Hellas Football

No Football without Fans   By Steve Kountourou From its humble beginnings, to the cultural, social and quite frankly financial powerhouse, the beautiful game of football, at its core, would be nothing without the fans. The backbone of any football club are their wealth of supporters who, in this new age of technology and social media can come from all walks of life. From long traditions of supporting your families club who come from that town or city, or the supporter that watches their team play in the early hours of the morning from the other side of the world.  This is what makes football fandom so unique compared to other sports. The same can certainly be said for football in Greece, which has always been graced with some of the most passionate supporters on the continent. Whether your team is playing in the local derby, or a European side pays a visit and is met by a sea of Greeks singing in unison to create an electrical atmosphere, Greek football and its supporters are ...

Olympiakos vs AEK Athens Preview   By Steve Kountourou  As the year begins the brief winter break for Greek football comes to an end, we look now to this Sunday, and one of the more compelling fixtures in the Greek Super League.  That being the derby between Olympiakos and AEK Athens. One of the biggest spectacles of the Greek game every season, both sides did not have to wait long since their last encounter in capital on the 16th of December, to face each other once again for the reverse fixture in Piraeus.  For both sides, this is a hugely important game to start 2021.  As well as the bragging rights for whoever wins this match, Olympiakos need to start the year right by keeping high flying Aris firmly at arms length in their race to retain the title.  For AEK it's all about keeping up with their Thessaloniki rivals in PAOK and Aris, while also looking over their shoulder at local rivals Panathinaikos not far behind them.  So for the first blog of th...

Another stormy summer in Thessaloniki.   By Alain Anastasakis  It now sounds like a cliché. But PAOK did the best to stay on track. After the departure of Abel Ferreira on October 30, Pablo Garcia, one of the club's legends, was appointed manager. 'El Canario', who also led the academy for 4 years where he got extraordinary results with an impressive run of 3 years undefeated, is now in charge of the Senior squad.  Mid-season review and analysis Overview : Everything started with a great European campaign and prestigious victories over Besiktas then Benfica.  The Dikefalo had big hopes for this season. Unfortunately, the team missed out again at the last step with a loss against Krasnodar. The eternal curse some people would say, another proof of inexperience some others could tell. Following this disillusion, PAOK was back in Europa League with Granada, PSV and Omonia. The home draw and the away loss against Nicosia cost us qualification to the next round.  We ...

Consistent Aris? By Kostas Mantis Twelve games in and Aris sit 3 points off Olympiakos in second spot.  What we have seen thus far is a deep squad with quality planted all over the park.  Overview of squad. Finally, we don’t have to rely on one or two players like Fetfatzidis to hit the back of the net. Bruno Gama, Facundo Bertoglio, Daniel Mancini, Mateo Garcia, Dimitrios Manos & Xande Silva from West Ham is an example of the attacking depth now available for coach Mantzios. In the guts, Matilla, Sasha & Jeggo have been rock solid, but my belief is that one injury in this area could cause big headaches.  Now let’s analyse the defence, who have been super until now. However, over the past couple years this defence has lacked concentration & leaked goals at crucial times so there is doubt as to whether they can continue this form.  To be blunt, the success of this seasons campaign will come down to whether the defensive group can continue to play the way t...

Salvation Lies Within: The Relegation Round Midseason Report By Nick Gargano Thirteen matches down, thirteen matches left.  The regular season in Greece’s top flight football league is halfway over, and just like at the end of last year, the top six and bottom eight teams will be split into play-off and play-out rounds to decide their fate heading into next season.  If you’re at all familiar with what Greek football has looked like in recent years, you already know that  nothing  is ever certain.   Mid-table Clashes: Asteras, Volos, OFI, Atromitos, Giannina and Apollon  Each club occupying positions 5-11 has a legitimate shout at the play-off on paper, as the gap separating 5 and 11 is only six points.  Without much room for error, we should see the deeper teams with more proven attacks separate themselves from the pack.  Panathinaikos has hit its stride under new coach Laszlo Boloni and only looks poised to continue their upward trend after ...

Mid Season Review- Asteras Tripolis F.C. By Alexander Koutakos Asteras Tripolis have had an extravagant start of the season for their standards! They usually finish 8-11 in the Greek Super League table. However, at the moment the Arcadians sit in 6th place with 17 points, in a very congested super league table! During the summer, they had a somewhat quiet transfer window. Furthermore, the higher-ups of the club stayed the same and the recurring cycle of signing foreign players continued. In regards to the purchasing of foreign players, they managed to sign Gomez(RW- Argentina), Garcia(RB- Spain), Castano(CB- Spain) and a few more. Asteras’s Form Throughout The Season At the start of the season the Arcadians were in tremendous form. Furthermore, the Peloponnesian outfit won 4 out of their first 6 games. Those 4 wins were against Panathinaikos(1-0), Apollon Smyrni(5-1), Larissa(3-1) and OFI(1-0). However, since their win against OFI they have gone on a 7 game winless streak . That 7 game...

AEL Mid Season Review Well, here I am and where do I begin? For the biggest provincial club in Greece you would expect AEL to be fighting for Top 6. That has not been the case since earning promotion to the Super league in 2016, instead have been lurking around with relegation battlers with bunch of tourists taking to the field acting as if they care but fantasize sunbathing on the Greek islands. Yes, I am referring to foreign players. The transfers made in summer, once again, has been a repeat of every transfer window. The ins and outs always excessive, and in typical fashion presents no plan. Now, try construct an answer: How can the club afford to release so many players, who do not last their full contracts with high chances of unpaid wages resulting in temporary point deductions? This is one of the thousands of issues under the Alexis Kougias regime. Without a doubt, the 2020/2021 Super League season has been an absolute nightmare for AEL as I have already written off the season s...