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Crest and colours

Crest

• 1908-1919 No crest
• 1919 first crest green shamrock

1. Proposed by Michalis Papazoglou club athlete, accepted by board members
   • Green Shamrock because it was his lucky charm when competing as a Chalchedon athlete
2. Designed by ethniki pinakothiki diefthinti
3. white when on a green shirt
4. photo not yet available

• old badge (possibly 70's)

1. reason for change-not yet known
2. photo not yet available

• Present logo

1. Reason and date of change not known

The first 10 years, since the club's establishment in 1908, no specific crest was used. It was in the late 1918 and after the name change to P.P.A.O., that the need for a club emblem had become obvious. Athlete Michalis Papazoglou proposed a shamrock to be adopted. Before joining Panathinaikos he was a member of a Chalchedon athletic club, he was competing wearing a white uniform with a big green shamrock on his chest. P.P.A.O. officials agreed and board member Georgios Hatzopoulos designed Panathinaikos' first crest, a plain green shamrock.

Before coming to Greece and joining Panathinaikos, he was a PapazoglouPanathinaikos' first crest was a plain green shamrock with no background. which was alternated to white when the

History Long

Early years

The 1896 Summer Olympics introduced football to Greece, shortly after that the first efforts to develop football teams took place in Athens and Piraeus. Greeks of Constantinople and Smyrna were already familiar with the sport, however it remained relatively unknown to the Greek general public until the early 1900s. George Kalafatis, a track and field athlete of Panellinios G.S., was lobbying the board of Ethnikos G.S. Athens in 1906 and then the board of Panellinios G.S. in 1907, to establish a football department. Despite his efforts the clubs were reluctant, grounded in the elitist view that football was a sport for the working class. On 3 February 1908, Kalafatis alongside 36 friends and fellow athletes from Panellinios G.S. decided to break away from their athletic clubs and form a new one which would be dedicated solely to football. Many of those who joined Kalafatis were youngsters from aristocratic Athenian families that were interested in playing the sport. Their team's first unofficial game was against Piraeikos, the predecessor of Olympiacos F.C., during the Athletic Games tournament in Trikala on September 1908; Piraeikos was beaten 9-0 by the fledgling club. Before that, most of their games were friendly matches against teams composed by the crews of foreign naval ships. The victory in Trikala attracted the first supporters to Kalafatis' team. On December 1908 the founding group gathered for their first official assembly. They ratified their February 3rd decision to establish an official and recognized athletic club with only one department, football. They named the club P.O.A. - Podosferikos Omilos Athinon (Greek: Π.Ο.Α. - Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Αθηνών), the Football Club of Athens and appointed George Kalafatis' brother, Alexandros Kalafatis, as the club's first president. Early expenses were covered by the founders and a field at Patission Avenue was rented for training and playing purposes.

In 1909 the first official Greek football tournament took place, it was the S.E.G.A.S. Cup organized by the Union of Greek Gymnastic and Athletics Clubs (S.E.G.A.S.); the club finished third behind F.C. Goudi Athens and Piraeikos. Later that same year, a dispute between officials was caused by some members who came from Ethnikos G.S. Athens and brought the club on the verge of splitting, subsequently the team was forbidden from competing in official games for the year 1910. The tension in particular was between George Kalafatis and Marinos Marinakis, a major financier and board member of P.O.A.. Kalafatis was unable to cement his control of the board and decided together with most of the players to pull out of the club and secure a new ground at Amerikis Square. They changed the name of the club to P.P.O - Panellinios Podosferikos Omilos (Greek: Π.Π.Ο. - Πανελλήνιος Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος), the Panhellenic Football Club and they were followed by most of the founding group and the team's supporters.

The systematic downgrading of football by the country's sports authorities since 1910 and the First Balkan War in 1912-1913, forced other clubs to dissolve their football teams. P.P.O. not only had managed to survive but in 1911 they won the 3rd S.E.G.A.S. tournament (then named S.E.G.A.S. Greek Championship) after winning Piraeikos 11-1. In 1912, Oxford University athlete John Campbell was appointed as coach, until then Kalafatis was player-coach. Campbell's impact was immediate as the Englishman introduced football skills and tactics not yet seen in Greek football, but considered rudimentary by English standards. By 1914 John Campbell had returned to England but the club was already dominating Greek football with players such as Michalis Papazoglou, Apostolos Nikolaidis, Loukas Panourgias and Michalis Rokos.

The First World War halted all sports activities. At the conclusion of the Great War in 1918, the name of the club was changed again to P.P.A.O. - Panellinios Podosferikos ke Agonistikos Omilos (Greek: Π.Π.A.Ο. - Πανελλήνιος Ποδοσφαιρικός και Αγωνιστικός Όμιλος), the Panhellenic Football and Sports Club, because its athletes were by then competing not only in football but in other sports as well. For the first time, in 1919, the club adopted green as its official colour and the shamrock as its emblem. Michalis Papazoglou was behind this idea. After the war, the Inter-Allied Games took place in 1919 in France and Kalafatis took the initiative to assemble the first Greek national football team ever to compete abroad; 6 of its members were P.P.A.O.'s footballers. The beneficial for the club, apart from the gained experience of its players, was that Kalafatis returned to Greece bringing back sports equipment, the Laws of the Game and rules in written for basketball and volleyball. By this stage, the club had outgrown both the grounds at Patission Avenue and Amerikis Square, due mainly to its expansion in other sports, and began to look at vacant land at Perivola on Alexandras Avenue as its potential new ground. The local council was reluctant to sign over the land and negotiations between the two parties stalled. In 1922 P.P.A.O. was given a temporary license to use the ground but the Asia Minor Disaster, which happened few months later, caused functional problems. A tense standoff between the club and refugees from Asia Minor, who attempted to exercise squatters rights on the grounds, made Greek authorities to give permission for refugees' houses to be built in Perivola. After long discussions an agreement was reached and P.P.A.O. was given permanent permission to use the field, in 1924 Leoforos Alexandras was finally awarded to the club. The move to a stable home ground also heralded another, final, name change to P.A.O. - Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos (Greek: Π.Α.Ο. - Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος), the Pan-Athenian Athletic Club.

Pre-war

Since 1924 the team's old guard was retiring from playing football and moving to administrative positions in the club. In 1926 the Hellenic Football Federation (H.F.F.) was founded and the first autonomous Greek Championship took place in 1927 replacing the S.E.G.A.S. Greek Championship, the format of the league involved local group stages and then a knockout phase. That season Panathinaikos and A.E.K. Athens decided to stand by Olympiacos which was forbidden by H.F.F. to participate in the league. The Greek federation subsequently banned Panathinaikos and A.E.K. for supporting Olympiacos and so the three clubs formed a group called P.O.K. and played friendly games against each other. The P.O.K. tournament turned out very popular and H.F.F. was forced to allow the clubs take part in the next season.

Panathinaikos won only one pre-war Championship in 1930 under the guidance of Joseph Kinsler with Angelos Messaris as the team's star player. In 1931 a serious disagreement between former player and board member Apostolos Nikolaidis and Angelos Messaris led the latter to leave the team and retire from football at the age of only 21. Some players and board members took Messaris' side and in response Nikolaidis used his influence in the board to expel many of them from the club, including George Kalafatis. The conflict was over in 1933 and all expelled members and players returned to the club except Angelos Messaris. The damage was done and Panathinaikos fell in a period of depression, supporters were diminishing and so was income. In the meantime the H.F.F. Greek Cup had commenced in 1932. The last bright moment before World War II was winning the Cup for the first time in 1940 against Aris (3-1).

Post-war

The dawn of the Second World War saw all sports activities put on hold yet again. After Greece's liberation from German occupation in 1946, teams returned to action. Panathinaikos won the 1948 Greek Cup final against AEK (2-1) and in 1949 they won their second Greek Championship, 14 years since their last one. Harry Game was hired as coach in 1951 and they were crowned Greek Champions again in the 1952-1953 season. That year the first organized Panathinaikos fan club was created. In 1955 the club won their third Greek Cup against PAOK (2-0). Also in 1955 Apostolos Nikolaidis was involved in a distracting controversy with young board members and in the following years until 1959, when Nikolaidis had finally prevailed, the team enjoyed limited success on national scale. The club was looking for young skillful players and began scouting local minor teams. Amongst young talents that went to Panathinaikos was Mimis Domazos who in a few years would evolve to team leader.

In the 1959-1960 season an adaptation of the football pyramid format was introduced to Greek Championship's operation. Panathinaikos presented a great squad and would dominate the early years of the League's first division, winning the title in 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964 and 1965. In the 1963-1964 Championship they had finished undefeated with Stjepan Bobek as coach. Sadly the same year (19 February 1964) George Kalafatis, the most distinguished figure in Panathinaikos' history, passed away. 1966 was the year that Gate 13, Panathinaikos trademark supporters, were formed.

After a coup on April 1967, a military regime was established in Greece, sports tournaments were allowed to take place but all sportsmen were under constant watch. Panathinaikos won the 1967 Greek Cup final against Panionios (1-0). Lakis Petropoulos was appointed as coach in 1968 and led the club to two consecutive Championship titles in 1969 (Double) and 1970. In 1971 they were European Cup finalists, losing 2-0 to Ajax at Wembley Stadium and they remain the only Greek club that has ever reached a European final. After Ajax's unwillingness to participate in the Intercontinental Cup final, Panathinaikos took their place and faced Nacional in a two-legged match but lost the trophy. The following season Panathinaikos finished first in the Greek League celebrating their 11th Championship. Another counterproductive period would be noted between 1973 and 1984. Poor organizing and internal problems led Panathinaikos to a long dry spell with the exception of the 1976-1977 season when they won the Double. In 1974 Democracy was restored in Greece and Apostolos Nikolaidis was elected club president. In 1978 they won the Balkans Cup against PFC Slavia Sofia but it should be mentioned that this tournament never carried much importance. During the 1970s Giorgos Vardinogiannis and his brother Vardis Vardinogiannis enrolled as club members.

Professional football

In 1979 Greek football turned professional and the Vardinogiannis family, who are mostly known for their oil, media and entertainment enterprises, purchased the club's football department. Panathinaikos A.O. was changed to Panathinaikos F.C. and George Vardinogiannis became the team's president. These changes proved impediments for the club in many aspects, and tension between the new administration and the supporters was common. Panathinaikos were also one of the first Greek clubs that formed a women's team in 1980 but that department is currently inactive. In 1982 ownership began construction of the team's training facilities, the Paiania Athletic Centre. Construction completed in 1989 and was a real investment in professional football. The same year (1982) Panathinaikos F.C. won the Greek Cup against Larissa (1-0) and the first title of the new era had finally come.

The 1982-1983 season was disappointing; the club finished sixth in the Greek League. Things had to be shaken up and Jacek Gmoch was brought as coach in 1983 leading the club to a Double the following season. Panathinaikos started using Athens Olympic Stadium as its home ground and in 1985 they reached the European Cup semifinals, where they were thrown out by Liverpool F.C. (4-0, 0-1, aggregate 5-0). Fans were very thrilled with the team's results and that season average attendance was about 50.000.

The club had finally found its way through professional football and many a winning seasons came along, they won the Greek champinoship in 1986, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, the Greek cup in 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995 and the Greek SuperCup in 1988, 1993, 1994. The club reached the semifinal stage of the UEFA Champions League in 1996, when they faced Ajax, recording a surprising first-leg away victory (0-1). However, they suffered a crushing 0-3 defeat on the second leg and were thus denied entry to the final once more. In 2000 Giorgos Vardinogiannis stepped down and Aggelos Phillipidis took his place as president, although it was widely known that Giorgos Vardionogiannis' nephew, Giannis Vardinogiannis was the most important member of the board. Domestically conditions would become difficult once more. On September 2001, IFFHS voted Panathinaikos F.C. as World's Club Team of the Month. In Europe, they reached the quarter-final stage of the 2002 UEFA Champions League, losing 3-2 on aggregate to FC Barcelona and the quarter-final stage of the 2003 UEFA Cup, losing 2-1 on aggregate to FC Porto.

Since 1996 Panathinaikos' only national success was the Double in 2004. Although they are the highest ranked Greek club in the official UEFA Team Ranking for the year 2008, they finished third in the 2006 and 2007 Championship. Today the team's chairman is Dr. Argiris Mitsou, but Giannis Vardinogiannis remains the most significant person in the club given he is still the majority shareholder. They compete in the Super League Greece and play their home games at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium. In 2008 Panathinaikos celebrates its centenary year.

Sponsors

CHECK PAO.GR LINKS FOR SPONSORS

Panathinaikos FC currently has sponsorship deals with the following companies:

• OTE - Official sponsors
• Cosmote - Official sponsors
• Adidas - Technical sponsor
• Motor Oil Hellas - Official supporters
• Piraeus Bank - Official supporters
• Sony - Official supporters
• Hyundai - Official supporters
• Amstel - Official supporters
• Artisti Italiani - Official supporters
• Powerade - Official suppliers
• Hygeia Hospital - Official suppliers
• Elite Strom - Official suppliers
• Green Farm - Official suppliers
• Skai - Official suppliers
• EAS - Official suppliers
• Dee Jay's Club - Official suppliers
• Lamberts - Official suppliers
• Pietris Catering - Official suppliers
• Parimed - Official suppliers

Recent History change

Reasons for edit Biased, too many details for the club's article (maybe create a supporters article, journalism has to write about what happens not write to influence what happens.

Although they are the highest ranked Greek club in the official UEFA Club Ranking for the year 2008, they finished third in the 2007 and second in the 2008 Championship.

Today the team's chairman is Dr. Argiris Mitsou but Giannis Vardinogiannis, George Vardinogiannis' nephew, is the most significant person in the club given he is the majority shareholder. They compete in the Super League Greece and play their home games at the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium.

In 2008 Panathinaikos celebrates its centenary year. The team didn't win any title for another season and that led to significant changes in the ownership model. Negative results over the years and some management decisions created frustration within the team fan base which was escalating. Many fan clubs opposed against the management and formed a union in order to collectively express their discontent. Game attendance fell to record low, with less than 10,000 fans per game.

Following a grave defeat in the Greek Cup quarterfinals by arch-rivals Olympiacos, early in 2008, and subsequent Panathinaikos elimination, a group of Greek businessmen made a public statement. Andreas Vgenopoulos, representing this Panathinaikos-supporters group, announced their intention to involve with the club and assist financially and organizationally in all of the sports departments. Giannakopoulos brothers, owners of Panathinaikos B.C. offered their support to the movement. Giannis Vardinogiannis ignored their offer. Losing in Crete by OFI on April 6 2008 diminished the team's chances to win the 2008 championship. The irony was that Panathinaikos FC would not win a single title on its centennial. Instinctively some fans announced they were planning a march on April 13, starting at Pedion tou Areos and ending outside the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium, wanting to show their displeasure and demanding a change in the ownership status. The news circulated mainly through mobile phones and Internet fora. Thousands of people made an appearance with estimates ranging between 20,000 and 40,000. Fans complained about a media blackout, since pictures from the demonstration were not broadcast from the mainstream TV networks and attributed this to Vardinogiannis family.

On April 22, Giannis Vardinogiannis gave a press conference in which he announced the decision of his family to reduce their share in the club to 50%, after 30 years of almost full ownership, through a 80 million € increase of the company's capital stock.
Andreas Vgenopoulos, president of the Panathenian Unifying Movement, responded later in the afternoon with a press release, stating his happiness for seeing Mr. Vardinogiannis' desicion to follow the right direction for the good of the club and pronounced the start of the negotiations after the end of the Greek Easter holidays (April 28).