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 Superleague Greece: The League Formerly Known as Alpha Ethniki Welcome to the thread for Superleague Greece, the 2014-15 season of the top Greek league. The Greek football league system also includes the Football League (2nd tier), the top three teams of which are promoted to the Superleague each year, Football League 2 (3rd tier, divided into North and South groups), the Delta Ethniki (4th tier) and amateur leagues. Let us not kid ourselves, the Greek championship is a self-repeating joke, but it provides countless hours of entertainment, heartbreak, joy and violence for destitute people who have no jobs, i.e. all of Greece haha. Ha. The Greek top-tier league has existed for 90 or so years, but the championship has only ever been won by six teams: the three big Athens teams, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and AEK (RIP, see below), the two big Thessaloniki teams, PAOK and Aris (RIP, see below) and a fluke win by Larissa in 1988. This fact alone speaks volumes about how one-sided the championship is. The 2014-15 season features 18 clubs:  Asteras Tripolis Home City: Tripoli Manager: Staikos Vergetis Last finish: 5th The one little club that could, Asteras Tripolis rose from the 4th tier league in the early 00s to the Superleague in 2007 and managed to reach 3rd place in 2012-13, as well as a spot in the Cup Final, where they lost to Olympiacos.  Atromitos FC Home City Peristeri, Athens Manager: Georgios Paraschos Last finish: 3rd The other little club that could, Atromitos FC was founded in 1923 and bummed around the minor leagues for a few decades, before rising to the Football League in 2002 and then the Superleague in 2005. They reached the Cup Final in 2011, where they lost to AEK. Jozy-wannabe and Fulham laughing stock Kostas Mitroglou was on loan to Atromitos from Olympiacos for a couple of years in 2011 and he did wonders for the team, as well as making a name for himself as the best Greek striker in years. Fat load of good that did him, Fulham or the Greek National Team.  Veria FC Home City Veroia Manager: José Carlos Granero Last finish: 15th Another rural club that languished in the lower leagues for decades, with a few spells in the Alpha Ethniki (best finish: 7th in 1985-1986). With the influx of capital in the 00s, they managed to rise to the Superleague, but never astounded anyone. Expect a mid-table finish at best.  Ergotelis FC Home City Heraklion, Crete Manager: Juan Ferrando Last finish: 7th One of the three clubs from Crete participating in this Superleague season, Ergotelis is yet another rural club that languished in amateur/lower leagues for decades (notice a pattern here?) before rising quickly through the league tiers in the mid-00s and landing in the Alpha Ethniki in 2004-05 and being relegated at the end of the same season. The club often bounced between the top two leagues for a while, but has now become a mainstay of the Superleague. Their main rival is the other big Cretan team, OFI.  Kalloni FC Home City Mytilene, Lesbos Manager: Giannis Matzourakis Last finish: 12th One of the youngest clubs in Greece, Kalloni was founded in 1994 and, after slowly rising through the amateur and lower leagues, managed to be promoted to the Superleague in 2013, an impressive feat for a small club from an island. This will be their second season in the Superleague and I wish them well.  Kerkyra Home City Kerkyra, a.k.a. Corfu Manager: Michalis Grigoriou Last finish: 2nd in the Football League, promoted. Another small island club. Not much expected of them, will be lucky to remain in the Superleague at the end of the season.  Levadiakos FC Home City Livadeia Manager: Savvas Pantelidis Last finish: 8th Another rural club that bounced between the leagues for a few decades (playing in the Alpha Ethniki for a few seasons in the late 80s/early 90s) and yet another mid-table filler team.  Niki Volou Home City Volos Manager: Wiljan Vloet Last finish: 1st in the Football League, promoted. One of the two major clubs of Volos (the other being Olympiacos Volou, which was expelled from the Superleague for match fixing). Not expected to impress.  Olympiacos FC Home City Piraeus Manager: José Miguel González Martín del Campo aka Míchel Last finish: 1st The first big gun. The club that has won the most championships, cups, honours etc etc in Greek football history. To quote Wikipedia, Olympiacos is the most successful club in Greek football history, having won 41 Greek League titles, 26 Greek Cups, 16 Doubles and 4 Greek Super Cups, for a total of 71 national titles – all records. Olympiacos' dominating success is further signified by the fact that all the other Greek clubs have won a combined total of 37 League titles. One of the three clubs to have never been relegated from the top-tier league (the others being Panathinaikos and PAOK). A fierce rival of Panathinaikos FC, as well as PAOK FC. They consistently win 1st place which secures them entry into the CL group stage, where they do from poorly to OK (see last season's match-up with Man U), get a lot of money, which they use to buy good players and win again. Rinse and repeat. Olympiacos was one of the first teams to have a super rich owner (along with Panathinaikos and, recently, PAOK), which also explains the tremendous number of successes. Will probably win this season. Again. And again. And again.  OFI FC Home City Heraklion, Crete Manager: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gennaro_Gattuso Last finish: 6th The other big Cretan club and arguably the most recognisable club from the island. They've been a mainstay in the top-tier league and have won a Cup and have even done well for themselves in the Europa League. Their main rivals are Ergotelis, the other big Cretan club based in the same city. OFI does surprisingly well against the big teams. Very curious to see what Gattuso does with them.  Panathinaikos FC Home City Athens Manager: Giannis Anastasiou Last finish: 4th, Greek Football Cup winner The other big Greek club, Panathinaikos are based in Athens, a fierce rival of Olympiacos and winner of numerous seasons, the last one being in 2010. They've done really well in Europe in the past, even reaching the 1970–71 European Cup final under the guidance of Ferenc Puskas, where they lost 2-0 to Ajax. Not as smarmy and annoying as Olympiacos, but still another example of a club with big bucks and numerous options. They haven't been doing that well in recent seasons (NB: the best anyone other than Olympiacos can do is 2nd place) but are consistently among the top 5. Another club that's never been relegated from the top-tier league (along with Olympiacos and PAOK).  Panetolikos FC Home City Agrinio Manager: Makis Chavos Last finish: 9th This is the 4th time this small club has reached the Superleague (the others being in 1976, 1977 and 2012). Yet another mid-table fodder club.  Panthrakikos F.C. Home City Komotini Manager: Apostolos Mantzios Last finish: 10th First rose to the Superleague during the 2008-09 season, this small rural club doesn't have much going for it. Will have to hang on tooth and nail to avoid relegation.  Panionios FC Home City Nea Smyrni, Athens Manager: Dimitris Terezopoulos Last finish: 13th A minor club with a rich history, Panionios FC was founded in 1890 and has been a mainstay of the Alpha Ethniki/Superleague for as long as I can remember. It placed 2nd in the 70s, won a Greek Football Cup in 1998 and even reached the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals in 1999, an impressive feat for such a small club from a pitiful league such as the Greek one. Hasn't been impressive in decades so don't expect much.  PAOK FC Home City Thessaloniki Manager: Angelos Anastasiadis Last finish: 2nd, Greek Football Cup runner up One of the three big clubs of Thessaloniki and currently the only one remaining in the Superleague, PAOK was founded in 1926 (although it originated in Asia Minor in the 1870s) and, along with Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, is one of the three clubs to have never been relegated. PAOK have done consistently well in the Superleague (having won twice, in 1975-76 and 1984-85) and the Cup (four times, most recently in 2002-03), but so-so in international competitions. PAOK has entered a poo poo-ton of Cup Winners' Cup, Champions League and Europa League competitions but never does well. PAOK was acquired by Greek-Russian millionaire Ivan Savvidis in 2012, who has made wary investments in the team. Opinions on him are sharply divided. We'll see where this all leads. Its major rival is (was) Aris. Who knows when we'll play against them again.  PAS Giannina FC Home City Ioannina Manager: Giannis Petrakis Last finish: 11th Formed in 1966, PAS Giannina is the major representative of the Epirus region of Greece. This is its fifth season in the top-tier league, the other four being in 1975–76, 1977–78, 1979–80 and 2012–13. They've reached the Greek Cup semifinals twice, once in 2006-07 and once in 2009-10. One of the more hopeful rural clubs.  Platanias FC Home City Chania, Crete Manager: Giannis Christopoulos Last finish: 14th The third and least known) club from Crete, Platanias was founded in 1931 and rose to the Superleague a couple of years ago. Not expected to do much, but they do have a recent reputation as giant-killers within the Superleague, having beaten Panathinaikos, AEK and Aris on a few occasions.  Skoda Xanthi FC Home City Xanthi Manager: Sakis Tsiolis Last finish: 16th, narrowly avoided relegation after a play-off. Another relatively young (founded in 1967), rural club, Skoda Xanthi was purchased by a Skoda importer in the 90s and the name of the auto manufacturer has remained in the team's official name ever since, to the delight of fans of other clubs. They've participated in the Europa League a handful of times and managed to reach 4th place in the Superleague in 2004-05. Again, mid-table fodder, like most rural teams, unfortunately. Honourable Mentions:  Aris FC Home City Thessaloniki Manager: Dimitris Kalaitzidis Last finish: 18th, relegated. One of the three big clubs of Thessaloniki, Aris has a rich history and has won the Superleague three times (in the 1920s, 30s and 40s), making it one of the six teams to have ever won it. They've also done reasonably well in international competitions, having participated in numerous Europa League competitions, beating the title holders Atletico Madrid in 2010-11 and reaching the round of 32. They've done poorly in recent years and, like most Greek teams and all of Greece, are in dire straits, financially. Its major rival is (was) PAOK. They'll probably bounce back from the Football League soon enough.  Iraklis FC Home City Thessaloniki Manager: Nikos Papadopoulos Last finish: Football League, 7th. The last of the three big clubs of Thessaloniki, Iraklis has never enjoyed the popular support of Aris and PAOK, despite being one of the oldest clubs in Greece, having been founded in 1908. It did OK in the Superleague (top position: 3rd in 1983-94) and in European competitions. Iraklis suffered a financial collapse as the global economic crisis began and was relegated to the Football League in 2011 and, after a weird court case involving forgery of financial documents (Greeks? Unscrupulous with finances???), was relegated to the bottom tier, the Delta Ethniki. It has currently bounced back to the Football League and will hopefully return to the Superleague soon. They're loveable underdogs.  AEK FC Home City Athens Manager: Trainos Dellas Last finish: Football League (2nd), 1st. The third biggest club in Athens, AEK is one of the most historic teams in Greece, having won the Superleague 11 times and the Cup 14 times. Despite these records, they're a perennial underdog in Athens, playing third fiddle to Olympiacos and Panathinaikos for decades. After a poor season and a violent pitch invasion in 2013, they got docked points and got relegated for the first time. However, due to financial ruin, the club decided to start from scratch and self-relegated itself (an unprecedented but wily move to avoid financial regulations) to Football League 2, the third-tier league, which they won and will now be promoted to the Football League. They'll soon be back to the Superleague. Wait, what? Who cares??? I do and a handful of other posters might, as well. I know there are a few other Greek/half-Greek posters on here, so come on out of the woodwork! Uhhh OK so what is the Superleague like? As is the case with most leagues of minor countries, the majority of players are Greek, but there are also many international players (there's an undying belief that anyone with a Brazilian passport can play incredible football and to be honest they usually can, compared to the level of most Greek footballers). You often see 30-something-year-olds making it to Greece for a few seasons before retiring. OK, let me get my bearings. Where are all these cities you so diligently looked up and linked? Here you go, friend.  Where can I watch? Good luck with that. Most of the teams have deals with Greek cable providers, so your best bet if you don't have cable in Greece is online streams at the usual places. More important, why should I watch? Good question. Let me get back to you on that. Unless you're geographically/emotionally invested, there's no obvious draw for what is one of the worst leagues in Europe (currently 12th in the UEFA rankings). Greece did reasonably well for a country of its size and a league of its stature in the ongoing FIFA World Cup so maybe you're a fan of the scruff-bearded Grecian nation?? What should I read? There are and have always been countless Greek newspapers, magazines and, more recently, websites dedicated to football, most of them operated by the fan clubs of each team, so the reporting is rather partisan, even on ostensibly neutral media outlets. That said, almost all of them are in Greek and only international Greek-related news (see: the Mitroglou debacle) make it to English-language websites. Hopefully, posters participating in this thread will post newsworthy stories, as will posters following leagues that feature Greek players (Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, the Premiership, etc.) What to post about in this thread Anything you like, as long as it pertains to the Superleague and Greek football, in general. Feel free to propose additions/changes to my write-up and I'll include it in the OP. I'd appreciate it if you didn't post about Golden Dawn/the Greek economy/the Macedonian question, since they're derails and would probably be a better topic in D&D.
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Jul 7, 2014 18:52
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 23:32 |
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nice op, op
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Jul 7, 2014 19:02
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I had somehow forgotten that Gattuso is a manager again after that mess with Palermo and Sion. He didn't have much hope at Palermo given the immense pressure to come back to Serie A immediately and their legendarily insane owner. What's the pressure like at OFI? Will they be ok with finishing above relegation, but not much better? Also what's with the Shamrock in more than one crest? Does it mean something special in Greece?
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Jul 7, 2014 19:07
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The shamrock only appears in the crests of Panathinaikos and Platanias. It's almost synonymous with Panathinaikos, though. According to the official website of Platanias: "There are two stories regarding the origin of the shamrock on the club's crest: either due to the vast shamrock crops that used to exist in the region or due to a design error by the crest creator, who meant to draw a sycamore leaf (NB: Platanias comes from the word Platanos, which means Plane Tree/Sycamore) and accidentally drew a shamrock instead!"
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Jul 7, 2014 19:11
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Skoda Xanthi FC easily takes the crest title, followed by Panetolikos FC. AEK to challenge once they secure promotion to the superleague.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:12
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How good is Charis Mavrias? Sunderland signed him last year but he only played a couple games. Looks fully sick on Youtube tho
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Jul 7, 2014 19:14
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Malaka boustis boutana
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Jul 7, 2014 19:14
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Smokey posted:Malaka boustis boutana this but with p's instead of b's!!!
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Jul 7, 2014 19:14
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Fat Lowtax posted:How good is Charis Mavrias? Sunderland signed him last year but he only played a couple games. Looks fully sick on Youtube tho He did well in the national youth teams and did decently for Panathinaikos, scoring a couple of goals. I hope he works out at Sunderland.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:17
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Gigi Galli posted:I had somehow forgotten that Gattuso is a manager again after that mess with Palermo and Sion. He didn't have much hope at Palermo given the immense pressure to come back to Serie A immediately and their legendarily insane owner. What's the pressure like at OFI? Will they be ok with finishing above relegation, but not much better? I think any mid-table finish for OFI would be respectable, although Greek fans always have outlandish hopes of winning the championship even though everyone knows Olympiacos will win it.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:18
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I'm a life long *peers at OP* Iraklis FC fan. I hope they return to the Superleague soon.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:22
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who do you support op and do you ever watch the games at the stadium?
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Jul 7, 2014 19:29
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I am going to support the Skoda team because they sound kinda poo poo, just like the cars. Also their team name doesn't start with the letter 'P'.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:30
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Charlotte Hornets posted:who do you support op and do you ever watch the games at the stadium? PAOK and no I haven't been to a match in over a decade cause I live super far away. I'm moving a block away from the stadium in a month and I'm thinking of going to a few matches with my brother.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:31
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CSA does Icaria have a team. I want to support them if so.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:33
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I have to say, Greek clubs have cool names.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:34
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Smokey posted:CSA does Icaria have a team. I want to support them if so. It does indeed, it has several, but they're all amateur teams. Icaria belongs to the administrative region of Samos, which holds a local amateur league. Icaria also owns as a destination if you enjoy getting high and partying with old people until 8 am every day
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Jul 7, 2014 19:36
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Glad minnow league threads are here to stay, but it's a bit early no?
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Jul 7, 2014 19:37
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Greeks did everything before ya'll so it's rather fitting?
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Jul 7, 2014 19:38
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This thread is the best thing about Greek football tbh.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:38
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Maradonna Summer posted:It does indeed, it has several, but they're all amateur teams. Icaria belongs to the administrative region of Samos, which holds a local amateur league. Icaria also owns as a destination if you enjoy getting high and partying with old people until 8 am every day Thanks i'm going to start supporting one of those teams and I figure by tomorrow I should have a list of ten ways to improve the team and sport. Thanks again.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:39
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what's lesbos like
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Jul 7, 2014 19:40
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I've never been, they make really good ouzo from what I know.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:40
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Our first feelgood story of the season: http://www.thestival.gr/society/item/186634-lesbos-paiktis-tis-kallonis-esose-ilikiomeno-apo-bebaio-pnigmo-foto Theodosis Kyprou, a Kalloni footballer, just saved an old man from drowning.
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Jul 7, 2014 19:49
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Kristof Warzycha! That's all I've got, sorry.
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Jul 7, 2014 20:09
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Fantastic thread. I have long been a supporter of PAOK and will continue to be.
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Jul 7, 2014 20:15
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mackintosh posted:Kristof Warzycha! He's the first international superstar (or at least he became one here) that I remember Nobody could pronounce his surname though, the closest we could get to was "Vazeha"
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Jul 7, 2014 20:56
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Maradonna Summer posted:He's the first international superstar (or at least he became one here) that I remember I miss him, even though he did knock us out of the CL and we never qualified again. I loved the guy. Although he reminds me a lot of Lewandowski - a star at club level, woefully inefficient for the national team, he was an all around good guy and is very fondly remembered.
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Jul 7, 2014 22:22
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so if serie a is the old folks home then this league is the morgue where the cackling mad scientist gives people zombie virus?
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Jul 7, 2014 22:28
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Is the Panetolikos FC badge Sisyphus?!
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Jul 7, 2014 22:41
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Gol TV shows this league and I watched a lot of the Olympiakos games last season, but now that Campbell is gone I don't think I care enough to watch them. Will they run away with the league again? I might watch OFI matches to see Gattuso on the sidelines and because they are the former home of cool and good guy Steven Bryce.
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Jul 7, 2014 22:42
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Slaapaav posted:so if serie a is the old folks home then this league is the morgue where the cackling mad scientist gives people zombie virus? it's the florida to serie a's old folks home vivisectvnv posted:Is the Panetolikos FC badge Sisyphus?! No but i can see why you'd think that! It's Titormus, read up on him if you enjoy Greek mythology/legends. The text on the badge reads "Τίτορμος Αιτωλός, ούτος άλλος Ηρακλής" i.e. "Titormus the Aetolian, the other Hercules". Drogadon posted:Gol TV shows this league and I watched a lot of the Olympiakos games last season, but now that Campbell is gone I don't think I care enough to watch them. Will they run away with the league again? Yes  Rest assured I'll post any funny pictures of Gattuso screaming by the pitch.
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Jul 7, 2014 22:47
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Nice OP, OP! Ahh, a thread that warms my heart and lower cockles. Half breed American Greek here. My 83 year old father lives in a tiny village of a hundred people in the mountains of Nemea (visiting lengthily due to health issues) so that should hopefully get me some street cred and overlook my lack of Greek language skills. (Phonetically: 'then cataloveno') With my father's visit we had the opportunity to watch lots of football and the world cup and finally found out that he was a Panathinaikos supporter, so by football rules I am. I know poo poo about them other then the shamrock, which goes well as my other half is Irish and Russian Jew. I would love to get plugged into this League of Supers residing in Hellas!
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Jul 8, 2014 01:22
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Drogadon, Borges might be making a move to PAOK so keep watching gol maybe?
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Jul 8, 2014 12:05
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TraderStav posted:Nice OP, OP! That's cool, IMO. Shortly before he died, my grandad confessed to us that he was an Iraklis fan. The family joke was that after he died, the total global Iraklis fanbase would drop 20%.
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Jul 8, 2014 12:07
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How is Asteras Tripolis? My old hometown team managed to snatch the Finnish cup last year, and thus booked a berth in Europa League 2nd qualifying round and will be playing them next week. Not expecting much, as RoPS has really been pretty poo poo for this season (Finnish season runs from April to October).
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Jul 8, 2014 12:39
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I know nothing about Greece or Greek football but I do play with an astonishing amount of Greek expats in my local league and they're loving great/insane to a man. There's also a semi professional club South Melbourne Hellas that I love and who have quite a (comparatively) interesting history here in Melbourne, including going broke to fly to south America and get flogged by man u in the club world cup. So long story short, I'll be keeping up with this poo poo 
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Jul 8, 2014 13:50
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Lunsku posted:How is Asteras Tripolis? My old hometown team managed to snatch the Finnish cup last year, and thus booked a berth in Europa League 2nd qualifying round and will be playing them next week. They've been surprisingly good in the Superleague, but I have no idea how they'll fare in a European competition. They've made a couple of transfers and have been training for regularly for the past couple of weeks, I guess they're ready.
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Jul 8, 2014 14:24
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Tongues posted:I know nothing about Greece or Greek football but I do play with an astonishing amount of Greek expats in my local league and they're loving great/insane to a man. There's also a semi professional club South Melbourne Hellas that I love and who have quite a (comparatively) interesting history here in Melbourne, including going broke to fly to south America and get flogged by man u in the club world cup. going broke and being flogged by man u is a time-honoured Greek tradition
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Jul 8, 2014 14:24
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| # ? Apr 26, 2024 23:32 |
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Bumping this because of some interesting news. In an effort to address match-fixing/shoddy referring in view of the upcoming season, the Greek Football Federation decided to hire Hugh Dallas as the Chief Referee of the Superleague. He'll be tasked with assigning referees to Superleague matches and overseeing their performance. His wikipedia page is fun, especially the part about his sectarian e-mail that was rude about the Pope. Scottish or trans-Scottish people, opinions, please.
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Jul 30, 2014 14:23
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