Kavala F.C.

Football club

Kavala

Full name| Αθλητικός Όμιλος Καβάλα
(Athletic Club Kavala)
Nickname(s)| Argonauts
Light Brigade of the North
Short name| AOK
Founded| 24 September 1965; 58 years ago (1965-09-24)
Ground| Anthi Karagianni Stadium
Capacity| 10,550
Chairman| Valantis Bletsas
Manager| Nikos Karampetakis
League| Super League Greece 2
2023–24| Gamma Ethniki (Group 1), 1st (promoted)

Home colours

Away colours

|

Kavala Football Club[1] (Greek: Αθλητικός Όμιλος Καβάλα, lit. 'Athletic Club Kavala') is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Kavala, Greece. They compete in the Super League Greece 2, the second tier of the Greek football league system. The club's home ground is the Anthi Karagianni Stadium.

## History

[edit]

The club was formed in 1965 from the merger of Phillipoi Kavala, Iraklis Kavala and A.E. Kavala.[2]

They have had a few runs in the top division of the Greek League. They were promoted to Alpha Ethniki for the first time in 1969 and stayed up for six years (1970 through 1975). They returned to the top division in 1976 and played again for six seasons.

In 1982 the club were relegated to the Beta Ethniki (second tier of Greek football). After 11 years in Beta Ethniki and one year in Gamma Ethniki (third tier – 1988–89) they were promoted to Alpha Ethniki. Their "black" period began for the team in which they played only in Beta Ethniki and Gamma Ethniki.

### 2009–2010 season

[edit]

Wilson Oruma Charles Itandje

In 2009 they signed Miltiadis Sapanis and EURO 2004 winner Fanis Katergiannakis. Kavala were promoted for the first time in 9 years to Greeces top division. In their quest to remain in the top flight they have signed Pepe Reina's back up at Liverpool, Charles Itandje and recently acquired Brazilian Denílson (January 2010 transfer window) a 2002 World Cup Winner. Additional season signings include Craig Moore, Željko Kalac, Ebi Smolarek, Diogo Rincón, Sotiris Leontiou, Serge Dié, Wilson Oruma and Frédéric Mendy. This combined with coach Aad de Mos meant that Kavala set the league alight. They subsequently achieved notable victories in the 2009–2010 season against Iraklis FC, Panionios, AEK FC and Panathinaikos FC.

### 2010–2011 season

[edit]

Ending in 6th place, the team entered the transfer season. In July, the Spanish goalkeeper, Javier Lopez Vallejo (who played in Real Zaragoza) was added to the roster. The team's owner sought the new manager throughout Europe and settled on the Serbian coach Dragomir Okuka who lasted until November, when he was replaced by Henryk Kasperczak. In Kasperczak's debut as a coach, Kavala beat AEK, 2–1, in what was considered a very good appearance.

But in March 2011, Kasperczak, retired as the coach of this team, and he was replaced by Ioannis Matzourakis, who was the coach in Kavala FC team in the seasons 1985–1986. Kavala finished 7th and later faced the threat of relegation to Football League (Greece) due to the match-fixing scandal.[3] After an appeal, the team managed to avoid relegation by starting the new league with 8 points less.[4] On 23 August, however, the Professional Sports Committee stripped both Kavala and Olympiakos Volou from their professional licence and demoted them to the Delta Ethniki.[5]

### 2011–2012 season

[edit]

Kavala competed in Delta Ethniki Group 1. They only finished 4th, but were promoted two divisions to the Football League for 2012/13 after it was ruled that their demotion to Delta Ethniki in 2011 was as a result of government intervention and should not have been implemented by the football authorities.[6]

### 2013–2014 season

[edit]

Ιn September 2013 Germans investors take the management of Kavala F.C. The agreement provides that the new investors will "catch" and a significant part of its debts to old players.

Indeed, the Germans will be able to buy a majority stake of the shares of FC paying €500,000 clause of the first season and €700,000 for the second, respectively.

## Crest

[edit]

The emblem of the club is the ancient trireme, as architecture engineer Christos Batsis designed it. According to the instigator of the emblem of Kavala, the boat is a trireme, where the oars are the footballers, the cloth the administration and the fancy the fans of the club. These three elements together lead Kavala to the harbors that are the targets the team puts each time. All of this certainly has to do with the fact that Kavala is a coastal city and its world closely related to the wet element. The original element of the emblem of Kavala was hanging on the door of the design of the late Christos Batsis until he died.

For a while, the emblem contained the then name of the "Puma Nea Kavala Football Club" team.

## Stadium

[edit]

The Anthi Karagianni Stadium, formerly the Kavala National Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Kavala, Greece. It is the homebase of Kavala FC. The stadium was built in 1970, and currently has a seating capacity of 10,500. It is named after the paralympic athlete, Anthi Karagianni, who won three silver medals in the 2004 Paralympic Games.

## Honours

[edit]

### Domestic

[edit]

League

* Second Division
* Winners (4): 1966–67, 1968–69, 1975–76, 1995–96
* Runners-up (1): 1993–94
* Third Division
* Winners (3): 2007–08, 2018–19, 2023–24
* Runners-up (3): 1989–90, 2020–21, 2022–23

Cup

* Kavala FCA Cup
* Winners (1): 2017–18

## Achievements

[edit]

* Greek Cup
* Semi-finals: 1964–65, 1994–95, 2009–10

### International

[edit]

* Balkans cup
* Group stage: 1972[7]

## League participation

[edit]

* First Division (19): 1969–1975, 1976–1982, 1994–1995, 1996–2000, 2009–2011
* Second Division (24): 1965–1969, 1975–1976, 1982–1989, 1990–1994, 1995–1996, 2000–2001, 2002–2003, 2008–2009, 2012–2014, 2021–2022, 2024–present
* Third Division (15): 1989–1990, 2001–2002, 2003–2008, 2014–2021, 2022–2024
* Fourth Division (1): 2011–2012

Sources:[8][9]

## Recent seasons

[edit]

Season  | Category  | Position  | Cup

|
|
|

2000–01 | Beta Ethniki (2nd division)  | 13th ↓  | GS
2001–02 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 4th ↑  | GS
2002–03 | Beta Ethniki (2nd division)  | 14th ↓  | 1R
2003–04 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 17th  | 1R
2004–05 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 3rd  | 1R
2005–06 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 7th  | 3R
2006–07 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 5th  | 1R
2007–08 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 1st ↑  | 1R
2008–09 | Beta Ethniki (2nd division)  | 3rd ↑  | 4R
2009–10 | Super League (1st division)  | 6th | SF
2010–11 | Super League (1st division)  | 7th ↓  | 5R
2011–12  | Delta Ethniki (4th division)  | 4th ↑  | —
2012–13 | Football League (2nd division)  | 11th  | 4R
2013–14 | Football League (2nd division)  | 13th ↓  | 1R
2014–15 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 3rd  | —
2015–16 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 4th  | —
2016–17 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 6th  | —
2017–18 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 3rd  | —
2018–19 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 1st  | 1R
2019–20 | Football League (3rd division)  | 6th  | 5R
2020–21 | Football League (3rd division)  | 2nd ↑  | —
2021–22 | Super League 2 (2nd division)  | 14th ↓  | —
2022–23 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 2nd  | —
2023–24 | Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)  | 1st ↑  | —

Best position in bold.

Key: 1R = First Round, 2R = Second Round, 3R = Third Round, 4R = Fourth Round, 5R = Fifth Round, GS = Group Stage, QF = Quarter-finals, SF = Semi-finals.

### Notable wins

[edit]

| Season  |  | Match  |  | Score

|
|
|
|

1979–80 |  | Kavala – Olympiacos |  | 1–0
1980–81 |  | Kavala – Olympiacos  |  | 1–0
1970–71 |  | Kavala – Panathinaikos |  | 1–0
1973–74 |  | Kavala – Panathinaikos  |  | 1–0
1976–77 |  | Kavala – Panathinaikos  |  | 1–0
1998–99 |  | Kavala – Panathinaikos  |  | 2–1
2009–10 |  | Panathinaikos – Kavala |  | 0–2
1971–72 |  | Kavala – AEK Athens |  | 1–0
1980–81 |  | Kavala – AEK Athens  |  | 1–0
1998–99 |  | Kavala – AEK Athens  |  | 2–1
2009–10 |  | Kavala – AEK Athens  |  | 2–1
2010–11 |  | Kavala – AEK Athens  |  | 2–1
2012–13 |  | AEK Athens – Kavala (for Greek Cup)  |  | 0–1
1970–71 |  | Kavala – PAOK |  | 1–0
1973–74 |  | Kavala – PAOK  |  | 1–0
1980–81 |  | Kavala – PAOK  |  | 1–0
1985  |  | Kavala – PAOK (friendly match)  |  | 4–1
2010–11 |  | PAOK – Kavala |  | 0–2
1965–66 |  | Kavala – Aris (for Greek Cup)  |  | 1–0
1970–71 |  | Kavala – Aris  |  | 2–1
1972–73 |  | Kavala – Aris  |  | 3–1
1977–78 |  | Kavala – Aris  |  | 1–0
1981–82 |  | Kavala – Aris  |  | 3–2
1996–97 |  | Kavala – Aris  |  | 3–1
1996–97 |  | Aris – Kavala |  | 1–3
1998–99 |  | Kavala – Aris  |  | 3–1
1999–00 |  | Kavala – Aris  |  | 1–0
2004–05 |  | Kavala – Aris (for Greek Cup)  |  | 2–1

## Players

[edit]

### Current squad

[edit]

As of 16 April 2022

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

| No. | Pos. | Nation  | Player

|
|
|

1  | GK |  GRE | Panagiotis Stathakis
2  | DF |  GRE | Giannis Kazantzidis (captain)
4  | DF |  SRB | Dragan Nedeljković
7  | MF |  GRE | Michalis Marinakis
11  | FW |  SRB | Lazar Stakić
13  | MF |  GRE | Andreas Giannakos
16  | DF |  GRE | Vangelis Thalassinos
17  | FW |  NGA | Sunday Alimi
| No. | Pos. | Nation  | Player

|
|
|

18  | MF |  GRE | Dimitrios Thomaidis
19  | MF |  GRE | Christos Retsos
20  | GK |  GRE | Konstantinos Papapostolou
22  | DF |  GRE | Apostolos Stikas
26  | DF |  ISR | Orel Cohen
28  | DF |  GRE | Christoforos Karagiannis
31  | DF |  SRB | Stefan Jaraković
47  | MF |  GRE | Pavlos Grosdanis

## Managers

[edit]

### Notable Managers

[edit]

The following managers won at least one national trophy when in charge of Kavala F.C.:

Name  | Period  | Trophies

|
|

Jane Janevski | 1975–1977  | Football League
Georgios Paraschos | 1995–1996  | Football League
Stratos Voutsakelis | 2007–2008  | Gamma Ethniki
Konstantinos Anyfantakis | 2017–2018  | Kavala FCA Cup
Pavlos Dermitzakis | 2018–2019  | Gamma Ethniki

### Most Serving Managers

[edit]

Name  | Period  | Days

|
|

Béla Pálfi | 1969–1975  | 2065
Georgios Paraschos | 1995–1997, 1999–2000  | 941
Vasilios Daniil | 1979–1981  | 911
Pavlos Dermitzakis | 2018–2020  | 730
Jane Janevski | 1975–1977  | 730

### Gallery

[edit]

* Pavlos Dermitzakis 2018–2020

* Henryk Kasperczak 2010–2011

* Reiner Maurer 2008

* Aad de Mos 2010

## Record players

[edit]

| Name  | Apps

|

Georgios Mallios | 171
Georgios Koltsis | 124
Konstantinos Vakirtzis | 117
Georgios Peglis | 114
Anestis Athanasiadis | 109
Leszek Pisz | 101
Kyrillos Kallimanis | 91
Ivan Mitev | 85
Anastasios Tsapanidis | 82
Panagiotis Logaras | 79
| Name  | Goals

|

Leszek Pisz | 26
Benjamin Onwuachi | 24
Nikos Soultanidis | 23
Anestis Athanasiadis | 22
Giorgos Papandreou | 21
Georgios Nasiopoulos | 19
Georgios Mallios | 10
Bartosz Tarachulski | 8
Serge Dié | 7
Dimitrios Orfanos | 7

Source:[citation needed]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Kavala FC. uefa.com.
2. ^ "Kavala's History". Archived from the original on 2009-05-21.
3. ^ "Relegation for Olympiakos Volou and Kavala" (in Greek). Contra.gr. 28 July 2011. Retrieved August 2, 2011.
4. ^ "Olympiakos Volou and Kavala escape relegation" (in Greek). Contra.gr. 10 August 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
5. ^ "Olympiakos Volou and Kavala to Delta Ethniki" (in Greek). Contra.gr. 23 August 2011. Retrieved August 25, 2011.
6. ^ "EPO - Hellenic Football Federation".
7. ^ "Balkan Cup". RSSSF.
8. ^ Abbink, Dinant & Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (2003-08-07). "Greece – Final Tables 1959–1999". RSSSF.
9. ^ Abbink, Dinant & Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (2005-05-18). "Greece – List of Second Level Final Tables". RSSSF.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Kavala Football Club

* Players
* Managers

History|

* History of Kavala F.C.

Stadium|

* Anthi Karagianni Stadium

Training ground|

* Kavala

Supporters|

* Blue Argonauts

Seasons|

* 1997–98

Kavala F.C.

Kavala F.C. templates

* v
* t
* e

Kavala F.C. - current squad

* 1 Stathakis
* 2 Kazantzidis
* 4 Nedeljković
* 5 Panourgias
* 7 Marinakis
* 8 Musija
* 9 Sampanidis
* 10 Suleiman
* 11 Stakić
* 13 Giannakos
* 16 Thalassinos
* 17 Alimi
* 18 Thomaidis
* 19 Retsos
* 20 Papapostolou
* 22 Stikas
* 26 Cohen
* 28 Karagiannis
* 30 Caiuby
* 31 Jaraković
* 41 Belevonis
* 47 Grosdanis
* 72 Ammour
* 77 Hosseinpour
* 87 Ebert
* 97 Kyritsis
* Manager: Nouri

* v
* t
* e

Kavala F.C. – managers

* Voskas (1965–66)
* Georgiadis (1966–68)
* Petritsis (1968–69)
* Pálfi (1969–75)
* Karapatis (1975)
* Janevski (1975–77)
* Mariani (1977–78)
* Petrović (1978–79)
* Daniil (1979–81)
* Bellis (1982)
* Chatzimichail (1983–84)
* Mantzourakis (1985–86)
* Anastasiadis (1994)
* Dimitrakopoulos (1994)
* Barzov (1994–95)
* Terzanidis (1995)
* Paraschos (1995–97)
* Lato (1997)
* Iosifidis (1997–98)
* Katrakylakis (1998)
* Goulis (1998–99)
* Katsavakis (1999)
* Vlachos (1999)
* Paraschos (1999–2000)
* Goulis (2000)
* Filippou (2000)
* Iosifidis (2000–01)
* Dokas (2001–02)
* Filippidis (2002)
* Benos (2002)
* Anthoulakis (2002–03)
* Zukić (2003)
* Benos (2003)
* Anthoulakis (2003–04)
* D. Papadopoulos (2004)
* Anthoulakis (2004–05)
* Barrios (2005–06)
* Goutis (2006)
* Tsalouchidis (2006–07)
* Voutsakelis (2007–08)
* Zalikas (2008)
* Maurer (2008)
* Anastopoulos (2008–09)
* Papakostas (2009)
* Goutisc (2009–10)
* De Mos (2010)
* Tsalikisc (2010)
* Okuka (2010)
* Kasperczak (2010–11)
* Mantzourakis (2011)
* Șumudică (2011)
* Scoria (2011)
* Vasilakakis (2012)
* N. Papadopoulos (2012–13)
* Marantas (2013)
* Topalidis (2013)
* Ferner (2013)
* Charalampidis (2013)
* Anthoulakis (2013)
* Marantas (2013–14)
* Iordanidis (2014)
* Ispyrlidis (2014–15)
* Anyfantakis (2015)
* Taousianis (2016)
* Digozis (2016–17)
* Anyfantakis (2017–18)
* Dermitzakis (2018–20)
* Anyfantakis (2020–21)
* Papavasiliou (2021)
* Karabiberis (2021)
* Nouri (2022)
* Angelidisc (2022)
* Karabiberisc (2022)
* Dilberis (2022)
* Angelidis (2022–23)
* Kavakas (2023–24)
* Karabetakis (2024–)

(c) = caretaker manager

* v
* t
* e

Super League Greece 2

2024–25 clubs|

| 1st Group|

* AEL
* Diagoras
* Ethnikos Neo Keramidi
* Iraklis
* Kampaniakos
* Kavala
* Makedonikos
* Niki Volos
* PAOK B
* PAS Giannina

|

2nd Group|

* AEK Athens Β
* Asteras Tripolis B
* Chania
* Egaleo
* Ilioupoli
* Ionikos
* Kalamata
* Kifisia
* Panachaiki
* Panargiakos
* Panionios

Associated competitions|

* Greek Cup

Prospects|

* Promotion to Super League Greece
* Relegation to Gamma Ethniki

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Super League Greece

2024–25 clubs|

* AEK Athens
* Aris
* Asteras Tripolis
* Atromitos
* Kallithea
* Lamia
* Levadiakos
* OFI
* Olympiacos
* Panathinaikos
* Panetolikos
* Panserraikos
* PAOK
* Volos

Former clubs|

* AEL
* Akratitos
* Apollon Kalamarias
* Apollon Smyrnis
* Aspida Xanthi
* Athinaikos
* Atromitos Piraeus
* Chalkida
* Chalkidona
* Diagoras
* Doxa Drama
* Edessaikos
* Egaleo
* Ergotelis
* Ethnikos Asteras
* Ethnikos Athens*
* Ethnikos Piraeus
* Fostiras
* Ionikos
* Iraklis
* Kalamata
* Kalloni
* Kastoria
* Kavala
* Kerkyra
* Kifisia
* Korinthos
* Makedonikos
* Megas Alexandros
* Megas Alexandros Katerini
* Naoussa
* Niki Volos
* Olympiacos Volos
* Panachaiki
* Panargiakos
* Panegialios
* Panelefsiniakos
* Panionios
* Paniliakos
* Panthrakikos
* PAS Giannina
* Peiraikos Syndesmos*
* Pierikos
* Platanias
* Proodeftiki
* Rodos
* Thermaikos
* Thrasyvoulos
* Trikala
* Veria
* Vyzas Megara
* Xanthi

*only in pre-HFF championships

Former clubs (from Cyprus)|

* AEL Limassol
* APOEL
* EPA Larnaca
* Olympiacos Nicosia
* Omonia

Competition|

* Clubs
* Seasons & winners
* Players
* foreign
* Managers
* Stadia
* Broadcasters
* Referees

Statistics and awards|

* Records
* All-time table
* PSAP Awards
* Top Scorers
* Golden Star
* Foreign Player of the Season
* Greek Player of the Season
* Young Player of the Season
* Goalkeeper of the Season
* Manager of the Season
* Referee of the Season

Associated competitions|

* Greek Cup
* UEFA Champions League
* UEFA Europa League
* UEFA Europa Conference League
* Super League Greece Youth Leagues

* Category

* v
* t
* e

Football in Greece

Overview|

* Hellenic Football Federation
* List of Unions
* Awards
* By number of titles
* List of clubs
* List of venues

National teams|

* Greece men
* U-23
* U-21
* U-20
* U-19
* U-18
* U-17
* Greece women
* W U–19
* W U–17
* Greece Beach Soccer men
* Military football team

League competitions|

* Super League 1
* Super League 2
* Football League (defunct)
* Gamma Ethniki
* Delta Ethniki (defunct)
* Local Championships
* FCA Winners' Championship
* Panhellenic Championship (defunct)
* Champions
* Youth Leagues
* Top goalscorers
* Super League
* Football League
* Women's top division

Cup competitions|

* Greek Cup
* Super Cup
* League Cup (defunct)
* Gamma Ethniki Cup
* Amateurs' Super Cup
* Amateurs Cup
* Women's Cup

Miscellaneous|

* P.O.K.
* Greek football clubs in European competitions

*[lit.]: literal translation
*[No.]: Number
*[Pos.]: Position
*[GK]: Goalkeeper
*[DF]: Defender
*[MF]: Midfielder
*[FW]: Forward
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Stathakis]: Panagiotis Stathakis
*[Kazantzidis]: Giannis Kazantzidis
*[Nedeljković]: Dragan Nedeljković
*[Marinakis]: Michalis Marinakis
*[Musija]: Dino Musija
*[Stakić]: Lazar Stakić
*[Giannakos]: Andreas Giannakos
*[Thalassinos]: Vangelis Thalassinos
*[Alimi]: Sunday Alimi
*[Thomaidis]: Dimitrios Thomaidis
*[Papapostolou]: Konstantinos Papapostolou
*[Cohen]: Orel Cohen
*[Jaraković]: Stefan Jaraković