Greek Football Research Articles

Assessing the Financial Performance of the Greek Football Clubs

This study evaluates the financial performance of seven major football clubs from the top division of Greece over a period which spans from season 2015-16 to season 2021-22 with correlation and regression analysis. Financial performance is expressed in three alternative ways, i.e., the return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE), and profit margin, which is computed as ratio of the profit before tax to total operating revenue. Purely financial factors are considered as determinative variables of performance including the size of the clubs, their liquidity, leverage, efficiency and cash flow efficiency. The results reveal indicate that the clubs under investigation are highly leveraged and have poor liquidity, while they present extensive annual and accumulated losses. On the factors that can affect the financial performance of the Greek football clubs, our analysis accentuates that the size of the football entreprises, along with the degree of liquidity, leverage, efficiency and their ability to use their assets to generate cash can affect financial performance, either in a positive or a negative way.

Key Performance Indicators Predictive of Success in Soccer: A Comprehensive Analysis of the Greek Soccer League.

Previous research emphasizes the significance of key performance metrics in determining match outcomes. The purpose of this study is to enhance the understanding of success in professional soccer by analyzing the relationship between match outcomes (win, lose, draw) and various Performance Indicators extracted from the Greek soccer league, as well as to develop a regression model of success in soccer. The sample consisted of all 91 matches from the first round of the 2020-2021 season of the Greek Football League. Utilizing Kruskal-Wallis tests, significant differences were found in goals scored, shots, and shots on target, ball possession, passing metrics, touches in the penalty area, and average shot distance (p < 0.05), with winning teams having demonstrated superior performance metrics. Moreover, winning teams engaged more in positional attacks and counterattacks with shots (p < 0.05). The binary logistic regression model applied to predict match outcomes identified shots on target, counterattacks, passes metrics, offensive duels and set pieces (penalties, free kicks) as key factors influencing the likelihood of winning (p < 0.05). These findings collectively highlight the importance of effective offensive play, including goal scoring, shooting accuracy, and ball possession, in determining the outcomes of soccer matches, with the regression model offering a nuanced understanding of these relationships.

Foreign Players in the Greek Football League: Evidence from the 2023-24 Regular Season

After the Bosman ruling of the European Court of Justice in 1995 and the freedom of movement of football players that followed, professional football clubs have become a modern Tower of Babel. The Greek Football League is not only not an exception but leads the relevant list of the highest percentage of expatriates in its first division. This paper uses descriptive statistics to showcase the extent of the use of foreign players in the world of football, with an emphasis on the Greek professional football league. Descriptive evidence from professional football clubs in 31 European countries shows that there is a non-linear association between the percentage of foreign players and the average age of players. There also exists a negative non-linear association between the percentage of foreign players and club-trained players. In the Greek football league, the use of foreign players improves the results as measured by the points gained during the 2023-24 season. It is found that a 10% increase in the number of foreign players results in a 14% increase in the number of points gained. Keywords: sports, football, players, expatriates, migration, Greek League, Olympic Games, sports performance

‘It’s a magical weed’: an exploration of drug-themed chants in Greek football fandom

This article explores the phenomenon of drug-themed chanting among Greek Ultras. We reviewed 440 chants from 11 Greek football clubs to examine the role of these chants, discussing critically the reasons that led to their genesis and their reproduction. We found multiple references to substances which are used in the lyrics either as analogies, or referring to drug use, or to a ‘state of mind’. The overall low degree of drug normalization in Greece, lead the Ultras to seek spaces and time where they can freely talk about drugs without the fear of social or legal control. In addition, drug-themed chanting is a part of a self-identification process through which Greek Ultras seek recognition by the audience in or outside the stadium. That recognition can be used as a process of distinction and differentiation, and also function as a symbolic opposition ‘against modern football’.

Transitional space and new forms of value co-creation in online brand communities

Drawing on a netnographic study and in-depth interviews within the online Greek Football Manager community, this paper explores the specific role of reality and fantasy in generating and sustaining brand value co-creation. Inspired by Winnicott’s psychoanalytic theory, this study illustrates how value co-creation occurs in-between reality and fantasy and unfolds via the complex interplay of real and fantasy-oriented resources which are largely situated in transitional space, that is the intermediate space of experience between shared reality and individual fantasy, and is facilitated by various transitional objects. The findings further highlight that members engage in a series of voluntary work activities while navigating themselves between the everyday shared reality of the real football word and the individual fantasy of their gaming experiences. This study puts forth a novel theoretical framework of value co-creation in transitional space within the context of online brand communities and draws theoretical and practical implications for future research.

EXPERIENCING THE MYTH: GREEKNESS AND THE GERMAN HERO

&lt;p&gt;This article explores the influence that an unexpected athletic success can have on the construction of national identity while attempting to answer the question on how such a success can be used as a means to overcome national crises. Using a reflective analysis, this study examines the impact of the Euro 2004 Championship on Greece’s national identity, highlighting the correlation between two events associated with Greekness, to wit national pride and Hellenic identity in the sport, economic and social contexts. The first event was the unpredicted victory of the Greek football team in 2004, thanks to their German coach Otto Rehhagel, and the second Rehhagel’s visit to Athens in March 2013, in his informal role of political mediator, in an attempt to contribute to restoring Greek-German friendship which had been shattered during the country’s period of economic memorandums. This conceptual paper uses a qualitative discourse analysis to explain and understand human action through an examination of media texts and symbolic narratives: the headlines and narratives on the Euro 2004 victory in the Greek and foreign press and media, along with the slogans used by football fans after each victory, voicing the ‘superiority’ of Greekness. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt; Article visualizations:&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0935/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

The Problematic Institutional Context of Greek Football and the Role of FIFA and UEFA

Abstract Greek football is on the periphery of European football and it frequently faces scandals and corruption issues. Also, there appears to be a correlation between the wider social and political context and football. Additionally, FIFA and UEFA arguably have contributed to the fate of Greek football. For example, in the past when the Greek government tried to intervene in football, FIFA prevented them several times with the threat of a ban. During the previous years, FIFA and UEFA decided to cooperate with the Greek government and play a more active role in Greek football. However, little has changed in the governance of Greek football. This study has examined the context, critical incidents and the role of actors in Greek football. By using the Institutional Theory approach, our analysis indicates that the institutional context is highly problematic, as the big clubs dominate the institutional mechanisms of football. Corruption appears to be deeply embedded in the structures and operations of football, while the Hellenic Football Federation is controlled by the big clubs. In parallel, there is no plan for the overall development of football, from the grassroots to the elite level. The study concludes with a recommendation for the reformation of Greek football.

Η ποδοσφαιρική γλώσσα και ορολογία σε λεξικά

Greek Football terminology includes loans from languages of countries with a tradition in football. We examine the language and terminology related to football as it is reflected in Greek dictionaries. Our goal is to talk about the most important lexicographic issues related to football. We look into the entry list and the information inside the entries and we focus on instances of mismatch between the Greek and the English language. For a lexicographer it is a challenging task to keep track of linguistic changes regarding football and to compile entries which will describe the linguistic reality as accurately as possible.

Market efficiency and the Greek fixed-odds betting market

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to empirically examine the efficiency of Greek fixed-odds (offline) betting market as offered by OPAP for the period 2016–2019.Design/methodology/approachUsing a four-year data sample of OPAP's opening and closing odds for football matches from all over the world and applying linear probability and probit models, the market efficiency is examined and the existence of possible anomalies is investigated.FindingsThe main findings of research suggest that although the odds are dominated primarily by favorite-longshot bias and secondarily by draw bias, this mispricing cannot prove profitable. However, the opening odds, the margin levels and the market structure provide information that is not fully captured by the closing odds, giving bettors profit opportunities. Thus, findings show that the semi-strong market efficiency is questionable. Finally, competition reduces commissions leading to more efficient odds.Practical implicationsThe conclusions of this study are useful for football betting market and, particularly, for government authorities, bookmakers and bettors. Findings can be extended in future research to prediction tasks.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study about the Greek football betting market. The contribution to the literature lies on the one hand in the examination of a monopolistic land-based betting market, which is being squeezed and threatened by the more competitive online betting market, and on the other hand in the simultaneous examination of the opening and closing odds.

Corner kick effectiveness in the Greek Super League 2018-2019

The aim of the present study was to describe how corner kicks were taken and to identify key variables associated with final attempts during Greek Super League season 2018-19. There was a total of 424 final attempts after corner kick, of which, 16.3% were attempts off target, 6.8% attempts on target and 2.8% resulting in a goal. Bivariate analysis presented that attempts on target were increased when the ball was delivered outswing, no players positioned at the goal posts, &gt;1 intervening attackers, attacking player the 1st contact and ball delivered into the central zones of the 18-yard box. Binary logistic regression (Final attempt/ No Final attempt) revealed that the model was statistically significant for the final attempt (p &lt; 0.001) and showed that the intervening attackers (p &lt; 0.001) and the player of the 1st contact (p &lt; 0.001) contributed significantly to the model. These results can aid coaches to enhance on one hand the attacking effectiveness; on the other hand the defensive efficacy of corner kicks within Greek football.

Football Clubs, Social Changes, and Political Disputes in Interwar Greece

Social changes and political tensions had a great impact on Greek football clubs during the interwar period. Earlier, the establishment of the first sports clubs in Greece was associated with the rise of the middle classes, whose members carried liberal perceptions and a new code of conduct. Football was placed in the ‘civilizing process’, as the process of ‘sportization’ was only possible in societies where political differences were resolved by non-violent means and where groups of citizens obeyed common acceptable rules. In this sense, football was not just a physical activity, but a social process, as well. In the case of Greece, the arrival of refugee populations and the rapid urbanization resulted in the popularization of sports. Throughout Greece, hundreds of sports clubs were founded, which mainly cultivated the new ‘craze’ of football. New collectivities were forged in the neighborhoods of the cities, and a new football culture was cultivated, which was fed by interwar identities that often appeared as opposing couples and interacted with each other, namely: native-refugee, middle class-worker and so on. As a result, in the football fields, along with the new folk heroes, the new phenomena of fanaticism and violence were born.

Comparison of Home Advantage in European Football Leagues

Home advantage in sports is important for coaches, players, fans, and commentators and has a key role in sports prediction models. This paper builds on results of recent research that—instead of points gained—used goals scored and goals conceded to describe home advantage. This offers more detailed look at this phenomenon. Presented description understands a home advantage in leagues as a random variable that can be described by a trinomial distribution. The paper uses this description to offer new ways of home advantage comparison—based on the Jeffrey divergence and the test for homogeneity—in different leagues. Next, a heuristic procedure—based on distances between probability descriptions of home advantage in leagues—is developed for identification of leagues with similar home advantage. Publicly available data are used for demonstration of presented procedures in 19 European football leagues between the 2007/2008 and 2016/2017 seasons, and for individual teams of one league in one season. Overall, the highest home advantage rate was identified in the highest Greek football league, and the lowest was identified in the fourth level English football league.

The brand personality of professional football teams

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test the psychometric properties of the Team Brand Personality Scale by Blank et al. (2013, 2018) in the context of the professional football clubs in Greece, based on the perceptions of fans for their own team and the rival team. The brand personality team scores of the fans are also used to create a league map presenting the brand personality of the different teams of the Greek football Super League.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a quantitative research design, 724 Greek football fans completed an electronic questionnaire assessing demographics, brand personality, team identification, sport involvement, attitudinal loyalty and game attractiveness.FindingsThe results partially confirmed the psychometric properties of the brand personality scale and suggested that the notion of brand personality influences positively the attitudinal loyalty and game attractiveness of the fans. Based on the results, the personality structure for the football league was also created and discussed.Research limitations/implicationsThis study was set to focus only on the brand personality perceptions of the highly identified fans of football teams, known in the literature as realized brand personality. However, a thorough understanding of the particular concept requires also the perspective of sport marketers who may perceive the brand personality in a different manner (i.e. intended brand personality), so as to build a holistic picture of brand personality of football teams.Practical implicationsThis research confirms that football teams have already projected a unique personality among their highly identified fans which can be used by marketing practitioners while designing integrated communication strategies.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the broad brand personality literature by replicating Blank’s et al.’s sport team personality scale to the Greek context and the league level, involving both supporting fans and rivals.

Foreign player migration and athletic success in Greek football

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the migration of foreign football players that participated in the elite football championship in Greece and the impact of this migratory channel on the athletic success of the football clubs.Design/methodology/approachThe study analyzed a database of all migrant and local athletes that participated in the professional Greek football championship over the period 2001-2013 and performed descriptive and regression analyses.FindingsThe regression analyses revealed a positive and significant statistical relation between the investment in foreign talents and the position of the clubs in the championship; however, this impact was more intense for foreign athletes after the formation of the Greek Super League (SL) in 2007 but on the contrary native athletes seem to contribute less to the athletic success than their foreign counterparts.Practical implicationsThe findings indicated that valuable resources where spent after SL formation for the acquisition of foreign well-trained athletes. Therefore, this study corroborated arguments in previous research that a basic reason for foreign player migration in football is the increased revenues accrued from the media and sponsors. The study also provided useful policy implications for football managers for improving their decisions on this matter.Originality/valueThe present study fills a gap in the empirical literature and contributes significantly on the ongoing debate about the international athletes’ migration and its impact on athletic success.

The inevitability of corruption in Greek football

From the late 1990s, corrupt practices in Greek football have been considered to pose a serious threat to the integrity of the sport, with a number of schemes and measures being introduced as a response. The aim of this article is to show why corruption in Greek football is inevitable by offering a detailed account of three football-related corrupt practices and highlighting their contextual parameters, as well as juxtaposing them against the set of measures that have been implemented. By placing corruption in football in the wider landscape of the country and of global football, and examining the political, structural and economic factors that contribute to the overall managerial and financial implications of corruption, we present the reader with the new norm which, in reality, makes corruption the ‘only game in town’.

Segmenting the Greek Football Market

Segmenting the Greek Football Market

Multiciteria evaluation of football clubs: the Greek Superleague

Football in Greece, as well as in whole world, exceeds the limits of simply the most commercial and widespread sport, becoming additionally a major issue in the political agenda. This can easily become understood, observing the impact of crucial football events (Mundial, Euro Cup, Champion’s League etc.) in world level. Besides the above events, each football league attracts the interest of people, media and politicians. Many studies have been done in this field, focusing mostly on the efficiency of football clubs, especially in countries such as England, Spain and Germany. The aim of this paper is to examine the performance of Greek football clubs competing in the Superleague for the period 2012–2014, regarding three different aspects (financial, commercial and sport). Our study differentiates from similar studies in the following points: (a) three different dimensions are examined in order to obtain a global view of football clubs, (b) the sample regards Greek Superleague teams, a regional and not so wealthy championship compared to other Europeans, and (c) the aim is to rank the teams, accordance to these aspects and not identify the efficient and not efficient teams. A well-known and established multiple-criteria decision making method (PROMETHEE II) is used, which has been found appropriate in several topics regarding ranking problems. In order our results to be meaningful, a decision maker assisted in the selection of the most influential factors in football clubs evaluation. The results partly verify earlier studies, since football clubs, with a few exceptions and surprises, were found financially imbalanced, with strong profitability, solvency and liquidity problems. The dependence of Greek Superleague on television rights and the basic sponsorship of OPAP (state betting company) is highly conspicuous amid the wider and much discussed European economic crisis in the field of football. Development trends via proposals of specific economic and social activities are listed, in response to the state and administrative mismanagement throughout the years.

CREATIVE ACCOUNTING IN GREEK FOOTBALL CLUBS

Football Clubs tent to manipulate their profits in order to obtain a license to participate in Championships, organized under the supervision of UEFA. This article examines, whether Football Clubs that compete in the Greek Super League and in European Competitions use earnings management techniques to manipulate their profits. In order to do so, Jones’ (1991) modified econometric model was used to estimate the accruals that determine the level of earnings management, for the period 2013-15. The statistical analysis, which performed with the use of STATA statistical package v.13, show that Greek Football Clubs which compete in European Competitions are more effective in manipulating their profits while Football Clubs which compete in Greek Super League and have difficulties in obtaining a license do not appeal to manipulate their profits.

Paradox, tribalism, and the transitional consumption experience

Purpose The aim of this paper is to explore how the paradox of individualism/tribalism is brought into play and negotiated by consumers in the wake of the post-postmodern era. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on netnographic and interview data from the Greek football manager (FM) online gaming community. FM is a simulation strategy game in which players act as “real-life” managers from the screen of their computer. Findings A central paradox and a set of four supporting paradoxes are identified. These paradoxes give rise to a transitional mode of experience, which lies on the borders of reality and fantasy, and is realised both at the individual and the tribal levels. Originality/value This study makes a threefold contribution. First, it advances the understanding of the paradoxical aspects of consumption experiences in light of post-postmodern consumer culture. Second, it shows how these paradoxes are negotiated by consumers between individual and tribal levels. Third, it extends the understanding of the nature of consumption experiences through the development of the concept of the transitional consumption experience.

Football clubs and financial crimes in Greece

Purpose The purpose of the current article is to provide an account of the financial crimes that are committed within the football clubs in Greece. Design/methodology/approach First, ethnographic research with two football clubs in Greece was conducted. Additional information on the issues at stake was obtained through interviews with informed actors from the realm of Greek football. Moreover, the telephone conversations that were available as the result of wiretapping by the Greek National Intelligence Agency, in relation to the latest football match-fixing scandal (2011) were used. Finally, published media sources were used. These provided information not only on the process behind financial crimes within football clubs but also on the key actors involved. Findings A number of financial (and finance-related) crimes committed within football clubs were identified in the study. These include: ticket “tricks”, fake tax certificates, crimes related to the players’ salary payments, owing money, money laundering and match-fixing. Issues around financial crimes within football clubs must be located within the overall football-related context in the country, which is, of course, an extension of the general financial, entrepreneurial and political landscape in the country. Originality/value This is the first article on football clubs and financial crimes in Greece. Although this is a case study from Greece, it constitutes a potential template for research on an international level. By using the case of football and football clubs in Greece, this article adds to understandings of the complexity of the broader motivational context of financial crime.