Niki Volos Football Club () is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Volos, in the region of Magnesia, Greece. The club currently competes in the Super League 2, the second tier of Greek football.
History 1920s The football team was created on 19 August 1924, as the first department of the G.S. Niki Volos.
The first football match of Niki Volos was held on 26 July 1925 at King George I Square against HANTH, which it defeated with a score of 4–0.
In 1928, the team acquired a privately owned stadium in N. Ionia, the "Cage" as it was called and was not forced to compete in the park of Agios Konstantinos in Volos. It was established there in 1930.
1930s In this decade, the new team named "Niki Volos" unites the entire refugee community of Nea Ionia. The Niki team and its competitive course express their own struggle for survival and recognition. In this decade, Niki completely prevails in the Thessaly area with the team of adults – not men – because most of them were children without a mustache. On 30 March 1930 it plays its first friendly match with a team outside the province, specifically with PAOK, in which it was defeated with a score of 1–2, and on Easter Day it was defeated again, this time by Thermaikos Thessaloniki with a score of 4–2. On 13 July of the same year, they defeated Iraklis in a friendly match with a score of 1–0, making it a huge success for the time.
In the first EPSTH championship of the 1930–31 period, they finished in 2nd place, having a remarkable potential. On 30 August 1931, they drew a friendly with Aris with a score of 2–2, a result which was then considered successful for Volos football.
In 1932, Niki became the first team to bring in a coach from abroad, the Hungarian Marvey. At the end of April, they defeated the Larissa Excursionists' Club in Larissa with a score of 5–2. On 29 May 1932 it was defeated in a friendly match by 4–2 by Megas Alexandros Thessalonikis. In 1933 it won the championship and the Volos cup. In fact, in the same year on 16 July, participating in the opening of the Thessalian football championship, it marched first with Pantelidis as the flag bearer. A historic friendly match with Aris Thessalonikis is recorded at that time, at the Nea Ionia stadium, which ended 1–1.
On 18 April 1937 the first official match was played against the newly founded Olympiacos Volos. Niki was defeated by 2–1 in a game witnessed by a large, passionate crowd.
On 8 May 1938 they defeated Odysseas with a score of 6–1 and won the Volos championship. A few days later they crushed the Trikala team with a score of 11–0 and won the Thessaly championship. In 1939 they defeated Olympiacos with a score of 4–1 and won the Thessaly cup. On 7 January of the same year, Panathinaikos came to Volos and Niki lost with a score of 1–3.
In the 1939–40 season, Niki finished in 4th and last place and had a relegation match with the champion of the 2nd division, Kentavros Volos, whom they won with difficulty with a score of 4–3 and remained in the division.
1940s Amid the hardships of war, football was a means of relaxation, whenever circumstances allowed. During the period 1940–1944, only friendly matches were held between Thessalian teams, characterized by a large attendance of spectators. In fact, a friendly match at the Nea Ionia stadium on 1 August 1943 between Aris Larissa and Niki Volos with a score of 3–2 in favor of Aris, was attended by 10,000 spectators. During this period, the Niki team mourned the loss of some of its outstanding athletes during the war, while several had been members of the National Resistance. After the war, the team was reorganized under the guidance of Pantelis Magoulas, playing matches against the English Allied forces, mainly for economic reasons but also for technical reasons.
On 15 April 1945 Niki played a friendly match with an English army team and won with a score of 5–0 while leading at half-time with 3–0. In 1946 Niki won the Thessalian championship by defeating Olympiacos Volos with 8–1 and Pagasitikos with 3–1, while on 22 May 1947 they played in the semi-final of the Greek Football Cup against Iraklis Thessaloniki. The transfer to Thessaloniki was by sea on a 36-hour journey by boat as the movement by land was dangerous due to the civil war. In this match they were defeated with a score of 3–0. In the years 1948, 1949 and 1950 Niki emerged as the champion of Thessaly.
1950s During this decade, Niki witnessed substantial improvement in performance. Despite various difficulties that the players faced, such as the lack of work and nutrition, they nevertheless were able to achieve notable progress.
At the end of May 1950 Niki emerged as the champion of Volos and in June of the same year as the champion of Thessaly, defeating Iraklis Larissa in two matches with a score of 0–1 in the first match and 3–1 in the second. Then strong friendly matches followed for Niki. In the first, Niki played against Ethnikos Piraeus, which they won with a score of 3–2. Then it plays two friendlies with the 73rd brigade of the DSE in which it wins with scores of 1–0 and 8–2 respectively. The friendlies continue in Thessaloniki playing with Makedonikos, winning with 2–0. Back in Volos, Nikis plays two friendlies with the two Athenian teams, AEK and Panionios. It plays with the first on 13 July and loses with 5–1 and with the second it plays with 26 July and wins with 4–2. On 3 November in the rematch of the first game of the Greek Football Cup which ended 4–4, Niki eliminated Anagennisi Karditsas with a score of 3–0 and qualified for the next phase, in which it met fellow city-state Olympiacos, from which it was eliminated with a score of 1–0.
On 27 May 1951 and after a match against Olympiacos Volos, which it won with a score of 5–2, it was declared champion of Volos again. On 15 July of the same year, it emerged champion of Thessaly, defeating Iraklis Larissa with a score of 4–2. That year, a joint carnival dance was held between Niki and Olympiacos Volos, unique in historical terms. At the same time, on 17 June 1951, in the presence of at least 5,000 fans, it plays a friendly match with the champion Olympiakos Piraeus and is defeated 1–3, despite leading the score with Vafeiadis.
With the start of the preparation for the 1952–53 season, Niki plays a friendly match with the team of the 1st Army Corps and draws 2–2. On 15 May 1953 it is declared the champion of Volos, defeating Olympiakos 4–3, despite initially losing 0–3. Then follow the matches of the Thessaly championship, Niki will play matches with Aris Larissa. In the 1st match it will win 4–0, while in the 2nd it will lose 1–0. Finally, on 21 June 1953, they were crowned champions of Thessaly again after winning the third match against Aris Larissas, which they defeated 4–0. A friendly match between Niki and Panionios followed on 29 June in which the two teams drew 2–2, while on 11 October a new friendly match was held with the then-powerful Aris Thessaloniki with the same result (2–2).
The 1953–54 season is the most successful for Niki in this decade as on New Year's Day of 1954 they will defeat Iraklis Larissa at the Alcazar Stadium with a score of 3–1 in a match held for the final phase of the Thessalian championship and in the replay that took place 2 days later Niki beat Iraklis again with a score of 2–1 and is declared champion of Thessaly and gets the ticket for the qualifiers of the Panhellenic championship in which they will face Doxa Drama which they defeat in Volos with a score of 4–0 on 31 January 1954, while a few days later, on 14 February they lose in Drama with a score of 4–2. Thus, the two teams are led to a play-off match held on 8 March 1954 in which the Niki team wins 3–1 and together with Panachaiki is one of the provincial teams that for the first time with teams from Athens and Thessaloniki.
In the panhellenic championship Niki Volos made a satisfactory progress as it finishes in 5th place and takes the informal title of the best provincial team. Notable results for that period are the 1–2 against PAOK in Thessaloniki at the start of the mini-championship, the 2–2 in Volos again with PAOK and the 0–0 with AEK Athens in Volos.
On 2 January 1955 Niki hosts Asteras Athens and wins 3–0. A week later it hosts Pallamiaki and wins 4–1. On 6 March it defeats Iraklis with a score of 2–1, in a match for the Greek Football Cup and qualifies for the next phase in which it will be eliminated by fellow city-mate Aris with a score 2–1.
1956 started for Niki by facing Larisaikos at the Nea Ionia stadium. The result was 5–2 in favor of the home team. On 8 January they will defeat Larisaikos again by 2–0 this time in Larissa while two days later they will defeat Achilleas Trikalon by 1–0 and win the Thessaly championship and at the same time get the ticket for the qualifications for the final phase of the Panhellenic championship for the 2nd time in its history. In the qualifiers, Niki Volos faced Panathinaikos, Apollon Athens, Olympiakos Chalkida and Fostiras. Ultimately, Niki finishes in 3rd place in the Central Group of the 2nd qualifying phase. A notable result for that period is the 0–0 that Niki achieved away from home against Panathinaikos on 15 January 1956, having a very good performance throughout the match, forcing the Athens team to its first loss of points. In the Greek Cup, Niki Volos with a satisfactory performance eliminated the then powerful Ethnikos Piraeus with a wide 5–0. In the next phase, however, it was eliminated by fellow countryman Olympiakos Piraeus with a score of 4–0 in Nea Smyrni. In June 1956, the Niki team departed for Northern Greece for a series of friendly matches, the first of which was against Doxa Dramas, from which it lost 2–0, while in the next match it beat Iraklis Serres 3–1. On 3 July it will compete with Proodeftiki, from which it was defeated 3–1.
On Thursday 13 December 1956, with 1,000 fans on their side in Larissa, Niki again defeated Iraklis Larissa 4–1 and emerged as the champion team of Thessaly for the second time. The matches for the Northern Greece champion began on 23 December. Niki in Alexandroupolis defeated the local Ethnikos 3–1, while three days later they faced Doxa Drama and were defeated 1–0.
1957 begins with Niki facing Ethnikos Alexandroupolis and defeating them with a wide score of 9–0. A few days later, on 6 January, they drew 0–0 against Doxa Dramas and failed to reach the final stage of the Panhellenic Championship. On 13 January of the same year, they were defeated by Spartak Trnava with a score of 1–3 and on 3 February they defeated Austria Graz in a friendly match with 2–0, winning the admiration of their opponents. On 16 February 1958 they beat Olympiacos Volos with 6–1 in front of 5,000 fans in a game that was momentarily interrupted because Archbishop Makarios entered the field during the game and blessed the crowds cheering him on. Niki's good competitive condition would be proven in its next match, on 23 February, when it would beat Aris Thessaloniki at its stadium with 1–0 with a goal by Zanteroglou. The same year it won the championship and qualified for the qualifying phase of the Panhellenic championship in which it did not win a single game. After this failure, Niki hired a new coach, Tzamtzis. In the 1958–59 season it emerged as Volos champion and qualified for the Thessalian Championship phase. Niki started successfully by beating the local team of Aris in Larissa with 1–0. However, in the next match in Trikala, Niki was defeated by the very good team of Achilleas Trikala with 1–0, which won both the championship and the entry into the final phase of the 1959 panhellenic championship. On 13 November 1958 Niki played a friendly match with the National Armed Forces and won 4–3. 1958 closes for the Niki team with a heavy score of 5–2 from the Yugoslav team Beogradski in a friendly match they played.