DJ’S JOTTINGS – NUMBER 30 (Greece)

Matchday images (2) http://picasaweb.google.com/footballgroundsinfocus/EthnikosPiraeusFC

The Greek capital of Athens has a most impressive history, a vast array of tourist sites and last, but by no means least, a good number of football teams and stadia. The public transport system is particularly good since the 2004 Olympic Games, making travel between grounds relatively easy.

Take a Saturday morning flight with Easyjet from Gatwick to Athens and get a bus straight to Ellinikou for our first game.

8km south of central Athens, the Ellinikou Sports Complex is near the Mediterranean resort of Glyfada. Constructed for the Olympics on the site of the former international airport, there are separate areas for canoeing / kayaking, hockey, basketball / handball, fencing and baseball, with spacious walkways and parking areas as well as a few decaying airport buildings in between.

Greek 2^nd division club, Ethnikos Piraeus have played at the former Hellenikon Baseball Stadium, now known as Gipedo Ellinikou, since 2007. They had shared the old Karaiskakis ground with Olympiacos, but when that was levelled for re-building they had spells at Prodeftiki and Rizoupoli before moving into their current home. The 10,000 capacity stadium has an unusual appearance for football due to its former use. The main 2-tier stand is ‘L’ shaped round one corner with most of the upper tier under cover. Smaller open seating areas enclose most of the remainder of the ground, although there are support columns in place for a possible new stand at one end. The two teams emerge from different tunnels, the former baseball ‘benches’ provide very large dugouts and 6 floodlight pylons are spread evenly around the ‘outfield’. 

Admission is between 10 and 20 euros and there is no programme in evidence for the match against Ethnikos Asteras who had made the short journey from central Athens. A reasonable game ensues between 2 sides near the top of the table. Piraeus take the lead with a fine goal, but after conceding an un-necessary own goal right on half time go on to suffer their first league defeat of the season by 2-1.

A short tram journey then takes us northwards up the coast to Neo Faliro in the Athens port of Piraeus for our evening match. The original Karaiskakis Stadium had been a velodrome built for the 1896 Olympic Games. It was converted into a football ground for Olympiacos in the 1930’s and staged the 1971 European Cup-Winner’s Cup Final between Chelsea and Real Madrid. Following the death of 21 fans due to crushing at a game against AEK in 1981, the club moved to the Stadio Olympiako, but crowd disturbances there forced a return to the Karaiskakis with a moat now in place round the pitch. The old stadium was then totally demolished and re-built for 2004 when it served as the main venue for the Olympic football tournament.

The 33,296 capacity ground is all-seated and all-covered in one continuous tier, with executive boxes and VIP seats above on one side. A large gap exists between the upper seats and the roof. 25 euros gains entry and although the programmes are supposed to be for season ticket-holders only, hardened travellers like ourselves manage to purloin copies.

Olympiacos had an original support base of blue collar workers and is now the largest multi-athletic organisation in Greece, competing at 17 sports. They are sometimes referred to as ‘thyros’ (legend) after their founders and original 5-man forward line, the Andrianopoulos brothers. League champions 12 times in 13 seasons, coached by Brazilian Zico and with Olof Mellberg among their line-up, they play with plenty of passion and comfortably defeat Asteras Tripolis 3-0. The visitors pass neatly and play their part in a fine game but lack the finish. There are 9 bookings in a pretty clean game and plenty of diving and play-acting in evidence. The crowd of 20,380 create a great atmosphere with lots of vociferous singing and whistling, plus red flares to accompany the flare shown on the pitch. 

Take the metro into central Athens and find the Elite Hotel, just a few minutes walk from Omonia station. Spend the early part of Sunday on the tourist trail taking in the Plaka and Anaflotika neighbourhoods, the Roman and Ancient Agora’s and of course the Acropolis hill and Parthenon. In Syntagma Square indulge in a bun-fight as free freshly baked bread rolls are handed out. They even have security guards to control the crowds.

Take the metro to the end of the line at Ag. Antonios and then a short bus ride to Peristeri, a north-west suburb of Athens, although the locals will tell you that it is a town in its own right. Discover what we think is the Atromitos Athinon club bar, but is in fact the headquarters for their ultra fans, known as ‘fentagin’ and styled on Palestinian terrorists ! Despite this we are made most welcome and although there is no bar there they insist on going off to the local supermarket to buy us beers as well as giving us various stickers. They also invite us to join them in their section of the ground, but recommend that we do don’t if we actually want to watch the game !

The Stadio Peristeriou is tucked away between the houses and holds 10,200 all-seated, following re-construction in 2005. 3 sides have a continuous elevated seating deck curved round the athletics track at the end, with only the main side under cover. The remaining end has a separate open seating block, set at a slight angle to the pitch. A modern club bar is set in one corner and with the temperature well into the 70’s (in old money) offers very refreshing iced coffees. Admission price is 15 euros and there is no programme in evidence.

Atromitos are fairly recent newcomers to the top flight but qualified for the UEFA Cup in 2006-07 and played Valencia. For our visit Levadiakos are the visitors in an early season relegation clash. After a poor 1^st half Atromitos take command and play some decent football en route to a 3-0 victory.

A bus and 2 metros take us to the venue for our final game. We certainly get our money’s worth from the 3-euro day pass. A 9.15 kick-off provides plenty of time, although a temporary glitch with the computerised ticketing system and a fight between 2 women at the kebab stand use up some of it.

The Olympiako, or Spiros Louis Stadium (named after the winner of the marathon at the 1896 Olympics), is part of the Irini complex to the north east of the city centre. Holding 71,030 spectators The original Olympiako hosted the 1994 European Cup final and was used for a time by both Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. The new stadium, built for the 2004 games, is home to AEK as well as staging internationals and cup finals. Set in a bowl with a sunken pitch, surrounded by two tier stands, except for the centre of each end that is taken up by a giant TV screen. A futuristic cantilevered roof sweeps and curves over all bar the front section of the lower tier seats. Admission for the Greek Super League match with Panthraikos is anything from 15 to 130 euros. We pay 20 and get a free programme as well.

AEK (Athletic Union of Constantinople) was founded in 1924, by Greek refugees who had fled what is now Istanbul. Their previous Nikos Gouma Stadium lasted from 1936 until the early years of the new Millennium when it had to be demolished following earthquake damage. One of the most successful teams in the past with 11 domestic league titles and 13 Greek Cups, honours have been harder to come by in more recent times.

 In front of an 8,676 attendance, the two sides put on a superb match. Mid-table AEK come from behind to lead the bottom of the table visitors 3-1, but Panthraikos are not finished yet. They pull one goal back, hit the bar twice and are unlucky not to gain a point. Interestingly, the gentleman wearing the number 1 shirt for AEK plays as an outfielder.

With the flight home not till Monday evening spend most of the day sightseeing. Take the funicular up to the top of Lykavittos Hill (hill of wolves… did not see any old gold and black shirts though!) for superb views of the whole city, quench thirst at the Craft Athens Micro-brewery and soak up the sun on the beach at Glyfada. It’s a fine way to end an excellent trip, although my Greek (as opposed to Turkish) delight is confiscated at airport security because it is classed as a gel!

contributed on 26/10/10