Aris FC

Aris FC - the crest

The club was founded in Thessaloniki, March 25, 1914 and were named after the mythological God of War as its founders reasoned that "only a god could defeat a demi-god (Iraklis, the other city team - Iraklis meaning Hercules )".

The emblem of the team is the god of war resting, always on guard to fight if necessary. The colors of the team are yellow and black, reminiscent of Byzantium, where Thessaloniki has always been the second most important city of the Empire.

Distinctions came early as Aris won the Salonica championship in 1928 and proceeded to defeat the champions of Athens (Atromitos) and the champions of Piraeus (Ethnikos) to win the first ever Greek football championship.

Alekos Alexiadis takes a shot.

Since then Aris have had their ups and downs and were relegated in 2005 to the B' Division for only the second time in their history.

Titles:

Championships

• 1928
• 1932
• 1946

Greek Cup

• 1970

Star Players

Some of the best players to wear Aris jersey:

30s - 40s

Kleanthis Vikelidis Nikiforos Vikelidis Kostas Vikelidis Kostas Koumblis Bogdanou K. Kaloyiannis N. Katrantzos Pappas Leontariadis Zares

Dionysis Kaltekis Angelakis Kitsos Argyriadis Befas Ioannidis Katsaounis Yiakoumis Nakopoulos D. Oplopoios

Akritidis Danelian Laskaridis Angelos Vasiliadis Vasilis Grigoriadis Halivopoulos Abrahamian Kostas Velliadis Koloniaris

50s - 60s

Yiannis Nalbandis Lakis Sofianos Mufit Kalliontzis Kaldirimtzis Pantelakos Demiris Danabasis

Pantsidis Semertzis Psifidis Nikos Philippou Nikos Christidis Alekos Alexiadis Konstantinidis

Syropoulos Spanopoulos Angelos Spyridon Manolis Keramidas

70s - 80s

• Koumarias
• Yiannis Venos
• Drambis
• Kapernekas
• Balafas
• Stelios Papafloratos
• Isaakidis
• Pantziaras
• Yiannis Michalitsios
• Giorgos Foiros
• Theodoros Pallas
• Giorgos Semertzidis
• Theodoros Zelelidis
• Dinos Ballis
• Ole Skoboe
• Giorgos Zindros
• Dinos Kouis
• Kostas Charalambidis
• Kostas Hadjiantoniou
• Christos Savvidis
• Yiannis Tzifopoulos
• Kostas Oikonomidis
• Alekos Katsiaounis
• Leonidas Vosdou
• Babis Mystakidis
• Andreas Anagnostou
• Vasilis Dimitriadis
• Antonis Yioukoudis
• Christos Karkamanis
• Kostas Mouratidis
• Kostas Tarasis
• Limniatis

90s through today

• Angelos Charisteas
• Theofanis Katergiannakis
• Apostolos Liolidis
• Nikos Kyzeridis
• Agapitos Ambelas
• Traianos Dellas

Milestones

• March 25, 1914 - The clubs is founded
• March 19, 1923 - In the first official game of his football history Aris beats Iraklis 2-0.
• April 23, 1923 - Aris beats YMCA of Thesslaoniki 5-0 and is declared Champion in the 1st Championship of Thessaloniki.
• May 25, 1997 - Although he beat Apollon Athens in Athens (1-2) in the last game of the season, Aris is relegated to the B' Division