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Kavala F.C.

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Kavala
Full nameΑθλητικός Όμιλος Καβάλα
(Athletic Club Kavala)
Nickname(s)Argonauts
Light Brigade of the North
Short nameAOK
Founded24 September 1965; 59 years ago (1965-09-24)
GroundAnthi Karagianni Stadium
Capacity10,550
ChairmanValantis Bletsas
ManagerKonstantinos Anyfantakis
LeagueSuper League Greece 2
2023–24Gamma Ethniki (Group 1), 1st (promoted)

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

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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 eleven 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

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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

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Ending in sixth 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 the Kavala team during the 1985–1986 season. Kavala finished seventh 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 eight 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

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Kavala competed in Delta Ethniki Group 1. They only finished fourth, 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

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Ιn September 2013, Germans investors took control of Kavala. The agreement ensured that the new investors will pay off significant part of its debts to old players.

Indeed, the Germans bought a majority stake of the shares of Kavala, paying a €500,000 clause in the first season and €700,000 for the second, respectively.

Crest

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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

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The Anthi Karagianni Stadium, formerly the Kavala National Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Kavala, Greece. It is the homebase of Kavala. 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

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Domestic

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League
Cup
  • Kavala FCA Cup
    • Winners (1): 2017–18

Achievements

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

International

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League participation

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  • 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

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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

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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

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Current squad

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As of 10 September 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Serbia SRB Mihajlo Mišković
3 DF Greece GRE Filippos Dimitriadis
4 MF Albania ALB Neti Meçe
5 DF Greece GRE Georgios Smiltos
6 MF Greece GRE Georgios Spanoudakis
7 DF Greece GRE Giannis Dalianopoulos
8 MF Greece GRE Vasilios Gavriilidis
9 FW Greece GRE Kosmas Gekas
10 MF Albania ALB Renild Kasemi
11 FW Greece GRE Dimitrios Popović
14 GK Greece GRE Lefteris Astras
17 DF Bosnia and Herzegovina BIH Omar Pašagić
19 DF Albania ALB Oresti Kacurri
No. Pos. Nation Player
21 MF Greece GRE Christos Lelekas
22 MF France FRA Boubakar Camara
23 MF Greece GRE Pavlos Dermitzakis
24 FW Serbia SRB Bogdan Mandić
27 MF Greece GRE Vangelis Kerthi
29 FW Nigeria NGA Samson Ebuka Obioha
33 FW Greece GRE Vasilios Papadopoulos
39 FW Cape Verde CPV Joni de Oliveira
44 DF Greece GRE Konstantinos Tsamouris
55 DF Greece GRE Panagiotis Anastasopoulos
72 MF Greece GRE Konstantinos Itsios
74 GK Greece GRE Giannis Ioannidis
99 FW Greece GRE Antonis Dermitzakis

Personnel

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Technical staff
Owner Canada Alex Haditaghi
President Greece Stavros Kouros
Curator of Football Greece Argyris Spanidis
Technical director

Coaching Staff

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  • Manager: Greece Panagiotis Dilberis (caretaker)
  • Assistant manager: Greece Nikos Karabiberis
  • Assistant manager: Greece Georgios Angelidis
  • Goalkeeping coach: Greece Nikos Soumoulidis
  • Fitness coach: Greece Kyriakos Fourkalas

Notable Managers

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

Name Period Trophies
North Macedonia Jane Janevski 1975–1977 Football League
Greece Georgios Paraschos 1995–1996 Football League
Greece Stratos Voutsakelis 2007–2008 Gamma Ethniki
Greece Konstantinos Anyfantakis 2017–2018 Kavala FCA Cup
Greece Pavlos Dermitzakis 2018–2019 Gamma Ethniki

Most Serving Managers

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Name Period Days
Serbia Béla Pálfi 1969–1975 2065
Greece Georgios Paraschos 1995–1997, 1999–2000 941
Greece Vasilios Daniil 1979–1981 911
Greece Pavlos Dermitzakis 2018–2020 730
North Macedonia Jane Janevski 1975–1977 730
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Record players

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Name Apps
Greece Georgios Mallios 171
Greece Georgios Koltsis 124
Greece Konstantinos Vakirtzis 117
Greece Georgios Peglis 114
Greece Anestis Athanasiadis 109
Poland Leszek Pisz 101
Greece Kyrillos Kallimanis 91
Bulgaria Ivan Mitev 85
Greece Anastasios Tsapanidis 82
Greece Panagiotis Logaras 79
Name Goals
Poland Leszek Pisz 26
Nigeria Benjamin Onwuachi 24
Greece Nikos Soultanidis 23
Greece Anestis Athanasiadis 22
Greece Giorgos Papandreou 21
Greece Georgios Nasiopoulos 19
Greece Georgios Mallios 10
Poland Bartosz Tarachulski 8
Ivory Coast Serge Dié 7
Greece Dimitrios Orfanos 7

Source:[citation needed]

References

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  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.
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