Niki Volos Football Club (Greek: ΠΑΕ Νίκη Βόλου) is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Volos, in the region of Magnesia, Greece. The club currently competes in the Super League 2, the second tier of Greek football.

Niki Volos
Full nameNiki Volos Football Club
Founded19 August 1924; 100 years ago (1924-08-19) (as Gymnastic Club of Volos' Refugees)
GroundPanthessaliko Stadium
Capacity22,189
OwnerAlexis Papakonstantinou
ChairmanNikos Papakonstantinou
ManagerStefanos Xirofotos
LeagueSuper League Greece 2
2023–24Super League Greece 2, 4th
Websitehttps://www.nikifc.gr/

History

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Niki Volos was founded on 19 August 1924 as Gymnastic Club of Volos' Refugees or Refugee Gymnastic Association, by Greek refugees who came from Asia Minor.

Niki participated for the first time in the championship of the first category before the establishment of the First National, as in 1953–54 she was the winner of the Northern Group and this gave her the ticket for the final phase of the National Division Championship 1953–54, Six teams (Athens (2) – Piraeus – Thessaloniki – North – South) took the 5th place with 16 points, ahead of Panahaiki, who finished the championship with 13.

Niki won for the first time in the 1961 Beta Ethniki, where she had 5 appearances in the big league. In 1966 she was relegated to the Beta Ethniki and since then has been trying to regain her rise to the big category, which eventually succeeded 48 years later, in 2014–15. In 1976 she won the Amateur Cup.

In recent years she has been competing in the Beta Ethniki Championship, but in the 2006–07 season finished last and was relegated to the Gamma Ethniki. In the 2012–13 season she was back in the Beta Ethniki, and in the following year (2013–14) after the play-offs, won the first place that led to the Super League after 48 years of absence. Unfortunately, on 10 December 2014, the club of Thessaly left the championship due to the inability of the administration to cover the financial obligations that had been created, leaving all the players that belonged to its staff to be released as free and the following year started again from the amateur Gamma Ethniki. From the period 2021-2022 it was promoted again to the second division, where she currently competes. Niki has a long-standing rivalry with Olympiakos Volos, the crosstown derby.

Crest and colours

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Historical crest
 
Team's crest until 2015

Niki Volos crest displays the goddess Nike as depicted in the statue Winged Victory of Samothrace. The image of the goddess was the original emblem of the Smyrna-based athletic club Panionios, one of the most popular Greek athletic clubs of Ionia, before it was uprooted and re-established in Athens after the Greco-Turkish War. The founding members of Niki Volou FC, many of them refugees from Smyrna (now İzmir) and the surrounding region, decided to restore the emblem as part of their new club.

Titles and honours

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Domestic

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Regional

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  • Thessaly FCA Championship
    • Winners (15): 1932–33, 1937–38, 1945–46, 1947–48, 1948–59, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1955–56, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1975–76
  • Thessaly FCA Cup
    • Winners (5): 1975–76, 2000–01, 2001–02, 2015–16, 2017–18
  • Volos Cup
    • Winners (3): 1933, 1939, 1958

Achievements

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Leagues

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Cups

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Seasons in the 21st century

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Season Category Position Cup
2000–01 Delta Ethniki (4th division) 3rd
2001–02 Delta Ethniki (4th division) 1st
2002–03 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 4th 1R
2003–04 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 6th 1R
2004–05 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 4th 2R
2005–06 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 10th QF
2006–07 Beta Ethniki (2nd division) 18th 5R
2007–08 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 10th 2R
2008–09 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 7th 2R
2009–10 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 11th 1R
2010–11 Football League 2 (3rd division) 11th 1R
2011–12 Football League 2 (3rd division) 2nd 2R
2012–13 Football League (2nd Division) 5th 3R
2013–14 Football League (2nd division) 1st 3R
2014–15 Super League (1st division) 17th GS
2015–16 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 3rd
2016–17 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 6th
2017–18 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 2nd
2018–19 Gamma Ethniki (3rd division) 2nd GS
2019–20 Football League (3rd Division) 5th 3R
2020–21 Football League (3rd Division) 8th Cancelled
2021–22 Super League 2 (2nd Division) 4th R16
2022–23 Super League 2 (2nd Division) 3rd 4R
2023–24 Super League 2 (2nd Division) 4th QF
2024–25 Super League 2 (2nd Division)

Key: 1R = First Round, 2R = Second Round, 3R = Third Round, 4R = Fourth Round, 5R = Fifth Round, GS = Group Stage, R16 = Round of 16, QF = Quarter-finals, SF = Semi-finals.

Notable wins

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Season Match Score
1965–66 Niki VolosOlympiacos 1–0
1939 Niki VolosPanathinaikos (friendly match) 1–0
1961–62 Niki VolosAEK Athens 2–1
2013 Niki Volos – AEK Athens (friendly match) 3–1
1954 PAOKNiki Volos 1–2
1962–63 PAOK – Niki Volos 0–2
1963–64 Niki Volos – PAOK 1–0
1964 Niki Volos – PAOK (friendly match) 2–1
1964–65 Niki Volos – PAOK 1–0
1958 Niki Volos – Aris (friendly match) 1–0
1958–59 Niki Volos – Aris (for Greek Cup) 1–0
1963–64 Niki Volos – Aris 3–0
1963–64 Aris – Niki Volos 0–2
1964–65 Niki Volos – Aris 1–0
1964–65 Niki Volos – Aris (for Greek Cup) 2–1 (a.e.t.)
2005–06 Niki Volos – Aris (Beta Ethniki) 2–1
2006–07 Niki Volos – Aris (for Greek Cup) 2–0 (a.e.t.)

Supporters

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The club's most famous supporters group is the one consisting of members from "Blue Club", fan club established in 1985, the so-called Indians. The fan club is also recognized as "Blue Club Panagiotis Ntokouzis", named after one of the founding members of the fan club who died in a motorcycle accident. Another club, particularly famous among the majority of Greek ultras, is the "Blue Angels club 1994" established in 1994.[citation needed]

Friendships

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Players

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Current squad

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As of 30 September 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK   GRE Vasilios Soulis
2 DF   GRE Antonis Ikonomopoulos
4 DF   GRE Adam Koufas
5 DF   GRE Athanasios Prodromitis (on loan from Panathinaikos)
6 MF   URU Damián Silva
7 MF   GRE Georgios Doumtsis
8 MF   GRE Achilleas Salamouras
9 FW   COL Wilinton Aponzá
10 MF   GRE Georgios Tsilingiris
11 MF   GRE Dimitrios Litenas
13 DF   CPV Félix Mathaus
15 GK   GRE Stratos Misyrlis
17 MF   CYP Odysseas Spyridis
18 DF   POR Vasco Gadelho
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF   ALB Ermis Selimaj (on loan from PAOK)
20 FW   EST Alexandr Sapovalov
21 DF   GRE Spyros Vlachos
22 DF   ARG Juan Manuel Arias
33 FW   GRE Theodoros Vernardos
34 GK   GRE Themistoklis Tselios
37 MF   BRA Ed Carlos (on loan from Santos)
44 DF   GRE Dimitrios Koutsibanas
49 FW   GRE Aristidis Venetis
64 MF   GRE Christos Kryparakos (on loan from Panathinaikos)
66 FW   GRE Christos Tzioras
77 FW   NGA Adanu Edeh
80 MF   GRE Apostolos Tzianis
88 MF   IDN Luke Xavier Keet

Personnel

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Ownership and current board

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Position Staff
Owner   Alexis Papakonstantinou
President & CEO   Nikos Papakonstantinou
Vice-President   Vasilis Venetis
Communications Director   Giorgos Apostolakopoulos
Marketing Director   Andreas Kikilias
Press Office   Giannis Zattas
Board member   Alexis Papakonstantinou
Board member   Stergios Fatsis
Board member   Giannis Kazepidis

Coaching staff

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Position Staff
Manager   Stefanos Xirofotos
Assistant manager   Pantelis Varvekis
Fitness coach   Angelos Papanikolaou
Fitness coach   Christos Karydopoulos
Goalkeeping coach   Manos Apostolidis
Physiotherapist   Stefanos Kougoulos
Physiotherapist   Nontas Voutselas

Notable supporters

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  • Angelos Argyris, footballer, former Niki Volos player [1]
  • Dimitris Balafas, footballer and coach, former Niki Volos captain [2]
  • Lavrentis Machairitsas, singer [3]
  • Dimitrios Kokkinakis, footballer, former Niki Volos player, lifelong fan [4]
  • Giannis Paflias, footballer and coach, former Niki Volos captain [5]

References

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  1. ^ Άγγελος Αργύρης: Η Νίκη Βόλου είναι ομάδα της καρδιάς μου
  2. ^ Μπαλάφας: «Νίκη Βόλου, η ομάδα της καρδιάς μου»
  3. ^ Δηλωμένος Νικιώτης ο Λαυρέντης
  4. ^ "Kokkinakis interview (in Greek)". e-thessalia.gr. 26 October 2014.
  5. ^ Όνειρό μου να καθίσω στον πάγκο της Νίκης - Mikriliga.com · Είναι η ομάδα της καρδιάς μου
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