Ethnikos Piraeus Water Polo Club

Men's team

Summary

Ethnikos dominated in Greek Water Polo championship for decades. During last years its power has been limited, and it has been relegated to the second division (A2 Ethniki) twice in 2009 and 2012. In 1980, Ethnikos became the first Greek team to reach the Final-4 of LEN Champions League (the elite European club competition). Besides that, Ethnikos has reached the final-8 nine times. In 2003 the team took the third place in LEN Trophy (second tier European club competition). The club has an eternal rivalry with Olympiacos, the other club from Piraeus. The match between the two is dubbed as the “Piraeus derby”. Ethnikos had won six consecutive Greek cups (four of them against Olympiacos in the final) before the competition had a hiatus of 25 years that stopped Ethnikos from winning many more trophies and achieving more doubles.

1925–1940 (Pre WWII years)

The club's first championship was won in 1926 under SEGAS with Ethnikos winning it undefeated with four wins in as many matches against N.O. Kastellas, Iraklis Thessaloniki, Aris Thessaloniki and Panionios Smyrna.

On July 31, 1927 Ethnikos was defeated in the final by Olympiakos 3–2 in a match that he appealed for a late goal scored by its opponent which led to extra time. The referee canceled the match as the timekeepers had tried to inform him of the end of the match (after all the score was at the time 2–1 in favor of Ethnikos). A replay was set for the third day of August but never took place. After days and meetings of the sports department of SEGAS with representatives of the two teams, a rematch is set to take place on the 16th of August. In the end, this match will not take place either, since Olympiacos insists on the opinion that they won the match, so it should be declared champion, while the Ethnikos side, since they are not given the title, since they consider that the match was over before Olympiacos equalized, agreed to play a replay match. On the 16th of the same month a meeting was held, where the Board of Directors of SEGAS cancelled the referee's decision to cancel the match on the 31st of July, and declares Olympiacos champion without a playoff match.

The first championship after the establishment of KOE (National Swimming Federation) came in 1931 with Ethnikos conquering it again undefeated by defeating the then three-time consecutive champion Aris Thessaloniki in the final with 1–0. The 1931 team consisted of Petroutsos, Dede, Perdikis, Mavrogeorgos, Makris, Stephopoulos, Hatzigeorgiou. The leading player of the team was Petroutsos, one of the leading pre-war swimmers along with Zografos of Aris and Provatopoulos of Olympiakos. Ethnikos on its way to the final beat P.A.O.K. (6–0), Iraklis Thessaloniki (3–1) and NO Patras in the semi-final (3–0).

In 1932, Ethnikos will not be able to defend its title since the federation will expel Ethnikos and Olympiakos from the championship due to major incidents in the match between them.

In 1933 and 1934 Ethnikos will lose the title in the final to Olympiakos (4–2 the score in both years) while in 1935 he will not participate in the games in Mytilini due to his punishment by KOE for not playing the decisive play-off match with Olympiakos for the final qualification ticket.

1945–1952 (First post WWII years)

In the years 1945 and 1946 he will be ranked third. In 1945, he was eliminated after losing (4–1) to Olympiacos, while in 1946 he lost 4–2 to Olympiakos and 3–2 to the eventual champion NO Patras.

The third championship came 17 years after the second, in 1948, with Ethnikos winning it undefeated (wins over NO Patras 5–0, Aris 1–0, Olympiakos 5–1, NAO Kerkyra 5–0, NO Chalkida 7–2 and a draw against NO Mytilinis, 2–2). The coach of the team was Takis Sakellariou who played a modern and fast water polo in contrast to Olympiakos and NO Patras who played a physical and with less movement water polo.

In 1949, Ethnikos would lose the championship due to a draw with Palaio Faliro and a 3–1 loss to Olympiakos in a match where they played without their big gun, Andreas Garifallos due to injury.

In 1950, he lost to NO Patras and Olympiakos, finishing third.

In 1951 he would lose the title due to his defeat by Olympiakos with 2–1, while in 1952 he was very close to the title but the victory of Olympiakos with 3–2 over NO Patras combined with the draw of Ethnikos with the team from Patras (2–2) and the "suicide" of Ethnikos in the match against Olympiakos (3–3) while leading at half-time with 2–0, will lead the title to the "red and whites".

1953–1986 (Domestic Dynasty)

In the following season, Ethnikos started his dynasty and won the championship undefeated for the first time after 5 years, achieving 4 wins and 1 draw in 5 games (3–3 with P. Faliro, victory over Mytilini, 10–1 victory over Achilleas Patras, 10–3 over Aris and 5–1 over Olympiakos on 18/9/1953 in front of an audience of 5,000 spectators at the Zappeion Olympic swimming pool).

From 1953 to 1963, the blue and whites of Piraeus won 11 consecutive undefeated championships, a record that has not happened in any other sport. In the period 1953 to 1958 he won six consecutive cups before the competition discontinued.

During the 1950s, he began a long unbeaten streak in league games, which lasted 13 years, a record that remains to this day. In particular, after losing 2–1 to Olympiakos on September 21, 1951, they were defeated again by the same opponent on August 7, 1964 with 5–4. In between he remained unbeaten in 75 matches, where he won 71 while 4 ended in draws. The last draw was recorded in a match against Palaio Faliro on September 19, 1953. After this match, a winning streak began, which lasted for 11 years and 64 league matches until the defeat in 1964.

The 115 consecutive unbeaten domestic matches (including Central Championship and Greek Cup matches) were:

This group consisted of Andreas Garifallos, Petros Kalfamanolis, Mimi Georgiadis, Yiannis Thymaras, Manolis Patlakas, Dimitris Kourantis, Nikos Lekakis, Kalomiris, Andreadis, Petros Chatzikyriakakis, Panagiotis Chatzikyriakakis, Panagiotis Takousis.

In 1965, 1966 and 1967 he won the championship without defeat. In 1966 he would do the maximum with 10 wins in 10 matches, in 1965 9 wins and a draw with Olympiakos (0–0) while in 1967 he will score 4 wins and 2 draws (3–3 with OSFP and PAO) in 6 matches.

On 7/8/1968, exactly four years and 34 consecutive unbeaten matches after their last defeat in Greece, he loses to Olympiakos in the first round (7–6) but beats him in the second (7–5, with five goals from Garyfallos) in order to win the championship with the best goal difference. The championship would be decided in the matches of the two Piraeus teams against NOP in the second round. OSFP will win hard 9-7 while Ethnikis will win 11-3. At the end of the championship, Andreas Garifallos retires as a water polo player and continues his work in Greek water polo as a coach.

1987–2002

In 1986–87, all the experienced players of the previous decade have left and he competes with the newly acquired Samartzidis, Kaiafas, Patras, while Aronis, as in 1986, will compete in selected games due to obligations with his studies in the USA. 1987–88 saw the last undefeated championship with Ethnikos dominating Glyfada to take first place in regular time and thus home advantage in the finals. In the end, it will only take one match for Ethnikos to reach the limit of five points, with Ethnikos winning the final and with a combination of their victory and draw from regular time against Glyfada taking the title relatively comfortably. The day after winning the championship, he also wins the Cup at the Ilisio swimming pool against Vouliagmeni thanks to a great performance by the evergreen Aronis who, however, leaves at the end of the year, changing team but not city.

In 1988–89, despite finishing first in the regular season (tied with Glyfada), he will lose in the first final to Glyfada at home and thus the title.

In 1989–90 Ethnikos will have problems in the regular season and despite the fact that he finishes second as in 1987, it has already lost three times (to Glyfada, Chios and Olympiakos). In the first stage of the playoffs, he will lose to Iraklis in Piraeus, but he will qualify for the semi-finals where, despite the fact that he had beaten Vouliagmeni twice in regular time, he will not be able to get the draw to qualify for the finals and so he will lose three games in a row (two at home) and for the first time since 1951 he will finish third.

In 1990–91, Ethnikos will return to a title by winning the Cup as an outsider, defeating Glyfada with 10–7 held at OAKA pool, while in the championship he finished fourth (regular season and final four) behind Vouliagmeni, Glyfada and Olympiakos.

In 1991–92 he would finish second behind champions Olympiakos in a season where Ethnikis did not start well but found their footing towards the end of the season and especially in the final four stage where the best four teams participated. He beat twice Vouliagmeni and once Olympiakos in the final stage.

In 1992–93, he would finish third in the regular season and the final phase.

2003–2008

In 2002–03 coached by Dragan Matutinović, Ethnikos men's team competed in the semi-finals of the LEN Trophy, but were knocked out by eventual cup winners Brescia and finished third together with Italian side Savona. In the domestic championship they took the third place. A landmark of the year was the resounding transfer of Vlontakis, one of the best strikers in the world at the time, from the European champion, Olympiakos, as well as Makis Voltyrakis, who had just retired.

In 2003–04 with Voltyrakis now as coach, Ethnikos would finish fifth, disappointing the ambitions that had been created to contest for the championship against Olympiakos and Vouliagmeni.

In 2004–05, Ethnikos having a very good regular season would finish first in the regular season for the first time since '94 (with Vlontakis being declared top scorer) but would lose the title in the fifth final to OSFP, a final with riots occurring at the stands between fans of the two teams and the police. Earlier that year Ethnikos had won the 12th Greek Cup by defeating NO Patras in the final of Thessaloniki. In the semi-final which was more of a final, Ethnikos had to overcome the resistance of Olympiakos with 11–9.

In 2005–06, although Ethnikos drew once and lost once to Olympiakos in the regular season meetings to finish second in the regular season, meaning Ethnikos had home court disadvantage in the finals, they managed to win the 38th championship in the last fifth game decided in overtime by a score of 7–6. Hatzikyriakakis scored the winning goal five seconds before the end, Olympiacos was awarded with a penalty at the last seconds of the extra time and with a goal would send the final to the penalty shootout as in 1994 but Karabetsos saved it. The championship was dedicated to the memory of the late great captain Nondas Samartzidis. This was the 20th time that Ethnikos won the championship and left Olympiakos second.

In 2006–07, the management of Ethnikos, wanting to keep Ethnikos in a leading role, carried out major transfers. They repatriated with a huge price Christos Afroudakis who played in Pozilipo Napoli, brings to Piraeus the goalkeeper of the national team of Serbia, Denis Sefik, while Thodoris Kalakonas, a child who grew up in the club (1990–2001, his first tenure) returned from Panionios. However, Ethnikos could not look strong and will easily lose the Cup final in Kalamata to Olympiakos. In Europe, the blue and whites would be knocked out in the last 16 of the Champions League by Partizan and Brescia, and despite improving in the league playoffs, they would only look competitive in the first two finals, losing the first and winning the second in extra time. Thus Ethnikos lost the championship title 3–1.

2009–present

In 2008–09 the team, after administrative turmoil and the departure of funder George Vasilopoulos as well as of several players (Vlontakis, Mazis, Mylonakis, Karabetsos) some of whom had grown up in the club (Kokkinakis, Blanis, Stellatos), had a bad year and was relegated to A2 for first time since 1928. He bounced back immediately but in 2011–12 he will be relegated for the second time without winning a match. The parent club was in major crisis, with the future looking extremely ominous and uncertain. The following season 2012–13, despite the fact that the team was on the verge of extinction and with the main goal of staying in A2, it will be unexpectedly promoted thanks to the management of president Antonis Printezis and the financing of Alexandros Karydopoulos and will play again in A1 in 2013–14 where Ethnikos would be ranked. While Kostas Petrakis was initially the coach for the season, Fanis Kountoudios took over from November 2013, a coach who remains to this day, having completed a decade at the club.

In 2014–15 they had a great regular season and finished second for the first time since 2008, but in the semi-finals of the league playoffs they will be eliminated by PAO and miss out on playing Olympiakos in the finals.

In the very next season, they will again reach the semi-finals of the championship as in 2018–19 when they were eliminated by the champion Olympiakos.

In 2019–20 the team would reach the final of the Greek Cup for the first time since 2007 but would lose the final to the superior OSFP.

In 2020–21 in a year severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, Ethnikos finished at the bottom of a fourteen team one-round league and luckily there was no team relegation.

In 2021–22 and 2022–23 it finished seventh out of sixteen teams with one of the lowest budgets in the division while also reaching the final four of the cup in 2023.

In total, since 2014, he has won a European ticket four times but did not take advantage of it due to financial weakness, while he has promoted players from an early age in the championship by giving them playing time (Argyropoulos, Chondrokoukis, Mathiopoulos).

Seasons

Largest victory margin: +23 (Ethnikos – Vouliagmeni 23–0, 1981, Aris Nikaias – Ethnikos 6–29, 1985, Nireas Chalandriou – Ethnikos 2–25, 2006–07)

Largest loss margin: –19 (Olympiakos – Ethnikos 21–2 , 2016–17)

Most goals scored in a match: 29 (Aris Nikaias – Ethnikos 6–29, 1985)

Fewer goals in an A1 National Division match (since 1987): 1 (Ethnikos – Olympiakos 1–9, 2002–03, Vouliagmeni – Ethnikos 5–1, 2015–16, Vouliagmeni – Ethnikos 7–1, 2018–19, Panionios – Ethnikos 8–1, 2020–21)

Most goals conceded in an A1 National Division match (since 1987): 24 (Olympiakos – Ethnikos 24–6, 2019–20)

Fewer goals scored by an opponent in an A1 National Division match (since 1987): 1 (Iraklis – Ethnikos 1–16, 1994–95, Ethnikos – Palaio Faliro 16–1, 2006–07, Glyfada – Ethnikos 1–7, 2006–07, Ethnikos – Kalamaki 11–1, 2016–17)

Largest victory margin: +13 (Ethnikos – OFI 16–3, 2009–10)

Largest loss margin: –6 (Nireas Lamias – Ethnikos 14–8, 2012–13)

Most goals scored in a match: 17 (Ethnikos – Peristeri 17–6, 2009–10)

Fewer goals scored in a match: 6 (Ethnikos – Triton Maroussi 6–2, 2009–10)

Most goals scored by an opponent in a match: 14 (Nireas Lamias – Ethnikos 14–8, 2012–13)

Fewer goals scored by an opponent in a match: 2 (Ethnikos – Volos 13–2, 2009–10, Ethnikos – Syros 11–2, 2009–10, Kerkyra – Ethnikos 2–12, 2009–10, Ethnikos – Triton Maroussi 6–2, 2009–10, Ilissiakos – Ethnikos 2–8, 2009–10, Ethnikos – Nireas Geraka 12–2, 2012–13)

Honours

Greek Water Polo Championship

Winners (38): 1926, 1931, 1948, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1994, 2006

In bold, the years when Ethnikos won the title unbeaten, in bold and underlined, when the team won the title exclusively with wins.

Greek Water Polo Cup

Winners (12): 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991, 2000, 2005

Central Greece Water Polo Championship

Winners (11): 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963

LEN Champions League

Fourth place: 1980

Quarterfinals: 1966, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1983, 1995

Doubles (all of them unbeaten)

(9): 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1984, 1985, 1988

Tom Hoad Cup

Ethnikos Piraeus took part in the Tom Hoad Cup at the Melville Water Polo Club, Fremantle, Australia. There were six teams competing from around the world: the Fremantle Mariners (Australia), Ethnikos Piraeus (Greece), Galatasaray Water Polo Team (Turkey), Japan National Water Polo Team, The Barbarians and a composite European team including three Hungarian Olympic gold medalists. The competition took place from the 27th-30 December 2008, with gold going to The Barbarians.

Women's team

The women's team of Ethnikos has won 3 championships and 2 European cups (LEN Trophy). The current season (2025–26) is competing in the first division championship (A1 Ethniki). The team has competed in every season of the Greek League since it was established in 1989.

Honours

Women's LEN Trophy

Winners (2): 2010, 2022

Greek Championships

Winners (3): 1988, 1990, 1992

Greek Cup

Winners (1): 2024

LEN Supercup

Finalist (2): 2010, 2022

Notable coaches

Koen Plasmeijer