Panathinaikos
1-1 AEK, Greek Superleague, Sunday 19 November 2017
Finally,
I can get this written up!
For a
final trip of 2017, I decided to tick Greece off the list. I’d picked this
weekend as Bolton had been given a Friday game by our Sky overlords, combined
with a long weekend off work it gave me some time to get away somewhere. So
Athens was picked and booked. Given the number of local teams in the top
flight, I was fairly confident of blindly picking the weekend and getting to
see a game, it worked out even better when it turned out there was a local
derby on Sunday night – Panathinaikos v AEK.
Tickets
were a bit awkward to book in advance for a foreigner. In the end, I probably
would have been able to buy in person on matchday, but preferring to be
organised, I stumbled through viva.gr, a Greek Ticketmaster seemingly, and was
able to get a seat in the corner for 30 euros, near the loudest fans in Gate
13. If you don’t fancy the rigmarole of translating from Greek, for the vast
majority of domestic games you can by from the ground in the days leading up to
the game, or even on the day.
After
some of the usual tourist stuff on a rainy day (the views of the city from the
Acropolis are incredible) and discovering beertime, which has a remarkable
range of drinking options. The Apostolos Nikolidis Stadium is pretty accessible
from the centre of town, Ambelokipi the nearest Metro stop, just a few stops
from the central square.
As you
walk from the metro to the ground, you’ll pass lots of stalls selling merchandise
and food. The Greek sales pitch is pretty straightforward, they loudly tell you
to buy their stuff (or something like that). There are a few bars just outside
the ground too, so if you need a pre-match drink or bit to eat you’re well
catered for.
The
ground is a proper continental throwback, most of the stands are uncovered,
with Perspex glass at the front of the stands. If the Pana fans were annoyed
with something, some would run forward to bang on it. The concourse in my
section was very basic, cramped and just about enough to fit in a concession stall
staffed by one person, it wasn’t big enough to have more staff!
Working
in TV, one thing I found interesting too was a flash interview position (basically
where players and managers do their pre and post-match TV stuff in front of those
advertising boards) outside the ground, which was a new one on me. Do they
actually conduct interviews there?
Anyway,
the match. Going off that, both teams would need to practice their finishing,
but two goals were scored. A wonderfully delivered free kick early in the game,
pretty much taken right in front of me, was met by the head of Moledo, who gave
Pana the lead. Both teams had chances to score, but deep into injury time, and
with the fans thinking ‘job done,’ Marko Livaja fired from the edge of the
area, into the bottom corner, and the atmosphere went from loud, to be being able
to hear a pin drop, in one strike of a ball.
One very
sad observation was the lettering on the back of the shirts. Greek players
would have their names in Greek, while foreign players would have the Latin
alphabet on the back instead of a transliteration (unlike Russia and Israel
amongst others)
No, it’s
you that needs to get a life.
I will put a photo or two up at some point.
