Alketas Panagoulias was one of the most important and respected personalities in the history of Greek football. Coach, organizer, inspirer, man with vision, he managed to lead the Greek National Team to historic conquests, while his career abroad, and especially in the United States, opened new paths for the Greek diaspora in the field of sport.
From Macedonia to the other side of the Atlantic
Panagoulias was born on 30 May 1934 in Veroia. In the early 1950s he emigrated to the USA, where he studied and worked as a coach for university teams and later for the United States national team. His deep knowledge of the sport, combined with his ability to inspire his players, soon made him a leading figure. In 1973 he returned to Greece and took charge of the national team, with the aim of creating a team that would stand on equal footing in the European footballing arena. He succeeded.
The Euro 1980 saga and the maiden qualification
Under his guidance, the Greek national team achieved the impossible: qualifying for the first time to the final stage of a major competition, at the 1980 European Championship in Italy. Although the team did not advance to the knockout stages, their participation was historic and put the country on the map of European football. That generation – with players like Delikaris, Ardizoglou, Kyrastas – carried Panagoulias’ signature, both in terms of style of play and ethos.
The 1994 World Cup
After years of a coaching career in clubs such as Aris Thessaloniki and Olympiacos, but also in New York (Olympians), Panagoulias returned to the bench of the National Team in the late 1980s. The highlight of his career came in 1994, when he led the National Team to the USA World Cup, Greece’s first participation in a World Cup. Despite the negative results (three goalless defeats), the appearance alone was a historic milestone for Greek football. Alketas Panagoulias, wouldn’t accept his players performances and he pushed them asking to score at least one goal. Here is a video from the dressing room that went viral:
Beyond the pitch: a football intellectual
Panagoulias was not only a coach. He was a pioneering organiser and a highly politicised man, with a deep love for Greece and a belief in the power of the collective. He was president of the Olympiacos Amateur Athletic Club, served as a member of the EPO board and was Greece’s representative to FIFA and UEFA. He was also politically active, maintaining good relations with personalities of the expatriate community in the United States, while supporting Greek schools and cultural associations abroad with words and deeds.
“He left with the flag flying high
Alketas Panagoulias passed away on June 18, 2012, at the age of 78. The news of his death caused emotion not only in Greece, but also in the United States, where he was beloved as a symbol of unity and morality. His legacy is a heavy one: he organised, he believed, he envisioned. And above all: he laid the foundations for the Greek national team to reach, two decades later, the top of Europe. As he used to say:
“The national team jersey is not for you to wear. It’s to honour it.”
