United will be backed by only a few hundred fans in Athens tomorrow, and the director wants the 10,000 stadium to be bursting at the rafters.
Vasilis Mpetis: “This match is the most important for Atromitos for the last 90 years.
“And all of our friends should be there to help the manager and the players.
“The city of Peristeri is celebrating. And we should have a full house.
“Our fans will be the 12th man, of that I am sure.”
Atromitos FC was officially founded in May 1923 when Kalomvounis, Petos, Glykofridis, Stathopoulos, Synodinos, Rigopoulos, Stamatopoulos, and other students living in Victoria Square (which was then called Kyriakou Square) decided to form a football team.
That same year, Vaggelis Stamatis, a mathematics teacher and member of the Panhellenic football league, joined the administrative board of Atromitos. Because of his prominence in pre-war Greek football history, Stamatis' involvement increased the new team's stature in Athenian football.
In 1924, Atromitos was accepted into the Greek football league.
At the time, Atromitos played at the Panellinios football grounds, Panathinaikos, and in Aris park. During their first season in the league's first division, they ended in third place (behind Panathinaikos and AEK). In 1928, they defeated Goudi 4–3 in the final game at Rouf stadium to become champions of Athens.
That same year, they took part (in the champions condition) in the first Panhellenic Championship, which was organised by EPO. On May 24, 1928, they were beaten 3–1 by Aris (who later became champions) in an away game, and were defeated again on June 3 by Ethnicos Pireaus 5–0. On June 10, they managed a draw at home against Ethnicos 1–1, before losing again to Aris 3–1 seven days later.
During the following two years, Atromitos stayed in the upper part of the first division of Athens, and in 1929, they finished third behind Panathinaikos and AEK Athens.
They repeated the feat in 1930. They were relegated from the championship in 1931. In 1932, Iosiph Chouroukchoglou and Nikolaos Epioglou decided to move Atromitos to Peristeri. Earlier, it was located in the same area as Panathinaikos, and they had found it hard to establish a large fan base or develop a unique identity.
They played again it in seasons of 1933–34, 1938–39, 1939–40 before ocuupation of Greece. They played again in Panhellenic championship between 1945–1951, 1952–1953, 1956–1959.
Atromitos played in Alpha Ethniki in 1960–61 season and played in the second division until May 1972 when, under the coaching of Savva Papazoulou, they were re-promoted to the first level. It proved a change too hard to handle, and they were demoted the following year. In 1975, a better-prepared Atromitos returned to the first division with a large fanbase, and ended the year in 13th place, securing their spot in the top flight. In 1976 they improved to end the season in 9th place, the best in the club's history. But, they relegated in 1977.
By 1981, Atromitos had succeeded in attracting renowned players such as Stylianopoulos, Álvarez, Toskas and Athanasopoulos. However, despite high expectations, the club played for the last time in the top flight, and once more returned to the lower divisions.
After years of playing in the third division, Atromitos won promotion back to the second division in May 2002 by beating Levadiakos FC at Patra stadium.
The team played again in the top flight between 2005–2008 by merging with Halkidona and returned to the top flight after playing one season in the second division in 2008–2009.
In the 2010-2011 season Atromitos Fc made a historic run to the Greek Cup Final. However, they lost 3-0 to AEK.
Atromitos are based in western Athens and their main supporters club is called Fentagin. They are dedicated to support the local football team. The younger element of the support are known as the 'little atoms'.
The home ground of Atromitos was once well-maintained but has been recently neglected. In its early days, Peristeri had grown to become the fourth largest municipality in Greece. The first club home ground was the grounds of "Bravery", which was located beyond the last shanty town of Evaggelistria.
In 1953, Atromitos moved to their present location, which contained only central stands for the spectators; the changing rooms consisted of a small room at the end of the stands. Much later, a larger stand was built with a capacity of 6,000 spectators. It was also used for non-football purposes, such as musical performances.
During the chairmanship of Victor Mitropoulos in EPAE, blue and white plastic seats were installed in the central stand. Before the Athens Olympics, Atromitos installed floodlights and renovated the running track so the ground could be used as a coaching facility during the Olympic Games.
Under the football ground there are spaces and facilities for activities such as wrestling, chess and boxing. The organised fan club, "The Fedayeen", also have a space underneath the stands.
Repairs to fragile parts of the stadium due to humidity and earthquake damage are expected to be carried out.
NEWCASTLE UNITED FC 2012/13
PREMIERSHIP
NEWCASTLE 2 SPURS 1 (Ba, Ben Arfa pen)
Krul; Simpson, S Taylor, Perch, Santon; Ben Arfa, Cabaye (Anita, 71), Tiote, Gutierrez; Cisse, Ba (Obertan, 85). Subs not used: Harper; R Taylor, Williamson, Gosling, Amalfitano
PRE-SEASON
CARDIFF CITY 4 NEWCASTLE 1 (Shola Ameobi pen)
Krul, Simpson, Coloccini (Williamson 46), Steven Taylor (Gosling 63), Santon, Obertan (Campbell 83), Tiote (Amalfitano 71) , Gutiérrez, Marveaux (Vuckic 46), R Taylor (Perch 28), Shola Ameobi.
HARTLEPOOL 1 NEWCASTLE 5 (Shola Ameobi, Marveaux 2, Obertan, Vuckic)
Harper (Alnwick 82), Simpson (Good 72), Tavernier, Williamson, S.Taylor (Vuckic 46), Perch (R.Taylor 72), Gosling, Amalfitano (Santon 80), Marveaux (Obertan 78), Sh.Ameobi (Ben Arfa 46), Bigirimana (Abeid 59).
DEN HAAG 0 NEWCASTLE 0
Krul; S Taylor (Gosling 65), R Taylor (Perch 71), Coloccini, Santon (Simpson 80); Obertan (Bigirimana 71), Tiote (Ameobi 71), Vuckic (Williamson 65), Gutierrez; Ba (Amalfitano 82), Cisse
BRAGA 1 NEWCASTLE 2 (Ba, R Taylor)
Harper; Simpson, Tavernier, Coloccini, R.Taylor; Sammy Ameobi (Obertan 88), Tiote (Cabaye 70), Gutierrez, Marveaux; Cisse, Ba (Vuckic 85).
OLYMPIACOS 1 NEWCASTLE 1 (S Taylor)
Krul, Perch, Williamson, S.Taylor (Dummett 46), Santon, Obertan (Sammy Ameobi 72), Bigirimana, Gosling (Abeid 36), Amalfitano, Vuckic, Shola Ameobi (Cisse 72).
FENERBAHCE 1 NEWCASTLE 1 (Abeid)
Elliot, Simpson (Santon 68), Tavernier, Coloccini, R Taylor, Tiote (Bigirimana 59), Gosling (Abeid 73), Obertan (Shola Ameobi 75), Marveuax (Gutierrez 59), Vuckic (Sammy Ameobi 46), Ba (Cisse 68).
MONACO 0 NEWCASTLE 1 (Ba)
Harper, Santon (Ryan Taylor 57), Simpson, Williamson (Perch 46), Gutierrez, Amalfitano (Obertan 62), Abeid (Tavernier 46), Bigirimana (Tiote 62), Sammy Ameobi (Vuckic 46), Shola Ameobi (Gosling 62), Ba (Marveaux 78)
CHEMNITZER 1 NEWCASTLE 0
Elliot; Tavernier (Simpson, 70), Williamson, Perch, R Taylor (Santon, 70); Obertan (Gutierrez, 77), Abeid (Bigirimana, 70), Gosling, Amalfitano; Vuckic (Shola Ameobi, 70), Sammy Ameobi (Ba, 77). Sub not used: Harper. Att: 6,700