Stavros Daifas – A Foot Soldier and a General

“I’ve been an Olympiacos fan since 1945. I do what I do for the Club, not for myself. I’ll tell you this: a wind of change is blowing. We’re going to try and change everything. We need to meet the standards that apply in Europe. All those who stand at our side in this undertaking will have much to gain. Fans pay

to be entertained. And the football can only be entertaining, when you players live up to your high calling. (…) I ask for your support and your assistance in bringing our arduous task to fruition.”

That is how Stavros Daifas introduced himself to Olympiacos’ football team on July 25, 1979.

A few days earlier, on the evening of July 13, 1979, the then president of Olympiacos, Iraklis Tsitsalis, announced that “Yesterday, on the first day of the public offering, Stavros Daifas’ group of shipowners (all of whom are members of Olympiacos) purchased 61 million drachmas worth of shares in the Club, while approximately one million drachmas in shares were covered by fans and members of Olympiacos. In the wake of the purchase, the management of the Club is transferred to the Stavros Daifas shipowners’ group.

Daifas always tried to take the fans’ opinion into account as he performed his duties. He’d go to the coffee shops where the Olympiacos fans hung out, and seek them out in the stadium, too.

The bride awaits

The story that shines the most representative light on Stavros Daifas’ relationship with Olympiacos is, perhaps, that of his own wedding. By a devilish coincidence, the Olympiacos-AEK derby clashed with the date that had been set for the ceremony: June 12, 1960. As Stavros Daifas tells the tale, his bride arrived at the church at 9 in the evening, but he wasn’t there waiting for her. He would actually arrive half an hour later, clearly out of sorts. When his friends asked him what had happened, he replied:

“Do you have any idea what it’s like to outplay AEK completely and lose? Try getting in the mood to get married after that.”

Among the fans

Daifas always tried to take the fans’ opinion into account as he performed his duties. He’d go to the coffee shops where the Olympiacos fans hung out, and seek them out in the stadium, too.

“It is the only pleasure my involvement with Olympiacos has to offer. I like chatting with the fans and hearing what they have to say about the team. I’ll often go and sit with them in the stands… And I won’t deny that I sometimes get angry at the few ingrates who can’t—or won’t—see that I’m trying to get things done. Though, apart from that, I’m a firm believer in criticism. I just want the critic to give it to me straight, to my face like a man, not with snide remarks…”.

Back among the trophies

The year Daifas took over, 1979, would mark a turning point in the history of Olympiacos. The season ahead would be the first in the professional football era in Greece, and it was already four years since Nikos Goulandris’ team had won the Club’s last championship, along with three consecutive titles.

Daifas’ efforts paid off from his very first year at the helm. Olympiacos won the championship and laid the foundations for a team that met European standards and would go on to win four consecutive championships (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983) and one cup.

Over these seasons, Kazimir Gorski, a leading div in Polish football who led Olympiacos to triumph in the 1980, 1981 and 1983 championships, and Alketas Panagoulias, who won the championship in 1982, would leave their mark on the team through their coaching and overall approach to the game.

The Greek element

One of Stavros Daifas’ main priorities was to boost the number of top-quality Greek players by acquiring young talent and making more use of players who already wore the red and white jersey. This is why the Olympiacos team during the Daifas years was one of the top teams in the Club’s history, comprised of Greek players such as Sarganis, Vamvakoulas, Lemonis, Xanthopoulos, Michos, Persias, Mitropoulos and, of course, Nikos Anastopoulos. Maik Galakos and Yannis Kyrastas were also members of the team before they left for Olympiacos’ eternal rival, Panathinaikos, in 1981.

Daifas was always there for the players – at their side, not as some “invisible” authority div. He was Olympiacos through and through. Here Daifas is seen congratulating Tsalouchidis (left) and Talikriadis in 1992 – a year before he handed over the team’s reins.

Miltiadis Marinakis

Miltiadis Marinakis, the shipowner and father of the current Olympiacos president, played a crucial role in building Olympiacos’ strength during the Daifas era. He was one of the group of shipowners who decided to invest in Olympiacos. How integral Olympiacos was to their lives is clear from the fact that, even when they met to discuss subjects other than football, the conversation would invariably turn to how the Reds were doing.

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

“We’ll have Anastopoulos, if Panionios will give him up, and we’ll make Olympiacos the top team in Greece, however great the financial sacrifice.

This conviction was made in no uncertain terms the night before last by Mr. Stavros Daifas to Mr. Miltiadis Marinakis, his fellow shipowner and another of the main shareholders of the Piraeus Club, immediately after a reception hosted by Greek shipowners for the Minister of Coordination.”

However, Miltiadis Marinakis did not limit himself to his role as investor. He was also involved directly in football. Publications of the time refer to him as “the link between the players and the administration” and as “the administrative boss of the football section of Olympiacos”. In fact, he played a decisive role in the transfer of defensive back Nikos Vamvakoulas from Lavrio in the summer of 1977.

Vamvakoulas told the story in 1981 in a piece published in the “Omada” sports magazine: “My coach at Lavrio, Thanasis Machoutis, a builder by trade, had built the home of Mr. Marinakis, who was invovled with Olympiacos at the time. Thanasis brought him to the field two or three times…” That’s how Miltiadis Marinakis spotted Vamvakoulas in action and made sure he ended up in the red and white jersey.

The Gate 7 tragedy

The Daifas era was one of great triumphs, but it was also marked by the greatest tragedy in the history of the Club and Greek sports: the Gate 7 tragedy of February 8, 1981, when 21 fans were trampled to death as they left the stadium after the Olympiacos-AEK match.

Daifas was at the Tzaneio Hospital from the start, as ambulances arrived with the dead and injured and hundreds of people flocked to its gates to find out if their loved ones were among them.

The next day, Daifas would declare: “I can’t get my head around such a terrible thing happening in such a short space of time. Young people—children—lost their lives for no reason, in a matter of minutes. What I saw on Sunday night in the hospital beggars description. Together, the dead with their agonized death writ clear on their faces, and the wounded formed an image that surpassed the horrors I experienced in the war in 1940”. On that same day, the Olympiacos management declared February 8 a day of mourning for the team.

He dedicated his life, wealth and his passion to lead his beloved team into a new era of glory, titles, and European dreams.

Always there for the team

Stavros Daifas’ first term lasted from 1979 through to the summer of 1985. He assumed the reins again from the summer of 1986 through to November 1987 and returned during one of the most crucial periods in the Club’s history. He became president again after the terms of Koskotas and Saliarelis, taking over in mid-1992 and remaining in place until mid-1993, when he handed the ownership and leadership of the team over to Sokratis Kokkalis. He was also present in 2010, when Evangelos Marinakis took over as the new owner and leader of Olympiacos.

Stavros Daifas would remain at his beloved team’s side until his death, at the age of 87 in 2014, making good on what he said back in October 1981:

“I will leave (…) when I’m certain Olympiacos can stand tall without me. At which point, I’ll return to my seat in the stands. The seat where I sat for so many years with all the other fans”.