THE CURRENT STATE OF WOMEN'S FOOTBALL IN GREECE

THE CURRENT STATE OF WOMEN'S FOOTBALL IN GREECE

By: Alexander Koutakos

In many countries, women's soccer is ascending at an unprecedented rate! In Greece, the exact opposite is happening and EPO is on the verge of destroying women's football in Greece!  Moreover, in this article I will go over the current and disgraceful state of the women's top-division, the women's national team and the youth system in place for girls. 

THE CURRENT STATE OF THE WOMEN'S TOP DIVISION IN GREECE 

The top women's league in Greece consists of 22 teams. The league itself is split into 2 divisions; the "Northern Division" (anything north of Athens) and the "Southern Division" (Athens and Southern Greece). 

The Northern division consists of; Agrotikos Asteras Agias Varvaras Women, Agrotikos Asteras Women, Aris Thessaloniki FC Women, Doxa 2016 Dramas Women, Akadimia Elpides Karditsas Women, PAS Giannina FC Women, Kastoria GPO Women, AEL Larissa Women, FC PAOK Thessaloniki Women, Trikala 2011 Women and Vasilissa Thrakis Xanthis Women.

The Southern Division consists of; Agia Paraskevi Women, Atromitos FC Women, Avantes Chalkidas, Ergotellis Women, AOSA Feidon Argolidas Women, Karyatides Spartis Lakonias Women, Missolonghi 2008 Women, AO Neos Asteras Rethymnou Women, OFI Women, Odysseas Glyfada Women and AS Olimpiada Imittou Women. FC PAOK Thessaloniki Women have dominated the league in the past decade!

The league itself has always been tight on money and this year many clubs are facing potential dissolvement and bankruptcy. 

The clubs are facing the aforementioned, because the league has been canceled due to "Covid-19" according to EPO. We all know that the aforementioned is completely false. It's quite obvious that the season has been canceled due to the mismanagement and the misappropriation of funds for the women's league by EPO. 

This situation has  identically occurred with the Super League 2, up until a month ago! Sadly, I think that more  situations like these will occur under Grammenos's presidency. Hopefully, he loses the election and Greek football can move forward in a positive direction for the first time in 7 years! 

THE CURRENT STATE OF THE GREEK WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM

Currently, Greece's National Women's Team is ranked 63rd in the world according to the "FIFA World Rankings". That is absolutely abysmal! To put that into perspective, nations like; Haiti, Jamaica, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Myanmar and even Papua New Guinea are all ahead of Greece in the rankings. The team itself is fairly balanced and without any star players. 

However, they do have an extravagant veteran leader with 141 caps; Natalia Chatzigiadinnou. Her leadership qualities remind me of Giorgos Karagounis, the king himself! The manager of the team is Antonios Prionas. In their recent 2022 Euro Qualification campaign, they finished 4th out of 5 teams. They finished on 7 points ahead of Montenegro, but behind Germany, Ukraine and Ireland. To say the least, things are not looking bright for Greece's Women's National Team. 

They lack consistency and confidence, but if that  changes we may see Greece's Women's National Team make a tournament! 

THE CURRENT STATE OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT FOR GIRLS IN GREECE

For female youth players, the team with the best academy is PAOK F.C Women. This is undeniable! Moreover, a huge number of the players on Greece's Women's National Team and Youth Teams play for PAOK F.C. Women. 

PAOK's academy is superb at attracting talent from all-over Northern Greece! In terms of infrastructure,the infrastructure surrounding female youth teams in Greece is severely underfunded! The pitches that they play on are disgraceful! Many of the pitches are located on bumpy surfaces, brown grass and are sometimes covered with puddles! Shame on you EPO!!  

What Do I Think Needs To Be Done, To Resurrect Women's Football In Greece?

I personally think that the people in charge at EPO need to be replaced with competent executives for the resurrection of female football in Greece, to occur! 

Without that, female football in Greece is doomed! Personally, I would prefer an owner or an executive from teams like, OFI, Asteras Tripolis and Atromitos to become the leader of EPO. They themselves have resurrected their respective teams towards prosperity and have shown mutual respect to other teams in Greece. 

For example, a few months ago, the executives of OFI proposed a plan to EPO regarding the increase of funds to teams in the lower leagues to try to keep them afloat monetarily! 

Also, the owners from these teams are fairly unbiased and do not wallow away like the big 5 do (Aris, PAOK, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos and AEK). 

Secondly, I think that future EPO "regimes" need to invest in the infrastructure of women’s football. Currently, women's football infrastructure in Greece is in a state of disarray and shambles! Furthermore, the pitches are not kept properly, changing rooms and training facilities are dirty and clubs don’t have the necessary capital to change these things. 

This starts at the top, with EPO. If and when the investment comes, the overall quality of the league and the women’s national team will improve immensely. Without a doubt!

In conclusion, if these two aforementioned things occur (the investment into women’s football in Greece and a change in leadership at EPO), I believe that women’s football in Greece would and will resurrect from its current disgraceful state!

EPO SE PARAKALO, THIS HAS DRAGGED ON FOR TOO LONG!!!!!

Hellas Football

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