OFI The Golden Years in Crete

OFI The Golden Years in Crete

By Stephen Kountourou 

In Greek football, domestic competitions have almost always been dominated by teams from the mainland. This is hardly a surprise as Greece's plethora of islands in the Aegean has vastly smaller populations, so any success would be fleeting at best for any side. The exception to this is most certainly Crete, the biggest Island in Greece, with the most successful side being OFI. 

O Omilos despite not being a mainland side has stood the test of time and as of the end of the 20120/21 season side have the 6th most appearances in the first tier, an achievement that cannot be understated. So for this week, I will be highlighting the very best of OFI, their early beginnings, the golden age of the mid to late 80s and a quick look at where they are now as a football club.    

Brief History

The club was founded in the autumn of 1925 under the name Omilos Filathlon Irakleiou by athletes who would exercise at the Heraklion. Originally a majority member owned club, OFI struggled in its early years due to the beginning of WWII as travel was limited. Instead, the club played against local sides until Crete was occupied by the German army and all competitions were suspended. 

After the war football restarted in Greece and with it the participation of OFI in the National Championship, although due to the club not being from the bigger provinces of Athens and Thessaloniki, Omilos were made to play through multiple preliminary stages before reaching the championship proper. 

 

Eventually and after some league restructures OFI finally won their preliminary group and entered the national championship for the first time in 1957/58. By the Alpha Ethniki era, however, O Omilos struggled to get their team frequently around Greece due to the cost of travel. Between 1962 and 1968, OFI tried on numerous occasions to reach the promised land of the first tier, coming close but just missing out every time. Finally, after winning a playoff final in 1967/68 the Cretan side was promoted to the Alpha Ethniki for the first time in their history. 

During their debut campaign, OFI were able to stay up by the skin of their teeth, finishing 12th and a point above the relegation playoff places. After another season of just missing out on the drop, it all finally caught up with OFI as they finished second bottom and were relegated in 1970/71. 

 

Five seasons later, OFI returned to the top flight after a couple more failed attempts to reach the promised land. Upon their first tier return, they finished 6th a fantastic achievement for a promoted side. The following two seasons would see O Omilos finish in the top 10 once more and have an excellent home record even against some of the Alpha Ethniki's biggest sides. 

By the end of the 70s and early 80s, OFI had fully established themselves as a first division side, winning plaudits with much of the country by exceeding everyone's expectations. But as the mid-80s rolled around, things for the Cretan side would only skyrocket from there with the arrival of one, Eugene Gerards.  

 

Close Title Run, Cup Triumph and European Adventures 

In the Dutch managers' first year in charge of the Cretan side during in1985/86 campaign OFI would go on a fantastic run, finishing second in the league only five points behind eventual champions Panathinaikos and finishing ahead of the likes of AEK and Olympiakos. A monumental achievement for him and the club. Finishing runners up also meant that OFI qualified for the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history.

 

The very next season however would possibly be the greatest in the history of the Island club. Despite going out in the first round of the UEFA Cup, O Omilos were able to record a victory at home against then Yugoslavian side Hajduk Split before being defeated away and the tie ending 1-4 on aggregate. The league season for OFI was also a success as they finished in 3rd, a place lower than the previous campaign but with the same points tally a true showing of consistency. Undoubtedly Their greatest achievement to date has to be during the same season in the 1986/87 edition of the Greek Cup.

 

After defeating both lower league sides Thiva FC and Edessaikos in the first and second round, OFI would face their first top-tier side in Apollon Athens, known as Apollon Smyrni. After smashing their opponents 4-0 at home, they succumbed to a loss in the capital 1-0 but still went through comfortably on aggregate. 

After facing another lower league side in Kallithea in the last eight and then dispatching Diagoras in the Semi Final, OFI would face Thessaloniki side Iraklis manned by the Greek Maradona himself Vasilis Hatzipanagis. Ioannis Samaras and co still took the game to their mainland opponents and despite going behind at the half hour mark, equalised almost immediately through Grigoris Charalambidis. Neither side could be separated after 90 minutes and the extra time and the match went to penalties. OFI would be the side to emerge victorious after winning 3-1 in the shoot out and claim their first major piece of silverware. 

 

By winning the Greek Cup, it gave the Cretans the chance to compete in the UEFA Cup Winners Cup the following season. They did one better than their previous exploits in Europe, knocking out Bulgarian side Vitosha Sofia over two legs in the first round before being narrowly dumped out in round two to Italian side Atalanta. The league campaign also went extremely well for OFI as they finished in 4th place, only just missing out on Europe for a third consecutive campaign. 

After finishing 5th in 1988/89 and with no European football again, OFI entered the Balkans Cup. Eugene Gerards men then played Yugoslavian team Radnicki Nis in the cup final. At halftime, the Greek side trailed 1-0 to their opponents, but after a flurry of goals, nearly every twenty minutes in the second half OFI won 3-1 and became the 5th Greek side to lift the Balkans Cup. 

 

Later Years and the Modern Day

 

After the overwhelming success of the late 1980s, the early 1990s would see a slight decline from OFI. The club would still finish comfortably in the top ten but would consistently miss out on European places. It was not until 1993/94 when they finally finished 4th and reached the UEFA Cup. The renascence had begun. 

This would be the greatest run in Europe's second competition thus far for O Omilos. After overcoming Slavia Prague in the first round, the Greek Islanders would do the unthinkable and knock out Spanish side Atletico Madrid in the second round winning 2-0 at Heraklion to progress to the next round. The Round of 16 would be as far as I would go sadly as Portuguese side Boavista over two legs made short work of their opponents.

 

A couple of seasons later in 1996/97 OFI were at it again, finishing 3rd in the league after dumping Panathinaikos out of the European places and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. After seeing off Icelandic side KR Reykjavik in the second round of the qualifiers OFI reached the first round proper and faced Hungarian team Ferencvaros, defeating them 4-2 on aggregate. The second Round would see OFI narrowly exit the tournament 5-4 on aggregate to French side Auxerre. 

 

The 1999/2000 season would be an era ending one for the club from Crete. After guiding the team to another 4th place finish and the UEFA Cup First Round, Dutch manager Eugène Gerards left the club after an amazing 15 year stint with the Cretans which stands to this day as the longest tenure of any coach in Greek top flight history. This would sadly also result at the end of the golden era for OFI and things were about to get a whole lot more difficult for the club. 

 

OFI began the UEFA Cup 2000/01 addition well as they thrashed Yugoslavian team Napredak Krusevac 6-0 on aggregate in Round 1 but were unable to go further than the second round after being knocked out by Slavia Prague. Domestically however it was a whole different story as the club needed a relegation playoff win against PAS Giannina to stay up in the first division that season. 

O Omilos would spend the 2000s still in the first tier but would never break into the top six, instead constantly flirting with relegation. They eventually faced the drop in 2008/09 after 33 years in the first division and resigned to playing in the Beta Ethniki. 

After two years in the second division, OFI gained promotion back to the Greek Super League and were able to reestablish themselves. They would go on to finish 6th, the highest finish for the club post the golden era in 2013/14, the Cretans fell into severe financial problems and were forced to withdraw from the league in March of the 2014/15 season effectively relegating them once more. This time however it was far more severe as the club was forced to withdraw from professional competition altogether after nearly half a century. 

 

A merger between the football club and its parent sporting department occurred and OFI were allowed to compete in the amateur Gamma Ethniki. After multiple promotions over the next few years, they returned to the top flight once again for the 2018/19 season. Since then OFI has been taken over by a new shareholder who looks to progress back to where they once were all those years ago. The club even finished 6th in 2019/20 and reached the Europa League qualifiers. Even with a rather poor season behind them in 2020/21, it is our hope that maybe one day the club from Crete can challenge at the top of Greek football once again.    

Hellas Football 

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