The Greek national team for the Inter-Allied Games in Paris, 1919. Kalafatis is seated, second from right.
Giorgos Kalafatis
Rear Admiral Giorgos Kalafatis (in Greek: Γιώργος Καλαφάτης, born in 1890 in Exarcheia, Athens - a few hundred meters away from Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium) was the founder of Panathinaikos.
Being a big athletic talent, he distinguished himself in track and field sports. But football was his big passion. When his club Panellinios decided to discontinue its football team, Kalafatis together with 40 other athletes broke away and established the first team of Panathinaikos, named Podosfairikos Omilos Athinon (POA) at the time. It was February 1908. Apart from Giorgos Kalafatis, other establishing members of POA were: his brother Alexandros who was the first president, Emmanouil Chrysis, Dimitris Doukakis, Periklis Mpoumpoulis, Granitsas, Mantzakos, Papageorgiou, Gaetas, Demertzis, Stavropoulos, Paschos, Misakian, Reppas, Sapounias, Garoufalias.
Kalafatis played football until the early '20s. In 1919, he was a member of the Greece national team that participated in the Inter-Allied Games in Paris. He was a Player/Manager of the national side for the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp. After he retired, he remained in Panathinaikos as an official. While being an athlete, he graduated from the Health Department of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. He pursued a career in the Hellenic Navy, taking part in the Balkan Wars and in World War I and reaching up to the rank of Rear Admiral. He died on 19 February 1964.
| Persondata |
|---|
| Name |
Kalafatis, Giorgos |
| Alternative names |
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| Short description |
Greek footballer |
| Date of birth |
1890 |
| Place of birth |
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| Date of death |
19 February 1964 |
| Place of death |
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