OFI Crete
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| Full name | Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Ηρακλείου |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Όμιλος (The Club) |
| Founded | 1925 |
| Ground |
Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium Heraklion, Crete, Greece |
| Capacity | 8,500 |
| Chairman | Giannis Polemarchakis |
| Manager | Miodrag Martac |
| League | Football League |
| 2015–16 | Gamma Ethniki, (Group 4) 1st (Promoted) |
| Website | Club home page |
Omilos Filathlon Irakleiou 1925 (Greek: Όμιλος Φιλάθλων Ηρακλείου 1925, Club of Fans of Heraklion 1925), is a Greek association football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is a part of the OFI multi sports club. Outside Greece, the club is generally known as OFI Crete, however, the name Crete is not actually part of the club's official title. The team competes in Gamma Ethniki, the third division of the Greek football league system, and hosts home games at the Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium.
OFI is the Cretan club with most appearances in the Greek first division. It has won one Greek Cup (1986–87) and one Balkans Cup, while they have competed seven times in UEFA competitions.
The club was founded during the autumn of 1925 by a group of athletes that used to exercise in a specific gym in the city of Heraklion. The official name given to the sports club was Omilos Filathlon Irakleiou (acronym OFI). The colours that OFI used were black and white, because none of the existing sports clubs had the same colour combination in Crete. The scope of the sport club, as had been written down in the first deed of association, was to participate in all kinds of events, and exhibitions related to athletics. During the first period of OFI’s existence most of the teams founders were also members.
The years preceding World War II were a very difficult period not only for Crete, but for Greece in general. Thus, it was extremely difficult for OFI to travel and participate in national football tournaments. As a result, OFI was limited to matches around the island of Crete and particularly with other football clubs based in Heraklion. Strangely enough, these local matches were more frequent in comparison to the official ones of former periods. Even though official documentation does not exist, elderly fans of OFI believe that the team played around 400 matches before the Germans finally occupied Crete.
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