Karaiskakis Stadium
Στάδιο Καραϊσκάκη
The Karaiskakis Stadium during a 2009–10 UEFA Champions League match
UEFA [1]
Full nameGeorgios Karaiskakis Stadium
(Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης)
Former namesNeo Phaliron Velodrome
(1895–1964)
LocationPiraeus, Attica, Greece
Coordinates37°56′46″N 23°39′52″E / 37.94611°N 23.66444°E / 37.94611; 23.66444
Public transitAthens Metro Athens Metro Line 1 Faliro
Athens Tram Athens Tram Line 7 SEF
OwnerHellenic Olympic Committee
OperatorOlympiacos
TypeStadium
Executive suites200
Capacity33,334
Record attendance45,445
(Olympiacos vs AEK, 7 April 1965)
Field size120 x 80 m
SurfaceHybrid grass
ScoreboardLED
Construction
Built1895
Opened1896
Renovated1964, 2004
Construction cost€ 60,000,000
ArchitectStelios Agiostratitis
Tenants
Olympiacos (1925–1984, 1989–1997, 2004–present)
Ethnikos Piraeus (1924–2000)
Greece national football team (2004–2009, 2010–2017)
Greece women's national football team (2008–2017)

The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium (Greek: Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium (Greek: Στάδιο Καραϊσκάκη, [staðio karaiˈskaki]), is a football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the home ground of the Piraeus football club Olympiacos. It is named after Georgios Karaiskakis, a military commander of the Greek War of Independence, who is national hero and was mortally wounded in the area.

With a capacity of 33,334[2][3] it is the largest only football stadium and the second largest football stadium overall in Greece.

The stadium hosted the 2023 UEFA Super Cup, since the original venue in Kazan had to be moved due to Russia's suspension from UEFA.[4]

History

It was used during the Athens 1896 Summer Olympics, as the Neo Phaliron Velodrome, where Frenchman Paul Masson took the three track cycling gold medals.

It was renovated during the 1960s and hosted the European Winners' Cup Final of 1970–1971, the first European football Final that held in Greece, between Chelsea and Real Madrid. First leg 1-1, second 2-1 and Chelsea won the trophy.[5][6] The stadium was completely rebuilt in 2004 into a 32,115 capacity, all seater stadium, ready for the football competition of the 2004 Summer Olympics.[7][8][9]

The stadium was totally demolished and built again from the beginning, facing a different direction. This complete reconstruction took a record time of only 14 months, finishing just in time for the Olympic Games.[10] After the last deal ended in 1998, Olympiacos is using the stadium once again, on a 49-year lease from 2003 until 2052 and is traditionally identified as the club's true home. In 2002, the president and owner of Olympiacos Socratis Kokkalis, when announced the project to rebuild Karaiskakis, expressed his wish for the new stadium to be also used by Ethnikos, if they wanted, as Karaiskakis is the historic home of Ethnikos OFPF and Atromitos Piraeus and Olympiacos SFP . Therefore, in the contract signed by the Hellenic Olympic Committee, the owner of the stadium, and Olympiacos, a clause was included, stating that should Ethnikos wish to return to the stadium, they may do so without sharing any significant maintenance or other stadium-related costs, as those are covered by Olympiacos. As of 2023, Ethnikos has not yet opted to do so.

The ticket sales average higher than any team's in recent decades for the Super League Greece history (rarely have they dropped under the 5,000 mark) and are not expected to drop in the foreseeable future.

Sales for national team matches had also been higher, but this was for the most part due to Greece's success in the Euro 2004. As of 2008 and after Greece's disappointing Euro 2008 performance, the attendance of national team matches dropped drastically, leading the Ministry of Sport to change the venue to Heraklion, Crete.

In June 2005, Karaiskakis stadium hosted a movie theatre (Ciné Karaiskakis) with a cinema screen that is 20 m long and 10 m wide, operating daily between 9 and 11 p.m. (6 and 8 p.m. UTC) and later, every weekend. The movie screen featured movies including Batman Begins and others. The stadium operated as a movie theatre for the last time on Saturday 13 August 2005.

The Gate 7 Tragedy

Twenty-one supporters of Olympiacos died in "Gate 7" (Θύρα 7) of the stadium, after a game between Olympiacos and AEK Athens FC (that ended 6–0), on 8 February 1981; an incident widely known as the Karaiskaki Stadium disaster. In memory of this event, at the tribune where Gate 7 is now, twenty-one seats are black colored instead of red, shaping the number "7". A monument on the eastern side of the stadium bears the names of the twenty-one supporters killed on that day in the stadium.[11]

Stadium features

Olympiacos vs Chelsea during UEFA Champions League 2007-08

Karaiskakis Stadium is classified as a 4-star football stadium by the UEFA organisation, allowing it to host the UEFA Europa League Final if chosen. It hosts 40 VIP lounges and suites, that can hold up to 474[12] persons, a press conference hall, that can hold up to 130 seats, 200 seats for press and media coverage, an entire shopping mall, with restaurants, cafés, retail and clothing stores and a gym.

The stadium also hosts Olympiacos Museum, dedicated not only to the history of the football club, but to the history of all the departments of the multiple European title-winning multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP. There are 10 automated ticket selling machines around the stadium enabling reservations through the internet or by phone. There is no extra charge for the parking area, which takes up to 1,000[13] cars. Due to its design, the stadium's tribunes have the ability to empty within 7 minutes. The stadium also has restaurants and stores opened during concerts and games and sometimes open with the daily general timetable of most Greek stores and shops.

The stadium is easily accessed through by public transport, at Faliro, which is less than five minutes from Piraeus, and about 15 minutes from Athens city centre, at Omonia, and also through Athens driving routes, which is 8 km, about 15 minutes from downtown Athens.

Concerts

Rihanna,[14] Aerosmith,[15][16] Evanescence,[17] 50 Cent,[18] Scorpions,[19] Whitesnake, Imiskoumbria, Def Leppard[20] and Sex Pistols have performed at the stadium.

Major games

1971 European Cup Winners' Cup Final

19 May 1971 Real Madrid Spain 1–1 England Chelsea
Zoco 90' Report Osgood 56' Attendance: 42,000
Referee: Rudolf Scheurer (Switzerland)
21 May 1971 Replay Real Madrid Spain 1–2 England Chelsea
Fleitas 75' Report Dempsey 31'
Osgood 39'		 Attendance: 19,917
Referee: Anton Bucheli (Switzerland)

2023 UEFA Super Cup

16 August 2023 (2023-08-16) Manchester City England 1–1
(5–4 p)		 Spain Sevilla
22:00 EEST
Report
Attendance: 29,207
Referee: François Letexier (France)
Penalties

References

  1. ↑ "List of UEFA Category 4 Stadiums". Archived from the original on 2 April 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  2. ↑ "Stadium Georgios Karaiskakis" (in Greek). olympiacos.org. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  3. ↑ "Georgios Karaiskakis stadium". Archived from the original on 3 March 2005. Retrieved 28 February 2023.
  4. ↑ "Δύο ευρωπαϊκοί τελικοί για την Ελλάδα σε Γ. Καραϊσκάκης και OPAP Arena". www.sport24.gr (in Greek). Archived from the original on 25 January 2023. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  5. ↑ "Uefa.com - UEFA Cup Winners' Cup". en.archive.uefa.com. Archived from the original on 1 May 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  6. ↑ "Velodrome and Karaiskaki Stadium (1895 – 1964 – 2003)". stadia.gr. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  7. ↑ "Karaiskakis Stadium". stadiumguide.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  8. ↑ 2004 Summer Olympics official report. Archived 19 August 2008 at the Wayback Machine Volume 2. p. 324.
  9. ↑ "Power-Ranking World Football's 50 Best Stadiums". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
  10. ↑ "Gregori International |". Archived from the original on 7 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  11. ↑ "Karaiskaki Stadium History". olympiacos.org. Archived from the original on 4 February 2014. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  12. ↑ "Hospitality | Olympiacos.org / Official Website of Olympiacos Piraeus". olympiacos.org. Archived from the original on 3 December 2011.
  13. ↑ "Hospitality | Olympiacos.org / Official Website of Olympiacos Piraeus". Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 26 July 2018.
  14. ↑ Eliana (29 April 2010). "Rihanna and Summer Concerts in Athens". Greekreporter.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  15. ↑ "Aerosmith's Concert & Tour History | Concert Archives". Archived from the original on 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  16. ↑ Eliana (29 April 2010). "Rihanna and Summer Concerts in Athens". Greekreporter.com. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019. Retrieved 9 August 2019.
  17. ↑ http://esctoday.com/8852/hanna__evridiki_to_support_evanescence/ Archived 2 August 2019 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ↑ "50 Cent Live @ Athens". 29 April 2006. Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  19. ↑ "Scorpions to rock Athens again | eKathimerini.com". Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  20. ↑ "Def Leppard Athens, Greece 2008 Setlist". Archived from the original on 4 February 2020. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
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