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Super League Greece 1

Founded	1906; 119 years ago (1906) as SEGAS championship 1927; 98 years ago (1927) as Panhellenic Championship 1959; 66 years ago (1959) as Alpha Ethniki 2006; 19 years ago (2006) as Super League Greece
Country	Greece
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	14
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Super League Greece 2
Domestic cup(s)	Greek Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League UEFA Conference League
Current champions	PAOK (4th title) (2023–24)
Most championships	Olympiacos (47 titles)
Most appearances	Mimis Domazos (535)
Top goalscorer	Thomas Mavros (260 goals)
TV partners	Nova Sports, Cosmote Sport
Website	slgr.gr

The Super League Greece 1 (which means Greek Super League 1 in Greek) is the top professional football league in Greece. It is also known as the Stoiximan Super League because of its sponsor. This league started on July 16, 2006. It took the place of an older league called Alpha Ethniki.

Fourteen teams play in the Super League. The season runs from August to May. Each team plays 26 games. After that, the top six teams play 10 more games in a special play-off round. This decides who wins the championship.

As of May 2024, the Super League Greece is ranked 15th in Europe. This ranking is based on how Greek teams have done in European competitions over the last five years.

Since the first official Greek Championship began in 1927, only six clubs have won the title. Olympiacos has won the most titles, with 47 championships. The current champions are PAOK.

History of Greek Football

How Football Started in Greece

Football first came to Greece in 1894. It became more popular after the 1896 Summer Olympics. Many sports clubs started their own football teams. Some new clubs were even created just for football.

In the early years, until 1912, the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (SEGAS) organized the championship. This was mostly a local tournament for clubs from Athens and Piraeus.

After the Balkan Wars and World War I, two main football groups formed. One organized games in Athens and Piraeus. The other did the same in Thessaloniki. In 1923, a national champion was decided. Peiraikos Syndesmos won against Aris.

The Panhellenic Championship

The Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) was founded on November 14, 1926. It started the first official Panhellenic Championship in 1927-28. At first, only teams from Athens, Piraeus, and Thessaloniki played.

Later, in the 1938-39 season, teams from outside these main cities joined for the first time. By 1953-54, provincial teams like Panachaiki and Niki Volou were part of a single national group.

The Alpha Ethniki League

In 1959, the Alpha Ethniki league was created. This was the first national league where all teams played each other. It started on October 25, 1959, with 16 teams.

This new league was important for two reasons. First, the Greek government wanted a set number of games each Sunday for a popular betting game. Second, UEFA (the European football body) wanted national champions to be chosen in a fair way.

The Hellenic Football Federation had to stop the local city championships from being the main way to qualify. The Alpha Ethniki became the top league. Teams would stay in this league unless they were moved down to a lower division.

The first Alpha Ethniki championship was won by Panathinaikos. They became Greek champions for the fourth time.

The Super League is Born

On July 16, 2006, the "Super League" was officially formed. It became the new top professional football league in Greece. The main goal of the Super League is to organize and run the championship. It follows the rules of the Hellenic Football Federation and international football groups like UEFA and FIFA.

How the Competition Works

Currently, 14 clubs play in the Super League. They play each other twice, once at home and once away. This means each team plays 26 games in the regular season.

At the end of the regular season, the top 6 clubs play in a "championship round." They play 10 more games to decide the Super League champion. These games also decide which teams get to play in European competitions like the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa Conference League.

The bottom 8 clubs play in "play-outs." These games decide which teams will be moved down to Super League 2. The top two teams from Super League 2 then get promoted to the Super League.

The Super League gets two spots in the UEFA Champions League. The champion enters a later qualifying round. The second-place team enters an earlier qualifying round. The third-placed team goes into the UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds. Teams that finish 4th and 5th, along with the Greek Cup winner, get spots in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Clubs in the League

2024–25 Season

The following 14 clubs will play in the Super League for the 2024–25 season.

Note: This table shows teams for the 2024–25 season.

Club	Position in 2023–24	First season in top division	Seasons in top division	Seasons in Super League	Top division titles	Last top division title
AEK Athens	&100000000000000020000002nd	1930–31	76	17	13	2022–23
Aris	&100000000000000050000005th	1927–28	76	15	3	1945–46
Asteras Tripolis	&100000000000000080000008th	2007–08	18	18	0	—
Athens Kallithea	1st in 2023–24 Super League 2 South Group	2002–03	5	1	0	—
Atromitos	&1000000000000001100000011th	1927–28	26	18	0	—
Lamia	&100000000000000060000006th	2017–18	8	8	0	—
Levadiakos	1st in 2023–24 Super League 2 North Group	1987–88	20	13	0	—
OFI	&1000000000000001000000010th	1957–58	48	14	0	—
Olympiacos	&100000000000000030000003rd	1929–30	88	19	47	2021–22
Panathinaikos	&100000000000000040000004th	1929–30	83	19	20	2009–10
Panetolikos	&100000000000000110000009th	1954–55	16	13	0	—
Panserraikos	&100000000000000070000007th	1965–66	26	4	0	—
PAOK	&100000000000000010000001st	1930–31	80	19	4	2023–24
Volos	&1000000000000001200000012th	2019–20	6	6	0	—

Champions of Greece

How the Championship Changed Over Time

Early Unofficial Championships

Before the Hellenic Football Federation was formed, some championships were not officially recognized.

1905–06 to 1911–12: The SEGAS Championship.
1921–22 to 1926–27: The Greece FCA Championship.

Official Greek Championship (1927–Present)

Panhellenic Championship (1927–1959): Teams played in local leagues first. Then, the winners or top teams played in play-offs to decide the champion.
National League (1959–1979): This was called Alpha Ethniki Katigoria (A' National Division). It was a national league where all teams played each other. Players were amateur or semi-professional.
Professional League (1979–Present): This league also plays a national round-robin format. Sometimes it includes play-offs or play-outs. Players are professional.
- From 1979–80 to 2005–06, it was still called Alpha Ethniki Katigoria.
- From 2006–07 to 2018–19, it was named Super League Greece.
- From 2019–20 until now, it is called Super League 1. This is when VAR (video help for referees) started being used.

Champions by Year

Here are the champions of Greece since 1927:

Panhellenic Championship

1927–28 Aris (1)
1929–30 Panathinaikos (1)
1930–31 Olympiacos (1)
1931–32 Aris (2)
1932–33 Olympiacos (2)
1933–34 Olympiacos (3)
1935–36 Olympiacos (4)
1936–37 Olympiacos (5)
1937–38 Olympiacos (6)
1938–39 AEK (1)
1939–40 AEK (2)
1945–46 Aris (3)
1946–47 Olympiacos (7)
1947–48 Olympiacos (8)
1948–49 Panathinaikos (2)
1950–51 Olympiacos (9)
1952–53 Panathinaikos (3)
1953–54 Olympiacos (10)
1954–55 Olympiacos (11)
1955–56 Olympiacos (12)
1956–57 Olympiacos (13)
1957–58 Olympiacos (14)
1958–59 Olympiacos (15)

National League (Alpha Ethniki)

1959–60 Panathinaikos (4)
1960–61 Panathinaikos (5)
1961–62 Panathinaikos (6)
1962–63 AEK (3)
1963–64 Panathinaikos (7)
1964–65 Panathinaikos (8)
1965–66 Olympiacos (16)
1966–67 Olympiacos (17)
1967–68 AEK (4)
1968–69 Panathinaikos (9)
1969–70 Panathinaikos (10)
1970–71 AEK (5)
1971–72 Panathinaikos (11)
1972–73 Olympiacos (18)
1973–74 Olympiacos (19)
1974–75 Olympiacos (20)
1975–76 PAOK (1)
1976–77 Panathinaikos (12)
1977–78 AEK (6)
1978–79 AEK (7)

Professional League (A'Eth./Sup.League)

1979–80 Olympiacos (21)
1980–81 Olympiacos (22)
1981–82 Olympiacos (23)
1982–83 Olympiacos (24)
1983–84 Panathinaikos (13)
1984–85 PAOK (2)
1985–86 Panathinaikos (14)
1986–87 Olympiacos (25)
1987–88 Larissa (1)

1988–89 AEK (8)
1989–90 Panathinaikos (15)
1990–91 Panathinaikos (16)
1991–92 AEK (9)
1992–93 AEK (10)
1993–94 AEK (11)
1994–95 Panathinaikos (17)
1995–96 Panathinaikos (18)
1996–97 Olympiacos (26)
1997–98 Olympiacos (27)
1998–99 Olympiacos (28)
1999–00 Olympiacos (29)
2000–01 Olympiacos (30)
2001–02 Olympiacos (31)
2002–03 Olympiacos (32)
2003–04 Panathinaikos (19)
2004–05 Olympiacos (33)
2005–06 Olympiacos (34)
2006–07 Olympiacos (35)
2007–08 Olympiacos (36)
2008–09 Olympiacos (37)
2009–10 Panathinaikos (20)
2010–11 Olympiacos (38)
2011–12 Olympiacos (39)
2012–13 Olympiacos (40)
2013–14 Olympiacos (41)
2014–15 Olympiacos (42)
2015–16 Olympiacos (43)
2016–17 Olympiacos (44)
2017–18 AEK (12)
2018–19 PAOK (3)

2019–20 Olympiacos (45)
2020–21 Olympiacos (46)
2021–22 Olympiacos (47)
2022–23 AEK (13)
2023–24 PAOK (4)

Most Successful Clubs (1927–)

Club	Champions	Winning years
Olympiacos	47	1931, 1933, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1938, 1947, 1948, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022
Panathinaikos	20	1930, 1949, 1953, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1984, 1986, 1990, 1991, 1995, 1996, 2004, 2010
AEK	13	1939, 1940, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 2018, 2023
PAOK	4	1976, 1985, 2019, 2024
Aris	3	1928, 1932, 1946
AEL	1	1988

Champions by City (1927–)

The six clubs that have won the championship come from four different cities:

City	Titles	Clubs
Piraeus	47	Olympiacos (47)
Athens	33	Panathinaikos (20), AEK (13)
Thessaloniki	7	PAOK (4), Aris (3)
Larissa	1	AEL (1)

Champions by Region (1927–)

The winning clubs come from three regions in Greece:

Region	Titles	Clubs
Attica	80	Olympiacos (47), Panathinaikos (20), AEK Athens (13)
Central Macedonia	7	PAOK (4), Aris (3)
Thessaly	1	AEL (1)

League Statistics

Top Three Teams (1959–Present)

This table shows how many times clubs have finished 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the Alpha Ethniki and Super League since 1959–60.

Club	1st	2nd	3rd	Total
Olympiacos	32	15	11	58
Panathinaikos	17	20	14	51
AEK Athens	11	17	18	46
PAOK	4	9	9	22
AEL	1	1	–	2
Aris	–	1	6	7
OFI	–	1	2	3
Panionios	–	1	1	2
Apollon Smyrnis	–	–	1	1
Asteras Tripolis	–	–	1	1
Atromitos	–	–	1	1
Iraklis	–	–	1	1

Seasons in the Top Division

This table shows how many seasons each team has played in the top Greek football division since 1927–28. A total of 82 teams have played at least one season. The teams in bold are playing in the 2024–25 Super League.

Seasons	Clubs
88	Olympiacos
83	Panathinaikos
80	PAOK
76	AEK Athens, Aris
64	Panionios
63	Iraklis
55	Apollon Smyrnis
49	Ethnikos Piraeus, OFI
31	Xanthi, AEL
28	PAS Giannina, Panachaiki
26	Doxa Drama, Panserraikos, Atromitos
23	Egaleo
22	Apollon Kalamarias
20	Levadiakos
19	Kavala
18	Proodeftiki, Ionikos, Asteras Tripolis
17	Veria
16	Pierikos, Panetolikos
10	Kastoria, Athinaikos, Olympiacos Volos
9	Ergotelis
8	Fostiras, Niki Volos, Lamia
7	Kalamata, Paniliakos, Trikala
6	Panegialios, Panthrakikos, Platanias, Volos
5	Edessaikos, Korinthos, Kerkyra, Kallithea
4	Akratitos, Ethnikos Asteras, Rodos, Vyzas Megara
3	Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki, Diagoras, Olympiakos Nicosia, Panelefsiniakos, AEL Kalloni, AOK Kerkyra
2	Asteras Athens, Philippoi Kavala, Olympiacos Chalkida, Atromitos Piraeus, Makedonikos, Chalkidona
1	A.E. Kavala, Aris Piraeus, Aspida Xanthi, Orfeas Xanthi, Iraklis Serron, Panargiakos, Olympiakos Loutraki, Goudi Athens, AEL Limassol, AE Nikaia, APOEL*, Chalkida, EPA Larnaca, Kifisia, Megas Alexandros Katerini, Naoussa, Omonia Nicosia, Pankorinthiakos, Thermaikos, Thrasyvoulos

APOEL was supposed to be moved down in 1973–74. But they had to play in the Cypriot league instead. This was because of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. So, they are the only team to play only one season in the Greek league without being moved down.

Top Players

Most Appearances

These players have played the most games in the Greek top division.

Most appearances
Rank	Name	Appearances	Teams
1	Mimis Domazos	536	Panathinaikos, AEK Athens
2	Nikos Nioplias	509	OFI, Panathinaikos, Chalkidona
3	Giorgos Koudas	504	PAOK
4	Thomas Mavros	501	Panionios, AEK Athens
5	Savvas Kofidis	493	Iraklis, Olympiacos, Aris
6	Mimis Papaioannou	480	AEK Athens
6	Stathis Chaitas	480	Panionios, AEL
8	Giorgos Skartados	478	Rodos, PAOK, Iraklis, Olympiacos
9	Georgios Georgiadis	476	Doxa Drama, Panathinaikos, PAOK, Olympiacos, Iraklis
10	Dinos Kouis	473	Aris

Most Goals

These players have scored the most goals in the Greek top division.

Most goals
Rank	Name	Goals	Teams
1	Thomas Mavros	260	AEK Athens, Panionios
2	Krzysztof Warzycha	244	Panathinaikos
3	Mimis Papaioannou	234	AEK Athens
4	Giorgos Sideris	224	Olympiacos
5	Antonis Antoniadis	187	Panathinaikos, Olympiacos
6	Alexandros Alexandris	186	Veria, AEK Athens, Olympiacos, AEL, Kallithea
7	Dimitris Saravakos	186	Panionios, Panathinaikos, AEK Athens
8	Giorgos Dedes	181	Panionios, AEK Athens
9	Nikos Anastopoulos	179	Panionios, Olympiacos, Ionikos
10	Michalis Kritikopoulos	175	Panegialios, Ethnikos Piraeus, Olympiacos

Golden Stars

Football leagues sometimes use "Golden Stars" to show how many championships a team has won. Each star usually means 10 titles.

The Super League officially recognizes these stars:

Olympiacos got their fourth star in 2012–13.
Panathinaikos got their second star in 2009–10.
AEK got their first star in 1992–93.

UEFA Ranking

Country Rankings

As of May 30, 2024, the Greek Super League is ranked 15th among all European leagues by UEFA. This ranking helps decide how many teams from each country can play in European competitions.

Rank	Competition	Points
1	Premier League	104.303
2	Serie A	90.284
3	La Liga	89.239
4	Bundesliga	86.624
5	Ligue 1	66.831
6	Eredivisie	61.300
7	Primeira Liga	56.316
8	Belgian First Division A	48.800
9	Süper Lig	38.600
10	Czech First League	36.050
11	Scottish Premiership	36.050
12	Swiss Super League	32.975
13	Austrian Bundesliga	32.600
14	Eliteserien	31.625
15	Super League Greece	31.525
16	Danish Superliga	31.450
17	Israeli Premier League	31.125
18	Ukrainian Premier League	28.000
19	Serbian SuperLiga	27.775
20	Prva HNL	25.225

Club Rankings

This table shows the ranking of Greek clubs in UEFA competitions.

Rank	Club	Points
44	Olympiacos	48.000
51	PAOK	37.000
144	AEK Athens	10.000
156	Aris	9.000
225	Panathinaikos	6.305
225	OFI	6.305
225	Atromitos	6.305

Where to Watch the Games

In Greece, you can watch Super League games on two main premium TV channels:

Nova Sports shows home games for six teams: Aris, Asteras Tripolis, Atromitos, Levadiakos, PAOK, and PAS Giannina.
Cosmote Sport shows home games for eight teams: AEK Athens, Ionikos, Lamia, OFI, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, Panetolikos, and Volos.

Outside of Greece and Portugal, Eurosport has the rights to broadcast the Super League across Europe. In South Korea, Coupang Play broadcasts Olympiacos' matches.

Sponsorship

The Super League has had different main sponsors over the years.

From 2007 to 2017, OPAP was the main sponsor. The league was called "Super League OPAP."
From 2017 to 2019, Souroti was the sponsor. The league was called "Super League Souroti."
From 2019 to 2023, Interwetten was the sponsor. The league was called "Super League Interwetten."
Since 2023, Stoiximan has been the official sponsor. The league is now called "Stoiximan Super League."

The league also has other partners. Nike provides the official footballs. Panini has been making stickers and trading cards for the Super League since 2008.