Trikala F.C.
 |
|
| Full name |
Athlitikos Omilos Trikalon (Αθλητικός Όμιλος Τρικάλων) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1963 |
| Ground | Trikala Municipal Stadium |
| Capacity | 15,000-16,000 (Attendance Record :20,000) |
| Owner |
 Christos Gialias |
| Chairman |
Christos Gialias |
| Head Coach |
Alekos Vosniadis |
| League | Football League (Greece) |
| 2015–16 | Football League, 3rd |
| Website | Club home page |
Trikala F.C., or Athlitikos Omilos Trikalon (A.O.T.) (Greek: Αθλητικός Όμιλος Τρικάλων, Athletic Club of Trikala), are a professional football club based in the city of Trikala, in central Greece.
The club was formed in 1963 from the merger of two rival Trikala football clubs, Achilleas of Trikala and Α.Ε.Τ. The history of these original clubs can be traced back to the early 1920s when the football in the town was starting to rising.
The merger provided an optimistic spirit for the fans of the team since the town's best teams had been merged. Concequently, it proved to be successful as, within a year, A.O.T. had won promotion to the Greek first division.
After coming top in the Greek 2nd division (Beta Ethniki) in 1964, AOT continued its early success by competing in the Greek 1st division (Alpha Ethniki) from 1964 to 1969 (except for the 67–68 season when they were relegated to the 2nd division only to come top of that division and be promoted straight away). AOT then spent a further two years in the 2nd division before winning that league again in 1971 and being promoted. They spent a further two years in the 1st division before being relegated to the second division in 1973.
The team spent a further 10 years in the second division and eventually got relegated to the third division (Gamma Ethniki) in 1983. The period between 1983 and 1995 was one of the team's worse, spending 7 of the next 12 years in the 3rd division.
In 1995 AOT re-established themselves in the 2nd division and that success was followed four years later when they won the league and were promoted to the 1st division in 1999 after a 27-year absence.
Unfortunately, the success was short lived as AOT came last in the 1999 – 2000 season which was followed by a disastrous run culminating in their relegation to the 4th division in 2003.
Since 2003 the team have been playing in the Greek 3rd and 4th division until their promotion to the Greek second division in 2010 (Beta Ethniki) after a 9-year absence.
The most recent season was a particularly memorable one and the most successful season for AOT in a decade. Having won promotion from the Greek 4th Division, AO Trikala were to compete in the Greek National 3d Division North Group. They signed many good and 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 7500 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 7000 home fans. They eventually lost on penalties in the next round having progressed to the last 16 of the competition.
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