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Athens Spartans RFC

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Athens Spartans RFC
Full nameAthens Spartans Rugby Football Club
Nickname(s)Spartans Rugby
Founded1982, 32 years ago
LocationAthens, Greece
Ground(s)Agios Kosmas, Elliniko
Coach(es)Stefanos Stephanou
Captain(s)Nikolas Stephanou
Team kit

Athens Spartans RFC (also known as The Spartans) is a Greek amateur rugby club based in Glyfada, a suburb of Athens. The club is the oldest rugby club in Greece and it is currently a member of the Unity cup, the top tier of domestic rugby union in Greece.

History

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1982–2004

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The club was founded in 1982. Hungry for rugby, expatriates established the first rugby club in Greece in 1982, called the Athens Spartans Rugby Football Club (R.F.C.), where they played against visiting navy vessels from other countries. Over the years, the blue and white with the golden Spartan helmet emblem on their hearts have travelled to numerous countries such as the UK, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Malta, Bulgaria, Turkey, Cyprus and Kenya, playing different clubs and spreading the word that Greek rugby is here. The Spartans also had the pleasure of welcoming and playing against foreign rugby clubs such as the Sussex Police, Aylesbury RFC, Newick RFC, and the Blake Bears. As rugby progressed in Greece with various other rugby clubs being established throughout the country, an official rugby championship was created, which the Spartans attended every year.

2004–2013

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In 2004 the National Rugby Association ΕΟΡ was created and became part of the IRB; the following year ΕΟΡ launched the first official national rugby union championship, which the Spartans have been part of ever since. The Spartans have also been a part of the first rugby 7’s tournament in Greece in 2008, where the Spartans reached the final and received second place in the 7’s championship. During 2012–2013 the club faced tremendous difficulties and almost ceased functioning. Due to rugby being an amateur sport in Greece there are no contracts to bind players therefore the club saw most of its players being absorbed by rival clubs. By the end of the 2012–2013 season, a majority of Greek rugby clubs left the ΕΟΡ Championship and created their own association and championship GRASS.

2013–2014

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The club is now competing in the Unity Cup XV championship and Unity 7's cup of GRASS against Aeolos Patras, Panathinaikos Owls RFC, Attica Springboks RFC, Thessaloniki Lions RFC, WSU RFC, Titanes Kavalas RFC.

Athens 7's M&M Tournament

Insignia and colours

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The club insignia hasn't changed since the club was founded; it depicts an ancient Spartan helmet dyed yellow and the team kit colours have always been a combination of blue, white and yellow.

First team squad

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  • Forwards

Greece Hagipanagos Konstantinos
Greece Andrikopoulos Panagiotis
Greece Stefanos Petritsopoulos
Greece Nikos Roussos
Greece Aggelos Papadimas
Greece Grigorios Drosos
Greece Christos Dimakos
Greece Tasos Tsolekas
Greece Giannis Stefanoulis
Greece Vangelis Viglas
Greece Stamatiadis Epaminondas Alkiviadis
England Edd Gaynor
Greece Mantzoutas Dimitris
GreeceWales Aris Koulizakis

 
  • Backs

GreeceSouth Africa Stephanou Stefanos
GreeceSouth Africa Stephanou Nikos (c)
Greece Kounelis Vasileios
GreeceSouth Africa George Zambetakis
GreeceSyria George Atte
Greece Savvas Kontos
Greece Petros Detsikas
Greece Alessandro Segredo
France Remi Lauraire
GreeceEngland Dan Smeeth
Greece Arapis Romanos
England Matty Wallis

In bold are the internationally capped players

References

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They are the oldest team in Greece founded in 1982

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