Panthrakikos Football Club (Greek: Α.Π.Σ. Πανθρακικός) is a Greek football club based in Komotini, Thrace in North Eastern Greece founded in 1963. The club competed in Super League Greece during the 2008–09 season for the first time.

Panthrakikos
Full nameΑθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Σύλλογος Πανθρακικός
Nickname(s)Kροκόδειλοι (Crocodiles)
Founded1963; 61 years ago (1963)
GroundKomotini Municipal Stadium
Capacity6,198
ChairmanNikolaos Pachoumis
ManagerGiannis Apostolidis
LeagueGamma Ethniki
2023–24Gamma Ethniki (Group 1), 3rd

History edit

Early years (1963–2001) edit

 
Panthrakikos in 1974
 
Panthrakikos vs Ergotelis, 2009–10
 
Panthrakikos F.C., 2009–10

Panthrakikos F.C. was formed in the town of Komotini in 1963. Athlitiki Enosis Komotini (Athletic Union of Komotini) which was founded in 1936, and Orpheus Komotini which was founded in 1948 were merged with Panthrakikos in 1963 and 1964 respectively.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The club participated in regional leagues until 1969, when they joined the Beta Ethniki. They stayed in this division until being relegated in 1978, but were promoted back to Beta Ethniki after a single season. They remained here until 1983. Panthrakikos finished 1982–83 12th in Beta Ethniki, but were relegated to Gamma Ethniki due to restructuring of the leagues. In 1983–84 they finished 18th position and were further relegated to Delta Ethniki. The club was promoted again to the Gamma Ethniki, and participated there in 1985–86 and 1986–87. Relegation to Delta Ethniki followed the end of the 1986–87 season. After relegation in 1995-1996, Panthrakikos merged with Orpheus Xylagani and competed as Panthrakikos Xylagani[5] on the founding status of Xylagani during the years 1996–1998. Competed again as Panthrakikos F.C. in lowest level of local leagues during the years 1998-2001, without any administration and without any investment. In that period, very few fans were take charge of administration.

New era (2001–present) edit

In 2001-2003 Panagiotis Margaritis take charge of administration as chairman and Sakis Skoulis as manager. They were promoted two seasons in a row, reaching the Delta Ethniki in 2003.
In 2004 prompting significant investment into the club from local entrepreneurs Thodoris Savakis, Tasos Karaolanis & Yiannis Kitzidis.[7] Kostas Vasilakakis, a former player of Panthrakikos, was hired as manager in the summer of 2004. In season 2004–05 Panthrakikos were champions of Delta Ethniki and were again promoted, to the Gamma Ethniki. A third-place finish in 2005–06 saw them promoted once more, to the Beta Ethniki.
Three managers were hired in the first half of the season 2006-2007. Zisis Tsekos, Dimitrios Kalaitzidis and Yiannis Gounaris, were fired to be replaced by manager Kostas Vasilakakis and lead the club to an 11th-place finish. Panthrakikos started the 2007–08 season with a breach of league rules[8] in their opening game, against Chaidari, and were penalised by a four-point reduction. Despite this penalty, Panthrakikos beat Ilisiakos 1–0 in the final game of the season to overtake PAS Giannena, finish third and gain promotion to Super League Greece for the first time. Emilio Ferrera, was hired as manager in the summer of 2008, lead Panthrakikos to an 11th[9] place finish in their first Super League season.
On January 25, 2017, Panthrakikos withdrew from the Football League (Level 2) due to financial problems after the 12th game of the period.

After competing in the Regional Amateur League of Thrace for over 4 years, Panthrakikos got promoted once again to Gamma Ethniki and will be competing in the competition for the 2022/23 Football Season.

Facilities edit

Stadium edit

The "Municipal Athletic Center" (ΔΑΚ – Δημοτικό Αθλητικό Κέντρο) was built in 1923 by the Hellenic Army near the railway station of Komotini. Panthrakikos has played there since 1963.

The northern grandstand was built in 1950 (rebuilt 1963–1965) with a capacity of about 2,500 while the southern grandstand was built in 1970 with a capacity of about 1,500. The northern grandstand and southern grandstand were rebuilt in 2008 with a capacity of 1,608 (1,377 seats for gate 1 plus 231 seats for gate 7) and 1,090 (gate 5) respectively. In the southern grandstand at the back of, there is a big booth for the Radio and TV journalists (gate 4). Also there is special area for disabled (gate 3). The western grandstand was built in 2008 with a capacity of 2,002 (gate 6 – guests). Finally, the eastern grandstand was built in 2009 with a capacity of 1,498 (gate 2). The total capacity of OPAP-Municipal Komotini Stadium is 6,198 seats.

Panthrakikos Athletic Center edit

 
Panthrakikos Athletic Center
 
The main building of Panthrakikos Athletic Center

The training center is called "Panthrakikos Athletic Center". It covers a field of 42,000 sq.m. located 4 km east of Komotini at Kikidio village.

The main building covers 360 sq.m.. Includes the administration office, the press room, first aid station, physiotherapy chamber and locker room. Three full-sized terrains (two with natural turf, one with synthetic turf) are used for the first squad trainings. A half-sized terrain is also used for the goalkeepers training.

Another building 200 sq.m., which includes locker room, showers and dining room for the Youth team and the football academies. Two half-sized terrains and one full-sized are used by the Youth Teams.

Team statistics edit

According to combined sources [10] [11] [12]

1963–2001
Season Level Rank W-D-L Goals Season Level Rank W-D-L Goals
1963–64 1982–83 2 12 15–06–17 38–44
1964–65 3 1 6–1–1 14–7 1983–84 3 18 12–11–17 41–46
1965–661 3 5 25–26 1984–85 4 1 96–31
1966–672 3 3 40–22 1985–86 3 15 14–07–17 48–62
1967–68 3 1986–87 3 18 11–06–21 46–72
1968–693 3 1987–88 4 11 50–42
1969–70 2 14 07–12–15 26–47 1988–89 5 1
1970–71 2 9 10–12–12 35–34 1989–90 4 4 58–30
1971–72 2 7 17–07–14 45–44 1990–91 4 3 29–07–06 86–26
1972–73 2 9 14–10–14 34–31 1991–92 4 5 50–41
1973–74 2 8 16–12–12 43–39 1992–93 4 2 59–27
1974–75 2 5 16–11–11 43–35 1993–94 4 9 61–38
1975–76 2 10 15–05–18 44–47 1994–95 5 1
1976–77 2 12 14–08–16 39–56 1995–96 4 12 45–47
1977–78 2 17 12–08–18 44–46 1996–97 45 8 46–28
1978–794 3 1 1997–98 45 10 66–43
1979–80 2 11 11–11–16 34–39 1998–99 56
1980–81 2 7 17–06–15 42–48 1999–00 6
1981–82 2 8 15–09–14 38–48 2000–01 6
2001–present
Normal Season Play Off
Season Level Rank W-D-L Goals Rank W-D-L Goals
2001–02 6 1
2002–03 5 1 28–01–01
2003–04 4 5 17–07–06 39–22
2004–05 4 1 24–05–01 70–10
2005–06 3 3 19–09–02 44–21
2006–07 2 11 12–06–16 40–44
2007–08 2 3 17–10–07 44–31
2008–09 1 11 09–06–15 23–37
2009–10 1 16 03–03–24 21–62
2010–11 2 7 13–08–13 36–38
2011–12 2 1 22–07–05 49–16
2012–13 1 10 10–06–14 30–33
2013–14 1 10 11-08-15 39-52
2014–15 1 12 11-10-13 35-44
2015–16 1 15 03-08-19 18-58
2016–17 26 18 03–03–28 07-81
2017–18 5 2 21–04–03 84-21
2018–19 4 3 14-04-04 37-16 4 2-4-4 15-14
2019–20 57 3 13-02-03 50-14

-1 16 games - 32 points
-2 24 games - 55 points
-3 promotion due to the restructuring of the Beta Ethniki League
-4 38 games - 58 points
-5 Panthrakikos merged with Orfeas Xylagani and competed as Panthrakikos Xylagani in 1996-1998
-6 Panthrakikos withdrew from the league during the period due to financial problems
-7 Due to the reorganization of the Greek football league system the first divisions of the local championships became a 5th tier

Domestic titles edit

Notable player edit

Players statistics edit

Appearances and goals from 2006–present edit

Only with Panthrakikos F.C. As of 18 April 2016 according to combined sources[13][14][15]

Nat Name Career Level 1 Level 2 Nat Cup Total
app goals app goals app goals app goals
  Deniz Baykara 2011–16 111 5 31 6 14 1 156 12
  Antonis Ladakis 2012–16 85 2 4 0 89 2
  Igor 2013–16 77 24 3 1 80 25
  Thanasis Papageorgiou 2013–16 74 2 8 0 82 2
  Christos Tzanis 2012–16 73 14 8 3 81 17
  Giannis Christou 2011–16 70 1 27 1 12 0 109 2
  Dimitris Hasomeris 2013–16 68 3 7 2 75 5
  Pape M'Bow 2013–15 59 2 5 0 64 2
  Ioannis Potouridis 2014–16 57 0 5 0 62 0
  Giorgos Athanasiadis 2013–16 57 0 3 0 60 0
  Nicolas Diguiny 2014–16 55 8 2 0 57 8
  Achilleas Sarakatsanos 2011–14 48 0 27 1 8 1 83 2
  José María Cases 2013–15 47 10 3 0 50 10
  Yiannis Kanotidis 2007–11 40 1 43 0 4 0 87 1
  Ludovic Clément 2008–10 38 2 38 2
  Abdul Diallo 2006–10 37 5 47 12 4 0 88 17
  Manuel Lopes 2007–11 37 1 39 1 1 0 77 2
  Munafo Horta 2009–13 32 1 25 1 9 0 66 2
  Spyros Vrontaras 2004–10 & 2012–13 28 0 40 0 2 0 70 0
  Adrián Lucero 2012–13 28 4 6 2 34 6
  Sito Riera 2008–09 28 5 1 0 29 5
  Marama Vahirua 2012–13 26 3 4 2 30 5
  Bertrand Robert 2009–11 25 4 28 8 53 12
  Dimitris Papadopoulos 2012–13 25 11 5 1 30 12
  Fotis Konstantinidis 2005–09 22 1 54 4 8 0 84 5
  Dimitris Koutsopoulos 2010–14 22 0 55 0 7 0 84 0
  Christos Mingas 2011–13 22 0 26 7 9 0 57 7
  Robinho 2005–09 18 0 57 0 7 0 82 0
  Nikos Bacharidis 2001–10 16 1 23 0 7 1 46 2
  Gábor Erős 2006–08 57 9 2 0 59 9
  Dimitris Souanis 2005–08 53 12 4 2 57 14
  Nikos Soultanidis 2010–12 53 14 3 3 56 17
  Ronny van Es 2007–08 21 10 1 0 22 10

Former players edit

Former players without Wikipedia article, based on their long-term presence in Panthrakikos, players worthy of mention are Filippos Aivazis (1967–84) who holds the record for most appearances (405) and most goals (89) in the Beta and Gamma Ethniki, Apostolos Hatziioannidis - Apostolakis (1956-64 Orfeas Komotini, 1964-69 AO Kavala, 1967-77 Panthrakikos F.C.), Zacharias Tilios (1964–76), Stavros Svintridis, Christos Doulgerakis, Archontis Katsaridis, Manolis Rakitzoglou, Vasilis Fotidis, Kostas Kalaitzidis and Kostas Vasilakakis (1973–81).

Chairmen and managers edit

season chairman manager level rank
2001–02 Panagiotis Margaritis   Sakis Skoulis 006 001
2002–03 005 001
2003–04   Antonis Michalakopoulos 004 005
2004–05 Yiannis Kitzidis   Kostas Vasilakakis 004 001
2005–06 003 003
2006–07   Zisis Tsekos
  Dimitris Kalaitzidis
  Yiannis Gounaris
  Kostas Vasilakakis
002 011
2007–08   Kostas Vasilakakis 002 003
2008–09   Emilio Ferrera (Jun 5, 2008 – Jun 30, 2009) 001 011
2009–10 Yiannis Kitzidis
Dimitris Tzelepis
  Ilie Dumitrescu (Jul 1, 2009–Sep 20, 2009)
  Albert Cartier (Sep 20, 2009–Jan 12, 2010)
  Pavlos Dermitzakis (Jan 12, 2010–Jul 22, 2010)
001 016
2010–11 Dimitris Tzelepis   Kostas Vasilakakis (Jul 25, 2010–Nov 10)
  Emilio Ferrera (Nov 7, 2010 – Mar 25, 2011)
  Savas Pantelidis (Mar 30, 2011 – Oct 29, 2012)
002 007
2011–12   Savas Pantelidis 002 001
2012–13   Savas Pantelidis
  Pavlos Dermitzakis (Oct 31, 2012 – Apr 30, 2013)
001 010
2013–14   Apostolos Mantzios (May 9, 2013 – Nov 5, 2014) 001 010
2014–15   Apostolos Mantzios
 José Manuel Roca (Nov 10, 2014 – Sep 16, 2015)
001 012
2015–16   José Manuel Roca
  Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos (Sep 19, 2015 – )
  Giannis Hatzinikolaou (Jan 26, 2016 – )
  Zoran Stoinović (Mar 16, 2016 – )
001 015
2016–17   Kostas Anifantakis (– Dec 8, 2016)
  Kostas Vasilakakis (Dec 10, 2016 – Jan 25, 2017)
002 018
2017–18 Manolis Sakalis   Vangelis Kyrialanis 005 002
2018–19 Nikolaos pachoumis   Kostas Gemenetzis 004 003
2019–20 004 00

Crest and colours edit

Panthrakikos crest is a sparkling flaming torch in a circle. The torch is surrounded by the club's name and the year of establishment. The club crest sits on the left side of the chest. Traditional club's colors are green and white.

Traditional colours

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007–08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2009–10
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2010–11
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2011–12
 
 
 
 
 
 
2012–13
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013–14
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014–15

Alternative colours

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2007–08
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008–09
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2008–09B
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2013–14
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2014–15

References edit

  1. ^ "Panthrakikos History". Archived from the original on 2015-06-27. Retrieved 2009-09-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. ^ "Panthrakikos History". Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
  3. ^ "2nd Level Table, 1962–63". Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  4. ^ "2nd Level Table, year 1963–64". Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  5. ^ a b "Mergers and Name Changes". Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  6. ^ "Panthrakikos F.C. foundation, 1964". Archived from the original on 2014-05-25. Retrieved 2012-08-11.
  7. ^ "2006.11.03, Savakis resignation". Archived from the original on 2011-07-05. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  8. ^ 2006–07 Beta Ethniki
  9. ^ Super League Greece 2008-09
  10. ^ "Panthrakikos History-official site". Archived from the original on 2015-06-27. Retrieved 2009-09-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  11. ^ "2nd Level Final Tables". Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  12. ^ "3rd Level Final Tables". Archived from the original on 2023-01-29. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  13. ^ "Panthraxstats (pdf)".
  14. ^ "insports.gr". Archived from the original on 2010-07-15. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
  15. ^ "epo, kypello". Archived from the original on 2010-05-15. Retrieved 2010-07-09.

External links edit