Super League Greece
 | |
| Organising body | Super League 1 Greece Limited Liability Partnership |
|---|---|
| Founded |
|
| Country |  Greece |
| Confederation | UEFA |
| Number of clubs | 14 (since 2019–20) |
| Level on pyramid | 1 |
| Relegation to | Super League 2 |
| Domestic cups | |
| International cups | |
| Current champions | AEK Athens (14th title) (2025–26) |
| Most championships | Olympiacos (48 titles) |
| Most appearances | Mimis Domazos (535) |
| Top scorer | Thomas Mavros (260 goals) |
| Broadcaster(s) | Novasports, Magenta Sport, Skai TV |
| Sponsor(s) | Stoiximan |
| Website | slgr.gr |
| Current: 2026–27 Super League Greece | |
The Super League 1 (Greek: Σούπερ Λιγκ 1), officially known as A1 Ethniki Katigoria (Greek: Α1 Εθνική Κατηγορία, lit. 'A1 National Division') and currently named Stoiximan Super League due to sponsorship reasons,[1] is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system.[2][3] Formed on 16 July 2006, it replaced Alpha Ethniki Katigoria as the country's first tier league. The members of the cooperative are the Football Anonymous Companies (P.A.E.) that have the right to participate in the Super League 1 championship.[4] The president of Super League is Giannis Alafouzos.[5]
It consists of 14 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 26 games each followed by 6-game Championship play-offs to decide the champions.
As of March 2026, Super League Greece is ranked 11th[6][7] in the UEFA ranking of leagues, based on performances in European competitions over the last five years.
Since the foundation of the first official Panhellenic Championship in 1927,[8] only six clubs have won the title: Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, AEK, PAOK, Aris and AEL. With 48 conquests, Olympiacos has the most titles in the history of the competition.
The current champions are AEK Athens, who won their 14th title in the 2025–26 season.
History
[edit]Origins
[edit]Football first appeared in Greece in 1894 and began to spread after the 1896 Olympiad, which was included in the games program.[9] Many clubs started to establish football divisions while the first purely football clubs were also founded. The first years, until 1912, championship was organised by the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (SEGAS). This championship was actually a local tournament among clubs from Athens and Piraeus.[10]
After the Balkan Wars and World War I, two football associations were formed, one organising a football league in Athens and Piraeus, and one doing the same in Thessaloniki. These were the Athens-Piraeus FCA (EPSAP) and the Macedonia FCA (EPSM). In 1923, a Panhellenic Champion was determined by a play-off game between the Athens-Piraeus and the Thessaloniki champions. Peiraikos Syndesmos won 3–1 against Aris. This panhellenic final was not repeated the following year as the EPSAP was split into the Athens FCA (EPSA) and Piraeus FCA (EPSP) following a dispute.[11][12]
Panhellenic Championship (1927–1959)
[edit]On 14 November 1926, the Hellenic Football Federation is founded and organizes the first Panhellenic Championship in the period 1927–28, in which, however, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens did not participate due to conflicts with the EPO.[13]
The initial events were held with teams from Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki, excluding the provincial ones. Previously, the local championships of the cities were held and in the final phase, sometimes only the first ones qualified, sometimes the first two or the first three teams. In the championship of 1938-39, which was held in two groups, teams outside Athens-Thessaloniki (Doxa Drama, AEK Kavala and Filippi Kavala) participated for the first time. The maiden presence of provincial teams in a single group of the Panhellenic Championship took place in 1953-54 with the participation of Panachaiki from Southern Greece and Niki Volos from Central and Northern Greece.[14]
Overall Rating of the Panhellenic Championship (1927-1959)
[edit]Pos.[15] Team G. W. D. L. Go. P. 1 Olympiacos 242 166 39 37 565–229 537 (515)* 2 Panathinaikos 210 120 36 54 449–247 421 (396) 3 AEK Athens 169 79 35 55 318–277 289 (272) 4 PAOK 174 61 35 78 275–287 273 (218)** 5 Apollon Smyrnis 166 73 26 67 270–260 272 (245) 6 Ethnikos Piraeus 168 66 35 69 273–252 259 (233) 7 Aris 151 62 36 53 295–232 238 (222) 8 Iraklis 112 43 20 49 182–193 158 (149) 9 Panionios 72 29 15 28 124–110 145 (102) 10 Doxa Drama 74 21 20 33 102–128 136 (83) 11 Proodeftiki 54 15 09 30 74–112 93 (54) 12 Apollon Kalamarias 40 17 03 20 49–50 77 (54) 13 Asteras Athens 54 15 09 30 38–66 54 (48) 14 OFI 30 3 5 22 30–83 14 (41) 15 Niki Volos 18 6 4 8 15–24 22 (34) 16 Panegialios 18 2 7 9 15–29 13 (29) 17 Philippoi Kavala 16 5 1 10 28–42 16 (27) 18 Panachaiki 18 2 4 12 14–42 10 (26) 19 Athinaikos 14 2 4 8 12–32 10 (22) 20 A.E. Kavala 10 4 0 6 11–18 12 (18) 21 Atromitos Piraeus 10 3 2 5 12–21 11 (18) 22 Aris Nikaia 14 1 0 13 11–54 3 (16) 23 Panargiakos 18 0 0 18 7–76 0 (18) 24 Atromitos 18 1 1 16 13–70 4 (15) 25 Goudi Athens 20 4 3 13 25–82 15 (11) 26 Olympiacos Loutraki 8 2 0 6 12–29 6 (11) 27 Olympiacos Volos 10 1 0 9 9–30 3 (11) 28 Panetolikos 10 1 0 9 6–35 3 (11) 29 Olympiacos Chalkida 8 1 0 7 8–24 3 (10) 30 Fostiras 8 1 0 7 7–16 3 (10) 31 Iraklis Serres 4 2 0 2 12–13 6 (8) 32 Makedonikos 10 0 0 10 13–36 0 (8) 33 Aspida Xanthi 4 1 1 2 7–16 4 (7) 34 Orfeas Xanthi 6 0 1 5 2–21 1 (7) 35 Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki 16 0 1 15 17–84 1 (1)
- The score in parentheses is the teams' actual score, adjusted for all scoring systems, penalties, etc. The first score is with the 3-1-0 system for convenience.
National League (1959–1979)
[edit]In 1959 the Alpha Ethniki – the precursor of the current Super League – was set up as a national round-robin tournament. After several months of talks, the 1959–60 championship was the first nationwide league competition. It started on Sunday 25 October 1959 with the participation of 16 teams. The creation of a championship in the form of a single permanent national division rather than the way they have been held until then with the participation of the teams selected by the local competitions was a requirement of both the State and UEFA. The first wished to establish a fixed number of matches every Sunday in Greece to stimulate interest in PRO-PO while UEFA wished to nominate national champions with strict criteria and through joint events for all states. The Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) was obliged to proceed to the abolition of the competitions of the Football Clubs Associations (EPS) of Greece as qualifying stages for the Pan-Hellenic Championship. The first place was taken by Alpha Ethniki, a single division with clubs from all over the Greek territory and a stable participation, with the exception of those who would be relegated at the end of the season. The initial design provided for a number of teams well above the 10th of the 1958–59 Pan-Hellenic Championship and in particular 18 which, as the expanded division calendar would cover almost all the available dates of the year, would no longer participate in its local competitions their EPSs. Those would be the qualifier for the upcoming national division and not the participation in the final round of the current championship, so their significance was significantly reduced. On Saturday, 10 October 1959 at the General Assembly of the HFF, i.e. with the participation of all the members of the Association of Football Associations and in the presence of the General Secretariat of Sports (GGA) and representatives of the Karamanlis government, became the first national division of Greek football. The 1st game was set for 15 days. According to the general Assembly of HFF on 29 August 1959, it was decided that the newly created Alpha Ethniki would consist of 18 teams, with their determination being made in accordance with the positions in the local EPS competitions in the period 1958–59. The HFF, at its decisive General Assembly on Saturday, 10 October, decided to reduce the number of teams to 16 so that the racing program will not be extended in the summer. After the end of the first event in the summer of 1960, the teams did not increase despite HFF's initial intention, with the number 16 being considered the ideal for a championship in Greece and only 18 in 1967.[16]
The teams that participated in the first championship of the Alpha Ethniki were the following:
- The top four of the Athens FCA Championship: Panathinaikos, Panionios, AEK Athens and Apollon Smyrnis.
- The top four of the Piraeus FCA Championship: Olympiacos, Ethnikos Piraeus, AE Nikaia and Proodeftiki.
- The top four of the Macedonia FCA (Thessaloniki) Championship: Aris, PAOK, Apollon Kalamarias and Iraklis.
- The top two of the North Group of the Regional Championship: Doxa Drama and Megas Alexandros Katerini.
- The first of the two Sub-Groups of the South Regional Championship: Pankorinthiakos and Panegialios.
On 25 October 1959, the Alpha Ethniki was launched. Panathinaikos won the first Alpha Ethniki's Championship and became the Greek champions for the fourth time in his history. The club tied with AEK by 79 points and defeated them by 2–1 in the play-off, a match where Panathinaikos needed only a draw at the neutral Karaiskakis Stadium. In such a case, after the half-hour extension, the competition announcement set the best goal difference. Through the playoffs and with the same score was also the third place for the demotion, with the winner Panegialios to overtake Pankorinthiakos again in the event of a draw. The scoring system was 3 points for the win, 2 points for the draw, 1 point for the defeat.[17]
Time has been relentless for some teams that have participated in the first league of the Alpha Ethniki. The historic Ethnikos Piraeus, cup winner of Greece in 1933, participates in the Gamma Ethniki, as well as Proodeftiki while AE Nikaia participates in the local championship of Piraeus. Apollon Kalamaria, Doxa Drama and Iraklis are fighting in the Beta Ethniki, while Pankorinthiakos, a few years after joining Alpha Ethniki, merged with Aris Korinthos and created PAS Korinthos, which reached the Alpha Ethniki at the 1990s and is now participating in the Gamma Ethniki. Megas Alexandros Katerini is the ancestor of Pierikos. In 1961, they merged with Olympos Katerini and created Pierikos who plays in the Gamma Ethniki.[18]
Professional League (1979–present)
[edit]On 19 January 1979 a bill was passed in the Hellenic Parliament under which football clubs became Football Incorporated Companies (PAE or ΠΑΕ in Greek). The Association of Football Incorporated Companies (EPAE, ΕΠΑΕ in Greek), under the supervision of the HFF, has since held the responsibility to hold the championship, with Makis Ithakisios being elected its first president. Initially the shares were owned by the sports union to which the football club belonged. Yet soon after, prominent Greek businessmen (shipowners, oil magnates, bankers etc.) began acquiring the newly formed PAEs by buying the majority of their shares, and then increasing their share capital, thus turning Greek football into a fully commercialised and highly profitable business for the decades to come.[19]
For a single racing season, 2000–01, the championship is renamed "Upper Category". It was an attempt to restructure the Greek football leagues, which included a gradual reduction of the teams in the Greek league and was announced at the end of 1999 by the then president of the Football Association of Societies (E.P.A.E.) Viktoras Mitropoulos. It was based on a plan developed on behalf of EPAE. the international company "Deloitte & Touche". However, it was never completed and a simple renaming of the leagues was only valid for the 2000–2001 season, which was abolished the following season.[20]
Super League (2006–2019)
[edit]On 16 July 2006, was founded the copartnership Super League. Members of the copartnership are the PAE's that have the right to participate in the professional football championship of the First Division. The main activity of the copartnership is the organization and conduct of the First Division's Championship according to the regulations and decisions of the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) and the supreme international football confederations (UEFA, FIFA). From the 2007–08 season, the play-offs were established for the exit of the teams in Europe (places 2–5).[21][22]
Super League 1 (2019–Today)
[edit]With the restructuring of 2019, from the period 2019–2020 the professional football association "Super League Greece Limited Liability Company" was renamed to "Super League 1 Greece Limited Liability Company". Playoffs are established to determine the champion, among the top six teams in the league. At the same time, the use of the V.A.R. was established.[21][23]
Competition format
[edit]From 2024–2025 season, 14 clubs compete in the Super League, playing each other in a 26-game home and away series. At the end of the season, the top 4 clubs face each other in a 6-game championship round to decide the Super League champions but also the teams to enter the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the UEFA Conference League competitions.
After the end of the regular season, the teams ranked 5 through 8 participate in the Europe play-offs, to determine the last available spot for next year's UEFA Conference League 2nd qualifying round, assuming that the Greek Football Cup winner finishes in the top 4, since Super League Greece is entitled to 5 entrants in 2025-26 UEFA Competitions.
The bottom 6 clubs face each other in play-outs to decide who gets relegated to