On the back of the five consecutive Greek Cup wins from the late 50’s to the early 60’s (an all time record in Greek football history), Olympiakos was reinforced with numerous important players, least of all the clubs record highest scorer Giorgios Sideros who joined Olympiakos in 1959. They became the first Greek club to win an international competition in 1963 when they took out the Balkans Cup. In the 1960’s, this was a very popular and well-regarded tournament, second only to the European Cup in terms of prestige. After topping their group with some notable wins including victories over Galatasaray, FK Sarajevo and FC Brasov, Olympiakos faced Levski Sofia in the final where they won the first leg 1-0 but lost the second with the same score. This meant a replay was required on neautral ground.

 

In Istanbul, another 1-0 win gave the Balkans Cup to Olympiakos. The club obtained two additional Greek Cups in 1963 and 1965, which completed seven Greek Cup titles in nine years. However, the Greek league championship eluded them, and they were not able to win a title from 1959 until 1965. As a result of this unacceptable performace, the board of Olympiakos hired legendary Hungarian manager Marton Bukovi, one of the inventors of the 4-2-4 formation. He brought along former Mighty Magyar Mihaly Lantos as his assistant, and the pair soon transformed Olympiakos into a powerful, attacking team featuring constant player movement, and a combination game that made for some spectacular football. This was made possible through innovative tactics and groundbreaking training methods.

 

Following outstanding performances from several key players, the clubs title drought came to an end with back to back league championships in 1966 and 1967. The first of these titles came thanks to 23 wins and 4 draws in 30 matches. Following the decisive final match away against Trikala, 15,000 Olympiakos fans flooded the city’s streets to celebrate their first title in seven years. Their 1966-67 record of 12 wins in 14 games lasted all the way up to 2013-14 season and included a memorable 4-0 smashing of rivals Panathinaikos, who had one of the strongest sides in European football at the time. The score could have been even higher, had Olympiakos not missed a plethora of scoring chances.

 

Bukovi’s Olympiakos side became legendary, and even had an anthem written for them. But it all came crashing down with the 1967 Greek military coup d’edat, with the military dictatorship having devastating effects on Olympiakos. Giorgios Adrianopolous, a club legend and their president at the time, was booted out, and then the regime blocked the transfer of Giorgios Koudas to the club. Even worse, Martin Bukovi, the architect of the brilliant 1965-67 team, was kicked out of the country and labelled a communist, along with Mihaly Lantos. Thanks to this series of events, the Olympiakos dream was over, at least for the time being.

​

Acheivements:
Greek Championship – Champions x2
Greek Cup – Winners x2
Balkans Cup – Winners x1

​

Star player: Giorgios Sideris, dob 4 April 1938, pob Piraeus, Greece, nickname: The Bulldozer

​

An inside-right forward, Sideris earned that particular nickname due to the fact that no one and nothing could stand in his way. Quick on the ball, quick on his feet and with a scoring instinct, Sideris is Olympiakos’ all-time highest goal scorer and led the Greek league in scoring for three seasons. In 1970, he left Greece and joined Royal Antwerp of Belgium, making him the first Greek player to play professionally outside of Greece, just missing out on the European Golden Boot to CSKA Sofia’s Peter Zhekov. He was capped 28 times for Greece, scoring 14 goals. He returned to Olympiakos for one season just prior to his retirement, after which he went on to establish and run a successful insurance company.