Football League (Greece)

Football League

Country	Greece
Founded	1983 in its current format 2010 with its current name
Number of teams	18
Level on pyramid	2
Promotion to	Super League
Relegation to	Gamma Ethniki
Domestic cup(s)	Greek Cup
Current champions	AEK Athens (2014–15)
TV partners	OTE Sport
Website	www.epae.org
2015–16 Football League

Football League, former Beta Ethniki (Greek: Β΄ Εθνική, II National Category), is the second highest professional football league in Greece, being a feeder-league to the top-level Superleague Greece.

2015-16 Member Clubs

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Last season
Acharnaikos	Menidi	Acharnes Stadium	4,450	j !South Group, 7th & South Group Relegation Play-offs, 1st
Agrotikos Asteras	Evosmos	Agrotikos Asteras Ground	2,267	j !North Group, 9th & North Group Relegation Play-offs, 1st
Anagennisi Karditsa	Karditsa	Karditsa Stadium	9,500	j !North Group, 6th & North Group Relegation Play-offs, 3rd
Apollon Smyrni	Athens	Georgios Kamaras Stadium	14,856	j !South Group, 3rd & Promotion Play-offs, 3rd
Chania	Chania	Perivolia Municipal Stadium	2,800	j !South Group, 4th
Ergotelis	Heraklion	Pankritio Stadium	26,000	j !SL, 15th
Kallithea	Kallithea	Grigoris Lambrakis Stadium	4,250	j !South Group, 8th & South Group Relegation Play-offs, 3rd
Kerkyra	Corfu	Kerkyra Stadium	2,191	j !SL, 18th ( Kerkyra relegated for illegal transfer of shares and was given the last position of the league table.)
Kissamikos	Kissamos	Maleme Stadium	700	j !Gamma Ethniki, Group 4 , 1st
Lamia	Lamia	Lamia Stadium	6,000	j !North Group, 4th
AEL	Larissa	AEL FC Arena	16,118	j !North Group, 2nd & Promotion Play-offs, 4th
Olympiakos Volou	Volos	Volos Municipal Stadium	9,000	j !North Group, 3rd & Promotion Play-offs, 5th
Panachaiki	Patras	Kostas Davourlis Stadium	11,321	j !South Group, 2nd & Promotion Play-offs, 6th
Panegialios	Aigio	Aigio Stadium	4,500	j !South Group, 6th & South Group Relegation Play-offs, 2nd
Panelefsiniakos	Eleusina	Municipal Stadium of Eleusina	1,800	j !Gamma Ethniki, Group 3 , 1st
Panserraikos	Serres	Serres Municipal Stadium	9,500	j !Gamma Ethniki, Group 1 , 1st
Trikala	Trikala	Trikala Municipal Stadium	14,000	j !Gamma Ethniki, Group 2 , 1st
Zakynthos	Zakynthos	Zakynthians Olympic Champions Ground	2,000	j !North Group, 5th & North Group Relegation Play-offs, 2nd

History

It began in 1954 as regional championship, separated in two groups, North and South. Then, the participating teams were the champions of each Greek football clubs association. Every year the participating teams were different. In 1960, the Division took its name and some teams were permanent. From 1960 to 1984, there existed multiple groups, peaking in 1962 with ten groups. In 1962, the Division was made permanent, something that had as an essential condition the disengagement of the teams from their local championships. This change has led many statisticians to begin statistics from this period (1962–63). For 21 periods, from 1962–63 to 1982–83, championship was carried out in groups. The subordinate system was introduced for first time in 1983–84 season.

On August 3, 2010, the change of division's name to Football League was announced.^[1]

Structure

At present, there are eighteen clubs that compete in the Football League, playing each other in a home and away series. At the end of the season, the bottom four teams are relegated to the Football League 2. The top two teams gain automatic promotion. Unlike the Superleague, clubs in the Football League do not get relegated if the club fails to obtain a license. All teams in the Football League take part in the Greek Football Cup.

Winners

From 1960 to 1962

Season	Winner
1959–60	Fostiras, Atromitos Piraeus, Panelefsiniakos, Thermaikos
1960–61	Panelefsiniakos, Niki Volou, Aspida Xanthi, Egaleo
1961–62	Pankorinthiakos, Panegialios, Iraklis Kavala, Iraklis Serres, Achilleas Trikala, Larissa, Olympiakos Volos, Pierikos, Vyzas, Rodiakos, OFI

From 1963 to 1982

Season	Winner
1962–63	Edessaikos, Doxa Drama, Olympiakos Chalkida, Pankorinthiakos
1963–64	Panachaiki, Proodeftiki, Philippi Kavala
1964–65	Panserraikos, Edessaikos, Egaleo, Vyzas
1965–66	Veria, OFI, Vyzas
1966–67	Panelefsiniakos, Kavala, Olympiakos Volou
1967–68	Chalkida, Trikala
1968–69	Panachaiki, Kavala
1969–70	Apollon Athens, Veria, Fostiras
1970–71	Panachaiki, Trikala, Ethnikos Olympiakos Volou
1971–72	Panserraikos, Kalamata, Atromitos
1972–73	Apollon Athens, Apollon Kalamarias, AEL
1973–74	PAS Giannina, Kastoria, Kalamata
1974–75	Apollon Athens, Panetolikos, Pierikos
1975–76	Kavala, OFI
1976–77	Egaleo, Veria
1977–78	Rodos, AEL
1978–79	Doxa Dramas, Korinthos
1979–80	Panserraikos, Atromitos
1980–81	Rodos, Iraklis
1981–82	Panachaiki, Makedonikos
1982–83	Egaleo, Apollon Kalamarias

From 1983

Season	Winner
1983–84	Panachaiki
1984–85	PAS Giannina
1985–86	Diagoras
1986–87	Panachaiki
1987–88	Doxa Drama
1988–89	Skoda Xanthi
1989–90	Athinaikos
1990–91	Ethnikos Piraeus
1991–92	Apollon Kalamarias
1992–93	Naoussa
1993–94	Ionikos

Season	Winner
1994–95	Paniliakos
1995–96	Kavala
1996–97	Panionios
1997–98	Aris
1998–99	Trikala
1999–00	Athinaikos
2000–01	Egaleo
2001–02	PAS Giannina
2002–03	Chalkidona
2003–04	Kerkyra
2004–05	AEL

Season	Winner
2005–06	Ergotelis
2006–07	Asteras Tripolis
2007–08	Panserraikos
2008–09	Atromitos
2009–10	Olympiakos Volos
2010–11	Panetolikos
2011–12	Panthrakikos
2012–13	Apollon Smyrni
2013–14	Niki Volos
2014–15	AEK Athens

References

↑ http://www.epae.org/entry.fds?entryID=1067&pageCode=05.07&tablePageID=47&pageID=46&langid=1

External links

Football League

2015–16 teams	Acharnaikos Agrotikos Asteras Anagennisi Karditsa Apollon Smyrni Chania ~~Ergotelis~~* Kerkyra Kallithea Kissamikos Lamia Larissa ~~Olympiakos Volos~~* Panachaiki Panegialios Panelefsiniakos Panserraikos Trikala Zakynthos *withdrew during the season

Seasons	1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16

Football in Greece

Overview	Hellenic Football Federation List of Unions Awards By number of titles List of clubs List of venues

National teams	Greece men U-23 U-21 U-20 U-19 U-17 U-16 Greece women Greece Beach Soccer men Military football team

League competitions	Superleague Football League Gamma Ethniki Delta Ethniki Local Championships Football League System Panhellenic Championship (defunct) Champions Top goalscorers Superleague Football League Women's top division

Cup competitions	Greek Cup Super Cup League Cup (defunct) Gamma Ethniki Cup Amateurs' Super Cup Amateurs Cup Women's Cup

Miscellaneous	P.O.K. Koriopolis scandal 2015 Greek football scandal Greek football clubs in European competitions

Second level football leagues of Europe (UEFA)

Active	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation Republika Srpska Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark England Estonia Faroe Islands Finland France Georgia Germany Gibraltar Greece Hungary Iceland Republic of Ireland Israel Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Montenegro Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia Scotland Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine Wales North South

Defunct	East Germany Serbia and Montenegro Soviet Union Yugoslavia

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