Ethnikos Piraeus F.C.

Infobox Football club |
clubname = Ethnikos Piraeus


fullname = PAE Ethnikos Piraeus
"ΠΑΕ Εθνικός Πειραιώς "
founded = 1924
ground = Elliniko Stadium
Athens, Greece
capacity = 9,000
chairman = flagicon|Greece Nikos Pirounias
manager = flagicon|Portugal Eurico Gomes
league = Beta Ethniki
season = 2007–08
position = 9th
current = Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. season 2008-09
pattern_la1=_white_hoops|pattern_b1=_stripesonwhite|pattern_ra1=_white_hoops
leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=191970|socks1=FFFFFF
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=191970|body2=191970|rightarm2=191970|shorts2=191970|socks2=191970

Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. ( _el. ΠΑΕ Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus, currently competing in Beta Ethniki, the Greek second division (see Greek football league system).

Background

In 1924 the Piraeus-based football club "Athletic and Football Club of Piraeus" (Greek: Αθλητικός και Ποδοσφαιρικός Σύλλογος Πειραιώς), winner of the 1924 Athens-Piraeus Regional Championship cite news | date=2004-08-01 | url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesg/grkprehist.html | title=Greece - Final Tables 1906-1959 | publisher=rsssf.com] , split into two cite news | url=http://www.ethnikara.com/history_brief.shtml | title=History brief | publisher=Ethnikara.com] cite news | date=2004-08-18 | url=http://www.rsssf.com/tablesg/grk-names.html | title=Greece - Mergers and Name Changes | publisher=rsssf.com] .

From the break-up, one group, led by Giorgos Chatziandreou, brothers Kostas and Dimitris Ferlemis, and Christos Peppas, ultimately formed "Omilos Filathlon Piraeus - Faliro" (Greek: Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς - Φαλήρου), meaning "Fans' Club of Piraeus and Faliro," in 1924, and then changed the name to "Ethnikos O.F.P.F." in 1925 ; the other group, led by Yiannis Andrianopoulos and his five brothers, formed the club that evolved into Olympiacos CFP in 1925 [cite news | url=http://www.olympiacos.org/index.html?#/Football/TeamHistory/ | title=Olympiacos - Team History | publisher=Olympiacos Official Site (Greek)] .

Ethnikos O.F.P.F., colloquially referred to as Ethnikos Piraeus, is a multi-sport club with teams competing in football [cite news | url=http://www.ethnikos-fc.com/ | title=Ethnikos Piraeus FC home page | publisher=Ethnikos Piraeus FC Official Site (Greek)] , water polo [cite news | url=http://www.ethnikos.gr/polo_paiktes.htm | title=Ethnikos polo players | publisher=Ethnikos.gr (Greek)] , volleyball [cite news | url=http://www.ethnikos.gr/Volley-nea.htm | title=Ethnikos volleyball news | publisher=Ethnikos.gr (Greek)] and basketball [cite news | url=http://www.ethnikos.gr/Basket-nea.htm | title=Ethnikos basketball news | publisher=Ethnikos.gr (Greek)] .

The club's most significant teams, in terms of history and success, are the football and water polo teams, though football is by far the more popular sport.

Olympiacos rivalry

Since the two clubs were established in the mid-1920s, Ethnikos' traditional local rival has been Olympiacos CFP, one of the two most popular and successful multi-sport clubs in Greece along with Panathinaikos cite news | url=http://www.epo.gr/a_division_history_uk.asp | title=All Time Champions | publisher=Hellenic Football Federation] cite news | url=http://www.epo.gr/detail_uk.asp?e_article_cat_id=15&e_article_id=1517 | title=Greek Cups Winners | publisher=Hellenic Football Federation] .

While a legitimate rivalry between Ethnikos and Olympiacos still exists in water polo (Ethnikos' men's team has won the most Greek league championships of any club, while Olympiacos Water Polo Club has won the second-most) [cite news | date=2008-05-02 | url=http://water-polo.studioidea.gr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1634&Itemid=51&lang=el | title=Olympiacos 2008 Champion | publisher=water-polo.gr] , that is no longer the case in football. Ethnikos and Olympiacos F.C. were more or less evenly matched and had great battles for Piraeus supremacy in the 1920s and 1930s , but thereafter Olympiacos became increasingly more powerful and successful and began to pass Ethnikos by.

Along the way, Olympiacos developed a habit for luring Ethnikos' best players, like Greek national team players Philippos Kourantis in the late 1920s, Giannis Chelmis in the late 1930s and Giannis Ioannou in the early 1950s cite news | url=http://www.ethnikara.com/alltime.shtml | title=All time Ethnikos teams | publisher=Ethnikara.com] .

In 1956-57 Olympiacos was seemingly behind a scandal that robbed Ethnikos of the National Championship; Ethnikos was in 1st place by a margin of 4 points with just 4 matches left in the season, and had the derby with Olympiacos next on the schedule, but was then dubiously disqualified from the competition, and with Ethnikos out of the way Olympiacos ultimately took the Championship .

In 1973 Ethnikos lost the great Michalis Kritikopoulos to Olympiacos, just a year before Ethnikos mounted its greatest challange for the National Championship in the modern era; many Ethnikos feel that if they still had Kritikopoulos, the team would have managed to hold on to 1st place rather than run out of gas in the second half of the 1974-75 season .

Olympiacos ultimately became the dominant football club in Greece, having won the League and Cup more than any other club , and Ethnikos has not been able to seriously compete with them for decades. Ethnikos has not defeated Olympiacos in a league match since the 1985-86 season and has not finished above Olympiacos in the league standings since the 1987-88 season.

In the 1990s, when Olympiacos was experiencing probably the greatest era of its history while Ethnikos was suffering through what was surely its worst, Ethnikos lost some of its fanbase to Olympiacos.

A recent point of contention for Ethnikos fans has to do with Karaiskakis Stadium. Karaiskakis is the traditional home of both Olympiacos and Ethnikos cite news | url=http://www.stadia.gr/karaiskaki/karaiskakiold.html | title=Velodrome & Karaiskaki Stadium (1895 - 1964 - 2003) | publisher=Stadia.gr] , but only Olympiacos has played there since the stadium was rebuilt for use in the 2004 Summer Olympics cite news | url=http://www.stadia.gr/karaiskaki/karaiskaki.html | title=Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium | publisher=Stadia.gr] .

History

Panhellenic Championship years

Prior to 1959-60 Greek football was played in regional championships (Athens, Piraeus, and Thessaloniki championships and/or North and South championships) and then the top teams from each region would advance to play for the National Championship. In some pre-War years a traditional Final match was played between 2 regional champions, but generally the National Championship was played as a final round-robin between at least 3 teams .

1920s-1930s

Ethnikos was Piraeus Champion in 1927-28, but lost the National Championship to Aris. The following year Ethnikos was Piraeus Champion once again, but the National Championship was not played.

In 1932-33 Ethnikos won the Greek Cup, the club’s only major title. Ethnikos eliminated Apollon in the Quarterfinals and Olympiacos in the Semifinals before meeting Aris in the Final. Ethnikos and Aris played to a 2-2 draw in Thessaloniki, but Ethnikos won the replay 2-1 and took the Cup.

In 1934-35 Ethnikos was again Piraeus Champion, and then champion of the South Division, while Aris was champion of the North Division, but Ethnikos and Aris were prevented from playing each other for the National Championship.

Ethnikos won another Piraeus Championship in 1938-39, but lost the South Division by 2 points, just missing out on a chance to play for the National Championship.

Ethnikos reached the Semifinals of the Greek Cup in 1938-39 and 1939-40, but lost to PAOK and Panathinaikos, respectively.

1950s

The Ethnikos teams of the mid- to late-1950s are considered by many to be Ethnikos’ greatest teams.

In 1955-56 Ethnikos finished 2nd in Greece, just 1 point behind champions Olympiacos.

In 1956-57 a scandal robbed Ethnikos of the National Championship. With 4 matches left in the National Championship, Ethnikos was in 1st place by 4 points, and next on the schedule was Olympiacos, who Ethnikos had already defeated earlier in the season. Prior to the Olympiakos match though, Ethnikos was disqualified from the championshp, on the accusation of professionalism, as they had allegedly been in contact with Hungarian stars Ferenc Puskás and Sándor Kocsis, though it was never proven. Ethnikos was docked 4 points and not allowed to play the final 4 matches of the season, and Olympiakos took the championship .

Alpha Ethniki years

From 1959-60 the Greek championship changed to its modern form and the first division became known as Alpha Ethniki (usually noted as "A' Ethniki"). Since 1959-60 Ethnikos is tied for the 8th-most first division participations with 36, along with OFI and Apollon. Ahead of Ethnikos are traditional powers Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, AEK and PAOK (all of whom have competed in the first division every season) as well as Iraklis, Aris and Panionios. (In 2006-07 the first division was renamed from A' Ethniki to Super League).

1960s

During the 1960s Ethnikos’ best league finishes were 5th in 1962-63 and 6th in 1960-61 and 1967-68. From 1960-61 to 1968-69 Ethnikos never finished outside the top 10.

Ethnikos reached the Semifinals of the Greek Cup twice during the 1960s. In 1967-68 Ethnikos lost in the Semifinals to Panathinaikos. The following year Ethnikos came desperately close to another Cup Final – after defeating PAOK 5-4 in the Quarterfinals, Ethnikos lost to Olympiacos 4-3 after extra time in the Semifinals.

1970s

In 1974-75 Ethnikos made its best challenge for the league championship in the modern era. That season Ethnikos was winter champion, going undefeated through the first half of the season, but they could not keep up the pace and ultimately finished 4th (1 point behind PAOK for 3rd place and a UEFA Cup berth), while Olympiacos took the championship.

Though never making another legitimate challenge for the league championship, Ethnikos remained consistently competitive during the 1970s, never finishing outside of the top 10.

Ethnikos twice had the league’s top scorer during the 1970s: in the 1974-75 Roberto Calcadera’s total of 20 goals was tied for league-best with Panathinaikos’ Antonis Antoniadis and in 1976-77 Thanasis Intzoglou led the league with 22 goals.

Ethnikos’ two best runs in the Greek Cup in the 1970s were halted by PAOK. In 1972-72 Ethnikos lost to PAOK 3-2 in the Semifinals and in 1976-77 Ethnikos was defeated by PAOK in the Quarterfinals.

1980s

Ethnikos made decent 7th place finishes in 1979-80 and 1980-81, but the team would mostly struggle through the rest of the 1980s.

In 1983-84 and 1985-86 Ethnikos reached the Quarterfinals of the Greek Cup but was then eliminated by Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, respectively.

In 1986-87 Ethnikos made a very mediocre 10th place finish, but late in the season earned one of their more memorable results - winning 6-3 away to Panathinaikos.

The 1987-88 team was the last truly competitive Ethnikos team to date. That year Ethnikos tried to make a run at a UEFA Cup berth, but ultimately fell short and finished 7th. The 7th place finish though was good enough to take some satisfaction from finishing ahead of Olympiacos, who finished 8th.

In the 1988-89 season Ethnikos made a good run in the Cup, reaching the Semifinals before being eliminated by Panathinaikos, but in the league the team finished in the bottom 3 and was relegated to Beta Ethniki for the first time in their history.

Relegation from Alpha Ethniki

1990s

After being relegated from Alpha Ethniki for the first time in 1989, Ethnikos bounced between A' and B' Ethniki throughout the 1990s. Since a last place finish in 1998-99 though, Ethnikos has not managed to return to A' Ethniki.

The Ethnikos teams of the 1990s included several young players who would leave the club and become star players elsewhere, such as Michalis Kapsis, Yannis Anastasiou and Andreas Niniadis.

2000s

After the 1999-00 season Ethnikos fell from Beta Ethniki to Gamma Ethniki for the first time. The club’s ultimate low point came when it fell from Gamma Ethniki and spent the 2003-04 season in Delta Ethniki.

In summer 2004 Ethnikos merged with A.O. Mani, a club from the Mani peninsula in southern Greece; the club maintained Ethnikos' logo and colors and continued to be based in Piraeus, but in name became Ethnikos Piraeus - A.O. Mani . Ethnikos fans were very upset with the name change, but that problem was eventually solved, as the club was officially renamed Ethnikos Piraeus in 2007 [cite news | date=2007-09-14 | url=http://www.ethnikos.gr/Football-Nea-2007-08/Pirounias_14-09-07.htm | title=New home, new name for Ethnikos | publisher=Ethnikos.gr (Greek)] .

In 2005-06 Ethnikos earned promotion back to Beta Ethniki in the final minute of the final match of the season. With time expiring, a free kick goal from Eduardo Sander Da Silva against Messiniakos made the final score 1-1 and gave Ethnikos the point needed for promotion [cite news | date=2006-05-17 | url=http://www.ethnikos.gr/Football-Agones-2005-06/Prwtathlima2005-Ethnikos-Messiniakos-17-05-06.htm | title=League, Ethnkos 1-1 Messiniakos | publisher=Ethnikos.gr (Greek)] .

Since 2006-07 Ethnikos has remained in B' Ethniki.

tadiums

Elliniko

Ethnikos currently plays its home matches at the Helliniko Olympic Complex in Ellinikon cite news | url=http://www.ethnikos.gr/stadio.htm | title=Elliniko Stadium | publisher=Ethnikos.gr (Greek)] , located approximately 8 kilometres south of the center of Athens, near Glyfada on the Mediterranean coast cite news | date=2004-07-15 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympics_2004/venues_guide/3578667.stm | title=Helliniko Olympic Complex | publisher=BBC] .

The complex was built on the site of the former Ellinikon International Airport for the staging of the 2004 Summer Olympics and 2004 Summer Paralympics , and consisted of the following venues: Helliniko Indoor Arena (basketball and team handball); Helliniko Fencing Hall; Olympic Hockey Stadium (field hockey); Helliniko Baseball Centre; Helliniko Softball Centre; and Helliniko Slalom Centre (whitewater slalom) [cite news | url=http://www.stadia.gr/2004.html | title=The stadia & arenas for 2004 | publisher=Stadia.gr] .

In August 2007 Ethnikos President Nikos Pirounias finalized a deal with the City of Ellinikon for use of the complex for 3 years with an option for a further 3 years [cite news | date=2007-09-17 | url=http://www.elliniko.gr/article.php?id=1745 | title=...Pirounias in Ellinikon | publisher=City of Ellinikon Official Site (Greek)] . The Olympic Baseball Centre's main stadium underwent renovations for football use, and Ethnikos began playing matches there during the 2007-08 season; the team played its first official match in its new home on October 20, 2007 . The facility became known as Elliniko Stadium, and is commonly referred to as "Elliniko."

The complex also includes new training pitches for both Ethnikos' first team and youth team .

Ahead of the 2008-09 season renovations continued and seating capacity was increased to 9,000 .

Karaiskaki

Karaiskakis Stadium in the Faliro area of Piraeus, commonly referred to as "Karaiskaki," is the traditional home of both Olympiacos and Ethnikos , but only Olympiacos has played there since the stadium was leveled and rebuilt ahead of the 2004 Summer Olympics .

In 2002 Olympiacos President Socratis Kokkalis, in announcing the project to rebuild Karaiskakis, said, "It is our wish that [the new stadium] will also be used by Ethnikos F.C., as Karaiskaki is the historic home of both [Olympiacos and Ethnikos] " [cite news | date=2002-02-24 | url=http://www.stadia.gr/news/news-24-2-2002.html | title=Karaiskaki Stadium | publisher=Stadia.gr] .

Despite that statement, all of the new stadium's seats were painted Olympiacos' red , rather than a neutral color.

When the new Karaiskakis was completed in 2004, Ethnikos was struggling in Gamma Ethniki, and did not move into the stadium; the team instead continued to play most of its home matches in Korydallos Stadium, a small stadium in the Korydallos area of Piraeus, which is the traditional home of Proodeftiki F.C..

In 2005-06 Ethnikos moved to Georgios Kamaras Stadium in Rizoupoli (where Olympiacos played its home matches during the Karaiskakis renovations) [cite news | url=http://www.stadia.gr/rizoupoli/rizoupoli.html | title=Rizoupoli Stadium "Georgios Kamaras" | publisher=Stadia.gr] , and played there up until the move to Elliniko in 2007.

According the official website of Karaiskakis Stadium, Ethnikos has the right to play in Karaiskakis when the team returns to "Alpha Ethniki (the Super League) or Beta Ethniki" [cite news | date=2006-01-24 | url=http://www.karaiskaki.gr/otherteam_gr.asp# | title=Other Teams - Ethnikos | publisher=Karaiskakis Stadium Official Site (Greek)] , though Ethnikos has since returned to Beta Ethniki but not to Karaiskakis. When Ethnikos returns to the top flight, the issue of Ethnikos returning to Karaiskakis may be revisited.

Karaiskakis Stadium is owned by the Hellenic Olympic Committee .

Current season (2008-09)

Coaches

:"As of 1 September 2008" [cite news | url=http://www.ethnikos-fc.com/omada/texniko-epiteleio/ | title=Technical Team | publisher=Ethnikos Piraeus FC Official Site (Greek)]

-------------------------------------------Since 1959-60:

* 36 seasons in Alpha Ethniki/Super League (8th-most in Greece)

* 8 seasons in Beta Ethniki

* 5 seasons in Gamma Ethniki

* 1 season in Delta Ethniki

Most appearances & goals

Most appearances (A' Ethniki)

*383 Aggelos Kremmydas
*367 Dimitris Chatziioannoglou
*320 Stelios Nikiforakis
*300 Panagiotis Kottidis
*246 Kostas Moutafis

Most goals (A' Ethniki)

*102 Dimitris Chatziioannoglou
*079 Michalis Kritikopoulos
*054 Andreas Antonatos
*054 Panagiotis Kottidis
*036 Kostas Batsinilas
*030 Giorgos Karaїskos
*028 Thanasis Intzoglou
*027 Takis Eleftheriadis
*025 Petros Leventakos
*025 Tasos Mitropoulos

Most appearances by a foreign player (A' Ethniki)

*161 Masengo Ilunga
*067 Daniel Batista
*066 Abid Kovacevic

Most goals by a foreign player (A' Ethniki)

*027 Roberto Calcadera
*015 Daniel Batista
*012 Masengo Ilunga

Notable former players

Greek players

* "'The founder of Ethnikos, the club's first captain, and a member of the first Greek national team.
* "'Considered one of the very best Greek defenders of the pre-War era. Born in Piraeus in 1904, he played for Ethnikos in the club's earliest days, but left in 1928 for Olympiacos, where he played until 1936. Played 12 times for the national team.
* "'Center midfielder who was a major part of the Ethnikos team of the 1930s that won the Greek Cup. In the late 1930s he joined Olympiacos. When he finished his playing career he coached Ethnikos, Olympiacos and the Greek national team.
* "'Mantalozis' predecessor in goal, Zantiotis was a key member of the 1930s Ethnikos team that won the Greek Cup.
* "'Playing right-back, Zourntos was one of the best Greek players of the pre-War era. A member of the 1933 Cup-winning team. Played 3 matches with the national team. Zourntos died during the Axis occupation of Greece during World War II.
* "'Possibly the greatest striker in the club's history, consistently among the league's top scorers in the 1930s. Scored 15 goals in 10 matches to lead Ethnikos past Panathinaikos and Olympiacos for the South Division championship in 1934-35, but the National Championship was not played that season. Tied for top scorer in the National Championship in 1935-36 with 12 goals in 14 matches. Scored 7 goals in 9 matches with the national team.
* "'The greatest goalkeeper in club history. Began his career with Olympiacos but came to Ethnikos in 1943 and spent 15 years with the club. Interestingly, he began his career as a striker, and did not discover his talent for goalkeeping until 1945. Earned 10 national team caps. After he finished playing he became coach of Ethnikos.
* "'One of the best Greek midfield players of the 1940s and 1950s, Ioannou played for Ethnikos from 1947 to 1952, before leaving for Olympiacos. Played 12 times for the national team.
* "'The left-back made his Ethnikos debut in 1949 and spent 16 seasons with the club. Made 128 appearances and scored 5 goals in A' Ethniki.
* "'A great center-forward for Ethnikos in the 1950s, he scored 4 goals in 3 matches for the national team.
* "'The versatile midfield player was a star of the Ethnikos teams of the 1950s. His career did extended into the A' Ethniki era, and he made 19 appearances in the league.
* "'Ethnikos' most dangerous striker during the 1950s. Scored the 2nd-most goals in the final phase of the national championship in 1955-56, with 6 goals in 10 matches. In 1956-57 he scored 9 goals in the first 12 matches of the final phase of the national championship to lead Ethnikos into 1st place, until Ethnikos was scandalously disqualified. His career extended into the A' Ethniki era, and he played 21 matches in the league.
* "'The towering center-back was a strong presence in the Ethnikos defense during the 1950s. Played 70 matches and scored 6 goals for Ethnikos in A' Ethniki. Signed with AEK in 1962.
* "'The skilled midfielder made his Ethnikos debut in 1961 and played 13 seasons for the club, making 320 A' Ethniki appearances, 3rd-most in club history. A former captain.
* "'Made his Ethnikos debut in 1961 and took over the left-back position at the end of Kozompolis' career. Played 133 A' Ethniki matches with Ethnikos, scoring 3 goals. Played 1 match for the national team.
* "'A talented goalkeeper who played 161 A' Ethniki matches for Ethnikos in the 1960s before leaving for Olympiacos in 1966. Earned 11 national team caps in his career.
* "'A right-side attacker with great speed, Chatziioannoglou was a tremendous player. He made his Ethnikos debut in 1962 and became a star performer through the 1960s and 1970s. He is the top scorer in club history with 102 goals in A' Ethniki, and he has the 2nd-most A' Ethniki appearances in club history with 367.
* "'The intelligent defender is the club's all-time leader in appearances with 383 A' Ethniki matches played, from 1964 to 1977.
* "'The attacking-midfielder arrived at Ethnikos from Panachaiki in 1964 and went on to make 191 appearances in A' Ethniki, and his 54 goals in the league are the 3rd-highest total in club history.
* "'Attacking-midfielder came to Ethnikos from Panachaiki in 1965. Scored 25 goals in 156 A' Ethniki matches with Ethnikos until he returned to Panachaiki in the 1970s to finish his career.
* "'An attack-minded right-back, Eleftheriadis arrived at Ethnikos in 1967. He played in 202 matches and scored 27 goals, 8th-best in club history, before transferring to Panathinaikos in 1976.
* "'One of the great Greek strikers of his era. Arrived at Ethnikos in 1967 and went on to make 184 appearances and score 79 goals, the 2nd-best total in club history. Moved to Olympiacos in 1973. Finished his career with 422 appearances and 176 goals in A' Ethniki. Scored 3 goals in 28 matches in his career with the national team.
* "'After arriving in 1967 the attack-minded right-back played in 246 A' Ethniki matches for Ethnkos and was a team captain.
* "'Defensive-midfielder made 220 A' Ethniki appearances over 12 seasons during the 1960s and 1970s and later became Ethnikos coach.
* "'Was Ethnikos' starting goalkeeper by age 17 in 1970 and spent 8 successful seasons with the club before leaving for Olympiacos in 1978. Later moved to AEK, then returned to Olympiacos, and finished his career with Levadiakos. Capped twice by the national team.
* "'Tough center-back who came to Ethnikos in 1971. He played in 237 A' Ethniki matches for Ethnikos and was a team captain.
* "'Speedy right-back made his debut for Ethnikos in 1972 and would spend 14 seasons with the club, making 177 appearances. A former Ethnikos captain.
* "'A skillful winger who could play on both flanks, Kottidis signed with Ethnikos in 1974 and spent 17 seasons with the club. Kottidis played 300 matches (4th-most in club history) and scored 54 goals (tied for 3rd-most in club history) in A' Ethniki, and was a team captain.
* "'A second-striker who played for Ethnikos from 1975 to 1981, scoring 30 goals in 155 matches, before moving to Iraklis.
* "'Mitropoulos played 108 matches and scored 25 goals for Ethnikos from 1976 to 1981 before moving to Olympiacos, where he spent the majority of his career and enjoyed much success. He was a fixture for the national team during his career, earning 77 caps and scoring 8 goals.
* "'The speedy left-footed attacker arrived from Panionios in 1976, and spent only 2 seasons with Ethnikos, but was A' Ethniki top scorer while with the club in 1977. Played a total of 43 matches and scored 28 goals for Ethnikos in A' Ethniki. Scored 129 A' Ethniki goals in total in his career, and played for the national team 4 times.
* "'Left-back who played 169 A' Ethniki matches between 1978 and 1985 before signing with AEK.
* "'The strong center-back played 206 matches and was a team captain after arriving in 1981 from Egaleo.
* "'Played 138 matches and scored 36 goals for Ethnikos before moving to Panathinaikos in 1986. Played 22 matches and scored 2 goals for the national team.
* "'The striker who went on to enjoy success abroad, most notably with Anderlecht, Roda JC and Ajax, first established himself at Ethnikos, scoring 25 goals in 106 matches from 1991 to 1996.
* "'The Euro 2004 star made his A' Ethniki debut with Ethnikos in 1994. Kapsis played 123 matches for the club from 1993 to 1999 before moving to AEK where he really rose to prominence.
* "'A technically gifted playmaker, Niniadis arrived from Veria in the middle of the 1994-95 season. He scored 12 goals in 26 matches during the 1995-96 season, but despite his efforts Ethnikos was relegated to B' Ethniki at the end of the season. That summer he left for Olympiacos, where he became a star player and won several A' Ethniki championships.
* "'One of the most talented Greek players of all time, Tsiartas, who was a star playmaker for AEK and Sevilla FC and a major contributer to the Greek national team's win of Euro 2004, had a brief stint with Ethnikos during the 2006-07 season with the team seeking promotion back to the top flight.

Foreign players

* "'The Uruguayan was tied for A' Ethniki top scorer in 1974-75 with 20 goals, leading Ethnikos to a 4th-place finish that season. Unfortunately he suffered a serious injury the following season in a match against Panserraikos and he was never the same. He finished his career with 44 matches played and 27 goals scored for Ethnikos in A' Ethniki.
* "'The hard-working midfielder from Zaire has the most A' Ethniki appearances of any foreigner player in club history with 161, and his 12 goals are 3rd-best among foreign players.
* "'Batista began his illustrious career in Greece with Ethnikos, playing in 67 matches and scoring 15 goals for the club between 1986 to 1989. He later was a star player for AEK and Olympiacos. Batista acquired Greek citizenship and played 14 matches for the Greek national team, scoring 2 goals.
* "'The Albanian international goalkeeper (of Greek descent) played 33 matches over 2 seasons for Ethnikos during the early 1990s.
* "'The Cameroon international winger began his European career with Ethnikos, playing 53 matches and scoring 3 goals for the club from 1997-2000. He later had a brief stint with Panathinaikos, but thereafter his performances for Iraklis earned him a transfer to the German Bundesliga with VfL Bochum.
* "'The former Santos, Barcelona and Olympiacos star joined Ethnikos in August 2006 with the club looking to earn promotion back to A' Ethniki in 2006-07, but all did not go as planned and he left the team in the middle of the season. Giovanni scored 3 goals in 8 matches with the club.

References

External links

*gr icon [http://www.ethnikos-fc.com/ Ethnikos Piraeus] - official site
*gr icon [http://gate14.gr/ Gate 14] - supporters' club site and forum
*gr icon [http://www.ultras14.gr/homepage.htm/ Ultras 14] - supporters' club site
*gr icon [http://www.ethnikos.gr/ Ethnikos.gr] - independent news site
*gr icon [http://www.ethnikara.com/GR_index.shtml/ Ethnikara.com] - independent historical site