis
Ground Manager Greece Panagiotis Michaletos
Tickets Director Greece Roberto Panagos
Legal Department Greece Argirios Livas

Technical staff

Position Staff
Head coach Greece Georgios Korakakis
Assistant coach Greece Loukas Karadimos
Goalkeeping coach Serbia Slobodan Šujica
Fitness coach Greece Giannis Georgiadis
Medical Director Greece Nikolaos Piskopakis
Doctor Greece Petros Kapralos
Physiotherapist Greece Panagiotis Ambeliotis
Physiotherapist Greece Nikolaos Zafeiropoulos
Exercise Physio Greece Georgios Ziogas
Scout Greece Vasilis Kalogiannis
Caregiver Greece Nikolaos Katsikas

Former coaches

European competitions record

Last update: 5 August 2015

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2006–07 UEFA Cup 1R Spain Sevilla 1–2 0–4 1–6
2012–13 UEFA Europa League PO England Newcastle United 1–1 0–1 1–2
2013–14 UEFA Europa League PO Netherlands AZ 1–3 2–0 3–3
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 3Q Bosnia and Herzegovina FK Sarajevo 1–3 2–1 3–4
2015–16 UEFA Europa League 3Q Sweden AIK 1–0 3–1 4–1
PO Turkey Fenerbahçe 0–1 0–3 0–4
Notes

Sponsorships

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Team history". atromitosfc.gr. Archived from the original on 15 August 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  2. 1 2 Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (11 June 2010). "1927/28 Panhellenic Championship". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  3. Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (11 June 2010). "1928/29 Panhellenic Championship". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  4. Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (11 June 2010). "1929/30 Panhellenic Championship". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  5. Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (11 June 2010). "1930/31 Panhellenic Championship". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 August 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
  6. Atromitos FC Sports Complex
  7. "Roster 2012–2013". Atromitos FC. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
  8. "Beta Ethniki 1979–80". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 16 November 2011.
  9. "Atromitos are champions" (in Greek). in.gr. 18 May 2009.

External links

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