# 2010–11 Super League Greece

The 2010–11 Super League Greece was the 75th season of the highest football league of Greece and the fifth under the name Super League. The league consisted of 16 teams, the 13 best teams of the 2009–10 season and three teams that had been promoted from the 2009–10 Beta Ethniki.
The season began on 27 August 2010 with the first matches of the regular season and ended on 25 May 2011 with the last matches of the European playoff round. Panathinaikos were the defending champions, having won their 20th Greek championship in the 2009–10 season.
The season was marred by Koriopolis, a match-fixing scandal which involved several teams from the top three leagues of Greek football.

## Season overview
### Title race

The league was won by Olympiacos, who earned their 38th Greek league title. They finished with a 13-point lead over runners-up Panathinaikos, who had to compete in a play-off round which determined the exact allocation of spots for both European competitions.
Panathinaikos was joined in the play-offs by third-placed club and city rivals AEK Athens, fourth-placed PAOK and fifth-placed Olympiacos Volos. Panathinaikos eventually won the play-off group and thus earned the second Greek spot in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League. Since AEK had already won the 2010–11 Greek Cup competition a few weeks earlier and thus were already qualified for the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League, both PAOK and Olympiacos Volos were guaranteed a spot in that competition as well.

### Relegation

After thirty matches, the relegation spots were occupied by 14th-placed Asteras Tripolis, 15th-placed AEL and last-placed Panserraikos. However, all three clubs eventually stayed in the league after Iraklis, Kavala and Olympiacos Volos were demoted by separate sports court decisions.
On 19 May 2011, Iraklis were denied a licence for the 2011–12 season over unpaid debts and thus demoted to the second-level Football League. Soon afterwards, the Thessaloniki club was found guilty of having forged documents during the winter transfer window and put at the end of the standings.
A few days after the Iraklis verdict, it became evident that several clubs and officials throughout the top leagues of Greek football were involved in a match-fixing scandal. Investigations in the matter were taken all summer. On 28 July 2011, Kavala and Olympiacos Volos were found guilty of having taken part in illegal actions and were therefore demoted to the Football League. However, both clubs appealed to the decision and they stayed at the Super League Greece, though they were deducted 8 and 10 points respectively. On 11 August 2011, UEFA disqualified Olympiacos Volos from further participation in the UEFA Europa League. On 23 August 2011, the Professional Sports Committee stripped Kavala and Olympiacos Volos of their professional licence due to their chairmen's involvement in the scandal.

## Teams

Levadiakos, PAS Giannina and Panthrakikos had been relegated at the end of the 2009–10 season after finishing in the bottom three places of the league table. Levadiakos concluded a four-year run in the highest football league of Greece. Panthrakikos finished a two-year tenure with the league, while PAS Giannina had to return to the Football League, formerly known as Beta Ethniki, after just one season.
The three relegated teams were replaced by 2009–10 Beta Ethniki champions Olympiacos Volos, runners-up Kerkyra and promotion playoff winners Panserraikos. Olympiacos Volos returned to the Greek top football level after 20 seasons. Kerkyra ended a three-year absence from the Super League, while Panserraikos immediately returned to the league.

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| AEK Athens | Athens | Athens Olympic Stadium | 69,618 |
| AEL | Larissa | AEL FC Arena$^1$ | 16,500 |
| Aris | Thessaloniki | Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium | 22,800 |
| Asteras Tripolis | Tripoli | Asteras Tripolis Stadium | 6,430 |
| Atromitos | Athens | Peristeri Stadium | 8,939 |
| Ergotelis | Heraklion | Pankritio Stadium | 26,240 |
| Iraklis | Thessaloniki | Kaftanzoglio Stadium | 27,770 |
| Kavala | Kavala | Anthi Karagianni Stadium | 12,500 |
| Kerkyra | Kerkyra | Kerkyra Stadium | 2,685 |
| Olympiacos | Piraeus | Karaiskakis Stadium | 33,334 |
| Olympiacos Volos | Volos | Panthessaliko Stadium | 22,700 |
| Panathinaikos | Athens | Athens Olympic Stadium | 69,618 |
| Panionios | Athens | Nea Smyrni Stadium | 11,700 |
| Panserraikos | Serres | Serres Municipal Stadium | 10,000 |
| PAOK | Thessaloniki | Toumba Stadium | 28,701 |
| Skoda Xanthi | Xanthi | Skoda Xanthi Arena | 7,361 |
Notes
* AEL moved to AEL FC Arena upon its completion in December 2010. Previous matches were hosted at Alcazar Stadium.

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| AEK Athens | Manolo Jiménez | Pantelis Kafes | Puma | Κino |
| AEL | Nikos Kostenoglou | Nikos Dabizas | Adidas | Pame Stoixima |
| Aris | Sakis Tsiolis | Michalis Sifakis | Under Armour | Κino |
| Asteras Tripolis | Pavlos Dermitzakis | Adrián Bastía | Lotto | Lotto |
| Atromitos | Giorgos Donis | Konstantinos Nebegleras | Asics | Lotto |
| Ergotelis | Nikos Karageorgiou | Silva Júnior | Lotto | Lotto |
| Iraklis | Georgios Paraschos | Anastasios Katsabis | Legea | Tzoker |
| Kavala | Giannis Mantzourakis | Serge Dié | Puma | Extra 5 |
| Kerkyra | Božidar Bandović | Ieroklis Stoltidis | Puma | Tzoker |
| Olympiacos | Ernesto Valverde | Antonios Nikopolidis | Puma | Pame Stoixima |
| Olympiacos Volos | Makis Katsavakis | Leandro Álvarez | Puma | ProPo |
| Panathinaikos | Jesualdo Ferreira | Giorgos Karagounis | Adidas | Cosmote |
| Panionios | Takis Lemonis | Fanouris Goundoulakis | Diadora | Attica Bank |
| Panserraikos | Pavlos Dimitriou | Anastasios Papazoglou | Mass Sport | Proto |
| PAOK | Makis Chavos | Kostas Chalkias | Puma | Pame Stoixima |
| Skoda Xanthi | Nikos Papadopoulos | Konstantinos Fliskas | Nike | Emporiki Bank |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Skoda Xanthi | Nikos Kechagias | 20 September 2010 | 14th | Georgios Paraschos | 20 September 2010 |
| AEK Athens | Dušan Bajević | 26 September 2010 | 13th | Bledar Kola (caretaker) | 26 September 2010 |
| AEK Athens | Bledar Kola (caretaker) | 8 October 2010 | 7th | Manolo Jiménez | 8 October 2010 |
| PAOK | Pavlos Dermitzakis | 17 October 2010 | 12th | Makis Chavos | 18 October 2010 |
| Panionios | Mikael Stahre | 28 October 2010 | 15th | Akis Mantzios (caretaker) | 28 October 2010 |
| Skoda Xanthi | Georgios Paraschos | 8 November 2010 | 15th | Nikos Papadopoulos | 14 November 2010 |
| Panionios | Akis Mantzios (caretaker) | 7 November 2010 | 16th | Georgios Paraschos | 8 November 2010 |
| Panathinaikos | Nikos Nioplias | 15 November 2010 | 2nd | Jacek Gmoch (caretaker) | 15 November 2010 |
| Kavala | Dragan Okuka | 16 November 2010 | 5th | Henryk Kasperczak | 17 November 2010 |
| Panionios | Georgios Paraschos | 17 November 2010 | 16th | Akis Mantzios (caretaker) | 17 November 2010 |
| Panathinaikos | Jacek Gmoch (caretaker) | 20 November 2010 | 2nd | Jesualdo Ferreira | 21 November 2010 |
| AEL | Giannis Papakostas | 29 November 2010 | 16th | Kostas Katsaras (caretaker) | 30 November 2010 |
| Kerkyra | Babis Tennes | 30 November 2010 | 13th | Božidar Bandović | 30 November 2010 |
| Panionios | Akis Mantzios (caretaker) | 9 December 2010 | 15th | Takis Lemonis | 10 December 2010 |
| AEL | Kostas Katsaras (caretaker) | 16 December 2010 | 16th | Jorn Andersen | 17 December 2010 |
| AEL | Jorn Andersen | 9 January 2011 | 16th | Nikos Kostenoglou | 10 January 2011 |
| Asteras Tripolis | Vangelis Vlachos | 17 January 2011 | 13th | Pavlos Dermitzakis | 21 January 2011 |
| Aris | Héctor Cúper | 18 January 2011 | 10th | Giannis Michalitsos | 19 January 2011 |
| Aris | Giannis Michalitsos | 7 March 2011 | 11th | Sakis Tsiolis | 11 March 2011 |

## Regular season
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Olympiacos (C) | 30 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 65 | 18 | +47 | 73 | Qualification for the Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Panathinaikos | 30 | 18 | 6 | 6 | 47 | 26 | +21 | 60 | Qualification for the Play-offs |
| 3 | AEK Athens | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 50 | Qualification for the Play-offs |
| 4 | PAOK | 30 | 14 | 6 | 10 | 32 | 29 | +3 | 48 | Qualification for the Play-offs |
| 5 | Olympiacos Volos (D) | 30 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 40 | 28 | +12 | 47 | Play-offs and relegation to the Delta Ethniki |
| 6 | Aris | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 45 | |
| 7 | Kavala (D) | 30 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 29 | 27 | +2 | 40 | Relegation to the Delta Ethniki |
| 8 | Ergotelis | 30 | 11 | 6 | 13 | 32 | 38 | −6 | 39 | |
| 9 | Skoda Xanthi | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 29 | 35 | −6 | 36 | |
| 10 | Panionios | 30 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 25 | 35 | −10 | 35 | |
| 11 | Atromitos | 30 | 7 | 13 | 10 | 30 | 34 | −4 | 34 | |
| 12 | Kerkyra | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 30 | 40 | −10 | 33 | |
| 13 | Asteras Tripolis | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 21 | 29 | −8 | 31 | |
| 14 | AEL (R) | 30 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 29 | 47 | −18 | 25 | Relegation to the Football League |
| 15 | Panserraikos (R) | 30 | 6 | 6 | 18 | 22 | 48 | −26 | 24 | Relegation to the Football League |
| 16 | Iraklis (R) | 30 | 7 | 14 | 9 | 22 | 28 | −6 | 35 | Relegation to the Football League 2 |
* 1 2 On 28 July 2011, the Disciplinary Committee of the competition found Olympiacos Volos and Kavala guilty of match-fixing. Therefore the clubs were automatically put at the end of the league table and demoted to the Football League. The decision, however, was lifted on 10 August 2011 after both appealed. Instead of that Olympiacos Volos had 10 points deducted and Kavala 8 for the 2011-2012 season. On 23 August 2011, the Professional Sports Committee stripped Kavala and Olympiacos Volos of their professional licence, due to their chairmen's involvement in the match fixing scandal.
* ↑ On 19 May 2011, the Disciplinary Committee of the competition found Iraklis guilty of forgery during the winter transfer window. Therefore the club was automatically put at the end of the league table and demoted to the Football League.

### Results

| Home \ Away | AEK | AEL | ARIS | AST | ATR | ERG | IRA | KAV | KER | OLY | OLV | PAO | PGSS | PNS | PAOK | XAN |
| AEK Athens | | 4–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| AEL | 2–3 | | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 |
| Aris | 0–4 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Asteras Tripolis | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| Atromitos | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 |
| Ergotelis | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Iraklis | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 |
| Kavala | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Kerkyra | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Olympiacos | 6–0 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 3–1 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Olympiacos Volos | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 3–2 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 |
| Panathinaikos | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Panionios | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 |
| Panserraikos | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| PAOK | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | | 2–1 |
| Skoda Xanthi | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | |
* ↑ The match, originally scheduled on 13 November 2010, was suspended at half time due to heavy rain. The remaining minutes were completed on 24 November 2010.

## Play-offs

In the play-off for Champions League, the four teams play each other in a home and away round robin. However, they do not all start with 0 points. Instead, a weighting system applies to the teams' standing at the start of the play-off mini-league. The team finishing fifth in the Super League will start the play-off with 0 points. The fifth placed team's end of season tally of points is subtracted from the sum of the points that other teams have. This number is then divided by five and rounded to the nearest whole number of points, if necessary, to give the other teams the points with which they start the mini-league.
Fifth-placed club Olympiacos Volos earned 47 points during the regular season. Based on this number and the calculations above, Panathinaikos as runners-up will began the play-offs with three points ((60–47)/5 = 2.6, rounded up to 3), while AEK Athens started with one point ((50–47)/5 = 0.6, rounded up to 1) and PAOK with no points ((48–47)/5 = 0.2, rounded down to 0).
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | PAO | PAOK | AEK | OLV |
| 2 | Panathinaikos | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 13 | Qualification for the Champions League third qualifying round | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| 3 | PAOK | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 8 | +3 | 12 | Qualification for the Europa League third qualifying round | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 5–1 |
| 4 | AEK Athens | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 8 | Qualification for the Europa League play-off round | 0–2 | 3–0 | | 1–0 |
| 5 | Olympiacos Volos | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 6 | Qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | |
* ↑ AEK Athens have won the 2010–11 Greek Football Cup and are therefore qualified for the playoff round of the 2011–12 UEFA Europa League. As a consequence, the fourth-placed team of this group also entered the Europa League.

## Awards
### MVP and Best Goal Awards

| Matchday | MVP | Best Goal |
| 1st | Vicente Monje (Olympiacos Volos) | Athanasios Tsigas (Kerkyra) |
| 2nd | Albert Riera (Olympiacos) | Nikos Liberopoulos (AEK Athens) |
| 3rd | Djamel Abdoun (Kavala) | Ignacio Scocco (AEK Athens) |
| 4th | Javier Umbides (Olympiacos Volos) | David Fuster (Olympiacos) |
| 5th | Javito (Aris) | Leonardo (AEK Athens) |
| 6th | Ignacio Scocco (AEK Athens) | Ignacio Scocco (AEK Athens) |
| 7th | Dimitris Salpingidis (PAOK) | Jean-Claude Darcheville (Kavala) |
| 8th | Djibril Cissé (Panathinaikos) | Nikolaos Lazaridis (Aris) |
| 9th | Kevin Mirallas (Olympiacos) | Kevin Mirallas (Olympiacos) |
| 10th | Andreas Tatos (Atromitos) | Daniel Cousin (AEL) |
| 11th | Djamel Abdoun (Kavala) | Marcelinho (Skoda Xanthi) |
| 12th | Andreas Tatos (Atromitos) | Kostas Kapetanos (Olympiacos Volos) |
| 13th | Pablo Contreras (PAOK) | Pablo Lima (Iraklis) |
| 14th | Pablo García (PAOK) | Neto (Aris) |
| 15th | Dimitrios Souanis (Skoda Xanthi) | Manolis Papasterianos (Iraklis) |
| 16th | Ivica Majstorović (Kerkyra) | Djibril Cissé (Panathinaikos) |
| 17th | Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos) | Serge Dié (Kavala) |
| 18th | Kostas Mitroglou (Panionios) | Albert Riera (Olympiacos) |
| 19th | Ilias Anastasakos (Atromitos) | Benjamin Onwuachi (Kavala) |
| 20th | Leonardo (AEK Athens) | Nikos Liberopoulos (AEK Athens) |
| 21st | Alexandros Tzorvas (Panathinaikos) | Sotiris Ninis (Panathinaikos) |
| 22nd | Djibril Cissé (Panathinaikos) | Gustavinho (Olympiacos) |
| 23rd | Kevin Mirallas (Olympiacos) | Kostas Kapetanos (Olympiacos Volos) |
| 24th | Djamel Abdoun (Kavala) | Marius Niculae (Kavala) |
| 25th | Ignacio Scocco (AEK Athens) | Mário Breška (Olympiacos Volos) |
| 26th | Vitolo (PAOK) | Antonis Petropoulos (Panathinaikos) |
| 27th | Stelios Sfakianakis (Atromitos) | Lazaros Christodoulopoulos (Panathinaikos) |
| 28th | Dimitrios Siovas (Panionios) | Georgios Georgiadis (Panserraikos) |
| 29th | Christos Kalantzis ( Kerkyra) | Neto (Aris) |
| 30th | Antonios Nikopolidis (Olympiacos) | Mário Breška (Olympiacos Volos) |

### Annual awards

Annual awards were announced on 18 January 2012
| Award | Winner | Club |
| Greek Player of the Season | Avram Papadopoulos | Olympiacos |
| Foreign Player of the Season | Vieirinha | PAOK |
| Young Player of the Season | Giannis Fetfatzidis | Olympiacos |
| Goalkeeper of the Season | Michalis Sifakis | Aris |
| Golden Boot | Djibril Cissé | Panathinaikos |
| Manager of the Season | Ernesto Valverde | Olympiacos |