With around 4 million fans inside Greece and millions of others in Greek communities all over the world, Olympiakos are the most famous, popular and successful Greek football club, holding a total of 75 national titles including 44 league titles, 27 Greek Cups (17 doubles) and 4 Greek Super Cups. To put this into some perspective, all other Greek teams combined have won a total of 37 league titles. They were founded on the 10th March 1925 at the ancient port of Piraeus which sits on the outskirts of Athens. The clubs identity and aim was inspired by the Ancient Olympic Games; to encompass the morality, splendour, honour, fair play and sportsmanship represented by the Olympic ideal of Ancient Greece. This is symbolised in the clubs emblem, the laurel- crowned profile of Alexander the Great.

 

People from all walks of life came together in the merging of two clubs that formed Olympiakos – Notis Kamperos, a senior officer of the Hellenic navy, Michalis Manouskos, a prominent industrialist, Stavros Maragoudakis, the director of the local post office, as well as soldiers, stockbrokers, attorneys and a notary public. But it was, perhaps, a family of prominent Pireaus merchants who had the most pivotal role in the founding of Olympiakos – the Adrianopolous family. Five brothers from the family all played for the club: Yiannis, Dinos, Giorgios, Vassilis and Leonidas. With these five brothers in the clubs offensive line, Olympiakos soon gained enormous popularity and before they knew it, they were the most popular and well-supported club in Greece.

 

Playing their home games at the Neo Phaliron Velodrome, they became Piraeus champions in 1925 and again in 1926. By then, the Hellenic Football Federation was formed, and they organised the Panhellenic Championship starting in the 1927 season, in which the champions of each of the three regional leagues, would compete in a series of playoffs for the national title. The following season, a dispute arose between Olympiakos and the HFF, which caused Olympiakos to break away along with Panathinaikos and AEK Athens. The three clubs formed their own group and played friendlies until the dispute was resolved. In the meantime, Olympiakos continued to completely dominate the Piraeus Championship.

 

They took out the top honours in 1926-27, 1928-29, 1929-30 and 1930-31, firmly establishing themselves as the leading force in Greek football. Amazingly, Olympiakos went undefeated for three straight years, from 14 March 1926 to 3 March 1929, leading to the Athens press bestowing the title Thrylos (Legend) on the club for the first time. By 1931, the club were again participating in the Panhellenic Championship and they won it, obtaining their first ever national title following a season of 11 wins, 2 draws and only 1 loss. Interestingly, they managed 7 wins in 7 games at home that season, all with the same score: 3-1, against Panathinaikos, AEK Athens, Aris, Iraklis and PAOK. The club would enjoy more successes over the following decade.

Achievements: Piraeus FCA Championship – Champions x6

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Star player: Yiannis Adrianopolous, DoB 1900, Piraeus, Greece

Yiannis and his four brothers were founding members of Olympiakos. From 1918 to 1924, he enjoyed success with local Piraeus clubs. In autumn of that year, his clubs split into two separate squads. Yannis, his brothers and goalkeeper Kostas Klidouchakis formed what would evolve into Olympiakos. The other half of the club formed into Ethnikos Pireos. Of the five, Yiannis was the borther who made the biggest impact upon the club, acting as player-manager for several years. He played for Greece at the 1920 Olympics and went on to become president of Olympiakos for 3 years.

STARTING XI:
GK- Kostas KLIDOUCHAKIS
DF- Philippos KOURANTIS DF- Nikolaos ZACHARIAS
MF-Lakis LEKKOS MF-Nikos ANDRONIKOS MF – Achilleas GRAMMATIKOPOLOUS
FW- Yiannis ADRIANOPOLOUS FW-Dinos ADRIANOPOLOUS FW- Giorgios ADRIANOPOLOUS FW- Vasilis ADRIANOPOLOUS FW- Leonidas ADRIANOPOLOUS
SUBS:

Ioannis KEKKES , Stavros MARAGOUDAKIS, Dimitrios SKILAS, Kostas KLIDOUCHAKIS, Charalambos PEZONIS
Manager: Michalis MANOUSKOS
Home Ground: Velodrome