Panathinaikos Chicago
| Full name | Panathinaikos Chicago |
|---|---|
| Founded | July 1, 2020 |
| Stadium | (Naperville, Illinois) |
| Owner | Dimitrios & Denny Chronopoulos |
| League | National Premier Soccer League |
| 2021 | Midwest-Great Lakes: 4th |
| Website | Club website |
Panathinaikos Chicago is a Greek-American soccer club based in Chicago, Illinois, which competes in the Midwest Region of the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) in 2021. The team plays its home matches at located in Naperville, Illinois. It is currently the only team in Illinois that participates in the NPSL.[1]
History[]
A father and son pair Panathinaikos supporters, Dimitrios Chronopoulos and Dionissios "Denny" Chronopoulos, founded Panathinaikos Chicago in 2019 with the idea of forming a youth academy for the Chicago area community - driven by their passion for Panathinaikos (a historic professional club in Greece). Within the 1st year the academy grew from 1-30 children in the youth academy which led to the idea of creating a football club with a pyramid structure going from youth to adult players.
In 2020 during the COVID pandemic, the team successfully applied to the National Premier Soccer League (4th division of US Football) and the building a competitive first team began under player-owner Dionissios "Denny" Chronopoulos. Leading the first team team as head coach is former Greek National Under 21 Team Captain .
Despite being an amateur organization, Panathinaikos Chicago operates as a semi-professional club, which led to the club being noticed and recognized by Panathinaikos legends Giorgos Karagounis and Djibril Cisse on social media.
Notable players recruited for the first season is Captain (Syracuse University, former San Jose Earthquakes U18 Captain) , Yeison Esquivel (Division 1 Professional in Costa Rica & Nicaragua, U17 Costa Rican National Team), Arsenios Dimitriou (APOEL F.C. U19, Cyprus U17 National Team), and Jesus Cervantes (Diriangen FC)-1st Division Nicaragua).
Due to Djibril Cisse's time at Panathinaikos, it was proposed to Cisse that he should join the club and there was mutual interest from the French player. After a year of back and forth communication, an agreement was made for Djibril Cisse to play with PAO Chicago's first team. Due to the COVID-19 travel ban from Europe, Cisse announced via social media that he was unable to enter the United States but reiterated that his transfer will happen once the ban is lifted.
PAO Chicago's official Team Aparrel in 2019-20 was .
As of 2021, Hummel is PAO Chicago's official Team Aparrel provider until 2023.
Players and staff[]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Front office and technical staff[]
- Denny Chronopoulos, Founder/Director
- Dimitrios Chronopoulos, President
- Vasiliki Chronopoulos, Administrative Assistant/Director of media
- George Katsaros, Head Coach
References[]
External links[]
- National Premier Soccer League teams
- Soccer clubs in Illinois
- 2020 establishments in Illinois
- Soccer clubs in Chicago
- Association football clubs established in 2020
- Greek-American culture in Chicago