Gate 13, known in Greek as Θύρα 13, is the central identity of the organised supporters of Panathinaikos. Officially established on 19 November 1966, it is widely regarded as the oldest major supporters’ association still active in Greece. Its name unites numerous local clubs and generations of supporters who follow the entire Panathinaikos Athletic Club, not only its football team.
Gate 13 was founded before the modern ultras movement had fully developed in southern Europe. Over time, however, it adopted the visual displays, constant chanting, pyrotechnics, organised away travel and independent group culture associated with ultras. This evolution turned Gate 13 from a traditional supporters’ association into one of the defining forces of Greek terrace culture.
The First Panathinaikos Supporters’ Clubs
Organised support for Panathinaikos existed long before the official foundation of Gate 13. In October 1952, supporters created S.F.O.P., an abbreviation for the Panathinaikos Supporters’ Club. The precise length of its activity is uncertain, but it represents one of the earliest documented attempts to organise the club’s following.
By the end of the 1950s, Panathinaikos supporters were regularly meeting around Gate 13 of the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, commonly known as Leoforos. Unlike the numbered seats in more expensive parts of the ground, this section was accessible to working-class and younger supporters. The lack of assigned seating made it easier for friends and groups from different neighbourhoods to stand together. The number 13 therefore carried meaning before a formal organisation adopted it. It identified the part of Leoforos where the most vocal supporters gathered, exchanged information and prepared for matches. Away trips were often organised through notices published in Athlitiki Iho and Panathinaika Nea, two newspapers widely read by Panathinaikos supporters.
During the early 1960s, district-based clubs appeared across Athens and beyond. Ampelokipi, Zografou, Patissia, Gyzi, Petralona, Cholargos, Peristeri, Nikaia, Korydallos and Patras were among the areas represented. These associations organised tickets and transport independently but frequently met to discuss the club, away travel and problems affecting supporters. The idea of creating a unified organisation under the Gate 13 name was discussed from around 1962 and 1963. Administrative and personal difficulties delayed the project, yet the name was already becoming familiar among players and supporters. By the middle of the decade, Gate 13 described more than a physical entrance at Leoforos. It represented an emerging collective identity.
The Foundation of Gate 13
The Association of Friends of Panathinaikos Athletic Club “Gate 13” officially began operating on 19 November 1966. Its first headquarters were located at 68 Kolonou Street in Athens. Although it initially resembled other supporters’ clubs of the period, its name allowed different neighbourhoods and generations to identify with a single movement.
Only eight days after its foundation, Gate 13 suffered its first tragedy. On 27 November 1966, a bus carrying Panathinaikos supporters from Athens to an away match in Veroia crashed. Giorgos Koskoros and Dimitris Sarantakos were killed, with Sarantakos remembered as one of the founding members of the new association. Their deaths became part of the group’s collective memory. At Gate 13’s tenth-anniversary gathering in 1976, supporters observed a minute’s silence for those who had died while following Panathinaikos. Remembrance of deceased members has remained a central practice within the movement.
Dictatorship and Reorganisation
Gate 13’s early development was interrupted by the military dictatorship that took power in Greece in April 1967. The regime restricted independent associations and closed numerous supporters’ clubs, including Gate 13. Organised fan activity did not disappear, but it became more difficult to maintain openly. Gate 13 reopened in 1968 with offices at 39 Sokratous Street in central Athens. Other Panathinaikos associations gradually resumed their work, allowing the network to expand again. Flags and banners carrying the Gate 13 name began appearing more regularly at Leoforos and during European away matches.
The association was also becoming involved in matters beyond matchday support. Members expressed opinions about ticket prices, club administration and elections within Panathinaikos A.O. This willingness to challenge the leadership became an enduring feature of Gate 13’s identity. Support was no longer restricted to football. Panathinaikos had been formed as a multi-sport club, and Gate 13 increasingly followed its basketball, volleyball and other departments. This commitment eventually became one of the main differences between Gate 13 and supporter movements centred exclusively on a football team.
The European Cup Journey of 1971
The 1970/71 European Cup campaign transformed the international visibility of Panathinaikos and its supporters. Led by Ferenc Puskás, the football team defeated Jeunesse Esch, Slovan Bratislava, Everton and Red Star Belgrade before reaching the final against Ajax at Wembley. Large numbers of Panathinaikos supporters travelled to the decisive matches in Belgrade and London. Exact estimates vary considerably, but both journeys became landmarks in Greek supporter history. At a time when international travel was far more difficult and expensive, the presence of thousands of Greek fans demonstrated the expanding reach of the club.
Panathinaikos lost the Wembley final 2-0 to the Ajax side of Johan Cruyff and Rinus Michels. The club nevertheless became the first, and remains the only, Greek team to reach a European Cup or Champions League final. Olympiacos later became the first Greek club to win a major UEFA competition by lifting the Conference League in 2024, making it important to describe the Panathinaikos achievement precisely. The 1971 campaign increased support for Panathinaikos across Greece. Existing clubs reopened, while new associations appeared in areas such as Nikaia and Vyronas. By the end of the 1970s, historical accounts connected to the movement recorded more than 50 Panathinaikos supporters’ clubs across the country.
From Supporters’ Association to Ultras Movement
Gate 13 was not founded as an ultras group in the modern meaning of the term. The Italian ultras model was still developing when the association opened its first offices in 1966. During the following decades, the Panathinaikos scene gradually adopted a more organised and confrontational terrace identity. Large flags, drums, coordinated chants, pyrotechnics and choreographies became central features of the support. Local clubs retained their own banners and leadership but operated beneath the wider Gate 13 identity. The result was not a single group with a completely centralised structure, but a network of branches connected through Panathinaikos and the historical meaning of the number 13.
Leoforos remained the movement’s symbolic home. The narrow stands and proximity to the pitch created an intense atmosphere, particularly during matches against Olympiacos. When football fixtures moved to the Olympic Stadium, Gate 13 adapted its organisation to a far larger space while continuing to treat Leoforos as the spiritual centre of the scene. The same identity followed Panathinaikos into basketball and volleyball arenas. At the OAKA Indoor Hall, Gate 13 became an important part of the atmosphere surrounding the basketball department’s European campaigns. Supporters also attended less prominent sections of the Athletic Club, reinforcing the principle that Panathinaikos should be followed as one organisation across every discipline.
Influence and Conflict with Club Leadership
Gate 13 has never limited itself to supporting the team without criticism. It has repeatedly intervened in debates about ownership, ticketing, stadium plans and the direction of Panathinaikos. This influence does not give the group formal control over the club, but large protests and organised boycotts have placed considerable pressure on different administrations. Supporters played a visible role in the protests against the Vardinogiannis ownership during the 2000s. The movement that developed around 2008 demanded broader participation in the club and contributed to pressure for a new ownership model. Later campaigns targeted Giannis Alafouzos, with Gate 13 accusing his administration of failing to match the expectations and size of Panathinaikos.
In May 2024, Gate 13 organised another major demonstration calling for Alafouzos to leave the club. The protest took place before a derby against Olympiacos and showed that the group’s relationship with the administration remained deeply confrontational. Gate 13’s position has therefore alternated between unconditional support for the colours and open opposition to those controlling the football department. The movement has also faced repeated restrictions from the Greek state. Governments have closed supporters’ clubs, introduced registration requirements and imposed increasingly strict stadium controls following incidents of fan violence. Changes introduced during the 2020s attempted to place independent associations under closer supervision, but the wider Gate 13 identity continued through its local branches and informal networks.
The Death of Michalis Filopoulos
One of the darkest events connected to the rivalry with Olympiacos occurred on 29 March 2007. Groups of rival supporters arranged a confrontation near Paiania before a women’s volleyball cup match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. Twenty-two-year-old Panathinaikos supporter Michalis Filopoulos was fatally stabbed during the violence.
His death shocked Greece and led the government to suspend organised competitions for approximately two weeks. Police searched supporters’ clubs, numerous people were questioned or charged, and authorities announced stricter controls on organised fan activity. Filopoulos became another name permanently remembered by Gate 13. The incident also demonstrated the consequences of rival groups using less heavily policed events from other disciplines as opportunities for confrontation. Because Panathinaikos and Olympiacos compete across several sections, their hostility is not restricted to football. Basketball, volleyball and other fixtures can carry the same tensions as the Derby of the Eternal Enemies.
Rivalries
The defining rivalry of Gate 13 is with Olympiacos and its organised supporters, particularly Gate 7. The hostility reflects the wider competition between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, but it also contains geographical, social and cultural dimensions associated with Athens and Piraeus. Meetings between the two clubs are among the most heavily controlled fixtures in European sport. Gate 13 also has an intense rivalry with AEK’s Original 21. Both movements are based in the Athens metropolitan area and regularly encounter each other across football and the other departments of their clubs. The relationship became even more hostile after the events surrounding AEK’s European match against Dinamo Zagreb in August 2023.
Despite a UEFA ban on travelling supporters, a large group connected to Dinamo’s Bad Blue Boys entered Athens and clashed with AEK supporters outside the club’s stadium. Individuals associated with Gate 13 were reported among those present. AEK supporter Michalis Katsouris was killed during the disorder, leading to more than 100 arrests and renewed scrutiny of the relationship between Gate 13 and the Bad Blue Boys. Responsibility for the fatal wound remained the subject of investigation and dispute, making it important not to attribute the killing to an entire group. Rivalries also exist with PAOK’s Gate 4, Aris’ Super 3 and other major Greek supporter movements. Their intensity varies according to competition, recent incidents and personal relationships between particular clubs. However, no rivalry carries the same historical weight as the confrontation with Olympiacos.
Brotherhood with Ultras Rapid
Gate 13’s strongest and most widely recognised international friendship is with Ultras Rapid of Rapid Wien. The first significant contact developed in 2001, when Panathinaikos travelled to Austria to face Sturm Graz in the European Cup. The relationship was built through personal visits before becoming a formal brotherhood between the two movements.
Flags and banners from Athens and Vienna have regularly appeared in each other’s stands. Members have travelled for important fixtures, anniversaries and memorial events, while Ultras Rapid took part in the celebrations marking 50 years of Gate 13 in Athens in 2016. The friendship continued regardless of whether the two clubs were competing in the same tournament. On 15 July 2026, Rapid Wien and Panathinaikos played a friendly at the Weststadion to celebrate 25 years of the relationship. Both terraces prepared displays honouring the connection between Ultras Rapid and Gate 13. It was the first match organised directly around the friendship and confirmed that the bond had survived a full generation.
Bad Blue Boys and the Roma Connection
Gate 13 also maintains a close relationship with the Bad Blue Boys of Dinamo Zagreb. Members and banners from both groups have repeatedly appeared together in Athens and Zagreb. The friendship is recognised across large sections of both movements, although the events in Athens in 2023 placed it under unprecedented public and legal scrutiny.
Another important relationship developed with members of Roma’s Fedayn and sections of the Curva Sud. This connection should not be described as an official alliance with every Roma supporter. It has traditionally involved particular groups and personal networks within the two terraces. The theft of Fedayn’s main banner by Red Star Belgrade supporters in 2023 caused a major upheaval within the Roman group. Contacts between Panathinaikos and individuals from the Roma scene nevertheless continued, demonstrating that ultras friendships often survive changes to banners, leadership and formal group structures.
Over the years, individual Gate 13 clubs have also developed contacts with supporters of Real Madrid, Ajax, Hammarby, Ferencváros, Celtic and Shamrock Rovers. Some of these relationships produced mutual visits or displayed flags, but they should not be presented as official friendships accepted by the entire Gate 13 movement. The size and decentralised character of Gate 13 mean that one branch can maintain an international relationship without representing every Panathinaikos supporter.
More Than a Stadium Gate
Gate 13 has developed from a physical section of Leoforos into an identity shared by supporters across Greece and abroad. Its strength comes from the combination of a historic central name and numerous local clubs, each carrying its own experiences and neighbourhood identity.b The movement is neither politically nor organisationally uniform. Some branches have expressed anti-fascist and wider social positions, while others concentrate primarily on Panathinaikos and terrace culture. Treating every member or club as part of a single ideology would ignore the complexity of a movement that has existed for six decades.
Gate 13’s history contains remarkable European journeys, powerful displays and unwavering support across every section of Panathinaikos. It also includes internal disputes, conflicts with club owners, state repression and episodes of violence that resulted in irreversible loss. Both sides are necessary to understand its place within Greek supporter culture. From the unnumbered terraces of Leoforos to football and basketball arenas across Europe, the number 13 has remained the central symbol of organised Panathinaikos support. Stadiums, laws and generations have changed, but the identity established on Kolonou Street in November 1966 continues to unite the green and white terraces.