Olympiacos thrive in Greece

Over the next few weeks uefa.com will be charting the history of all clubs through to next season's UEFA Champions League from the third qualifying round onwards. Here we look at Alpha Ethniki champions Olympiacos CFP.

Period of success
With a name inspired by the noted aviator Notis Kamperos, Olympiacos CFP were formed in the small port of Piraeus in Athens on 10 March 1925 following the merger of Piraeus Football Club and Piraeus Fans' Club. Since then, 'The Legend' have dominated Greek football in an almost unbroken period of success, having been crowned champions a record 32 times, adding a record 20 Greek Cups by 2003.

Six of the best
The Olympiacos story took off in the era of the famous Andrianopoulos brothers in the 1930s. Yiannis, Dinos, Giorgos, Vassilis, Leonidas and Stelios formed a potent forward line during that decade and the original 'legends' guided the team to six league championships before the second world war.

Dominance continues
When football returned to Greece, two more titles followed immediately and Olympiacos's dominance continued throughout the 1950s, when they claimed seven championships and seven cups, including three consecutive domestic doubles between 1957 and 1959. Nothing much changed in the 1960s as another two championships and five cups found their way into the Piraeus club's trophy cabinet.

Goals galore
Olympiacos continued along their supreme path in the 1970s when a spectacular side assembled by club president Nickos Goulandris won their third championship hat-trick between 1973 and 1975. In a record performance in the 1973/74 season the team scored 102 goals in just 34 league matches, including a club record 11-1 victory against Fostiras FC.

Period of turmoil
Although the success continued into the 1980s the end of the decade marked a period of turmoil with the administrations of Giorgos Koskotas and Argyris Saliarelis, who were both later jailed for financial offences, precipitating an economic crisis. This only ended when Socrates Kokkalis, owner of the Olympiacos basketball side, took over in 1992 and cleared a heap of debts, albeit with government support.

Lean decade
Despite conquering Greece time and again, Olympiacos endured a ten-year spell without winning the league between 1987 and 1997. After struggling to make much of an impact on the European stage, however, they did manage to reach the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1992/93, losing to Club Atlético de Madrid.

Back to their best
The appointment of Dušan Bajevic as coach in 1996 - after his departure from arch-rivals AEK Athens FC - saw Olympiacos wrest control again. The championship drought came to an end in 1996/97, the first of seven consecutive league titles up to 2002/03, the last gained under former player Oleh Protasov from Ukraine.

Title record
The recent title feats of Olympiacos eclipsed the legendary run of six successive championships between 1954 and 1959, setting a new Greek record. During this latter period they have regularly participated in the UEFA Champions League and in their best performance, in 1998/99, reached the quarter-finals before losing to Juventus FC.

New arena
In 1982, Olympiacos moved to Athens' OAKA Spiros Louis stadium, leaving behind the Greek Olympic Committee-owned Karaiskaki stadium. However, they are to return to their traditional home at the beginning of the 2004/05 season.