Panserraikos F.C.

Panserraikos
Full name Panserraikos 1964 F.C.
(All-Serres Football Club)
Nickname(s) Leontaria (Lions)
Erythrolefkoi (The red-whites)
Founded 1964
Ground Serres Municipal Stadium
Serres, Greece
Ground Capacity 9,500
Chairman Panagiotis Chalkidis
Manager Nikiforos Kakoglou
League Football League
2014–15 Football League 2, 1st, (Promoted)
Website Club home page

Panserraikos F.C. (Greek: ΠΑΕ Πανσερραϊκός 1964), the All-Serres Football Club, is a football club, based in Serres in Central Macedonia, Greece. Panserraikos is one of the most important and well-supported clubs in northern Greece and had a near-continuous presence in the First Division in the 1960s and 70s.

History

Panserraikos was formed in 1964 in Serres, when two local clubs, Iraklis and Apollon, merged.

Since their last relegation in 1992 the club had been struggling in the Beta Ethniki, and were even relegated to the Third Division twice, in 1993 and 1996, yet promptly returning to the second tier on both occasions. The club did come close to promotion a few times, missing out on 5 points in 1998 and on just one point in 2000.

The Lion of Amphipolis

In 2008, Panserraikos managed to end a 16-year wait, gaining promotion to the Greek Super League. Managed by Giannis Papakostas, the club had been leading the Second Division table for the most part of the season, even securing a top-three spot with two games to spare – though they had narrowly escaped another relegation in the previous two seasons.

Serres Municipal Stadium

On 4 March 2009, Panserraikos won a historic match against Panathinaikos in the Olympic Stadium in Athens for the Greek Cup quarter finals with a score of 3–2 after being up 3–0 for 71 minutes. The first match leg ended at a 0–0 score. This amazing result landed Panserraikos a spot in the final 4 of the Greek Cup where they played against AEK Athens for a spot in the finals. What made this result so special was that many starters for the team were either injured, or suspended. This was Panserraikos' first time in the semifinals of the Greek Cup. However, Panserraikos was relegated and played once again in the 2009–10 Beta Ethniki. After an indifferent start to their Beta Ethniki campaign, their season has now sparked into life after a surprise 3–1 win over giants Olympiakos in the Fourth Round of 2009–10 Greek Cup making it one of their bigger wins in recent history.

Panserraikos finished 5th in 2009–10 Beta Ethniki, but took the 1st place in the play-offs and gained the promotion to the 2010–11 Super League. For one more season in Super League Panserraikos didn't escape the relegation to 2011–12 Football League. After a disappointing season, Panserraikos finished 7th in 2011–12 Football League, and played in Football League for the second consecutive season. Panserraikos finished 8th in 2012–13 Football League, but was relegated to the new amateur 3rd Greek Division due to financial problems, after the death of its chairman Petros Theodoridis and a controversial and unsuccessful attempt by his son Lazaros Theodoridis to sell the club to Russian investor Mr. Konstantin Vostrikov, a self-declared business tycoon who was claiming to construct a 10,000-seat stadium. Mr. Vostrikov's faults as president and CEO together with the amateur handlings of his associate Dimitris Troshkov (member of the board)are considered to be the main and only causes of the club's relegation to the amateur 3rd Greek Division.

Crest and colours

Panserraikos crest during the 1980s

The club adopted the Lion of Amphipolis as their emblem, because it is one of the most important monuments in Serres regional unit. Its position is next to the west bank of Strymon, close to the bridge of Strymon. It was restored on a pedestal in the position where it was discovered, after the completion of the excavation. It is an imposing marble lion in a position of a sited wildcat with its paws up. lt is erected just outside Nea Kerdylia, on the old national motorway between Thessaloniki and Kavala. According to some archaeologists, the devastation of the monument took place at the end of the 4th century B.C. It is possible that the monument was destroyed by the Roman conquerors, who in order to take it to Rome, they broke it into pieces. However, the most probable version, seems to be the one that the Lion was destroyed by the Bulgarians in 1204 A.C. Many different opinions have been expressed for the purpose or the cause of the monument’s construction. The most prevalent one was expressed by the Professor of Archeology, Oscar Broneer who believed that the Lion was erected in honour of Laomedon of Mytilene, son of Larichus and trusty friend of Alexander the Great. French archaeologist J. Roger claimed that the monument was erected in honour of Nearchus, Admiral of Alexander the Great. Finally, according to another version, the Lion of Amfipolis was erected as a symbolic monument, in order to reflect the tower’s power, as it happened with the Lions of Delos.

The typical kit of the team is that of a shirt with red and white vertical stripes, and red shorts and socks. The shirt has taken different forms during the history of the club, for example with thin or wider stripes. The second most common kit is the all-red one or the all-white one.

Current squad

As of 24 January 2016 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 Ilias Melkas
2 Greece DF Christoforos Tsouvaltsidis
4 Greece MF Georgios Siakkas
5 Greece MF Georgios Ktistopoulos (on loan from PAOK)
6 Greece DF Georgios Ioannidis
7 Greece MF Alexandros Tsoutsis
8 Greece MF Christos Routsis
10 Greece MF Stergios Tsimikas
11 Serbia FW Matija Tadic
12 Georgia (country) MF Nikolaos Tsomachasvili
14 Greece MF Andreas Andreou
15 Greece GK Dimitrios Kastaniotis
No. Position Player
16 Greece MF Aristotelis Panagiotidis (on loan from PAOK)
17 Greece MF Michalis Chatzidimitriou
20 Albania MF Georgios Kakko (on loan from PAOK)
21 France GK Anthony Dupré
22 Croatia FW Nikola Gacesa
23 Greece DF Stelios Kapsalis
24 Greece DF Giannis Voskopoulos
25 Serbia DF Dusan Stevic
33 Greece DF Alexandros Papatzikos
62 Greece DF Timotheos Tselepidis (on loan from PAOK)
99 Greece FW Athanasios Kanoulas

Retired Numbers

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

No. Position Player
9 Australia FW Sakis Theodoropoulos

Honours

Greek League

Greek Cup

League history

Sources:[1][2][3]

Club records

Notable managers

Sponsorships

Personnel

President and CEO Panagiotis Chalkidis
Vice-President Christos Korakis
CFO Savvas Terzopoulos
Legal Advisor Akis Trentsios
AS Representative Sotiris Vlachos

Technical staff

Technical staff
Manager Greece Kostas Vasilakakis
Goalkeeping coach Greece Ioannis Kotsampasidis
Fitness Coach Greece Giannis Georgiadis
Scout Greece Pavlos Dimitriou
Team attendant Greece Stefanos Bidanakis
Physician Greece Tasos Christoforidis
Physiotherapist Greece Giannis Tzintzis
Physiotherapist Greece Giannis Kotsampas

References

  1. ↑ Abbink, Dinant & Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (7 August 2003). "Greece – Final Tables 1959–1999". RSSSF.
  2. ↑ Abbink, Dinant & Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (18 May 2005). "Greece – List of Second Level Final Tables". RSSSF.
  3. ↑ Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (18 May 2005). "Greece – List of Third Level Final Tables". RSSSF.
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