The resurgence of Panathinaikos VC

AGONAsport looks at Panathinaikos’ men’s volleyball team’s return to the top, after narrowly avoiding relegation four times in the past decade.

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With 18 domestic league titles won between 1963 and 2006, Panathinaikos have always been a traditional powerhouse in Greek men’s volleyball. Only Olympiacos have won more league titles, with 29 total (though they had just 22 back in 2006). Despite their long history, Panathinaikos’ results quickly began to decline after winning their last Greek Cup in 2010. For the next three seasons (2011-12, 2012-13, and 2013-14), Panathinaikos finished tenth in the A1 Men’s Volley League each year. As the 11th and 12th-placed teams are relegated each season, Panathinaikos were one place away from being relegated for three consecutive years.

This mediocrity continued, as Panathinaikos finished tenth in the 2017-18 A1 Men’s Volley League. Change was clearly needed, and this necessary change would come as Dimitris Giannakopoulos took over the amateur sports (such as volleyball) of Panathinaikos in June 2018 and began to pull the club back together financially. Little by little, debts were being paid, and fans were once again able to believe in their team.

In the first year with Giannakopoulos as owner, Panathinaikos finished third in the regular season but lost in the quarterfinals of the play-offs. This year, in the second year with Giannakopoulos being involved, Panathinaikos VC have continued their upward trend. After not beating Olympiacos for five years, Panathinaikos defeated the Erythrolefki over two legs (including a 3-2 away win) to win the League Cup for the first time in club history. Then, just a few weeks later, Panathinaikos won 3-1 away at Olympiacos in league play. This win put Panathinaikos in third place of the 2019-20 A1 Men’s Volley League, just three points behind first-placed Olympiacos.

It remains uncertain what will happen with the rest of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which suspended play immediately following Panathinaikos’ away win over Olympiacos. The only certainty is that if play resumes in July as expected, Panathinaikos will have a very good chance at winning their first league title in 14 years, which is something that seemed impossible just a couple of years ago.

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