Panachaiki - An example for all Greek clubs

Just two seasons ago Panachaiki where relegated to the third division (under the nightmare ownership of Kougias), they where in disarray, disjointed, with players and coaches often changed and young players sold off too quickly (Plegas to Olympiakos for example) It was inevitable that the team would struggle in those conditions but getting knocked down to the third division seemed to wake the club up and moves where made in the right direction. None being more important then hiring Euro 2004 winner Kostas Katsouranis As the new technical director of the club.

Katsouranis’ appointment in 2016 initiated many changes that where simple which gradually stabilised the club. None more so then starting a Panachaiki alliance which consisted of a group of businessmen from Patra having ownership shares in the team (About 15-20 people so far & with Katsouranis stating 35-50 would be the ideal number). Katsouranis has stated himself it was the main key to a succesfully run club since he's made it clear that a club shouldn't be run by one owner in Greece (See Alafaouzos for PAO or Iraklis for examples). He said clubs should have a strong connection to the community, as well as properly run academies being the focal point for them to be able to succeed in today's Greece with the financial crisis and perceived corruption. 
Of course another big key is that the ownership structure does not interfere in any of the decisions being made on football matters, as that should be left to the football department along with the coach Ofrydopoulos.

Ofrydopoulos & Katsouranis describing their plans for Panachaiki back in 2016

As he stated in this interview recently Greek football teams can't live and depend solely on money from Nova (a cable company that funds the Greek League teams) for too long as sooner or later that bubble will pop!

Katsouranis Interview - It is in Greek

Other changes Katsouranis made where making sure the club was primarily made up of Greek players. As he stated in the interview above, foreign players cost money that Greek clubs don't necessarily have. Most are there for their own career and dont know what it means to play for clubs in Greece. 

What was stated is that Greek players aren't behind in anything talent wise they just need to play. Panachaiki for example is a team made up of ALL Greek players and one Albanian that grew up in Greece (midfielder Gino), it is a squad now that is built on experienced former Ethniki first team players Fotakis and Chalkias, with promising youngsters like Moraitis, and 16 year old winger Masouras. 

They also have a promising coach in Ofrydopoulos that sets the team up well defensively, has the team united, and makes good use of their counter attacks/set plays/etc. All this in return has built a real cohesiveness within the team that couldn't be more obvious than in this goal scored earlier this season. Panachaiki Goal

All the good work has led them from the third division just two years ago to 2nd place currently in the second division, which is one of the spots that automatically puts them back to the Greek Super League. Now whether that stays the same at the end of the season isn't assured but the fact that the team is in contention, has their stadium often full, good plans in place (improving their stadium/etc), and is healthy financially shows that more teams should use them as an example for how Greek football teams should be run. After all it was Panachaiki that was the first team outside of Athens & Thessalloniki to qualify for Europe and it seems they're the one's making the example for everyone once again.

 Panachaiki qualify for Europe in 1973

By Apostolos for Hellas Football