Niki Volos F.C. Explained

Clubname:Niki Volos
Fullname:Niki Volos Football Club
Founded: (as Gymnastic Club of Volos' Refugees)
Ground:Panthessaliko Stadium
Capacity:22,189
Owner:Alexis Papakonstantinou
Chairman:Nikos Papakonstantinou
Manager:Stefanos Xirofotos
League:Super League Greece 2
Season:2023–24
Position:Super League Greece 2, 4th
Website:https://www.nikifc.gr/
Pattern B1:_macronalhena19rbw
Leftarm1:0000FF
Body1:0000FF
Rightarm1:0000FF
Shorts1:0000FF
Socks1:0000FF
Pattern La2:_macronrhodiumeco23w
Pattern B2:_macronalhena19wgy
Pattern Ra2:_macronrhodiumeco23w
Leftarm2:FFFFFF
Body2:FFFFFF
Rightarm2:FFFFFF
Shorts2:FFFFFF
Socks2:FFFFFF

Niki Volos Football Club (Greek, Modern (1453-);: 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.

History

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 Greek FCA Winners' Championship, 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

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

Domestic

Regional

Achievements

Leagues

Cups

Seasons in the 21st century

!Season!Category!Position!Cup
2000–01Delta Ethniki (4th division)3rd
2001–02Delta Ethniki (4th division)1st
2002–03Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)4th1R
Beta Ethniki (2nd division)6th1R
2004–05Beta Ethniki (2nd division)4th2R
2005–06Beta Ethniki (2nd division)10thQF
2006–07Beta Ethniki (2nd division)18th5R
2007–08Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)10th2R
2008–09Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)7th2R
2009–10Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)11th1R
2010–11Football League 2 (3rd division)11th1R
2011–12Football League 2 (3rd division)2nd2R
2012–13Football League (2nd Division)5th3R
2013–14Football League (2nd division)1st3R
2014–15Super League (1st division)17thGS
2015–16Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)3rd
2016–17Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)6th
2017–18Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)2nd
2018–19Gamma Ethniki (3rd division)2ndGS
2019–20Football League (3rd Division)5th3R
2020–21Football League (3rd Division)8thCancelled
2021–22Super League 2 (2nd Division)4thR16
2022–23Super League 2 (2nd Division)3rd4R
2023–24Super League 2 (2nd Division)4thQF
2024–25Super 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

SeasonMatchScore
1965–66Niki VolosOlympiacos1–0
1939Niki VolosPanathinaikos (friendly match)1–0
1961–62Niki VolosAEK Athens2–1
2013Niki Volos – AEK Athens (friendly match)3–1
1954PAOKNiki Volos 1–2
1962–63PAOK – Niki Volos 0–2
1963–64Niki Volos – PAOK1–0
1964Niki Volos – PAOK (friendly match)2–1
1964–65Niki Volos – PAOK1–0
1958Niki Volos – Aris (friendly match)1–0
1958–59Niki Volos – Aris (for Greek Cup)1–0
1963–64Niki Volos – Aris3–0
1963–64Aris – Niki Volos0–2
1964–65Niki Volos – Aris1–0
1964–65Niki Volos – Aris (for Greek Cup)2–1 (a.e.t.)
2005–06Niki Volos – Aris (Beta Ethniki)2–1
2006–07Niki Volos – Aris (for Greek Cup)2–0 (a.e.t.)

Supporters

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.

Friendships

Players

Current squad

Personnel

Ownership and current board

|}

Coaching staff

|}

Notable supporters

Notes and References

  1. https://magnesianews.gr/sports-slider/aggelos-argyris-i-niki-voloy-einai-omada-tis-kardias-moy.html Άγγελος Αργύρης: Η Νίκη Βόλου είναι ομάδα της καρδιάς μου
  2. https://www.taxydromos.gr/niki/696404/mpalafas-niki-voloy-i-omada-tis-kardias-moy/ Μπαλάφας: «Νίκη Βόλου, η ομάδα της καρδιάς μου»
  3. https://www.taxydromos.gr/niki/380761/dilomenos-nikiotis-o-layrentis/ Δηλωμένος Νικιώτης ο Λαυρέντης
  4. Web site: Kokkinakis interview (in Greek). 26 October 2014. e-thessalia.gr.
  5. https://www.mikriliga.com/quot-oneiro-moy-na-kathiso-ston-pagko-tis-nikis-quot/ Όνειρό μου να καθίσω στον πάγκο της Νίκης - Mikriliga.com · Είναι η ομάδα της καρδιάς μου