Football in Greece

Football is a highly popular sport in Greece.

The Ancient Greeks are known to have played many ball games, some of which involved the use of the feet. The Roman game harpastum is believed to have been adapted from a Greek team game known as "ἐπίσκυρος" (Episkyros) or "φαινίνδα" (phaininda), which is mentioned by a Greek playwright, Antiphanes (388–311 BC) and later referred to by the Christian theologian Clement of Alexandria (c.150-c.215 AD). These games appear to have resembled rugby football.

In the modern times football became known and popular to the Greeks mostly by the British. The first Greek teams to be found were amongst the Greeks of the community in Smyrna (now Izmir) during the 1890s. Teams such as Panionios G.S.S. and Apollon Smyrni F.C., which after the Asia Minor Disaster of 1922 came in Athens.

The first league of professional football in Greece was officially established as the Panhellenic Championship in 1927. The league ran until 1959, when it was replaced by the Alpha Ethniki which ran until 2006 when it was then replaced by Superleague Greece. According to FIFPro, an organization that represents professional players, nearly 70 percent of players complained in a 2011 survey of problems with not being paid.

Superleague Greece is the top-flight professional football division within Greece. The league contains 16 clubs, with the winners of the league becoming the Champions of Greece. The team with the most national championships is Olympiacos, who have won 42 times - 8 Super League titles, 19 Alpha Ethniki titles and 15 Panhellenic Championships. Two other P.O.K. clubs also dominate the history of Greek football; Panathinaikos with 20 titles and AEK Athens with 11 titles.