Kalamata F.C.

Kalamata Football Club (Π.Σ. "Η Καλαμάτα") is a Greek professional football club based in Kalamata, Messenia. They compete in the Super League Greece 2, the second tier of the Greek football league system. The club's home ground is the Kalamata Metropolitan Stadium.

Creation and early years
Kalamata FC was formed in 1967 when local teams Apollon Kalamata FC and Kalamata Sports Club were forced to merge by the Greek Junta. The Phoenix, which was the emblem of the dictatorship, was chosen as the team's crest and was removed after the Greek restoration of democracy in 1974.

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 1999–2000 to 2000–01.

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.



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.

The Papadopoulos era of Kalamata F.C. saw the signing of many international players from Ghana, such as Samuel Johnson, Afo Dodoo, Ebenezer Hagan, Peter Ofori-Quaye and Derek Boateng. Johnson later 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 US$3.5 million to Olympiacos, and Derek Boateng left for Panathinaikos. Kalamata FC is credited with starting the trend among Greek clubs of signing African talent since the late 1990s. The Papadopoulos era also saw the uncovering of a wealth of young Greek talent, including Greek international player Nikos Liberopoulos, who made his name at Kalamata before moving to Panathinaikos, and from there to AEK and Eintracht Frankfurt.

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' 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. One of them, Hilton Assis (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 rivals are Paniliakos and Egaleo.

Crest and colours


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

Supporters
Kalamata F.C.'s most famous supporters' club is the "Bulldogs Fan Club".

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

Sponsors
As for the 2019–20 the main sponsor of the team is the Greek electrical company Volterra SA and the kit provider is Capelli Sport.

League titles

 * Second Division
 * Winners (2): 1971–72 (Group 1), 1973–74 (Group 2)
 * Third Division
 * Winners (1): 2020–21 (South Group)
 * Fourth Division
 * Winners (2): 1984–85, 2010–11

League titles

 * Messinia FCA Championship
 * Winners (2): 1980−81, 2016−17

Cups

 * Messinia FCA Cup
 * Winners (4): 1953−54, 1982−83, 2016−17, 2017−18

League Participation

 * First Division (7): 1972–1973, 1974–1975, 1995–1998, 1999–2001
 * Second Division (20): 1967–1972, 1973–1974, 1975–1977, 1993–1995, 1998–1999, 2001–2010, 2021–present
 * Third Division (21): 1977–1980, 1981–1982, 1985–1993, 2011–2016, 2017–2021
 * Fourth Division (4): 1982–1985, 2010–2011
 * Messinia FCA Championship (2): 1980–1981, 2016–2017

Notable Former Managers

 * 🇸🇪 Bo Petersson (1995–97)
 * 🇧🇷 Eduardo Amorim (1997–98)
 * Andreas Michalopoulos (2003–04)

Notable former players

 * Greece
 * Panagiotis Drougas
 * Nikos Georgeas
 * Nikos Liberopoulos
 * Sotiris Liberopoulos
 * Thomas Troupkos
 * Kostas Frantzeskos
 * Fanouris Goundoulakis
 * Aristeidis Galanopoulos
 * Christos Kalantzis
 * Thanasis Kostoulas
 * Sokratis Kopsachilis
 * Ilias Anastasakos
 * Vangelis Kaounos
 * Alekos Dedes
 * Thanasis Sentementes
 * Panagiotis Bachramis
 * Giorgos Bistikeas
 * Vaggelis Koutsoures
 * Christos Kelpekis
 * Kyriakos Stamatopoulos
 * Dimitrios Konstantopoulos
 * Nikos Zapropoulos
 * Christos Mikes
 * Vasilios Georgopoulos
 * Makis Belevonis
 * Dimitris Markos
 * Lysandros Georgamlis
 * Antonis Mavreas
 * Dimitris Spetzopoulos


 * Ghana
 * 🇬🇭 Samuel Johnson
 * 🇬🇭 Peter Ofori-Quaye
 * 🇬🇭 Ebenezer Hagan
 * 🇬🇭 Derek Boateng
 * 🇬🇭 Afo Dodoo


 * Argentina
 * 🇦🇷 Elvio Mana
 * 🇦🇷 Sergio Espinoza
 * 🇦🇷 Raul Valian
 * 🇦🇷 Luis Kadijevic
 * 🇦🇷 Armando Gigliotti


 * Brazil
 * 🇧🇷 Alessandro Soares
 * 🇧🇷 Jeronimo Hilton
 * 🇧🇷 Sandro Luiz Scapin


 * Albania
 * 🇦🇱 Arjan Xhumba
 * 🇦🇱 Arjan Bellaj


 * Uruguay
 * Carlos Marcora


 * Serbia
 * Ivan Tasic


 * Sweden
 * 🇸🇪 Peter Larsson