Stavros Daifas – A Foot Soldier and a General

100 YEARS OLYMPIACOS

An enforcement whose dedication to the Club and winning tone were unparalleled - helium was astatine the helm astatine important moments successful Olympiacos’ history, erstwhile his beingness guaranteed that the squad performed astatine its precise best

«I’ve been an Olympiacos instrumentality since 1945. I bash what I bash for the Club, not for myself. I’ll archer you this: a upwind of alteration is blowing. We’re going to effort and alteration everything. We request to conscionable the standards that use successful Europe. All those who basal astatine our broadside successful this undertaking volition person overmuch to gain. Fans wage to beryllium entertained. And the shot tin lone beryllium entertaining, erstwhile you players unrecorded up to your precocious calling. (…) I inquire for your enactment and your assistance successful bringing our arduous task to fruition.»

That is however Stavros Daifas introduced himself to Olympiacos’ shot squad connected July 25, 1979.

A fewer days earlier, connected the evening of July 13, 1979, the past president of Olympiacos, Iraklis Tsitsalis, announced that «Yesterday, connected the archetypal time of the nationalist offering, Stavros Daifas’ radical of shipowners (all of whom are members of Olympiacos) purchased 61 cardinal drachmas worthy of shares successful the Club, portion astir 1 cardinal drachmas successful shares were covered by fans and members of Olympiacos. In the aftermath of the purchase, the absorption of the Club is transferred to the Stavros Daifas shipowners’ group.

Daifas ever tried to instrumentality the fans’ sentiment into relationship arsenic helium performed his duties. He’d spell to the java shops wherever the Olympiacos fans hung out, and question them retired successful the stadium, too.

The bride awaits

The communicative that shines the astir typical airy connected Stavros Daifas’ narration with Olympiacos is, perhaps, that of his ain wedding. By a devilish coincidence, the Olympiacos-AEK derby clashed with the day that had been acceptable for the ceremony: June 12, 1960. As Stavros Daifas tells the tale, his bride arrived astatine the religion astatine 9 successful the evening, but helium wasn’t determination waiting for her. He would really get fractional an hr later, intelligibly retired of sorts. When his friends asked him what had happened, helium replied:

«Do you person immoderate thought what it’s similar to outplay AEK wholly and lose? Try getting successful the temper to get joined aft that.»

Among the fans

Daifas ever tried to instrumentality the fans’ sentiment into relationship arsenic helium performed his duties. He’d spell to the java shops wherever the Olympiacos fans hung out, and question them retired successful the stadium, too.

«It is the lone pleasance my engagement with Olympiacos has to offer. I similar chatting with the fans and proceeding what they person to accidental astir the team. I’ll often spell and beryllium with them successful the stands… And I won’t contradict that I sometimes get aggravated astatine the fewer ingrates who can’t—or won’t—see that I’m trying to get things done. Though, isolated from that, I’m a steadfast believer successful criticism. I conscionable privation the professional to springiness it to maine straight, to my look similar a man, not with snide remarks…».

Back among the trophies

The twelvemonth Daifas took over, 1979, would people a turning constituent successful the past of Olympiacos. The play up would beryllium the archetypal successful the nonrecreational shot epoch successful Greece, and it was already 4 years since Nikos Goulandris’ squad had won the Club’s past championship, on with 3 consecutive titles.

Daifas’ efforts paid disconnected from his precise archetypal twelvemonth astatine the helm. Olympiacos won the title and laid the foundations for a squad that met European standards and would spell connected to triumph 4 consecutive championships (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983) and 1 cup.

Over these seasons, Kazimir Gorski, a starring fig successful Polish shot who led Olympiacos to triumph successful the 1980, 1981 and 1983 championships, and Alketas Panagoulias, who won the title successful 1982, would permission their people connected the squad done their coaching and wide attack to the game.

The Greek element

One of Stavros Daifas’ main priorities was to boost the fig of top-quality Greek players by acquiring young endowment and making much usage of players who already wore the reddish and achromatic jersey. This is wherefore the Olympiacos squad during the Daifas years was 1 of the apical teams successful the Club’s history, comprised of Greek players specified arsenic Sarganis, Vamvakoulas, Lemonis, Xanthopoulos, Michos, Persias, Mitropoulos and, of course, Nikos Anastopoulos. Maik Galakos and Yannis Kyrastas were besides members of the squad earlier they near for Olympiacos’ eternal rival, Panathinaikos, successful 1981.

Miltiadis Marinakis

Miltiadis Marinakis, the shipowner and begetter of the existent Olympiacos president, played a important relation successful gathering Olympiacos’ spot during the Daifas era. He was 1 of the radical of shipowners who decided to put successful Olympiacos. How integral Olympiacos was to their lives is wide from the information that, adjacent erstwhile they met to sermon subjects different than football, the speech would invariably crook to however the Reds were doing.

The September 10, 1979 variation of Ta Nea had this to say:

«We’ll person Anastopoulos, if Panionios volition springiness him up, and we’ll marque Olympiacos the apical squad successful Greece, nevertheless large the fiscal sacrifice.

This condemnation was made successful nary uncertain presumption the nighttime earlier past by Mr. Stavros Daifas to Mr. Miltiadis Marinakis, his chap shipowner and different of the main shareholders of the Piraeus Club, instantly aft a reception hosted by Greek shipowners for the Minister of Coordination.”

However, Miltiadis Marinakis did not bounds himself to his relation arsenic investor. He was besides progressive straight successful football. Publications of the clip notation to him arsenic «the nexus betwixt the players and the administration» and arsenic «the administrative brag of the shot conception of Olympiacos». In fact, helium played a decisive relation successful the transportation of antiaircraft backmost Nikos Vamvakoulas from Lavrio successful the summertime of 1977.

Vamvakoulas told the communicative successful 1981 successful a portion published successful the «Omada» sports magazine: «My manager astatine Lavrio, Thanasis Machoutis, a builder by trade, had built the location of Mr. Marinakis, who was invovled with Olympiacos astatine the time. Thanasis brought him to the tract 2 oregon 3 times…» That’s however Miltiadis Marinakis spotted Vamvakoulas successful enactment and made definite helium ended up successful the reddish and achromatic jersey.

The Gate 7 tragedy

The Daifas epoch was 1 of large triumphs, but it was besides marked by the top calamity successful the past of the Club and Greek sports: the Gate 7 calamity of February 8, 1981, erstwhile 21 fans were trampled to decease arsenic they near the stadium aft the Olympiacos-AEK match.

Daifas was astatine the Tzaneio Hospital from the start, arsenic ambulances arrived with the dormant and injured and hundreds of radical flocked to its gates to find retired if their loved ones were among them.

The adjacent day, Daifas would declare: «I can’t get my caput astir specified a unspeakable happening happening successful specified a abbreviated abstraction of time. Young people—children—lost their lives for nary reason, successful a substance of minutes. What I saw connected Sunday nighttime successful the infirmary beggars description. Together, the dormant with their agonized decease writ wide connected their faces, and the wounded formed an representation that surpassed the horrors I experienced successful the warfare successful 1940». On that aforesaid day, the Olympiacos absorption declared February 8 a time of mourning for the team.

He dedicated his life, wealthiness and his passionateness to pb his beloved squad into a caller epoch of glory, titles, and European dreams.

Always determination for the team

Stavros Daifas’ archetypal word lasted from 1979 done to the summertime of 1985. He assumed the reins again from the summertime of 1986 done to November 1987 and returned during 1 of the astir important periods successful the Club’s history. He became president again aft the presumption of Koskotas and Saliarelis, taking implicit successful mid-1992 and remaining successful spot until mid-1993, erstwhile helium handed the ownership and enactment of the squad implicit to Sokratis Kokkalis. He was besides contiguous successful 2010, erstwhile Evangelos Marinakis took implicit arsenic the caller proprietor and person of Olympiacos.

Stavros Daifas would stay astatine his beloved team’s broadside until his death, astatine the property of 87 successful 2014, making bully connected what helium said backmost successful October 1981:

«I volition permission (…) erstwhile I’m definite Olympiacos tin basal gangly without me. At which point, I’ll instrumentality to my spot successful the stands. The spot wherever I sat for truthful galore years with each the different fans».