Greek Football Cup
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Founded | 1931 |
|---|---|
| Region |  Greece |
| Number of teams | 70 |
| Current champions | Olympiacos |
| Most successful club | Olympiacos (24 titles) |
| Website | www.epo.gr |
 Greek Cup 2008–09 |
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The Greek Football Cup (Greek: Κύπελλο Ελλάδος), commonly known as the Greek Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Greek football, run by the Hellenic Football Federation.
Because it involves clubs of all standards playing against one other there is the possibility for "giant-killers" from the lower divisions to eliminate top clubs from the tournament, though lately this has been a rare occurrence.
The holders of the Greek Cup are Olympiacos, who defeated AEK Athens with a 15–14 victory on penalties after a 4–4 draw, in one of the most memorable Greek Cup finals in recent memory.
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[edit] History
The Greek Cup began in 1931. In its early years, the attendance was optional. The matches were defined between the football associations, without a draw. Later on, and for a lot of years, the draw and double matches were held up to final. In the 90s, the qualifying matches were played in groups. The winners of the groups played against each other up to final in double matches.
Until 1964, if the final score was draw (including the extra time), the two finalists replayed, while penalties didn't exist. That year, in the semi-final match between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos (final score: 1–1), fans of both teams stormed the pitch, damaged the ground and virtually interrupted the game, believing that it was fixed to end in a draw, in order to be replayed for financial reasons.
The next year a new rule was applied, to determine that, if the game was undecided even after extra time, the winner would be determined by the toss of coin. That rule was abolished in 1969, when the penalty shootout was applied.
Up until 1971, teams from all over the country, professional and amateur, had been taking part. Each team first played against clubs from its own association and the winners continued in a panhellenic competition. Since then, only teams from the three professional divisions are allowed entry, while amateur clubs take part in the Greek Football Amateur Cup.
[edit] Formats
[edit] Old formats
Occasionally, in the competition have been applied various formats of conduct.
In the initial format, were became single matches in the home of team that resulted from the draw. If the final result between two teams was draw, the match was replayed in the opponent's home. There was extra time but no penalty shootout. In the case of impasse, the winner was nominated by draw or toss of coin. From 1969, penalty shootout was established and the matches were judged without replay.
For some years of the decades of 1980 and 1990, the First Round became in preliminary groups, from which 16 teams qualified. They continued with double matches until single final match. For two seasons, the Final was held in double matches too, but this rule was suppressed and came back the single Final, in the biggest stadium of Athens or Thessaloniki.
[edit] Current format
The current format is in effect from 2005.
First Round: The teams of two groups (North and South) of Gamma Ethniki participate. The matches are single and are held in the home of team that is fixed by the draw. In case of draw result, there is extra time and penalty shootout if necessary.
Second Round: Teams that have qualified from the First Round face in a single match Beta Ethniki teams, that enter in the tournament. The matches are held obligatorily in the home of Gamma Ethniki team, so the case to draw together teams of the same division is excluded. There are too extra time and penalty shootout.
Third Round: This round is additional and have only 4 teams of them that have qualified from Second Round, in order that the total of teams that will continue in the competition to be 32.
Fourth Round: Teams that have qualified from both Second and Third Round face in a single match teams of the top division, Super League Greece, that enter in the tournament. The fights are held obligatorily in the home of unseeded team, so the case to draw together teams of the same division is excluded. There are too extra time and penalty shootout.
Fifth Round: It is also called Round of 16. The 16 teams that have qualified from the Fourth Round are drawed from each other and make 8 pairs. The home team is fixed by the draw. Once again the matches are single, but now in the case of draw does not exist the possibility of extra time or penalty shootout. Henceforth, a replay is fixed in the home of first match away team. If the two sides can't be separated, there are extra time and penalty shootout if necessary. Away goals rule is not calculated in the case of two draws, after each match of this round thinks as unique.
Quarter-finals: It is also called Round of 8. The 8 teams that have qualified from the Fifth Round make, after draw, 4 pairs. The matches in this round are double in the homes of rival teams. In this case, away goals rule is in effect on the qualification, without however to be excluded the possibility for extra time or penalty shootout in the second leg.
Semi-finals: They are held with precisely same process of quarter-finals.
Final: Final is single and there is the possibility of extra time or penalty shootout in the case that final result is draw.
[edit] Performance by club
| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Olympiacos |
|
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1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 |
| Panathinaikos |
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1940, 1948, 1955, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004 |
| AEK Athens |
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1932, 1939, 1949, 1950, 1956, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1983, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002 |
| PAOK |
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1972, 1974, 2001, 2003 |
| Panionios |
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1979, 1998 |
| Larissa |
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1985, 2007 |
| Aris |
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1970 |
| Iraklis |
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1976 |
| OFI |
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1987 |
| Ethnikos Piraeus |
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1933 |
| Kastoria |
|
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1980 |
| Doxa Drama |
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| Pierikos |
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| Athinaikos |
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| Apollon Athens |
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| Ionikos |
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