Panathinaikos Footballers - Stadiums

Stadiums

Panathinaikos' original home ground since the early 1920s was the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium in the Ampelokipoi district in central Athens. The stadium is located on Alexandras Avenue and is most commonly referred to as Leoforos (i.e. Avenue). It is considered one of the most historic stadiums in Greece, as it was used by the Greek national football team as home ground for many years (most recently for the UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying matches) and even by Panathinaikos' biggest rivals, AEK (for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League matches) and Olympiacos (for friendly matches).

Panathinaikos left Leoforos in 1983 to play in the newly built Athens Olympic Stadium. In 2000, the then club president Angelos Filippidis announced a return to Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, following a €7 million renovation. Capacity was reduced from 25,000 to 16,620, new dressing rooms were built and modular stand roofing was added in compliance with UEFA requirements, but in 2004 stricter standards were announced and the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium would need further expansion were it to remain suitable for UEFA-sanctioned matches. This was precluded by local zoning regulations and the team had to return to Athens Olympic Stadium once more until a new stadium, the Votanikos Arena, is built. The Leoforos ground is due for demolition and will become a park. A small section of the west curve spectator stands, the legendary Gate 13, will be retained and house a small Panathinaikos museum.

On 27 January 2007, the board of Panathinaikos decided to reuse Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium for the team's 2007–08 Greek Super League and UEFA Cup home games. Also, the club officials decided to install new lawn, new seats and upgrade the press conference room and the restrooms.