Most top-flight European clubs invest heavily in the development of young footballers. For decades, Panathinaikos has operated a youth academy that nurtures dozens of aspiring players — and by all accounts, it stands as the leading football academy in Greece.
The club’s youth system has produced many of the country’s top footballers, players who have reached the highest level of the game: establishing themselves in Panathinaikos’ first team, representing the Greek National Team, and excelling in European competitions. Among those who made history are Giorgos Karagounis, Angelos Basinas, Giannis Goumas, Sotiris Ninis, Kostas Antoniou, Spyros Livathinos, Sotiris Kyrgiakos, Kostas Chalkias, Stefanos Kotsolis, Alexandros Tzorvas, Charis Mavrias, and Giorgos Vagiannidis.
Even today, the Panathinaikos Academy continues to feed the first team with talented players such as Elton Fikaj, Adriano Bregu, Giannis Bokos and Giorgos Kyriopoulos. In recent years, the club also developed Christos Donis, Fanis Mavrommatis, Dimitris Emmanouilidis, Vasilis Zagaritis, Giannis Bouzoukis, Tasos Chatzigiovanis, Sotiris Alexandropoulos, Nikos Christogeorgos, and Vasilis Xenopoulos.
The Academy’s activity began in the mid-1950s, grew stronger after 1970, and reached European standards from 1992 onwards. A historic figure in the Academy’s evolution is Giannis Papastavrou, who served in every administrative role for nearly half a century and left a lasting legacy.
The core philosophy of Panathinaikos’ successful Academy remains the same: to shape well-rounded individuals while helping young players fulfil their potential and chase their football dreams.
Today, the Academy operates teams at the U10, U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, U16, U17, and U19 levels. Within this vital part of the Panathinaikos organisation, top-level coaches and highly qualified staff are employed. Training sessions are held exclusively at the new pitches of the “G. Kalafatis” Training Center.