Leoforos Alexandras Stadium

 

Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium holds a very important place in the history of Greek football. The first stand was built in 1928, and for almost 50 years it hosted the majority of big matches in domestic and international competitions. It was the first to have floodlights installed (1938) and the first with a grass pitch (1958). It was the home of Greece for many years until 2005.

Panathinaikos FC left Leoforos in 1984 and moved to the Olympic Stadium. The club returned to their home ground in 2001, following an upgrading that cost €7 million.

In 2007, Panathinaikos FC decided to reuse Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium for the 2007/2008 Greek Super League season.

Due to the stadium's old construction, dearth of space and dense urbanization of the area, the club sought to move. Negotiations were under way between the Greek government, the Municipality of Athens, and the football, basketball, volleyball and amateur divisions of the club in order to facilitate the building of a new, comprehensive sports complex to house all of the 21 departments of Panathinaikos elsewhere. Eventually, the industrial Votanikos district was selected among others to house the complex and there were plans for construction to begin in 2008. Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyianni stated that such a project would revitalise the area as well as benefit the club.

In 2012, bureaucracy problems, such as Panathinaikos' and the country's bad financial situation due to the economic crisis, didn’t allow the construction of the new stadium. President Giannis Alafouzos decided to move the team back from the Athens Olympic Stadium to the historical Leoforos Alexandras for the 2013-14 season. As of October 2013, the plans for the construction of the Votanikos complex have been put on hold.

For the season 2024 - 2025 the stadium is being used by Athens Kallithea F.C.

Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos Indoor Hall

The Indian's Tomb
Full name	Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos Indoor Hall
Location	Ambelokipi, Athens, Greece
Owner	Panathinaikos A.O.
Capacity	1,500
Surface	Parquet
Opened	1960
Tenants
Panathinaikos women's basketball Former Tenants: Panathinaikos B.C. Panathinaikos V.C. Panathinaikos women's volleyball

An indoor hall is located under the East curve of the stadium, below Gates 6 and 7. When it was constructed in 1959, it was the first indoor hall in Greece. It has a capacity of 1,500 and it is famous for the hot atmosphere Panathinaikos fans create in it. During its inauguration ceremony, Tasos Stefanou^[2] who was the curator of the Panathinaikos basketball department at the time, mentioned that the gym would create a claustrophobic feeling for the opponents, something that reminded him of the "Indian tomb" pictured on the namesake film by Fritz Lang, that was featured in cinemas during the same time. The comparison was so successful that the nickname "The Indian's Tomb" (pronounced "Tafos tou Indou" in Greek) was immediately adopted and is used until today to informally distinguish the indoor hall from the other facilities of the stadium.

In 2015, the official name of the indoor hall became "Pavlos Giannakopoulos", in honor of the historic former President of Panathinaikos B.C. In 2017, the hall's name was changed to "Pavlos and Thanasis Giannakopoulos", paying tribute to both of the former Presidents of Panathinaikos B.C. and Panathinaikos A.O.

Apart from the football field and the indoor hall, the stadium is also the home ground of the most sport departments of Panathinaikos, such as the rugby, boxing, fencing, archery, table-tennis, wrestling, weightlifting and shooting departments. There are training rooms, boxing ring, swimming pool, such as an official shop of the football team, pressroom and various cafés.

 

Fan seating in Greece is segregated by team allegiance. Gate 13, the subject of much graffiti in Athens, is where the most enthusiastic supporters of Panathinaikos FC sit in the stadium. Gate 13 is known for creating one of the best atmospheres throughout Europe as the stadium has the fans seated directly next to the field and the endless singing even during negative results continuously pushes players to give their maximum. Gate 13 was also a place for the poorest fans and supporters of the team, with the seats not being numbered, unlike the rest of the stadium and the VIP seats. It was officially established on 19 November 1966, although its presence preexisted that date. It is the oldest supporters organization in Greece.

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  Entrance to the archery, fencing and table-tennis departments
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  Entrance to the boxing department
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  Panathinaikos shop

• Lists of stadiums

• "Apostolos Nikolaidis" stadium History and photos at stadia.gr (in English)

 

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