Sydney Olympic FC is a soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales (NSW). A member-owned club, its senior men's team plays at the Belmore Sports Ground, in the NSW League One. Its senior women's team plays at The Crest, in the NPL NSW Women's in the second and third tiers for men's of the Australian league system, respectively. It also competes in the Australian Championship as a foundation club.
One of many Greek Australian soccer clubs, it was formed in November 1957 as Pan Hellenic SC, and rose to Football NSW's first division in 1961. The club failed to find on-field success in the state league, though strong fan support and financial stability gained it entry into the National Soccer League (NSL) as a charter member in 1977, when it adopted its current name. Olympic would play 27 seasons in the league, winning two championships and two NSL Cups. Following the NSL's demise in 2004, the club returned to NSW's first division, where it has remained since. While the club has historically fielded women's teams in decades past, its modern women's team was founded in 2006, and won promotion to the first division in 2018.
Sydney Olympic has won three NSW men's titles. It reached the NPL's national semi-finals in 2018, and its best performances in the Australia Cup are round of sixteen finishes in 2014 and 2015. Among Olympic's records are the two highest-attended NSL regular season matches – 18,985 in a 1998–99 match against the Northern Spirit, and 18,376 in a 1979 match against Newcastle KB United.
History
1957: Pan-Hellenic – The Beginnings In the late 1940s and 1950s, there were several small Greek teams for the purposes of socialising and giving a sense of home for the newly arrived migrants. These teams included: Taxiarchis, Atlas, Astro, Pansamiakos, as well as several others. Many people wondered about uniting all of these smaller teams to establish 1 strong Greek team in order to participate in the NSW Soccer Federation. The founding date of the club is set as 28 November 1957, as this was the first meeting of Club Founder Christos Giannakoulias at his home in Alexandria, together with Elias Michalopoulos, Giorgos Lagoudakos, Emmanuel Karras, Dimitris Vlachos, and Stelios Papageorgiou. It was decided there that the newly formed team would be known as Pan-Hellenic, as it represented the shared journeys of Greeks from all over the world who migrated to Sydney and not just from Greece and Cyprus, but also from various other places like Egypt, Romania, Albania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Anatolia, and Asia Minor.
The club was established as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club and its initial strip was blue and white vertical stripes.
1958–60: NSW 2nd Division In its first season in 1958, Pan-Hellenic found itself in the NSW 2nd Division, which at the time was split into 2 groups – Western & Eastern – After topping its group, Pan-Hellenic faced off with Budapest, who had topped the other group, in the Grand Final, which Pan-Hellenic won 3–1. This still was not good enough for promotion, and Pan-Hellenic was forced to play a separate play-off with Budapest for promotion. The initial match ended 1–1, and a replay was ordered a few days later, which Budapest won 4–0.
For season 1959, the Federation did away with a Finals Series and promotion playoffs, instead awarding promotion to the club which topped the competition table after the 26 rounds. Pan-Hellenic would miss out again on promotion, as it finished runner-up to Neerlandia.
In 1960 and in what would become a tradition in Australian Football, the format was changed yet again. A Finals Series would be played this season; Pan-Hellenic reached the Grand Final again, but would go on and lose to Polonia 2–1. But this time, the team which would end up atop the competition ladder was crowned the Champions and would be promoted; fortunately for Pan-Hellenic, they finished top of the ladder 1 point ahead of Polonia, were crowned Champions and finally earned promotion to the NSW 1st Division for 1961.
1960s: NSW 1st Division In its first season in the NSW 1st Division in 1961, the club would finish in the top 4, finishing 4th, a fantastic achievement. In the Finals Series Pan-Hellenic lost its Semi-Final to Hakoah 1–0.
1962 saw Pan-Hellenic finish in 7th place. The 1962 season also saw a competition attendance record for the regular season, with 16,265 spectators attending Pan-Hellenic's home match at Wentworth Park against APIA Leichhardt on July 8th. In 1963, Pan-Hellenic rebounded to once again make the top 4, finishing 4th once again and qualifying for the Finals Series. South Coast United delivered a heavy blow in the Semi-Final, dishing out a 7–1 loss to Pan-Hellenic. The 1963 season also saw the previous season's record attendance for a regular season club match in NSW beaten, when 19,676 spectators saw the 1-1 draw between Pan-Hellenic and APIA Leichhardt.
In 1964, Pan-Hellenic finished a disappointing 6th in the League, while in contrast, it made a better fist of it in the Cup, reaching the Semi-Finals. The Final round of the 1964 league season witnessed a record-breaking attendance for a non-Finals match in Australian club football. Pan-Hellenic and APIA Leichhardt drew 27,150 spectators in a match Pan-Hellenic ultimately lost 6-2 to its old rival.
In 1965, the club endured a difficult League campaign, coming within a whisker of being relegated, finishing 2nd last and having to endure the 3 relegation playoff ties. The first 2 ended in draws (0–0 and 1–1) against Polonia; the 3rd match was a 5–4 result to Pan-Hellenic. 11,000 turned up on a Wednesday night to see the match, a victory which preserved the club's 1st Division status. This was in total contrast with Pan-Hellenic's Cup form, which saw them go on a run all the way to the Final, only to lose 3–1 to Hakoah.
For season 1966, Pan-Hellenic finished in 5th spot. The club would return to Finals Football once again in 1967, finishing in 4th, but would once again fail to progress in the Finals Series. 1967 also saw Pan-Hellenic go on a great run in the inaugural National Club Knock-Out competition the – Australia Cup – falling one game short of the Final, as it lost to APIA Leichhardt 3–2 after extra-time in the Semi-Final.
The 1968 season was the highlight of the pre-National Soccer League era; Pan-Hellenic finished 2nd in the standings and reached the NSW First Division Grand Final for the first time. Pan-Hellenic rode the wave of momentum, crowds of: 11,500, 10,153, 14,521, 18,180 against Polonia, St George, Hakoah and APIA respectively in the back half of the 1968 season, catapulted the team into the Grand Final, Pan-Hellenic would unfortunately lose 4–2 to bitter rivals Hakoah in front of a crowd of 22,111 at the Sydney Sports Ground.
To bring the decade to a close in 1969, Pan-Hellenic would have to settle for a mid-table 6th-placed finish. The club also experienced another great Cup run making it to the Final once again in 1969, a Final it would ultimately lose 3–2 to Prague.
1970s After some poor seasons – 1970 (8th), 1971 (10th), 1972 (7th), 1973 (9th) – 1974 saw a marked improvement in the team under Socceroos coach Rale Rasic. Pan-Hellenic just missed out on the top 4 to finish in 5th spot. In the Cup, the club failed to reach the latter stages.
Season 1975, did see Pan-Hellenic once again make the top 4, finishing in 3rd place, their highest finish in years. In the Finals Series, Pan-Hellenic dispatched Auburn 2–1 in the Semi-Final to make it through to the Preliminary Final. A crowd of 15,374, one of the biggest attendances in years, saw the rivals Pan-Hellenic and APIA go at it again; unfortunately for Pan-Hellenic, it went on to lose 1–0 after extra time to APIA Leichhardt, in a tight and tense affair.
In its final season in the NSW State League for the time being and its last season under the name Pan-Hellenic in 1976, the club just missed out on a Finals spot, ending up in 5th place.
1977: Sydney Olympic and the NSL
For 1977, the club became a pioneering founding member of the National Soccer League, and also changed its name to Sydney Olympic.
Sydney Olympic had a tough initiation into National League Football in 1977, finishing 3rd last. 1978 saw a vast improvement from Sydney Olympic as it finished in a much-improved and respectable mid-table position.
In 1979 Sydney Olympic endured another difficult campaign, finishing in 2nd last place. The Federation at the time then made the decision to "cut back" on teams from NSW, and being the last-placed NSW team, beating only South Melbourne, who had finished last, Sydney Olympic was controversially relegated.
1980s The spell back in the NSW First Division competition for the club did not last long, with Sydney Olympic defeating the Parramatta Eagles 4–0 in the 1980 NSW Grand Final to win the NSW First Division. That victory secured Sydney Olympic a return to top-flight Australian football in 1981, where it remained until the NSL folded in 2004.
During the 1980s, Sydney Olympic experienced fluctuations in performance alongside shifts in match attendance.
Seasons 1981 and 1982 were a period of stabilisation for the club, as it settled back into the National Soccer League. Sydney Olympic finished both seasons in the middle of the league table. During this period, several young squad members debuted for the club.
The mid-1980s saw an increase in average home attendance alongside competitive match records for the club.
Between 1983 and 1986, Sydney Olympic played in 4 consecutive National Finals. Beating Heidelberg United in the 1983 NSL Cup Final and beat Preston Lions in the 1985 NSL Cup Final. Sydney Olympic also made it to the NSL Grand Finals of 1984 and 1986, losing to South Melbourne FC and Adelaide City respectively.
After this period, there was an exodus of players at Sydney Olympic, meaning the team almost had to be rebuilt, as only a few players would remain. It showed as the club dropped back to a mid-table finish for season 1987.
Sydney Olympic bounced back in season 1988 to finish 5th and qualify for the Finals Series once again, although they would go on to lose that Semi-Final 3–1 to the Marconi Stallions.
Sydney Olympic placed third in the league phase in 1989, thereby qualifying for the Finals. After winning the Semi-Finals against Melbourne Knights and the Preliminary Finals against St George FC, Sydney Olympic progressed to their third Grand Final of NSL within six years. Sydney Olympic faced defeat against Marconi 1-0 during the Grand Final that took place in Parramatta Stadium with 23,387 spectators in attendance following an injury-time goal. Sydney Olympic made it to the NSL Cup Finals in 1989, but they were beaten 2–0 by Adelaide City.
1990s The 1990s began on the right foot for the club as it sneaked into that year's NSL Finals Series in 5th. After a historic Finals run, winning 3-straight sudden-death Semi-Finals against Adelaide City, South Melbourne and Melbourne Knights, and a year after Sydney Olympic's 1989 NSL Grand Final loss against Marconi, 1990 saw Sydney Olympic meet Marconi once again in the Grand Final. This time it would be Olympic's day as they exacted revenge by beating Marconi 2–0, before a then record NSL crowd of 26,353. Scorers that day were Alistair Edwards and Robert Ironside either side of half-time. 1990 also saw Sydney Olympic reach another NSL Cup Final, their 4th in 8 years, unfortunately going down to South Melbourne.
In defense of their title in season 1990/91, Sydney Olympic endured an inconsistent season, which came down to the last match of the regular season in what became a pre-Finals Series playoff against 6th-placed Parramatta Melita. Sitting in 5th, a draw would have been enough for Olympic to finish in the top 5 and qualify for the Finals, but a late Parramatta goal ensured Olympic would succumb to a 1–0 loss and were leapfrogged into the top 5 by Parramatta FC.