OLYMPIACOS FC
UEFA Europa League Group A matchday three, Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium, Thursday 26 October 2023, 5.45pm BST (7.45pm EEST)
Olympiacos is the most-successful club in Greek football history.
Crowned champions a record 47 times, Cup winners on 28 occasions and domestic double winners on a record 18 occasions, the club is based in Piraeus, which is the world-famous port city within the Greater Athens area.
Olympiacos became the first Greek club to play in European competition when they competed in the 1959/60 European Cup, losing 3-5 on aggregate to AC Milan in the preliminary round.
West Ham United faced them six years later as European Cup Winners’ Cup holders, in the second round of the same competition in September 1965.
Goals from Johnny Byrne, Peter Brabrook and two from Geoff Hurst secured a 4-0 first-leg win at the Boleyn Ground, before Martin Peters netted twice in Greece to secure a 2-2 draw and 6-2 aggregate victory.
We also hosted them in a pre-season match at the Boleyn Ground in August 2006, when Marlon Harewood scored in a 1-1 draw.
Olympiacos have faced a host of other English clubs in European competition, namely Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, Newcastle United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Burnley and Manchester City!
Diego Martínez’s side finished third in the Greek Super League last season and qualified for the UEFA Europa League group stage by defeating Čukarički of Serbia 6-1 on aggregate in the play-off round, but kicked-off with a 2-3 home defeat by SC Freiburg on matchday one.
How to get there…
You’re best of starting with a flight to Athens!
Thankfully, a host of airlines make the three-and-a-half hour trip, with easyJet, Ryanair, Aegean, Wizz, Sky Express and British Airways all scheduling flights on Wednesday 25 October, and returns on Friday 27 October.
From Athens International Airport, take a taxi into the city centre to your hotel.
West Ham United will provide travelling supporters with tickets with information about how to travel to and from Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium.
Where to stay…
Athens is a BIG city, with over 700 documented hotels, plus hundreds of other accommodation options ranging from luxury resorts to self-catering apartments.
The best place to stay to see the sights is the Makrygianni, which is near the Acropolis Museum. Alternatively, the Syntagma, Monastiraki and Psyrri neighbourhoods are all central and house restaurants, bars and shops, while Plaka is on the steps up to the Acropolis and is home to some eclectic places to eat and drink.
If you fancy something a bit different, Gazi, Keramikos and Metaxourgio house bars, restaurants and nightclubs.
What to do…
Where do you start?
The Acropolis towers over Athens and can be seen from almost anywhere, with the ancient monument on the top, the Parthenon, being one of the most-visited attractions anywhere on Earth.
To the north, the Agora was ancient Athens’ heart of commercial, political and social activity, where Socrates and the like talked philosophy.
To the east, visit the Temple of Olympian Zeus and the stunning, all-marble Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
Unsurprisingly, Athens also has lots of museums, temples and churches charting thousands of years of history to visit.
What’s happened there before…
West Ham United first visited Piraeus on 1 December 1965, when Ron Greenwood’s European Cup Winners’ Cup holders defended a 4-0 second-round first-leg lead with a 2-2 draw in Greece.
In a game refereed by future 1966 FIFA World Cup final linesman Tofiq Bahramov, Martin Peters scored twice for West Ham, with an own-goal by Eddie Bovington and an 80th penalty by Kostas Polychroniou cheering the home fans in the 40,000 crowd.
Our only other visit to Greece came after another cup final appearance, this time the 2006 FA Cup final, in August 2006, when Alan Pardew’s side played two games in the space of three days in the northern city of Thessaloniki. The first ended in a 2-2 draw with Aris and the second in a 1-2 defeat by their local rivals PAOK.
Incidentally, we then welcomed Olympiacos to the Boleyn Ground a week later for a 1-1 draw in which Marlon Harewood hit the target.
