Asteras Tripoli F.C.

Asteras Tripolis
Full name Asteras Tripolis Football Club
Nickname(s) "The yellow-blue"
"Arkades" (Arcadians)
"Galacticos"
"Κολοκοτρωνίτσιοτες"
Founded 1931
Ground Kolokotronis Stadium
Tripoli, Greece
Capacity 7,616
Owner(s) Dimitrios Bakos
Ioannis Kaimenakis
Chairman Georgios Borovilos
Manager Staikos Vergetis
League Superleague Greece
2013–14 Superleague Greece, 5th
Website Club home page

Asteras Tripolis Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Αστέρας Τρίπολης) is a Greek football club from the town of Tripoli in Arcadia, Greece. The club was founded in 1931 and since the 2007–08 season, they have played in Superleague Greece, the top professional league in Greece. The word "Asteras" means "star".

History

Early years

Asteras was founded in 1931, in the area near Tripoli's railway station and was formally recognised forthwith. However, the club stayed inactive and during 1932 all football clubs in Tripoli were temporarily dissolved. At the same time, Minas Tsavdaris founded a football club and named it "Keramikos" after his home area.[1] Despite his efforts, Keramikos was never formally recognised, and in 1938 Tsavdaris decided to transfer all of the club's players to Asteras Tripolis, which was still legally recognised.[1] This signified the revival of the club and Asteras managed to compete in the inaugural season (1939–40) of the regional Arcadian League. However, the subsequent German occupation of Greece ended all league competitions abruptly and the club was dissolved once again.

Post-World War II

After World War II, Asteras was reformed under the name "Neos Asteras" and was accordingly recognised by Tripoli's courts on 23 June 1947.[1] Asteras won five consecutive titles in the Arcadian League (1957–62). The team won consecutive promotions and managed to play for two seasons in the Greek Second Division (1961–63), thus becoming the first team from Tripoli to ever participate in such a high division.[1] In the summer of 1963, Asteras merged with Aris–Atromitos and the new team was named "Athlitikos Omilos Tripolis" (Athletic Club of Tripoli, AOT). AOT's function was based in Asteras' statute and the new club continued its activities until 1968, when it was dissolved once again and was subsequently merged with Arcadikos to form Panarcadikos.

Recent history and era of success

Asteras was reformed again in 1978.[1] The club participated in the regional Arcadian League until 2003. At 2001 the club entered a new era and led an outstanding streak of performances. They remained unbeaten at home for over 5 years (from 2001 to November 2006) and they managed to move up four divisions, earning the promotion for the Greek Super League as Second Division champions on 12 May 2007.

Asteras made a spectacular start in their first season in the Super League. Their first ever win was against Panathinaikos (1–0[2] in Tripoli) and their first away win against OFI in Crete (3–0).[3] The season was marked by some outstanding performances with the most memorable being the 1–0 home victory against champions Olympiacos. They also managed to win 2–1 against AEK Athens and 2–0 against PAOK at home. Asteras Tripolis became the first and only newly promoted Superleague team that managed to beat Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, PAOK (home and away) and AEK Athens in its first ever appearance in the top division.

Coach Paulo Campos left Asteras on 24 February 2008 with assistant manager Panagiotis Tzanavaras taking over for the rest of the 2007–08 season. Asteras finally ended 7th, missing the European spot in the last games. In the summer of 2008 Asteras announced Carlos Carvalhal as their new manager. He was sacked in mid-season due to poor results which led the team near the relegation zone.[4] He was succeeded by former AEK Athens caretaker manager, Nikos Kostenoglou. In 2009 Asteras signed the Argentine former Internazionale assistant Mario Gómez as their new coach.

The 2012–13 season was the most successful in Asteras' history. They finished third in the Super League (and fourth in the play-offs), securing a place for the 2013–14 Europa League. Meanwhile, they reached the first Greek Cup final in their history, losing 1–3 to Olympiacos after extra time.[5]

Stadium

Theodoros Kolokotronis Stadium (formally Asteras Tripolis Stadium) is a privately owned football stadium in Tripoli, Greece. Its capacity is 7,600. The stadium was renamed on 22 November 2012 in honour of the hero of the Greek War of Independence, Theodoros Kolokotronis.

European record

Last update: 6 November 2014

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2012–13 UEFA Europa League 2Q Azerbaijan Inter Baku 1–1 1–1 2–2 (4–2 p)
3Q Portugal Marítimo 1–1 0–0 1–1 (a)
2013–14 UEFA Europa League 3Q Austria Rapid Wien 1–1 1–3 2–4
2014–15 UEFA Europa League 2Q Finland RoPS 4–2 1–1 5–3
3Q Germany Mainz 05 3–1 0–1 3–2
PO Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv 2–0 1–3 3–3 (a)
Group C England Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 1–5 3rd place
Turkey Beşiktaş 2–2 1–1
Serbia Partizan 2–0 0–0

Honours

Domestic competitions

Professional history

Current squad

As of 23 August 2014[6]

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

No. Position Player
1 Slovakia GK Tomáš Košický
3 Greece DF Thanasis Panteliadis
4 Ivory Coast MF Éric Tié Bi
5 Argentina MF Juan Munafo
6 Argentina DF Fernando Alloco
7 Argentina FW Pablo Mazza
9 Argentina FW Jerónimo Barrales
10 Argentina MF Martín Rolle
11 Argentina FW Nicolás Fernández
12 Albania FW Vasil Shkurtaj
13 Greece MF Giorgos Zisopoulos
15 Senegal DF Khalifa Sankaré
17 Belgium MF Ritchie Kitoko
19 Greece MF Tasos Tsokanis
20 Spain MF Cristian Lobato
21 Greece GK Kostas Theodoropoulos
22 Greece MF Konstantinos Christou
23 Argentina FW Facundo Parra
No. Position Player
24 Greece MF Lazaros Velissaris
25 Greece MF Dimitris Kourbelis
27 Argentina DF Braian Lluy
28 Greece FW Giorgos Tsoflios
29 Greece DF Emmanouil Gogonas
30 Romania DF Dorin Goian
33 Greece DF Angelos Zisis
37 Greece GK Georgios Bantis
39 Belgium FW Ziguy Badibanga
44 Greece DF Leonidas Kastritseas
45 Greece GK Nikolaos Kokkalis
62 Argentina MF Walter Iglesias
70 Greece FW Giannis Gianniotas
71 Greece MF Panagiotis Grosios
86 Brazil MF Ederson Tormena
93 Greece DF Anastasios Papachristos
94 France FW Hervaine Moukam
96 Greece MF Vasileios Miliotis

Out on loan

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

No. Position Player
Spain MF Fernando Usero (to Spain Alcorcón)

Personnel

Technical staff

Managerial history

  • Argentina Mario Gómez (July 1, 2009–Oct 25, 2009)
  • Greece Vangelis Vlachos (Oct 26, 2009–Jan 17, 2011)
  • Greece Pavlos Dermitzakis (Jan 21, 2011–May 17, 2011)
  • Spain Óscar Fernández (June 15, 2011–Sept 19, 2011)
  • Portugal Horácio Gonçalves (Sept 19, 2011–Nov 7, 2011)
  • Greece Sakis Tsiolis (Nov 9, 2011–Sept 30, 2013)
  • Greece Staikos Vergetis (Oct 2, 2013–)

References

External links