Lessons for India from Greek Football’s Revival

The crippling global financial crisis of the late-noughties tore asunder the economic and social fabrics of Greece, leaving ‘frivolous’ pursuits in rag order. ‘Frivolous’ pursuits like football, which had hit a high in the nation after winning the European Championship in 2004. But now the local game, almost two decades on, is about to blossom.

Mark of the Shamrock

There are few parts of the world where Irish influence is not felt. The Connaught Rangers Mutiny of 1920 still resonates in Ireland as a ‘last straw’ in the Irish relationship with their British overlords. The mutiny, which took place in Punjab’s Jalandhar, triggered a full of War of Independence that led to the emergence of the country from nearly 800 years of British rule.

While many famous Irish people, like Spike Milligan, were born in India, they usually returned home to Ireland or the UK, but some families stayed, integrated, and contributed, the O’Briens of Kolkata being the most notable. And it is in Greece where the Irish influence was felt most strongly in the fight for independence and football.

Panathinaikos FC were the first Greek club to reach a European Final, the 1971 European Cup showdown with Ajax FC. From their foundation in 1908 to present, the club have captured 20 leagues and cups, produced almost half of the squad that won the UEFA European Championship in 2004, and yet won only two leagues in a 30-year period which has seen them forever waiting to move into a new stadium.

The ‘Greens’ or ‘Shamrock’ are possibly the most Irish club outside of Ireland, and Scotland with full background story here (link for insertion - https://backpagefootball.com/green-shoots-in-greece-for-panathinaikos/134678/), and that green element and atmosphere has attracted droves of foreigners, including Indians.

“When I first came to Athens [2024], my boss gave me a ticket to see Chelsea,” Minaj tells me over coffee in a small cafe near the Kerameikos metro station. “I’m an Arsenal fan, but Chelsea, why not. But even though they won [4-1], I liked the home team and fans.”

Delhi-born Minaj, a certified accountant who works with a Greek logistics company nearby where we met, had gained his initial degree in Russia, before moving to the Gulf, getting married, and moving with his family to Greece two years ago. “I found the fans very friendly, like in Russia when I went to Lokomotiv games. My only regret about leaving Greece is not seeing Pana anymore.”

Minaj moved to Cyprus in late-August but said he is fully a Panathinaikos fan.

New ground, new hope?

Panathinaikos, after decades of splitting time between their historic home of the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium and Athens’ Olympic Stadium, will finally move into their new facilities next year in Votanikos, which has the Acropolis as its backdrop.

The club realise that to compete at the top of the domestic game, forget in Europe, they need a proper, state-of-the-art arena to draw crowds not only to football matches, but concerts and other events.

“It will expand our revenue streams and give us greater power,” a club official told me during their match with Paks FC in the UEFA Conference League qualifiers in July.

And Panathinaikos need it, because they are up against a proper juggernaut down the road in Piraeus.

Port Power

Piraeus is a proper port city. Bustling, brash, and with the confidence that controlling flows of fuel and food into a nation brings. Their club, Olympiacos, have won more than double Panathinaikos’ number [48], 29 cups, and most importantly became the first Greek club to win a European trophy, the UEFA Conference League in 2024.

“In Europe, like, you know, now, we are a team not to be messed with,” said 22-year-old Sunil, a Master’s student of Maritime Economics in the University of Piraeus. In his final year, he goes to matches “when there is time” and he is not “out to sea.” To earn his keep, the youngster from Chennai works with a local ferry company 20-30 hours per week.

“Their [Olympiacos] fans are so passionate about the club and games, for Indians we understand [it is] like cricket. I plan to go to the Emirates when I graduate,” he said, before adding, “I will come back to see them play, I’ll save the money for it!”

Greek football rising

This season, Panathinaikos (UEFA Conference League) and Olympiacos (UEFA Europa League) make up half the Greek contingent in league phase football. AEK Athens are in the blue-ribbon Champions League, while OFI Crete are with Olympiacos in the second-tier competition.

Attendances were at a 10-year high last season [7,430 average across all clubs] and while Olympiacos bring in almost 30,000 per game and AEK almost 25,000, there is a buoyancy that hasn’t been felt since the early-noughties.

Evangelos Marinakis, owner of Olympiacos and England’s Nottingham Forest, puts the resurgence down to “Greece finally beginning to recover.” He also mentioned that his club winning the Conference League made a difference also.

Greece’s national team will take on Serbia, Germany, and the Netherlands in Group A of the UEFA Nations League, the top tier of European football. Having been as high as 8th in the FIFA world rankings 15 years ago and in the top-10 in 2014, Greece fell to 60th in 2019, but are up at 39th now. Having not made a World Cup finals since 2014 or Euros since 2012, there is a belief that they can return to the European top table in 2028 and World Cup in 2030.

“It’s to build steadily, up from Group C [third tier of the UEFA Nations League] to now A, with a high quality, successful foreign manager who knows the local game, players, and also who is abroad,” Giannas Makris, a season-ticket holder with AEK Athens.

Greece’s youth teams are also bringing through talent while being successful. Their U-21s beat Germany in Germany to almost guarantee qualification for next year’s European U-21 finals. The U-19s have been making waves and the U-17s will play in the FIFA U-17 World Cup this November in Qatar.

I cannot help but feel that there is a lesson to be learned from the Greek club and country revival for India. Last year, I stated that I believed India would be at the FIFA World Cup finals in 2038 (https://openthemagazine.com/columns/how-india-can-be-at-the-fifa-world-cup-in-2038) and I still stand by that. Though now, it might be worthwhile for the AIFF to take a trip to the birthplace of democracy and have a chat with the progressive thinkers at Panathinaikos, or to the long-term planners in Piraeus, Thessaloniki, or simply see that investment in youth, facilities, and patience with coaches, will have a profitable pay-off.