Super League Greece

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Categories: National football (soccer) premier leagues | Greek football competitions

For other sports leagues which may be referred to by this name, see List of professional sports leagues.

Super League Greece
Image:Sleague 2008.jpg
Country	Greece
Confederation	UEFA
Founded	16 July 2006
Divisions	1
Number of teams	16
Relegation to	Second Division
Level on pyramid	Level 1
Domestic cup(s)	Greek Cup Greek Super Cup
UEFA cup(s)	Champions League UEFA Cup Intertoto Cup
Current champions	Olympiacos (2006–07)
Website	Super League Greece home page
Image:Soccerball current event.svg 2007–08 season

Founded in 2006, the Super League Greece (Greek: Σούπερ Λίγκα Ελλάδα) is the highest professional football league in Greece.

1 History
2 Controversies
3 Structure
4 2007-08
- 4.1 Clubs
- 4.2 Stadiums
5 Champions
- 5.1 Performance By Club
- 5.2 Domestic Doubles
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

History

In 2006, the Super League Greece replaced the Greek First Division (Α΄ Εθνική) as the highest Greek professional football league. The Greek First Division had held the position as the highest level of Greek football since 1959 when it replaced the Panhellenic Championship. In 1959, the First Division, which had been an amateur competition from its inception, turned professional. Up to then the Panhellenic Championship, a cup competition open only to the largest football associations of Athens, Piraeus, Thessaloniki and Patras, had served as the top Greek league. The Panhellenic Championship began in 1906 and ran until superceded by the Greek First Division in 1959. This move came as the Greek First Division had a larger number of clubs and a greater national interest than the Panhellenic Championship. During its fifty-three years, the Panhellenic Championship was run by several organizations in succession. From 1906 to 1913, SEGAS (Contact of Greek Gymnastic and Athletic Associations), the precursor of EPO, had responsibility for the Championship. From 1922 to 1923, the EPSE (Union of Football Associations of Greece) ran it before the EPO took over in 1927. Up to then the Championship was considered an informal and unofficial competition. The first official champion was named in 1928.

Controversies

The Greek championship has been plagued by several controversies over the years. For a long period of time, alegations were standing that Olympiacos was operating the "shack" (Paranga), an institution for arranging the results of games by manipulation of teams and referees. This was furthermore accentuated by an official stating that as long as Olympiakos and Aigaleo (a team that was in League 1 then) win, the rest of the teams were unimportant. Specifically the comments above were not made in a very complimentary tone and unnoficial inquests took place. However, with the involvment of various political sources, these investigations were quickly closed without any party being officially charged. ^[1] In 2006, a law impacting the immunity of league officials was implemented. FIFA considered the law a threat to the independence of Greek football and consequently banned Greece from all international competitions.^[2] The ban was lifted a week later, after the law was resigned.^[3]

Structure

Image:SLEladas.jpg

The Super League Greece trophy

At present, sixteen clubs compete in the Super League, playing each other in a home and away series. At the end of the season, the bottom three clubs are relegated to the Second Division. The top three teams from the Second Division are then promoted from the Second Division to replace the relegated clubs.

The Super League is entitled to two entrants into the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League season. The Super League champion directly enters the UEFA Champions League group stage. The second through fifth place teams in the Super League enter a play-off for the second Greek entry. The play-off winner enters the Champions League's third qualifying round, a two-legged tie from which the winner qualifies to the Champions League group stage. The winner of the Greek Cup automatically qualifies for the UEFA Cup, as well as the runners-up of the Super League play-off.

In the play-off for Champions League, the teams play each other in a home and away round robin. However, they do not all start with 0 points. Instead, a weighting system applies to the teams' standing at the start of the play-off mini-league. The team finishing fifth in the Super League will start the play off with 0 points. The fifth place team’s end of season tally of points is subtracted from the sum of the points that other teams have. This number is then divided by three to give the other teams the points with which they start the mini-league.

2007-08

Clubs

Club	Finishing position last season	Consecutive Years in Top Division
AEK Athens	2nd	48
Apollon Kalamarias	12th	3
Aris	4th	1
Asteras Tripolis	1st in Second Division	0
Atromitos	8th	2
Ergotelis	9th	1
Iraklis	13th	25
Larissa	10th	2
Levadiakos	2nd in Second Division	0
OFI	7th	31
Olympiacos	1st	48
Panathinaikos	3rd	48
Panionios	5th	10
PAOK	6th	48
Veria	3rd in Second Division	0
Skoda Xanthi	11th	18

Stadiums

Club	Stadium	Capacity
AEK Athens	Olympic Stadium	71,030
Apollon Kalamarias	Kaftanzoglio Stadium	27,770
Aris	Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium	22,800
Asteras Tripolis	Asteras Stadium	6,500
Atromitos	Peristeri Stadium	8,939
Ergotelis	Pankritio Stadium	26,240
Iraklis	Kaftanzoglio Stadium	27,770
Larissa	Alkazar	13,108
Levadiakos	Levadia Municipal Stadium	13,108
OFI	Pankritio Stadium	26,240
Olympiacos	Karaiskákis Stadium	33,334
Panathinaikos	Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium	16,620
Panionios	Nea Smyrni Stadium	11,700
PAOK	Toumba Stadium	28,701
Veria	Veria Stadium	7,361
Skoda Xanthi	Skoda Xanthi Arena	7,422

Champions

1927/28-1958/59 Panhellenic Championship
1959/60-2005/06 Alpha Ethniki
2006/07-present Super League Greece

Season	Champion
1927-28	Aris
1928-29	not held
1929-30	Panathinaikos
1930-31	Olympiacos
1931-32	Aris
1932-33	Olympiacos
1933-34	Olympiacos
1934-35	not held
1935-36	Olympiacos
1936-37	Olympiacos
1937-38	Olympiacos
1938-39	AEK Athens
1939-40	AEK Athens
1940-41	not held
1941-42
1942-43
1943-44
1944-45
1945-46	Aris
1946-47	Olympiacos
1947-48	Olympiacos
1948-49	Panathinaikos
1949-50	not held
1950-51	Olympiacos
1951-52	not held
1952-53	Panathinaikos
1953-54	Olympiacos
1954-55	Olympiacos
1955-56	Olympiacos
1956-57	Olympiacos
1957-58	Olympiacos
1958-59	Olympiacos

Season	Champion
1959-60	Panathinaikos
1960-61	Panathinaikos
1961-62	Panathinaikos
1962-63	AEK Athens
1963-64	Panathinaikos
1964-65	Panathinaikos
1965-66	Olympiacos
1966-67	Olympiacos
1967-68	AEK Athens
1968-69	Panathinaikos
1969-70	Panathinaikos
1970-71	AEK Athens
1971-72	Panathinaikos
1972-73	Olympiacos
1973-74	Olympiacos
1974-75	Olympiacos
1975-76	PAOK
1976-77	Panathinaikos
1977-78	AEK Athens
1978-79	AEK Athens
1979-80	Olympiacos
1980-81	Olympiacos
1981-82	Olympiacos
1982-83	Olympiacos
1983-84	Panathinaikos
1984-85	PAOK
1985-86	Panathinaikos
1986-87	Olympiacos
1987-88	Larissa
1988-89	AEK Athens
1989-90	Panathinaikos
1990-91	Panathinaikos

Season	Champion
1991-92	AEK Athens
1992-93	AEK Athens
1993-94	AEK Athens
1994-95	Panathinaikos
1995-96	Panathinaikos
1996-97	Olympiacos
1997-98	Olympiacos
1998-99	Olympiacos
1999-00	Olympiacos
2000-01	Olympiacos
2001-02	Olympiacos
2002-03	Olympiacos
2003-04	Panathinaikos
2004-05	Olympiacos
2005-06	Olympiacos
2006-07	Olympiacos
2007-08

Performance By Club

Club	Champions	Winning Years
Olympiacos	35	1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007
Panathinaikos	19	1930, 1949, 1953, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2004
AEK Athens	11	1939, 1940, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994
Aris	3	1928, 1932, 1946
PAOK	2	1976, 1985
Larissa	1	1988

Domestic Doubles

Season	Club
1939	AEK Athens
1947	Olympiacos
1951	Olympiacos
1954	Olympiacos
1957	Olympiacos
1958	Olympiacos
1959	Olympiacos
1969	Panathinaikos
1973	Olympiacos
1975	Olympiacos
1977	Panathinaikos
1978	AEK Athens
1981	Olympiacos
1984	Panathinaikos
1986	Panathinaikos
1991	Panathinaikos
1995	Panathinaikos
1999	Olympiacos
2004	Panathinaikos
2005	Olympiacos
2006	Olympiacos