On 31 May 1923 a group of young people in Athens gave their team a name that says it all. On 31 May 2027 Atromitos turns 104, with the star on its chest and its cyan and white colours alive in Peristeri.

A group from Victoria Square

The club was founded by young people, mostly students, who lived around Victoria Square in central Athens. Among the names on record are Petas, Kolomvounis, Stathopoulos, Synodinos, Stamatopoulos and Glykofrydis.

The name they chose, "Atromitos", means "fearless". As early as 1924 the new team was taking part in the official competitions.

The move to Peristeri

In central Athens it was hard to build a big fan base of its own, mainly because Panathinaikos was so close by. So in 1932, on the initiative of Iosif Chourouktsoglou and Nikolaos Epioglou, the club moved to Peristeri.

There it merged with a local team. The sources disagree on its name: some say Astir Peristeriou, others Aspida Peristeriou, founded in 1925. From then on, Peristeri became Atromitos's home.

The star and the cyan and white

The club's emblem is a blue star, which according to English-language sources comes from the 1932 merger. The colours are cyan and white, which give the club its nickname "Kyanolefki" (the Cyan-Whites).

When Atromitos merged in 2005 with Giorgos Spanos's Chalkidona, it was agreed that the team would keep its name, its star and its colours. The press conference took place on 31 May 2005, on the club's birthday, and the Atromitos president called it one of the most historic days in its life.

Peristeri Stadium and the 1970s

Since 1953 the team has played at its present home, which at first had only a central stand. A bigger stand was added later, and floodlights were installed before the 2004 Olympics. Today Peristeri Stadium holds about 9,000 spectators.

For older fans the "golden" decade was the 1970s. In 1971-72 came the first promotion to the top flight, sealed with a 1-0 win at Rouf, and Antonis Antoniadis was among the players of that era.

Finals, Europe and leading men

After 2005 Atromitos established itself in the top division. It reached the Greek Cup finals in 2011 and 2012 and finished third in 2012-13, its best place in modern times.

In the first of those finals it lost 3-0 to AEK. But it was proof that the Peristeri side now belonged among the leading clubs.

Its first European adventure came in 2006 against Sevilla, with the home leg played at Rizoupoli. In 2012 Atromitos drew 1-1 with Newcastle United in Peristeri before going out 0-1 in England, and in 2013 it was knocked out by AZ only on away goals, after 3-3 on aggregate.

Later it got past AIK and DAC Dunajská Streda and played Fenerbahçe and Legia Warsaw.

Luiz Brito holds the appearance record (287) and shares the scoring record of 39 goals with Efthymis Koulouris. Javier Umbides, Stefano Napoleoni and Kostas Mitroglou also left their mark.

Celebrate with us

One star, two colours and a neighbourhood that embraced the club almost a century ago: the Atromitos shirt is the shirt of Peristeri.

Happy birthday, Atromitos! Stay fearless.

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: Peristeri Stadium, home of Atromitos (November 2017) – Z thomas, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 3.0.