Kalamata F.C.

Kalamata FC

Full name	Kalamata Football Club Ποδοσφαιρικός Σύλλογος "Η Καλαμάτα" '
Nickname(s)	Black Storm Μαύρη Θύελλα
Founded	1967
Ground	Kalamata Metropolitan Stadium Kalamata, Greece (Capacity: 4,000)
Chairman	George Rallis
Manager	Elvio Mana
League	Third Division
2010-11	Delta Ethniki, 1st
Home colours Away colours

Kalamata F.C. (Greek: Π.Σ. Καλαμάτα) is a professional football club based in Kalamata, Greece, currently competing in Delta Ethniki.

Background

Kalamata F.C. was formed in 1967 in a merger among Apollon Kalamata and other local sides.^[1]

History

The team has competed in the Greek first division seven times, in 1972-73, 1974–75, from 1995-96 to 1997-98, and from 1999-00 to 2000-01.^[2]

Kalamata F.C. achieved its first two promotions to the first division, in 1972 and 1974, under President Lykourgos Gaitanaros. Its first two promotions in the early 1970s are considered the team's first golden era. The team could not stick in the top flight though, and would not have a resurgence until the 1990s.

The club's second golden and greatest era began when international businessman Stavros Papadopoulos bought the team in 1992, while the club was stuck in Gamma Ethniki, the third division. Upon his arrival, Papadopoulos began pouring a substantial amount of money into the club, and by 1995 the team had achieved promotion to the first division. The team dropped back to the second division for one season in 1997, but again achieved promotion to the first division the very next year, and remained in the top flight until Papadopoulos sold the team in 2000. After Papadopoulos' departure Kalamata fell to the second division and has since stayed in the lower divisions ever since.

The Papadopoulos era of Kalamata F.C. was notable for the signing of many international players from the African nation of Ghana, such as Samuel Johnson, Afo Dodoo, Ebenezer Hagan, Peter Ofori-Quaye and Derek Boateng. These players helped Kalamata to achieve great results domestically, and some would go on to very big teams: Johnson transferred from Kalamata to Anderlecht and later played for Fenerbahçe, Hagan transferred to Iraklis and then to PAOK, Ofori-Quaye was sold for a club record USD $3.5 million to Olympiacos, and Derek Boateng left for Panathinaikos. Kalamata F.C. is credited with starting the trend among Greek clubs of signing African talent since the late 1990s. The Papadopoulos era is also notable for uncovering a wealth of young Greek talent, most significantly Greek international player Nikos Liberopoulos, who made his name at Kalamata before moving to Panathinaikos, and from there to AEK and Eintracht Frankfurt.

While the fixation on African talent paid dividends for Kalamata FC, it also caused them to miss some bigger opportunities... it was always rumored, and then later confirmed by media in Brazil, that the famous Brazilian super star Ronaldo was offered to Kalamata FC at the age of 15 for USD$50,000, but was rejected by Papadopoulos and the team's technical staff as an inadequate asset. Brazilian 2002 World Cup star Juninho was also offered to Kalamata FC back in 1996 for USD$500,000, but once again the club deemed the sum too high a price to pay.

The club would learn its lessons, however, and after being demoted to the second division in 1997, they eventually started to bring in young Brazilian talent, as well as some veterans of the biggest teams in Brazil. The Brazilians helped the team gain promotion to the first division right away in 1998. According to Brazilian media and insiders, Papadopoulos's son Daniil, a former high level amateur athlete in America, was supposedly instrumental in spotting some of the Brazilian talent and sending them to Kalamata FC. Interestingly enough, one of those players, Hilton Assis(Kalamata FC 1999-2000), turned out to be the first cousin of Brazil and Barcelona FC super star [[Ronaldinho[[. Hilton was once a promising player in Brazil who starred for Internacional of Porto Alegre, but serious knee operations curtailed his career. When he was healthy he was Kalamata's top goal scorer, but he returned to the Brazilian first division after Papadopoulos sold the team.

Kalamata's long standing rival are Paniliakos (team situated in Pirgos city in western Pelopponesus) and Aigaleo city, a well known industrial and impoverished suburb of Athens. Kalamata FC is also noted for having some of the most passionate and dedicated fans in all of Greece.

Colours and crest

Kalamata F.C.'s official colours are black and white, and the team is known in Greece as the "Black Storm" (Mαύρη Θύελλα).

Stadium

Kalamata plays its home matches at Kalamata Metropolitan Stadium in Kalamata. The stadium was completed in 1976, and currently has a seating capacity of 5,400.^[3]

Supporters

Kalamata F.C.'s most famous supporters' club is the Bulldogs Fan Club.^[4]

Rivals

Kalamata's long standing rivals are Paniliakos, located in Pyrgos in the western Peloponnese, and Egaleo, in the Athens suburn of Egaleo. Messiniakos is Kalamata's cross town rival, but Messiniakos generally competed in lower leagues.

Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Giannis Baltimas 2 MF Michalis Chatzis 5 DF Antonis Psichogiopoulos 6 DF Antonis Konstantopoulos 7 FW Kostas Iliopoulos 9 MF Vasilis Skarlatos 10 MF Konstantinos Daskalakis 11 MF Antonios Kalogeropoulos 17 MF Petros Kaminiotis 18 MF Ricardo Vila

No. Position Player 19 FW Vasilis Athanasopoulos 20 FW Giannis Chelas 23 DF Panagiotis Tsimiklis 30 MF Christos Maniatis 33 DF Pierre Kalaganis 70 MF Christos Konstantopoulos 77 MF Nikos Pourtoulidis 79 DF Kostas Papoutsis 90 GK Manolis Spanos

Achievements

• Beta Ethniki Championship.^[5]
  • Winners (2): 1971-1972 (Group 1), 1973-74 (Group 2)

Notable former players

Albania Arjan Bellaj Argentina Tomas De Vincenti Brazil Luiz Carlos Dacroce Hilton Geronimo Assis Canada Kenny Stamatopoulos Ghana Derek Boateng Afo Dodoo Baffour Gyan Ebenezer Hagan Samuel Johnson Peter Ofori-Quaye

Greece Christos Aritzis Panagiotis Bachramis Makis Belevonis Panagiotis Drougas Kostas Frantzeskos Aris Galanopoulos Nikolaos Georgeas Fanouris Goundoulakis Vaggelis Kaounos Christos Kelpekis Thanasis Kostoulas Vaggelis Koutsoures Nikos Liberopoulos Sotiris Lymperopoulos Dimitris Markos Evangelos Nastos Thanasis Sentementes

Iceland Ríkharður Daðason Scotland Lee Bullen Serbia Zdenko Muf

European matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away
2000	UEFA Intertoto Cup	3rd Round	FK Chmel Blšany	0−3	0–5

References

1. ^ "Greece - Mergers and Name Changes". rsssf.com. 2004-08-18. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesg/grk-names.html. 
2. ^ "Greece - Final Tables 1959-1999". rsssf.com. 2003-08-03. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesg/grkhist.html. 
3. ^ "Kalamata Stadium". Stadia.gr. http://www.stadia.gr/kalamataparalia/kalamataparalia.html. 
4. ^ "Bulldogs Fan Club". Bulldogs Fan Club. http://www.bulldogs-kalamata.com/. 
5. ^ "Greece - List of Second Division Champions". rsssf.com. 2004-06-03. http://www.rsssf.com/tablesg/grk2champ.html. 

External links

• (Greek) PAE Kalamata - Official site
• (Greek) Bulldogs Fan Club - Supporters' club site