Greek Football Amateur Cup: Difference between revisions

Men’s association football cup in Greece

Football tournament

The Greek Amateur Cup (Greek: Ελληνικό Ερασιτεχνικό Κύπελλο), officially known as the Greece Amateurs Cup (Greek: Κύπελλο Ερασιτεχνών Ελλάδας), is the Greek competition for amateur teams of the nationwide Gamma Ethniki and the regional F.C.A. Cups, organised by the Hellenic Football Federation.^[1][2] It was founded in 1971 featuring the winners of the F.C.A. Cups in a knock-out format. The competition always featured clubs from the fourth-tier Delta Ethniki and later the third-tier Gamma Ethniki.

The competition started in the 1971-72 due to the high volume of teams competing in the Greek Football Cup.^[3] It was played in two stages: the prefectures with the local finals and the panhellenic which would decide the overall winner. With the Amateur Cup running in the 1971-72 season, the Greek Football Cup would only accept teams from the first three tiers for the years to come. After the introduction of the Gamma Ethniki Cup in 2013 the winner of the competition would play in the Amateurs’ Super Cup Greece. The competition was abolished in 2018 but restored in 2025, this time with compulsory participation of Gamma Ethniki teams and optional participation of teams that won the local F.C.A. Cups the previous season.

Players like Giorgos Karagounis, Vasilis Dimitriadis, Sakis Tsiolis, Angelos Basinas, Kostas Chalkias, Giannis Goumas, Babis Tennes, Kostas Orfanos, Nikos Soultanidis have played in second stage or the final of the competition (panhellenic), while numerous later-well known players who started their careers from lower leagues featured in the first stage (prefectures). Alexis Alexandris, Demis Nikolaidis, Kyriakos Karataidis, Zisis Vryzas, Theodoros Zagorakis are some of them.

The competition was split into two stages. The first stage listed the knock-out matches in every prefecture of Greece such as Athens Football Clubs Association, Macedonia Football Clubs Association. Clubs participated in semiprofessional Delta Ethniki until 2013 and professional Gamma Ethniki after 2013 were eligible to participate. The second stage featured the prefectures’ Cup winners in knock-out rounds culminating with a single final.
The reserve teams of top clubs were also eligible to participate. Panathinaikos, PAOK and Aris Thessaloniki reserve (or called amateur) teams reached the final of the Cup on three occasions. The majority of the teams who won the Cup were playing in the 4th or 5th tier including clubs with Greek top-flight history like Niki Volos, Kerkyra and Veria.