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Trikala
Full name	Athletic Club Trikala; (Αθλητικός Όμιλος Τρίκαλα)
Nickname(s)	Κυανέρυθροι (Blue and red)
Short name	AOT
Founded	11 July 1963; 61 years ago
Ground	Trikala Municipal Stadium
Capacity	15,000
Chairman	Nikos Kagioulis
Manager	Nikos Manouras
League	Gamma Ethniki
2023–24	Gamma Ethniki (Group 2), 10th
Website	www.aotrikala.gr
Home colours	Away colours

Athlitikos Omilos Trikala Football Club (Greek: Αθλητικός Όμιλος Τρίκαλα), mostly known as AO Trikala (Greek: ΑΟ Τρίκαλα), is a Greek semi-professional football club based in the city of Trikala, in central Greece. The club currently competes in the Gamma Ethniki, the third tier of Greek football.

History

Formation

Until 1963, the town was split in two football wise. The rival football clubs were called Achilleas and A.E.T.. The rivalry between the clubs was intense, and it was the main reason that both narrowly failed to achieve promotion to the 1st Division in the 1962-63 season.

Players, fans and members of the clubs realized that only a merger would benefit the city. On the 10th of July 1963, the General Assemblies of both clubs decided to proceed with the merger. They agreed on the name, red-blue colors for the shirt and two interlocking circles as the badge. The best players would join AO Trikala, while another club named AO Dimitra Trikalon was founded to accommodate the younger players.

On the 16th of July 1963, AO Trikala was officially founded.

Early years and success (1963-1973)

The merger was an instant success, as the club won promotion from the 2nd Division (Beta Ethniki) to the 1st Division (Alpha Ethniki) in its inaugural season. In the first 10 years of the club's existence, 6 seasons were spent in the top flight.

The most successful was the 1965-66 season, when AOT finished 11th out of 16 teams and also reached the semi-finals of the Greek Cup.

The team was notoriously hard to beat at home and it achieved many notable results over this period, having beaten Olympiacos, PAOK and Aris at home, as well as AEK home and away.

A decade of stability (1974-1983)

The following decade saw the club stabilizing itself in the 2nd Division. Results in the league were not ideal, with promotion remaining elusive. Participations in the Cup were not successful either, with no appearances past the Round of 16.

A league reorganization in 1982-83 in order to facilitate the establishment of a national 3rd Division meant the club were relegated to this level for the first time.

Yo-yo between 2nd and 3rd tier (1984-1993)

In this period the club failed to stabilize itself, going up and down the leagues on a number of occasions. AOT nearly dropped to the regional leagues in 1986-87, but a reorganization of the league pyramid gave the club a reprieve. There was some success in the Cup though: AOT reached the quarter finals in 1987-88 and beat Panathinaikos in a Cup Group Stage game in 1992-93.

Highs and new lows (1994-2003)

The mid 90's saw the team re-establish itself as a strong 2nd Division side, regularly playing in front of very large crowds. Winning the 3rd Division in 1994-95 was followed by a run to the Greek Cup quarter finals in 1995-96. Each season the club was growing, culminating in winning the 2nd Division in 1998-99, returning to the top flight after a 27 year absence.

Relegation from the 1st Division in 1999-00 however was the start of a downward spiral as the owner stopped financing the club. AOT were relegated 3 times in 4 years, with 2002-03 bringing a new low as the club failed to fulfill fixtures and was expelled from the league. This meant relegation to the regional 4th Division for the first time.

Lower league wilderness, renaissance and a new disaster (2004-2013)

Dysfunctional management and corrupt ownership meant the club suffered in the 3rd and 4th tier until the end of the decade. Things took an upward turn in 2009-10. Having just been promoted from the 4th Division, the club had a great Cup run and finished as runners up in the League, securing a second consecutive promotion via a playoff.

The 2010-11 season was superb on the pitch, with a great Cup run and a very successful League finish that would certainly mean another promotion. However, it was proved that the owner Vangelis Plexidas had submitted a dishonoured check as a bank guarantee (a prerequisite for a licence by the Greek FA). The club was punished with relegation to the 4th tier. To make matters worse, the financial irregularities forced the club to completely withdraw from football for 2 seasons, dropping further into non-league regional football.

After a failed attempt by a local businessman to rename another club and establish it as a new entity, a group of former players and fans managed to revive the club-AOT returned to play in the 2nd local Amateur Division (5th Division overall) which they easily won with 36 wins in 36 games.

2009–10 season

The most recent season was particularly memorable and the most successful for AOT in a decade. Having won promotion from the Greek 4th Division, AO Trikala was to compete in the Greek National 3d Division North Group. They signed many experienced players and set their sights on promotion. The club started the season with a great performance in the Greek Cup as they eliminated Kastoria and went on to play fierce local rivals Anagennisi Karditsas at home. A crowd of over 7,500 Trikala fans saw the home team beat their rivals 1–0, with the goalscorer being Dimosthenis Manousakis. In the 4th round, Trikala had another memorable game when they beat top-flight club Iraklis Salonica in front of over 7,000 home fans. They eventually lost on penalties in the next round, having progressed to the last 16 of the competition.

Despite the good run in the Greek Cup, the team's league performance at the start of the season suffered as their inability to score away from home meant that Trikala dropped a lot of points. But a 9-game streak of consecutive victories at the end of the season meant that Trikala achieved a second-place finish, which qualified them for a playoff match against the division runner-ups.

The playoff match occurred on May 29 at the Nea Smirni Stadium in Athens. More than 4000 Trikala fans travelled 7 hours to watch their team produce a memorable display and beat Vyzas Megaron by 2–0, with Costa Rican striker Enoc Perez netting both goals. It was a happy end to the season as AO Trikala had finally started to form a team worthy of its bright history.

The 2009–10 season also saw AO Trikala breaking some impressive records. The team conceded just 11 goals in 35 league games (including the playoff match), which was a European record for the season. Trikala also finished with an impressive home record of 12 wins, 2 draws and 0 losses, while having conceded only 2 goals (a penalty and an own goal). Trikala also were the most attended team in the division, with attendances regularly rising over 4,000.

2010–2013

The team enjoyed on pitch success in the 2010–11 season at the second-tier football league finishing the league in fourth place and becoming eligible for the promotion playoffs to the top tier Super League. The team never had the opportunity to participate in the playoffs when they were disqualified after emergence of counterfeit bank guarantees proved their financial viability. The bank guarantees were a prerequisite for a license to be granted from EPO. The repercussions from the false guarantees did not end there, as the team relegated to the lowest tier of the Greek football Delta Ethniki. After further investigations, which uncovered extensive irregularities and undeclared debts, the team was expelled from D-Ethniki into non-league football, which prompted an angry response from fans towards controversial owner Vangelis Plexidas who the fans held responsible for the predicament. In 2012 the official supporters of the club named SAKAFLIADES took charges the reborn of the team. The team will play in the next to last category of Greek football championships in 2013–14.

Stadium

The Trikala Stadium was built in 1950 and it has a horseshoe-like shape, with no stand behind the west goal. It has a main south stand, which is covered by a roof. The stadium upgraded in 2003, as in that year it hosted the Tsiklitria international athletics Grand Prix. The Record of Attendance is 20,000 in a 1999 match against PAS Giannina. It is the home stadium of Trikala F.C. and hosts other events such as concerts and athletics.

Crest and colours

Crest

The original design of the Trikala F.C. logo represents the merger of the two local rival football teams, Achilleas Trikalon and A.E.T. It was the merger of which Trikala F.C. was established. Since then the crest has changed several times but the original 'Merger Bond' is still featured. In 2009, the chairman Vaggelis Plexidas asked for a new crest so the design resembles the crest of FC Barcelona since the team's main colours are red and blue.^[1]

Colours

Team's main colours are blue and red.

Support

The club is considered by the most popular provincial because of its past, as well as the high average attendance of viewers per meeting. When he successfully fought in the three highest national categories, there were a record of thousands of fans in the stadiums, with AOT vs Panathinaikos 1–2 being the absolute winner on March 12, 1972 (8 months after the final of European Cup at Wembley) 18,231 tickets were available, while the viewers were certainly much more. Unsurprisingly, however, the turnout record occurred in 1999 in the match against PAS Giannina where 20,000 spectators attended. But even when the team was in the Regional Championship, there were meetings that numbered thousands of people.

Historically, AOT's first organized association of supporters was the Fan Association AO Trikala "Door 4". Now, it has been renamed to a Fan Club Association - "Sakafliades" with a dynamic presence and action on several levels.^[2] The precursor of Sakafliades was the unofficial link of the Hobo Boys, who first organized and created a warm atmosphere in AOT matches.

Sponsorship

Shirt Sponsor: Autodeal
Sports Clothing Manufacturer: Givova
Golden Sponsor: FQC

Participation history

First Division (7): 1964–1967, 1968–1969, 1971–1973, 1999–2000
Second Division (31): 1963–1964, 1967–1968, 1969–1971, 1973–1983, 1984–1988, 1991–1992, 1995–1999, 2000–2001, 2010–2011, 2015–2019, 2020–2022
Third Division (17): 1983–1984, 1988–1991, 1992–1995, 2001–2003, 2005–2007, 2009–2010, 2014–2015, 2019–2020, 2022–present
Fourth Division (2): 2003–2005

Player records

Appearances
#	Name	App.
1	Sotiris Kalantzis	344
2	Xenofon Patras	334
3	Athanasios Anastasiou	320
4	Thanasis Mpakalis	313
5	Giorgos Lagaras	311
6	Christos Prapas	311
7	Sotiris Nikas	305
8	Thanasis Synatkas	289
9	Stefanos Mylonas	278
10	Giorgos Loukas	254

Goals
#	Name	Goals
1	Sotiris Kalantzis	92
2	Vangelis Tsioukas	91
3	Makis Charitidis	83
4	Giorgos Lagaras	58
5	Sotiris Fasoulas	57
6	Pavlos Mpeveniou	55
7	Nikos Kouskounas	55
8	Giannis Chondros	51
9	Vangelis Paraprastanitis	46
10	Charalampos Pittakas	44

Notable Players

The below players had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed as bold represented their countries while playing for AO Trikala.

Honours

Leagues

Second Division
- Winners (4): 1963–64, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1998–99
Third Division
- Winners (2): 2014–15, 2019–20
Fourth Division
- Winners (2): 2004–05, 2008–09
Second Amateur Trikala Region Division
- Winners (1): 2013–14

Cups

Gamma Ethniki Cup
- Winners (1): 2014–15
Greek Football Cup
- Semifinalists (1): 1965-66
Trikala Region Cup
- Winners (2): 2003-04, 2023-24

References

^ "Crest of Trikala designed like Barcelona's in 2009" (in Greek). trikalanews.gr.
^ "Sakafliades and their actions" (in Greek). sakafliades-athens-club.blogspot.com.

Bibliography

Αθλητική ιστορία των Τρικάλων - Τόμος Β': ποδόσφαιρο, Βασίλειος Δ. Πελίγκος. 1993, Εκδοτικός Οίκος Φιλολογικού Ιστορικού Λογοτεχνικού Συνδέσμου ΦΙΛΟΣ Τρικάλων (εκτύπωση Κυριακίδη Αφοί), Θεσσαλονίκη, ISBN 960-343-225-3