Football in Greece

The Roman game harpastum is believed to have been adapted from a Greek team game known as "ἐπίσκυρος" (Episkyros)[1][2] or "φαινίνδα" (phaininda),[3] which is mentioned by a Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388–311 BC) and later referred to by the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215 AD).

[4][5][6][7][8] In the modern era, however, association football was introduced to the Greeks by expatriate British communities and military personnel.

The first Greek football teams were created as part of long-established athletic and gymnastic clubs in the major port cities of Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as among the large Greek communities of the Ottoman Empire, such as Constantinople and Smyrna, in the early 1900s.

After the Asia Minor Disaster of 1922 which resulted in a large resettlement of Greeks from Turkey to Greece, several clubs, such as Panionios and Apollon Smyrnis, were transplanted, while many athletes of other clubs, like Pera, formed new organizations in their new home (e.g. AEK, PAOK).

The first league of professional football in Greece was officially established as the Panhellenic Championship in 1927.

[11][12] Olympiacos became the first and only Greek team to lift a UEFA trophy, winning the Europa Conference League in the 2023–24 season, defeating Fiorentina in the final.