“G. KARAISKAKIS” STADIUM

STADIUM HISTORY

The “Georgios Karaiskakis” stadium was originally built as a velodrome in 1895 to be used during the 1896 Olympic Games. It was donated to the Olympic Games Committee by the then property owner Railway Company.

It was in the 1920s when the velodrome was also first used as a football pitch; 40 years later, in 1960, it was fully renovated and retrofitted to be used as a stadium (including a pitch and track and field). Since then, it was renamed into “Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium” to honor a major Greek hero, Georgios Karaiskakis, who was killed close to the stadium during the 1821 Greek Revolution.

It was in the “G. Karaiskakis” Stadium when the 1969 European Athletics Championship was held, as well as Greek Cup finals and the 1971 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final. The stadium also hosted matches played by Proodeftiki and Ethnikos football clubs; it is however the very history of the Legend as written to date and in the future on the pitch of the “G. Karaiskakis” stadium that stands hardwired with the venue.

THE NEW KARAISKAKIS

On May 25^th, 1997, Olympiacos performs for the last time in the old stadium, officially registered as the club’s home ground. Our side beat Kavala 6-0 in match that turned into a celebration for the forthcoming domestic title, which was the first one after many years of hardships for the club. It was a moment of historic proportions for the legendary Karaiskakis Stadium before in entered its new era.

May 30^th, 2003, a day of strong feelings and awe; the old Karaiskakis Stadium is being demolished. Actually, only a part of it, the historic Gate 7, remained standing and that was the day that gate was also taken down before the eyes of Olympiacos fans attending the process, moved and respectful.

Construction works for the new “Karaiskakis” stadium are completed and it is in summer 2004 that the gates are open and a new era for Olympiacos is launched. The first match to played in the brand new Karaiskakis was that against Kallithea (a 2-1 win) on September 19^th, 2004.

The new “Georgios Karaiskakis EOE” was built at the place of the historic stadium that, for decades, used to be the OLYMPIACOS home ground. The Karaiskakis was constructed within a record-breaking time span of 14 months or 428 days, to be more precise. It is a state-of-the-art football-only and fully covered venue with a capacity of 32,115 spectators.

Its construction design catered both for the building and sport facilities, as well as development of all surrounding areas. It stretched along the available plot with the pitch orientation following the South-North main axis, as it was during its time as a velodrome.

The venue’s geometry and functionality exceeds international standards and guarantees the best conditions to host and attend a football match.

INTERESTING FACTS OF THE LEGENDARY STADIUM

Pitch size is 120 m. × 80 m.
The stadium provides 20 fully equipped and ready-to-use broadcasting posts, and a new, hypermodern studio overlooking the pitch. It also features a state-of-the-art indoors studio to host all kinds of TV-related activities.
There are 244 posts in the media tribune following a renovation project that took place in summer 2014.
All media areas (Press Conference room, press area and reception) were fully renovated in winter and have the looks worthy of a Legend.
In summer 2016, Olympiacos FC launched a major project for full turf replacement and installation of a new and sophisticated, Premier League-level turf that cost no less than EUR 500,000. It goes without saying that Karaiskakis Stadium boasts of having the best turf in Greece!
In summer 2014, all dressing rooms for the Legend were fully renovated and they now feature new amazing aesthetics, emphasizing on being functional and generating this “family-like” atmosphere for the players!
Later, a players’ lounge was added so as to let them relax with their families after the end of matches.
In autumn 2017, a full renovation project for visiting team dressing rooms was carried out, so that all clubs playing against Olympiacos may enjoy same top-level amenities.
The stadium parking area may host more than 1,500 vehicles.
The entire area, of total space that reaches 6,500 sq.m, may also be used for commercial purposes since, surrounding the stadium, there is a “shopping gallery”, where one can also visit the Olympiacos official store, the «Red Store», and the Olympiacos Museum.
It is estimated that more the total number of people attending matches or any other kind of event that takes place in the stadium in a year reaches 600,000.