Nikos Goulandris was president of Olympiacos for a relatively short period of time (1971 – 1974), but he managed to lead the Club football to three championships and two Cups, creating a team that achieve important European victories and is still talked about today.
Goulandris was born on the Island of Andros on September 6, 1913 into a shipping family. Besides being a successful shipping owner and executive, along with his wife, Dolly, he was a major benefactor of research into ancient and modern Greek civilization. The Goulandris collection of antiquities, from items purchased in Greece and abroad, formed the basis of the now world-renowned Museum of Cycladic Art.
From articles of the era, and from the archives of the newspapers “To Vima” and “Ta Nea”, Goulandris’ relationship over time with Olympiacos becomes apparent. In 1968 he’s mentioned as a fan of the team, in 1969 and 1970 as “honorary leader” and “honorary president”, while in early 1971 as general manager and vice president, and from September 1971 he is Olympiacos’ president.
Even before he took over Olympiacos’ reins, he was always by the side of the team and its players, often paying bonuses as a private individual. At a time when salaries paid out by teams were insufficient for most players to get by, Goulandris helped them open their own businesses.
A telling example is Grigoris (Krikor) Aganian, who played for Olympiacos from 1964 to 1971 and who in 1969 was quoted by the sports journal “Omada” that, “Today I am 26 years old and what I want is to play for a few years for Olympiacos and then devote myself to my work. (At the family’s butcher shop) … The help that Mr. Goulandris once gave must take root.”
The crowning of Olympiacos as champion in June 1975, for the 1974-1975 season, concluded in the best possible manner Goulandris’ “Golden three-year era”
A bonus to …Panathinaikos’ players
In the spring of 1971, Goulandris was the protagonist in one of the most unusual stories revolving around the Olympiacos-Panathinaikos rivalry. A few days before the quarter-final match up between Panathinaikos and Everton for qualification to the European Champion Clubs’ Cup semi-finals, Goulandris pledged that he would give the Panathinaikos side a 150,000 drachmas bonus should they win. After Panathinaikos overcame Everton, he immediately allocated the bonus for the Greens’ success.
According a report by “To Vima” on March 12, 1971, not only did Goulandris offer the bonus, but he “also paid for the overnight stay in London … and the celebration at a nightclub (70,000 drachamas)”.
Less than three weeks later, on March 30, Goulandris arrived at Panathinaikos’ Leoforos Alexandras Stadium for a Panathinaikos-Olympiacos derby (final score 2-2). During the game, a section of home fans showed their displeasure with the presence of Olympiacos president, going so far as to throw objects at him, and even accusing him of using the bonus to “bribe” their players.
Panathinaikos returned the sum of 150,000 drachmas to Goulandris a few days later, who in turn donated the money to charities.
Nikos Goulandris lifts the Cup with defender Vasilis Siokos in 1973.
Present in all decisions
In 1971 it was now clear that Goulandris was increasingly involved in decision-making. A report by “To Vima” on May 12, 1971 quotes Goulandris himself upon his arrival at the old Hellinikon airport of Athens, where, after a trip to the United States, he was welcomed by members of Olympiacos’ management, players and even fans.
The end of the 1971 season finds Olympiacos as the Cup winner, but not as the champion. Even before he takes over the reins of Olympiacos, Goulandris has the first say in the selection of a new coach and for planning a new team, with the goal of winning the next season’s championship. Four years have passed since the last time Olympiacos won the first division title (1966-1967).
Englishman Alan Ashman took over as the new coach. However, the 1971 – 1972 season is not successful for Olympiacos, as the championship is won by Panathinaikos and the Cup by PAOK. Thus, in the summer of 1972, Ashman leaves and Lakis Petropoulos, who had a brief stint on the Reds’ bench in 1971, returns, signing a three-year contract.
The superteam of the 1970s
Goulandris’ primary attention now turns to the acquisition of players capable of leading Olympiacos to the championship again.
Kelesidis, Viera, Triantafyllos, Pamboulis, Kyrastas and Losada were just a few of the players acquired during his tenure. Goulandris created a team of stars, so complete that he had two equal squads at any given time. Almost all of the players on the roster were internationals and their names are now associated with some ageless Olympiacos records: such as 68 consecutive games without a defeat in the first division and Cup play, the 103 goals scored in the 1974 season, with just 13 goals conceded the preceding season, and of course, the club’s widest victory to date, an 11-0 win against Fostiras in the 1973-74 season.
In 2001 Olympiacos’ goalkeeper in the 1970s, Panagiotis Kelesidis, is quoted by “To Vima”.
“The president was the secret of our success. We all played for his benefit because he was the alpha and omega… He passed that love on to us and made us play for the uniform and the fans… He was the most important president for Olympiacos, because he took over at a difficult time and made the team the best, by far.”
For the next three seasons Olympiacos is dominant in Greek football and Goulandris’ contribution is undeniable.
Along with his invaluable time, he also offered up his “handsome” millions. His contributions totaled more than 50 million drachmas, an astronomical amount for an era when football was still deemed as an amateur of semi-amateur sport in the country. His slogan was “Olympiacos fears no one”, and it was with this reasoning that the Club was first in Greece.
He created a team of stars that could field two full rosters, amid an era when substitutions were only done due to injury
The departure
It was exactly this blind devotion to Olympiacos that was one of the reasons for his sudden departure. His family was complaining and had repeatedly requested that he end his involvement with Olympiacos’ management in order to devote himself to his business activities. The “straw that broke the camel’s back” was the quarter-finals of the then European Champions Cup between Olympiacos and Belgium’s well-known Anderlecht in November 1974.
Olympiacos was disappointing in the first game in Brussels, resulting in a 5-1 defeat. In the second leg, the Reds were called upon to achieve a footballing feat: To win by a four-goal margin, and away from their home ground. Because the Karaiskakis Stadium was suspended, the match was to be played in the western Greece port city of Patras.
Olympiacos won 3-0 but was eliminated. Nevertheless, the Piraeus team strongly protested against several officiating calls, including nullified goals, while a portion of their fans in the stands erupted.
Goulandris’ disappointment for team’s treatment by the referees, along with the subsequent behavior by some Olympiacos fans – as he had always spoke out against hooliganism – combined with the constant pressure from his family to lead to his resignation.
He made his decision known in a telegram sent from Switzerland to the Olympiacos administration at the end of December 1974. It was a decision that shocked not only the Olympiacos family but also the entire football world in Greece. The crowning of Olympiacos as champion in June 1975, for the 1974-1975 season, concluded in the best possible manner Goulandris’ “Golden three-year era”.
Nikos Goulandris died on August 6, 1983.
In the days afterwards, the local press recounted one of his most characteristic quotes about the Club. “The only thing I regret is that when I die, I won’t be able to see my Olympiacos.”
