Main article: Panathinaikos A.O.
Panathinaikos V.C.
Color 1white
Color 2
  1. 007942
ClubnamePanathinaikos
Founded1919 (age 107)
GroundMets Indoor Hall
Capacity1,200
Titles22
ChairmanDimitris Vranopoulos
ManagerDimitris Andreopoulos
CaptainAthanasios Protopsaltis
LeagueGreek Volleyleague
Season2025–26
Position1st (Champions)
Websitehttps://www.pao1908.com/sports/volei-andron/
Pattern la 1_panathinaikos2526h
Pattern b 1_panathinaikos2526h
Pattern ra 1_panathinaikos2526h
Pattern sh 1_panathinaikos2526h
Leftarm 1134A29
Body 1134A29
Rightarm 1134A29
Shorts 1134A29
Pattern la 2_panathinaikos2526a
Pattern b 2_panathinaikos2526a
Pattern ra 2_panathinaikos2526a
Pattern sh 2_panathinaikos2526a
Leftarm 2FFFFFF
Body 2FFFFFF
Rightarm 2FFFFFF
Shorts 2FFFFFF

Panathinaikos V.C. (Greek: ΤΑΑ Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο.), also known simply as Panathinaikos, or with its full name Panathinaikos A.O. (Greek: Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος, transliterated "Panathinaikos Athlitikos Omilos", Panathenaic Athletic Club) is the professional volleyball team of the major Athens based multi-sport club Panathinaikos A.O. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest and most successful volleyball clubs in Greece. They have won 22 Greek Championships finishing 6 times undefeated (1962–63, 1965–66, 1966–67, 1969–70, 1970–71, 1974–75), 7 Greek Cups, 3 Greek League Cups and 2 Greek Super Cups. They have reached also twice the CEV Cup final (1979–80, 2008–09).

Notable Greek player have played for the team, while foreign world-class players that have played with the club include Dante Amaral, Marcelo Elgarten, André Nascimento, Frank Depestele, Liberman Agamez, Peter Pláteník, Jakub Novotný, Plamen Konstantinov, Boyan Yordanov, Björn Andrae, Andrija Gerić, Clayton Stanley, Ernardo Gómez, Renaud Herpe, Guillaume Samica, Dawid Murek, Paweł Zagumny and Łukasz Żygadło.

History

The volleyball department of Panathinaikos was founded in 1919 and is one of the first in Greece. With the participation of Giorgos Kalafatis in the Inter-Allied Games of Paris in 1919, and the informations he collected, the sport became more known in Greece. The same year the officials of the club decided the creation of a volleyball team.

The first dynamic presence of the team is dated back in the years 1927–29 with many popular players of the time such as the founder Giorgos Kalafatis, the historical member of the board Apostolos Nikolaidis, as well as players such as Athanasios Aravositas, Goumas, Arg. Nikolaidis, Papageorgiou and Papastefanou. In the following years the interest for volleyball became less until before World War II when Panathinaikos presented a powerful team with leader players such as Lambrou, Vallidis, Momferatos, Tzoumanis, Proselentis, Lykouris, Kakridis and more.

During the 60’s and 70’s, Panathinaikos' volleyball club won many titles and honors due to the fact that the team roster has always included some of the leading volleyball players and coaches in Greece. The first and most popular generation of players of 60’s was Andreas and Nikos Bergeles, as well as Iliopoulos, Leloudas, Chasapis, Emmanouil, Perros and Fotiou who opened the road for the next generations. Notable coaches of this era was the leading figure of the department Gerasimos Theodoratos, the Yugoslavian Sava Grozdanović and later the ex-player of the team Andreas Bergeles.

The most important achievement of the team was the participation in the final of the European Cup in 1980 with Grozdanović as coach and players such as Georgantis, Agrapidakis, Iliopoulos, Papadopoulos, Malousaris, Gountakos, Astras, Kokkinaras and Koliopoulos. In the following years, Panathinaikos team continued to dominate the Greek championship with Janusz Badora as coach and players such as Kazazis, Tentzeris, Gontikas, Galakos, Dimitriadis, Margaronis, Karamaroudis and Andreopoulos.

Two of the most successful periods have been 1994-95 and 1995-96 seasons, when Panathinaikos won 2 consecutive championships with Stelios Prosalikas as head coach and Andreopoulos, Triantafillidis, Filippov, Spanos, Hatziantoniou, Ouzounov, A. Kovacev, S. Kovacev, Karamaroudis, Mavrakis, Konstantinidis, Zakynthinos, Koutouleas, Tonev as players.

In 2001 the department became professional under the presidency and financial support of Vlassis Stathokostopoulos and later Thanasis Giannakopoulos.

In 2004 the team won the Championship with the ex-player Stelios Kazazis as coach. With the Brazilian star-player Dante Amaral and Marcelo Elgarten, they made a strong team and finished again first in 2006, while they reached again the final of the European Cup in 2009.

Honours

Domestic

Current men's volleyball squad

Team roster – season 2026/2027[4]

No.NameDate of birthPosition
1Stavros KasampalisJune 1, 1995 (age 31)setter
2Giorgos PapalexiouAugust 28, 1999 (age 27)middle blocker
6Patrick GasmanJanuary 2, 1997 (age 29)middle blocker
7Dmytro YanchukMay 19, 1999 (age 27)outside hitter
8Rasmus Breuning NielsenMay 22, 1994 (age 32)opposite
12Theodoros VoulkidisMarch 30, 1996 (age 30)middle blocker
13Charalampos AndreopoulosJanuary 23, 2001 (age 25)outside hitter
19Angelos MandilarisNovember 7, 1998 (age 28)opposite
31Luca SpiritoOctober 30, 1993 (age 33)setter
70Aristeidis ChandrinosNovember 20, 2002 (age 23)libero
77Athanasios Protopsaltis (c)September 12, 1993 (age 33)outside hitter
Head coach: Dimitris Andreopoulos

Technical and managerial staff

Staff
Head coachDimitris Andreopoulos
Assistant coachPavlos Karamaroudis
Assistant coach / TrainerChristos Mpelos
StatisticianAlkiviadis Mpelos
PhysiotherapistNapoleon Charisis
PhysiotherapistPanagiotis Vlachas
Kit assistantAlexandros Makos
Team managerRoulis Agrapidakis

Retired numbers

Panathinaikos men's volleyball retired numbers
N°Nat.PlayerPositionTenure
14Sotiris PantaleonVolleyball#Player specialization|Middle Blocker1996–2012, 2014–2021

Selected former players

Albania
  • Albano Qualiu
  • Alvi Shurdhi
Argentina
Belgium
Bosnia-Herzegovina
  • Milorad Kovać
Brazil
Bulgaria
Canada
  • Keith Sanheim
  • Michael Amoroso
  • Derrick Epp
  • Cameron Kern
  • Maxwell Elgert
Colombia
Croatia
  • Danijel Galić
Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
  • Axel Jacobsen
  • Rasmus Breuning Nielsen
Egypt
  • Ionas Rezk
France
Germany
Greece
Italy
Montenegro
Netherlands
North Macedonia
  • Filip Savovski
Norway
  • Jonas Kvalen
Poland
Russia
Serbia
Slovenia
Spain
Ukraine
United States
Venezuela

Selected former coaches

International record

SeasonAchievementNotes
CEV Champions League
1982–83Quarter–final
1995–967th place
1996–975th place
2007–08Play–off 6
Cup Winners Cup
1976–77Quarter–final
1979–80Finaldefeated by Panini Modena, 2–3 sets in Athens
1981–82Quarter–final
1983–84Quarter–final
1987–88Quarter–final
1988–89Final four3rd place
1989–90Quarter–final
1990–91Quarter–final
1991–92Quarter–final
Top Teams Cup
2005–06Final four3rd place
CEV Cup
2001–02Quarter–finaleliminated by Asystel Milano
2002–03Quarter–finaleliminated by Tourcoing Lille Metropole
2003–04Final four4th place
2008–09Final2nd place
CEV Challenge Cup
2021–22Semi–finaleliminated by Halkbank Ankara
2022–23Semi–finaleliminated by Olympiacos

Season by season

SeasonTierLeaguePos.
1960–611Panhellenic Championship
1961–621Panhellenic Championship
1962–631Panhellenic Championship
1963–641Panhellenic Championship—
1964–651Panhellenic Championship
1965–661Panhellenic Championship
1966–671Panhellenic Championship
1967–681Panhellenic Championship
1968–691A Ethniki
1969–701A Ethniki
1970–711A Ethniki
1971–721A Ethniki
1972–731A Ethniki
1973–741A Ethniki
1974–751A Ethniki
1975–761A Ethniki
1976–771A Ethniki
1977–781A Ethniki
1978–791A Ethniki
1979–801A Ethniki
1980–811A Ethniki
1981–821A Ethniki
1982–831A Ethniki
1983–841A Ethniki
1984–851A Ethniki
SeasonTierLeaguePos.
1985–861A Ethniki
1986–871A Ethniki
1987–881A Ethniki
1988–891A1 Ethniki
1989–901A1 Ethniki
1990–911A1 Ethniki
1991–921A1 Ethniki
1992–931A1 Ethniki5
1993–941A1 Ethniki5
1994–951A1 Ethniki
1995–961A1 Ethniki
1996–971A1 Ethniki4
1997–981A1 Ethniki4
1998–991A1 Ethniki7
1999–001A1 Ethniki7
2000–011A1 Ethniki
2001–021A1 Ethniki
2002–031A1 Ethniki
2003–041A1 Ethniki
2004–051A1 Ethniki
2005–061A1 Ethniki
2006–071A1 Ethniki
2007–081A1 Ethniki
2008–091A1 Ethniki
2009–101A1 Ethniki
SeasonTierLeaguePos.
2010–111Volley League
2011–121Volley League10
2012–131Volley League10
2013–141Volley League10
2014–151Volley League4
2015–161Volley League5
2016–171Volley League
2017–181Volley League11
2018–191Volley League5
2019–201Volley League
2020–211Volley League
2021–221Volley League
2022–231Volley League
2023–241Volley League
2024–251Volley League
2025–261Volley League

Sponsorships

PeriodKit manufacturerShirt main sponsor
2000–2001[5][6]AsicsWarsteiner
2001–2002[6][7]Nike—
2002–2004CaanEVGA
2004–2008AdidasSubaru
2009–2012Asics—
2012–2015Fila—
2015–2017ErreàCounterpain
2017–2018—
2018–2019Athlos SportPame Stoixima
2019–2023Macron
2024–2026Adidas

Arenas

ArenaCapacityYears
Leoforos Indoor Hall1,5001960s–2004
Glyfada Indoor Hall2,2702004–2009
2010–2011
Mets Indoor Hall1,2002009–2010
2011–2013
2023–present
Panellinios Indoor Hall1,1002013–2019
Maroussi Saint Thomas Indoor Hall1,7002019–2023

Presidents

  • 2001–08: Vlassis Stathokostopoulos
  • 2008–09: Thanasis Giannakopoulos
  • 2009–11: Thodoris Liakopoulos
  • 2011: Stratos Sopilis
  • 2011–13: Chronis Akritidis
  • 2013–16: Manolis Ladoukakis
  • 2016–18: Dimitris Kassaris
  • 2018–20: Alexandros Ellinas
  • 2020–25: Panagiotis Malakates
  • 2025–: Dimitris Vranopoulos

See also

References

  1. ^ "Volley League: Η επίσημη λίστα των πρωταθλημάτων, 22 τίτλους ο Παναθηναϊκός". sport24.gr. 20 May 2025.
  2. ^ "Χρυσή Βίβλος - Ελληνικη Ομοσπονδια Πετοσφαιρισησ". Archived from the original on 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  3. ^ "Η Χρυσή Βίβλος του Super Cup". Contra.gr. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  4. ^ "el:Παναθηναϊκός Α.Ο." (in Greek). Retrieved 20 September 2024.
  5. ^ "Νίκος Σαμαράς: Πέντε χρόνια χωρίς τον "αετό" του ελληνικού βόλεϊ (pics, vid)" (in Greek). Panathinaikos24.gr. 2018-01-04. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  6. ^ "Ο Νίκος Σαμαράς εν δράσει (photos)". www.volleyball.gr. 2017-12-23. Retrieved 2022-12-03.
  7. ^ "rizospastis.gr - Να τιμωρηθούν οι υπεύθυνοι". rizospastis.gr. 2001-11-04. Retrieved 2022-12-04.