About stadium

Stadium introduction

The first iteration of the iconic Olympic Stadium opened in 1982 in time for the European Athletics Championships after a construction period of around three years beginning in 1979. It was inaugurated on the 6th September by then president of Greece, Konstantinos Karamanlis, who conducted the opening ceremony of the tournament. Extensively Renovated for the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, the Main Stadium within the sports complex has traditionally been used more for Athletics than it has for Football. AEK F.C played at the ground for two years between 1985 – 1987, and only since 2003 has it become their long term home. Municipally owned, the stadium’s most striking feature is undoubtedly the 70 metre high, 20,000 tonne arced roof design which was created by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava as part of the refurbishment. Officially the ground is named after Spyros Louis who was the famous Marathon Champions in the inaugural Olympic Games in 1896. The highest profile football match held at Athens Olympic Stadium to date is either the Olympic Football final between Argentina and Paraguay, or the Champions League rematch between AC Milan and Liverpool in 2007. The record attendance to date sits at 75,263 and was set during a European match between Olympic and Hamburger SV on 3rd November 1983. As for the footballing future of Athens Olympic Stadium its days of regular usage could soon be a thing of the past with AEK FC planning to construct the 32,000 capacity Hagia Sophia Stadium. Expected to cost €65 million euros, whether or not the club could raise the finance in times of economic uncertainty across Greece remains to be seen.

How to get to the Stadium

Leof. Olimpionikou Spirou Loui, Marousi 151 23, Greece