page_title: Olympiacos F.C.
section_title: The Legend (1946–1959)
hierarchical_section_title: Olympiacos F.C. / History / The Legend (1946–1959)
caption_attribution_description: (εξ' αριστερών) Ανδρέας Μουράτης, Μπάμπης Κοτρίδης, Ηλίας Ρωσίδης, εμβηματικοί παίκτες της ομάδας του Ολυμπιακού της δεκαετίας του '50
context_page_description: Olympiacos Football Club, also known simply as Olympiacos, Olympiacos Piraeus or with its full name as Olympiacos C.F.P., is a Greek professional football club based in Piraeus, Athens. Part of the major multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP, their name was inspired from the ancient Olympic Games and along with the club's emblem, the laurel-crowned Olympic athlete, symbolize the Olympic ideals of ancient Greece. Their home ground is the Karaiskakis Stadium, a 32,115-capacity stadium in Piraeus.
  Founded on 10 March 1925, Olympiacos is the most successful club in Greek football history, having won 45 League titles, 27 Cups and 4 Super Cups, all records. Τotalling 76 national trophies, Olympiacos is 9th in the world in total titles won by a football club. The club's dominating success can be further evidenced by the fact that all other Greek clubs have won a combined total of 39 League titles, while Olympiacos also holds the record for the most consecutive Greek League titles won, with seven in a row in two occasions, breaking their own previous record of six consecutive wins in the 1950s, when Olympiacos was unequivocally nicknamed Thrylos.
context_section_description: After the war, Olympiacos saw many of its key-players of the pre-war era retire, with many significant changes being made in the team's roster. Olympiacos captain and prolific scorer Giannis Vazos remained in the club, along with Giannis Chelmis. New important players joined the club, such as Andreas Mouratis, Alekos Chatzistavridis, Stelios Kourouklatos and Dionysis Minardos. As soon as regular fixtures recommenced, the Piraeus club returned to their dominant position in Greek football. From 1946 to 1959, Olympiacos won 9 out of the 11 Greek Championships (1947, 1948, 1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959), bringing home 15 Championship titles in a total of 23 completed seasons of the Greek League. The six-straight Greek Championships won by Olympiacos from 1954 to 1959 was an unmatched achievement in Greek football history, an all-time record which stood for 44 years, up until Olympiacos managed to win seven-straight Greek Championships from 1997 to 2003.
  Furthermore, during the same period (1946–1959), the club won 8 Greek Cups out of 13 editions (1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959), thus completing 6 Doubles (1947, 1951, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959), three of which being consecutive (1957–1959). The legendary Olympiacos team of the 1950s, with key performers such as Andreas Mouratis, Ilias Rossidis, Thanasis Bebis, Ilias Yfantis, Babis Kotridis, Kostas Polychroniou, Giorgos Darivas, Babis Drosos, Antonis Poseidon, Savvas Theodoridis, Kostas Karapatis, Mimis Stefanakos, Thanasis Kinley, Stelios Psychos, Giannis Ioannou, Themis Moustaklis, Vasilis Xanthopoulos, Dimitris Kokkinakis, Giorgos Kansos, Kostas Papazoglou and Aristeidis Papazoglou marked Olympiacos' period of absolute domination in Greek football, which skyrocketed the club's popularity and spread the word of Olympiacos' superiority throughout Greece. Hence, after the club's record-breaking performance in the trophy-laden era of the 1950s, the club gained unequivocally the nickname of Thrylos, meaning "The Legend".
  On 13 September 1959, Olympiacos made its debut in Europe against Milan for the 1959–60 European Cup and became the first Greek club that ever played in the European competitions. The first leg was held at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and Olympiacos took the lead with a goal by Kostas Papazoglou (1–0), which was the first goal ever scored by a Greek club (and by a Greek player as well) in the European competitions. Milan's prolific goalscorer José Altafini equalised the match with a header in the 33rd minute, after a cross by Giancarlo Danova. Ilias Yfantis scored an outstanding goal and gave Olympiacos the lead again in the 45th minute of the game, when he controlled the ball between Cesare Maldini and Vincenzo Occhetta and unleashed a powerful volley, burying the ball into the back of the net (2–1). Altafini scored his second goal once again with a header (72nd minute), after a free-kick by Nils Liedholm. The match ended 2–2, with Olympiacos putting in a great performance against the Italian champions, despite the fact that they had no foreign players in their roster, while Milan had four world-class foreign players, such as Altafini, Liedholm, Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Ernesto Grillo. In the second leg Milan won 3–1 (Giancarlo Danova 12', 26', 85'; Psychos 68') and qualified for the next round, despite Olympiacos' good performance especially in the second half.
caption: Andreas Mouratis, Babis Kotridis, Ilias Rossidis, key players of the Olympiacos team of the 1950s
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