Kavala F.C.

Kavala FC
Full name	Athlitikos Omilos Kavalas; (Athletic Club of Kavala)
Nickname(s)	Argonauts(Αργοναύτες)
Founded	1965
Ground	Anthi Karagianni Stadium; (Capacity: 10,500)
Chairman	Vacant
Manager	Vacant
League	Delta Ethniki
2010–11	7th (relegated)

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AO Kavala (Greek: Athlitikos Omilos Kavala, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Καβάλα), the Athletic Club Kavala, is a professional association football club based in the city of Kavala, Greece.

[edit] History^[2]

The Macedonian club was formed in 1965 from the merger of Phillipoi Kavala, Iraklis Kavala and A.E. Kavala.

They have had a few runs in the top division of the Greek League. They were promoted to Alpha Ethniki for the first time in 1969 and stayed up for 6 years (1970 – 1975). They returned to top division in 1976 and played again for six seasons.

In 1982 the club were relegated to the Beta Ethniki (second tier of Greek football). After 11 years in Beta Ethniki and one year in Gamma Ethniki (third tier – 1988–89) they were promoted to Alpha Ethniki. There "black" period began for the team in which they played only in Beta Ethniki and Gamma Ethniki.

[edit] 2009–2010 Season

In 2009 they signed Miltiadis Sapanis and EURO 2004 winner Fanis Katergiannakis. Kavala were promoted for the first time in 9 years to Greeces top division. In their quest to remain in the top flight they have signed José Reina's back up at Liverpool, Charles Itandje and recently acquired Brazilian Denílson (January 2010 transfer window) a 2002 World Cup Winner. Additional season signings include Craig Moore, Željko Kalac, Ebi Smolarek, Diogo Rincón, Sotiris Leontiou, Serge Dié, Wilson Oruma and Frédéric Mendy, . This combined with coach Aad de Mos meant that Kavala set the league alight. They subsequently achieved notable victories in the 2009–2010 season against Iraklis FC, Panionios, AEK FC and Panathinaikos FC.

[edit] 2010–2011 Season

Ending in 6th place, the team entered the transfer season. In July, the Spanish goalkeeper, Lopez Vallejo (who played in Real Zaragoza) was added to the roster. The team's owner sought the new manager throughout Europe and settled on the Serbian coach Dragomir Okuka who lasted until November, when he was replaced by Henryk Kasperczak. In Kasperczak's debut as a coach, Kavala beat AEK, 2–1, in what was considered a very good appearance.

But in March 2011, Kasperczak, retired as the coach of this team, and he was replaced by Ioannis Matzourakis, who was the coach in Kavala FC team in the seasons 1985-1986. Kavala finished 7th and later faced the threat of relegation to Football League (Greece) due to the match-fixing scandal.^[3] After an appeal, the team managed to avoid relegation by starting the new league with 8 points less.^[4] On 23 August, however, the Professional Sports Committee stripped both Kavala and Olympiakos Volou from their professional licence and demoted them to the Delta Ethniki.^[1]

[edit] League Participation

Alpha Ethniki: 1969–1975, 1976–1982, 1994–1995, 1996–2000, 2009–2011

Beta Ethniki: 1965–1969, 1975–1976, 1982–1989, 1990–1994, 1995–1996, 2000–2001, 2002–2003, 2008–2009

Gamma Ethniki: 1989–1990, 2001–2002, 2003–2008
Delta Ethniki: 2011-2012

[edit] Stadium

The club plays in the Municipal Kavala Stadium "Anthi Karagianni".^[5]

[edit] Current squad

As of 17 July 2011^[6] Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.