Biggest Rivalries in Football: Olympiacos vs Panathinaikos
Somewhere in Athens, under the watchful eye of the gods, the football ball began to roll in Greece at the end of the 19th century.
In contrast, the classic Greek football was born in 1927 – when the giants Olympiakos and Panathinaikos faced each other on the grass rectangle for the first time.
The origin of the biggest game of Greek football also has its roots in one nation’s social, cultural, and ideological differences – but also two different philosophies of life of people from the same city.
One, Panata, was founded in 1908 in the center of Athens by the young athlete Giorgos Kalafatis, a member of the Panellinios Athletic Society, who took 40 colleagues with him and founded the Football Club of Athens.
Over the next few decades, the club, which members of high society supported, changed its name several times – before it was named Panathinaikos in 1924, as well as recognizable symbols – clover, harmony, and the “natural” green colour.
The second, Olympiakos, is 17 years younger than his biggest rival, and his birth took place in one of the largest ports in the world—Piraeus. Port workers and the rest of the working class thus had a way to express their opinions in large numbers towards members of the “cream” of society on the other side of town.
As the years passed, more and more Greeks across the country began to root for Oly, and resistance to social and political imbalances grew louder and louder.
In Athens, the fans are divided by territorial affiliation and social structure. Although these clubs are supported by more than 6 million Greeks, i.e., more than half of the country’s total population, there are still basic differences.
Panathinaikos fans (the popular Gate 13) live mostly in the city center and are people from higher classes of society, while Olympiakos fans (Gate 7) live in the suburbs, that is, in Piraeus.
These social and cultural differences deepen the rivalry between the two clubs.
The first duel between the two giants was played in 1927 as part of the Panhellenic Championship. The fans of Oly had the opportunity to brag about their first victory – as their team won 3:1.
So far, they have met 221 times, and the red and whites have an 87-77 lead in wins and 57 matches ended in a draw.
Olympiakos is the most successful Greek club, with 79 major trophies—47 Super League titles, 28 cups, and 4 Super Cups.
On the other hand, Panathinaikos has 20 Super League titles, 20 cups, and 3 Supercups. However, the biggest and most important trophy that one Greek team won was the UEFA Conference League trophy that Olympiakos won in the 2023/24 season.
The rivalry between Oly and PAO is related to football, basketball, volleyball, water polo, squash…
The peak of the ‘madness’ happened in 2007, when a 22-year-old boy was stabbed to death before the match of the women’s volleyball sections of the two teams.
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