Kavala F.C.

Summary

Kavala Football Club[1] (Greek: Αθλητικός Όμιλος Καβάλα, lit.'Athletic Club Kavala') is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Kavala, Greece. They compete in the Gamma Ethniki, the third tier of the Greek football league system. The club's home ground is the Anthi Karagianni Stadium.

Kavala
Full nameΑθλητικός Όμιλος Καβάλα
(Athletic Club Kavala)
Nickname(s)Argonauts
Light Brigade of the North
Short nameAOK
Founded1965; 59 years ago (1965)
GroundAnthi Karagianni Stadium
Capacity10,550
InvestorGiannis Diamantidis
ChairmanAntonis Antoniou
ManagerTimos Kavakas
LeagueGamma Ethniki
2023–24Gamma Ethniki (Group 1), 1st (promoted)
WebsiteClub website
Current season

History edit

The club was formed in 1965 from the merger of Phillipoi Kavala, Iraklis Kavala and A.E. Kavala.[2]

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 six years (1970 through 1975). They returned to the 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. Their "black" period began for the team in which they played only in Beta Ethniki and Gamma Ethniki.

2009–2010 season edit

 
Wilson Oruma
 
Charles Itandje

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 Pepe 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.

2010–2011 season edit

Ending in 6th place, the team entered the transfer season. In July, the Spanish goalkeeper, Javier 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.[5]

2011–2012 season edit

Kavala competed in Delta Ethniki Group 1. They only finished 4th, but were promoted two divisions to the Football League for 2012/13 after it was ruled that their demotion to Delta Ethniki in 2011 was as a result of government intervention and should not have been implemented by the football authorities.[6]

2013–2014 season edit

Ιn September 2013 Germans investors take the management of Kavala F.C. The agreement provides that the new investors will "catch" and a significant part of its debts to old players.

Indeed, the Germans will be able to buy a majority stake of the shares of FC paying €500,000 clause of the first season and €700,000 for the second, respectively.

Crest edit

The emblem of the club is the ancient trireme, as architecture engineer Christos Batsis designed it. According to the instigator of the emblem of Kavala, the boat is a trireme, where the oars are the footballers, the cloth the administration and the fancy the fans of the club. These three elements together lead Kavala to the harbors that are the targets the team puts each time. All of this certainly has to do with the fact that Kavala is a coastal city and its world closely related to the wet element. The original element of the emblem of Kavala was hanging on the door of the design of the late Christos Batsis until he died.

For a while, the emblem contained the then name of the "Puma Nea Kavala Football Club" team.

Stadium edit

 
Anthi Karagianni Stadium

The Anthi Karagianni Municipal Stadium (Greek: Δημοτικό Στάδιο Ανθή Καραγιάννη), formerly the Kavala National Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Kavala, Greece. It is the homebase of Kavala FC. The stadium was built in 1970, and currently has a seating capacity of 10,500. It is named after the paralympic athlete, Anthi Karagianni, who won three silver medals in the 2004 Paralympic Games.

Honours edit

Domestic edit

League edit

Cup edit

  • Kavala FCA Cup
    • Winners: 2017–18

Achievements edit

  • Greek Cup
    • Semi-finals: 1964–65, 1994–95, 2009–10

European edit

League participation edit

  • First Division (19): 1969–1975, 1976–1982, 1994–1995, 1996–2000, 2009–2011
  • Second Division (23): 1965–1969, 1975–1976, 1982–1989, 1990–1994, 1995–1996, 2000–2001, 2002–2003, 2008–2009, 2012–2014, 2021–2022
  • Third Division (15): 1989–1990, 2001–2002, 2003–2008, 2014–2021, 2022–present
  • Fourth Division (1): 2011–2012

Sources:[8][9]

Recent seasons edit

Season Category Position Cup
2000–01 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 13th ↓ GS
2001–02 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 4th ↑ GS
2002–03 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 14th ↓ 1R
2003–04 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 17th 1R
2004–05 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 3rd 1R
2005–06 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 7th 3R
2006–07 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 5th 1R
2007–08 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 1st ↑ 1R
2008–09 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 3rd ↑ 4R
2009–10 Super League (1st division) 6th SF
2010–11 Super League (1st division) 7th ↓ 5R
2011–12 Delta Ethniki (4th division) 4th ↑
2012–13 Football League (2nd division) 11th 4R
2013–14 Football League (2nd division) 13th ↓ 1R
2014–15 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 3rd
2015–16 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 4th
2016–17 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 6th
2017–18 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 3rd
2018–19 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 1st 1R
2019–20 Football League (3rd division) 6th 5R
2020–21 Football League (3rd division) 2nd ↑
2021–22 Super League 2 (2nd division) 14th ↓
2022–23 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 2nd
2023–24 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 1st ↑

Best position in bold.

Key: 1R = First Round, 2R = Second Round, 3R = Third Round, 4R = Fourth Round, 5R = Fifth Round, GS = Group Stage, QF = Quarter-finals, SF = Semi-finals.

Notable wins edit

Season Match Score
1979–80 KavalaOlympiacos 1–0
1980–81 Kavala – Olympiacos 1–0
1970–71 KavalaPanathinaikos 1–0
1973–74 Kavala – Panathinaikos 1–0
1976–77 Kavala – Panathinaikos 1–0
1998–99 Kavala – Panathinaikos 2–1
2009–10 Panathinaikos – Kavala 0–2
1971–72 KavalaAEK Athens 1–0
1980–81 Kavala – AEK Athens 1–0
1998–99 Kavala – AEK Athens 2–1
2009–10 Kavala – AEK Athens 2–1
2010–11 Kavala – AEK Athens 2–1
2012–13 AEK AthensKavala (for Greek Cup) 0–1
1970–71 KavalaPAOK 1–0
1973–74 Kavala – PAOK 1–0
1980–81 Kavala – PAOK 1–0
1985 Kavala – PAOK (friendly match) 4–1
2010–11 PAOK – Kavala 0–2
1965–66 KavalaAris (for Greek Cup) 1–0
1970–71 Kavala – Aris 2–1
1972–73 Kavala – Aris 3–1
1977–78 Kavala – Aris 1–0
1981–82 Kavala – Aris 3–2
1996–97 Kavala – Aris 3–1
1996–97 Aris – Kavala 1–3
1998–99 Kavala – Aris 3–1
1999–00 Kavala – Aris 1–0
2004–05 KavalaAris (for Greek Cup) 2–1

Players edit

Current squad edit

As of 16 April 2022

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   GRE Panagiotis Stathakis
2 DF   GRE Giannis Kazantzidis (captain)
4 DF   SRB Dragan Nedeljković
7 MF   GRE Michalis Marinakis
11 FW   SRB Lazar Stakić
13 MF   GRE Andreas Giannakos
16 DF   GRE Vangelis Thalassinos
17 FW   NGA Sunday Alimi
No. Pos. Nation Player
18 MF   GRE Dimitrios Thomaidis
19 MF   GRE Christos Retsos
20 GK   GRE Konstantinos Papapostolou
22 DF   GRE Apostolos Stikas
26 DF   ISR Orel Cohen
28 DF   GRE Christoforos Karagiannis
31 DF   SRB Stefan Jaraković
47 MF   GRE Pavlos Grosdanis

Managers edit

Notable Managers edit

The following managers won at least one national trophy when in charge of Kavala F.C.:

Name Period Trophies
  Jane Janevski 1975–1977 Football League
  Georgios Paraschos 1995–1996 Football League
  Stratos Voutsakelis 2007–2008 Gamma Ethniki
  Konstantinos Anyfantakis 2017–2018 Kavala FCA Cup
  Pavlos Dermitzakis 2018–2019 Gamma Ethniki

Most Serving Managers edit

Name Period Days
  Béla Pálfi 1969–1975 2065
  Georgios Paraschos 1995–1997, 1999–2000 941
  Vassilis Daniil 1979–1981 911
  Pavlos Dermitzakis 2018–2020 730
  Jane Janevski 1975–1977 730

Gallery edit

Record players edit

Name Apps
  Georgios Mallios 171
  Georgios Koltsis 124
  Konstantinos Vakirtzis 117
  Georgios Peglis 114
  Anestis Athanasiadis 109
  Leszek Pisz 101
  Kyrillos Kallimanis 91
  Ivan Mitev 85
  Anastasios Tsapanidis 82
  Panagiotis Logaras 79
Name Goals
  Leszek Pisz 26
  Benjamin Onwuachi 24
  Nikos Soultanidis 23
  Anestis Athanasiadis 22
  Giorgos Papandreou 21
  Georgios Nasiopoulos 19
  Georgios Mallios 10
  Bartosz Tarachulski 8
  Serge Dié 7
  Dimitrios Orfanos 7

Source:[citation needed]

References edit

  1. ^ Kavala FC. uefa.com.
  2. ^ "Kavala's History". Archived from the original on 2009-05-21.
  3. ^ "Relegation for Olympiakos Volou and Kavala" (in Greek). Contra.gr. 28 July 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
  4. ^ "Olympiakos Volou and Kavala escape relegation" (in Greek). Contra.gr. 10 August 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  5. ^ "Olympiakos Volou and Kavala to Delta Ethniki" (in Greek). Contra.gr. 23 August 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
  6. ^ "EPO - Hellenic Football Federation".
  7. ^ https://www.rsssf.org/tablesb/balkan-club.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  8. ^ Abbink, Dinant & Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (2003-08-07). "Greece – Final Tables 1959–1999". RSSSF.
  9. ^ Abbink, Dinant & Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (2005-05-18). "Greece – List of Second Level Final Tables". RSSSF.

External links edit

  • Official Website