The Eternal Rivalry Between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos
Few rivalries in world football are as fierce as the one between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. A match between these two teams often conjures images of flares, screaming fans, and, sadly, some violent clashes between supporters. As two of the most successful and historically significant clubs in Greek football, they have built a rivalry that still defines the country's football landscape today.
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History of Olympiacos
On March 10, 1925, members of Piraikos Podosfairikos Omilos FC and Piraeus Fans Club FC, two clubs from the Piraeus region, met to agree on the disappearance of both entities in order to form a new club inspired by the ideals of the Olympic movement, something that helped define both the name and the badge of the new club, Olympiacos Syndesmos Filathlon Pireos.The Andrianopoulos family, a powerful family from Piraeus, took charge of supporting the team and were responsible for, among other things, defining the club colors which, from its foundation to the present day, have been red and white stripes. Five members of the Andrianopoulos family played for Olympiacos, and the brothers became central figures in the club's early rise in popularity, which helped the team achieve great popularity in Greece.
From its inception, the club was dominant in its region, winning the first three editions of the Piraeus Football Clubs Association Championship. In 1927, the Hellenic Football Federation and the Panhellenic Championship (the Greek national league) were founded, which they won for the first time in 1931. The 1930s were a decade of almost absolute dominance by Olympiacos, as they won the national championship from 1933 to 1938, taking into account that the 1935 edition was not completed due to commitments of the national team and there is no official champion.
The Piraeus club established itself as the force to beat in Greek football, winning 15 of the 23 editions of the Panhellenic Championship played under that name until 1959, winning the last 6 editions of the tournament.
History of Panathinaikos
After the football section of Panellinios Gymnastikos Syllogos ceased to operate, Giorgos Kalafatis founded his own club on February 3, 1908, so that he could continue playing football and help promote the sport in Athens, at a time when football was spreading rapidly across Europe. The new club was called Podosferikos Omilos Athinon and was formed thanks to several former teammates of Kalafatis.The club's symbols, such as the colors and the crest, were defined during the 1910s, and in 1922 the name change to Panathinaikos was agreed upon, although it was made official in 1924. From a sporting perspective, the club was not particularly outstanding, only winning an amateur championship of the time called the SEGAS Championship a couple of times.
In 1923, the Athens FCA Championship was founded, where Panathinaikos became a powerhouse; in fact, before the establishment of national divisions, it was the most successful club in the competition, lifting the title 17 times. With the inception of the Panhellenic Championship in 1927, Panathinaikos quickly established itself as one of the competition's top teams, winning it for the first time in 1930, the tournament's second edition. However, their second national league title wouldn't arrive until 1949, following several runner-up finishes and an era dominated by Olympiacos. It was in the 1960s and early 1970s that Panathinaikos would start winning several championships, some of them consecutive.
The Rivalry
As is typical with these kinds of rivalries, there isn't a single point of origin; rather, several events unfold over the years to forge them. In this case, the initial difference stems from a social aspect, more precisely from the origins of each club and their respective locations. Panathinaikos was situated in an upper-class area, while Olympiacos was located in a port area, where the population was considered to be of a more working-class background.However, the rivalry really started on the pitch since they were two of the three clubs that have never been relegated from the first tier of Greece, the third being PAOK Thessaloniki, which meant that they have faced each other countless times and that several of those encounters were to decide tournaments since they were usually among the main candidates and this for roughly a century.
In addition, being multi-sport institutions, they not only face each other in football, but also compete in other disciplines such as basketball where they also have a huge following and rivalry which, added to the way Greek fans are (very passionate), has led to many clashes between the fans, with some descending into outright hooliganism.
Important and Tragical Events Between Supporters
But there have been more specific situations that have transformed this rivalry into something more than just a sporting encounter. We have to go back to June 1, 1930, when Olympiacos fans, confident in their superiority (despite the social class divide), arrived at their eternal rival's stadium in a procession carrying a coffin. However, what the red-and-white-clad fans didn't expect was that the match would end in defeat for them, and not just any defeat, as the game was an 8-2 victory for Panathinaikos, the largest margin of victory in the history of a derby between these eternal enemies.In 1957, a heavy tackle by a Panathinaikos player sparked anger among Olympiacos supporters, who invaded the field, followed by the Panathinaikos fans, starting a pitched battle on the field itself.
In 2003, the legendary Greek goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis was in his 15th season with Panathinaikos and had only one year left on his contract. The club made him a renewal offer that the goalkeeper considered insufficient, leading to the decision to bench him for many matches until the summer of 2004, when the European Championship was being played. Nikopolidis was the goalkeeper for the Greek national team, which would ultimately become champions of the tournament. That summer, finding himself a free agent, Nikopolidis received an offer from Olympiacos, which he decided to accept, thus becoming an enemy of the Panathinaikos fans after defending the green crest for a decade and a half.
One final example of the hostility surrounding this rivalry came in 2007. This is one of the darkest episodes in the rivalry, and it occurred when fans of the two clubs engaged in a pre-arranged clash before a women's volleyball match, which led to the death of a Panathinaikos supporter.