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Iraklis FC
Full name	Gymnastic Club Iraklis Thessaloniki 1908
Nickname(s)	Gireos (The Elder)
Founded	1908
Ground	Lysimachos Kaftanzoglu Stadium, Thessaloniki, Greece
Capacity	27,770
Chairman	Georgios Spanoudakis
Manager	Ivan Jovanovic
League	Super League Greece (Σούπερ Λίγκα Ελλάδα 2007)
2005-06	4th position
Home colours 　 Away colours

Iraklis FC (Greek: Ηρακλής) is a Greek association football club based in the city of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Nicknamed "Gireos" (Greek: Γηραιός), The Elder, the club claims to be the oldest sports club established in Greece (1903). It is named after Hercules (Greek: Ηρακλής), a demigod in Greek mythology. Iraklis' colours, light blue and white, mirror the official Greek colours.

Contents 1 Club Foundation 2 History 2.1 Early years 2.2 1940's 2.3 1950's 2.4 1960's 2.5 1970s 2.6 1980's 2.7 1990's 2.8 2000-present 3 Current Roster 4 References

Iraklis was established in 1899 as the "Friends of the Arts" Club. The organization was not originally conceived as an athletic group, instead dedicating itself to literature and music. In 1903, however, the members of the club decided to include sports in their activities, constructing a gym and creating swimming and cycling teams. At the time, football was a new sport, but rapidly increasing in popularity, so a football team was soon founded. The first official game was held on April 23, 1905.

Unfortunately, the club soon faced financial problems. In 1908, the "Friends of the Arts" Club merged with the Olympia Club, giving birth to Iraklis. The complete name of the club became, "Ottoman Hellenic Club of Thessaloniki - Iraklis" (at the time, the city of Thessaloniki was under Ottoman rule, so the club was forced to include the word Ottoman in its name. The word was dropped immediately upon the city's 1913 liberation). On November 29, 1908, Iraklis' first article of association was enacted. As its colors, the club selected blue and white, to resemble the Greek flag.

Iraklis' history is closely associated with the city's history, and many city personalities have worn an Iraklis jersey.

During the first Greek Championship Games after World War I, Iraklis won many of its matches and was considered a model team. As years passed, the club maintained its status at the top of Greek football, winning the Panthracian games in 1923. Also in 1923, Iraklis established its first junior teams.

Football in Greece was suspended from 1941-1945 during the German occupation and the start of the Greek Civil War. After the suspension, the club was constantly competing with Aris for the Thessaloniki championship, which bestowed upon its winner the right to participate in the Greek championship. Iraklis participated in the 1947 Greek Cup Final, where was defeated 5-0 by a very strong Olympiakos side.

In the 1950s, the team established its position among the top teams in Greece along with Aris, Olympiakos, Panathinaikos, AEK, and PAOK. Nevertheless, the club struggled with financial difficulties in an ailing Greek economy. Thessaloniki, where many refugees from the Greco-Turkish War of 1919-1922 had settled, was particularly damaged by the economic downturn. The highlight of the decade was the 1957 Greek Cup Final, in which Iraklis was once again defeated by Olympiakos, 2-0.

In the 1960s, the format of the Greek Championship was changed to its present structure. Iraklis was, at the onset of the decade, one of the most consistent performers in the league. However, as the club endeavored to maintain a solid financial position, it became less competitive for the championship title. The organization faced another major setback as Iraklis -and Thessaloniki's only private- stadium was purchased by the state in a compulsory deal to expand the city's university. The club began playing in the newly constructed (and state-owned) Kaftanzoglio Stadium.

The 1970s were arguably Iraklis' peak years. A solid roster was assembled, featuring several players from the club's youth ranks, including Fanaras, Nikoloudis, Zafiridis, Gesios, Papaioannou and Haliabalias. The club acquired Vassilis Hatzipanagis, an already member of the USSR national team of Greek descent. Hatzipanagis was later voted the best football player in Greek history and was honored as so in the UEFA Jubilee Awards, and attracted huge audiences to Iraklis games.He had an immediate impact upon his arrival as he assisted in and scored all of Iraklis' goals in the Greek Cup final of 1976,(a 6-5 penalty decision-4-4 in regular time against Olympiakos) which is the club's only national title to date.

The 1980s began with a scandal for Iraklis. Pellios, a player of local rival PAOK, accused a member of the Iraklis board of trying to bribe him before the second leg of the 1980 Greek Cup semifinal. The incident was very controversial, especially as Iraklis had already won the first (away)leg. Despite its progress to the 1980 Greek Cup final (losing 5-2 against underdogs Kastoria, the team was punished by relegation to the second division. Iraklis won the second division championship in the 1980-81 season, breaking division records for the largest home and away victories, most goals scored, and the largest standings lead.

In 1983-84 Iraklis reached its best league position to date, finishing in third place overall. The team won the Balkans Cup with an aggregate victory (5-4) against FC Argeş Piteşti. 15,000 fans travelled to Athens to support Iraklis in the 1987 Greek Cup final - considered the largest away crowd in Greek history-,unfortunately to see their team lose 3-1 on penalties(1-1 regular time)against OFI Crete.

The 1990s were a period of reconstruction for the club, as aging players either left the club or retired. Hatzipanagis' retirement in 1990 had a major negative impact on the team's success. Fans began calling for a change in the club's management, as club president Petros Theodoridis began selling the team's most talented players.

Iraklis competed against Valencia in the UEFA Cup, losing in overtime.

The team was sold in 2000 to prominent businessman Evagelos Mytilineos for $3,000,000. The new club president's first move was the surprising sale of highly rated strikerMichalis Konstantinou to Panathinaikos. Newly appointed coach Giannis Kyrastas was widely considered Greece's best, remained with the team for only one and very dissapointing season.

Angelos Anastasiadis was appointed as the new coach, which was a controversial move due to his history as a member of rival club PAOK. His tenure, however, was very successful; the team qualified twice in a row for the UEFA Cup on a small budget.

In 2004, after a disappointing match against OFI Crete, Mytilineos announced his resignation from the team and its sale to Giorgos Spanoudakis for $1. Spanoudakis initiated a series of expensive deals, driving the team close to bankruptcy. He later tried to sell the team to an unknown businessman named Dimitris Houlis, again for only $1, but this time including the team's now sizeable debt. The Greek football commission blocked the transfer, raising questions in the media regarding its handling of the previous one.

Also in 2004, Savvas Kofidis, famous as a player for the team, became its manager. In 2005-06, he led Iraklis to an unprecedented 4th place finish.

With debts of almost $8,000,000 to players, coaches, and the state, the team attempted to reconcile its finances by selling its most talented players. Kofidis resigned as manager after Iraklis lost 7 and draw 2 of his first nine games in Greek Super League and was eliminated from the UEFA Cupin extra time by Wisla in the process.

No. Position Player 1 GK Abaris Georgios 28 GK Filipko Miroslav 18 GK Katergiannakis Theofanis 37 GK Bantis Georgios 99 GK Kolici Enea 2 DF Papazaharias Grigoris 4 DF Anastasios Katsabis 22 DF Drougas Panagiotis 5 DF Marino Biliskov 13 DF Sznaucner Mirosław 14 DF Dimitris Mavrogenidis 17 DF Papasterianos Emmanouil 23 DF Perperidis Charalabos DF Kraja Ervis 25 DF Lila Andi

No. Position Player 6 MF Poursanidis Ilias 16 MF Ioannidis George 26 MF Dentsas Tasos 77 MF Aliuta Marian 7 MF Emanuel Benito Rivas 21 MF Konstantinos Kapetanos 55 MF Prittas Athanassios 70 MF Diamantidis Konstantinos 33 MF Ioannis Papadopoulos 19 MF Chloros Ioannis 9 FW Papapostolou Ioannis 20 FW Estebán José Herrera 24 FW Yiantsis Dimitrios 31 FW Indrit Fortuzi 32 FW Sisic Mirnes

UEFA Cup 2006-07 v • d • e

Quarter-Finals AZ | Bayer Leverkusen | SL Benfica | Espanyol | Osasuna | Sevilla | Tottenham Hotspur | Werder Bremen Eliminated in Round of 16 Braga | Celta Vigo | Lens | Maccabi Haifa | Newcastle United | Paris Saint-Germain | Rangers | Shakhtar Donetsk | Eliminated in Round of 32 AEK | Ajax | Blackburn Rovers | Bordeaux | CSKA Moscow | Dinamo Bucharest | Fenerbahçe  Feyenoord (expelled) | Hapoel Tel Aviv | Livorno | Nancy | Panathinaikos | Parma | Spartak Moscow | Steaua | Zulte-Waregem Eliminated in Group Stage Austria Wien | Auxerre | Basel | Beşiktaş | Club Brugge | Eintracht Frankfurt | Grasshoppers | Heerenveen | Liberec | Mladá Boleslav | Odense | Palermo | Partizan | Rapid Bucureşti | Sparta Prague | Wisła Eliminated in First Round Achna | Artmedia | Atromitos | Åtvidaberg | Brøndby | Chievo | Chornomorets | CSKA Sofia | Derry City | Dinamo Zagreb | Groningen | Hearts | Hertha Berlin | Iraklis | Kayserispor | Legia | Levadia | Litex | Lokomotiv Moscow | Lokomotiv Sofia | Marseille | Molde | Nacional da Madeira | Pasching | Rabotnički | Randers | Red Star | Rubin | Ružomberok | Salzburg | Schalke | Sion | Slavia Prague | Standard Liège | Start | Trabzonspor | Vitória Setúbal | West Ham United | Xanthi | Zaporizhzhya

Greek National Division - Super League 2006/07
AEK Athens | Apollon Kalamarias | Aris | Atromitos | Egaleo | Ergotelis | Ionikos | Iraklis | Kerkyra | Larissa FC (AEL 1964) | OFI Kreta | Olympiacos | Panathinaikos | Panionios | PAOK | Skoda Xanthi
Greek football by seasons
1959-60 | 1960-61 | 1961-62 | 1962-63 | 1963-64 | 1964-65 | 1965-66 | 1966-67 | 1967-68 | 1968-69 | 1969-70 | 1970-71 | 1971-72 | 1972-73 | 1973-74 | 1974-75 | 1975-76 | 1976-77 | 1977-78 | 1978-79 | 1979-80 | 1980-81 | 1981-82 | 1982-83 | 1983-84 | 1984-85 | 1985-86 | 1986-87 | 1987-88 | 1988-89 | 1989-90 | 1990-91 | 1991-92 | 1992-93 | 1993-94 | 1994-95 | 1995-96 | 1996-97 | 1997-98 | 1998-99 | 1999-00 | 2000-01 | 2001-02 | 2002-03 | 2003-04 | 2004-05 | 2005-06 | 2006-07 |
Football in Greece
Greek Cup	Greek Super Cup		Greek League Cup
Greek Super League	Second Division		Fourth Division
Fifth Division	Third Division		Greek Amateur Cup
National Squads
Greek National Football Team	Greece Under 21
Other
Other: Greek Footballer of the Year