Olympiacos F.C. - Supporters

Supporters

Olympiacos' traditional fanbase comes from the city of Piraeus, where the club is based, as well as a good part of the rest of the Athens area. The club's popularity increased during the 1950s after winning consecutive titles and setting several records, and they became the best-supported football club in the country. Traditionally, Olympiacos used to represent the working class, but the club has always attracted fans from all the social classes and their fanbase is not associated with any specific social group anymore.

Olympiacos is the most popular of the Greek clubs according to polls. Several newspapers and magazines' polls rank Olympiacos as the most popular club in Greece with a percentage varying between 29–37% among the fans and 20.3–29.3% in total population, which corresponds to around two and a half millions of supporters in Greece. The club is overwhelmingly popular in Piraeus, where almost half of its population supports Olympiacos, while their support in the whole of Athens reaches 45.1% of the fans, making them the most popular club in the Greek capital. They are also the most popular club in the working class with a percentage of 37% and in all age groups, as well as among both male and female fans; the vast majority of their fans comes from the centre and centre-right of the political spectrum. Outside of Athens, Olympiacos is the most popular club in Central Greece, the Peloponnese, Thessaly, the Aegean and the Ionian Islands. Additionally, they have the highest average all-time attendance in Greek football, having topped the attendance tables in most of the seasons in Super League Greece history.

In 2006, Olympiacos was placed in the top ten of the clubs with the most paying members in the world, holding the ninth place just ahead of Real Madrid. As of April 2006, the club had some 83,000 registered members. Olympiacos and Red Star Belgrade fans have developed a deep friendship, calling themselves the Orthodox Brothers. Usually, Olympiacos supporters from several fan-clubs attend Red Star's matches, especially against their old rival Partizan, and vice-versa. More recently, the Orthodox Brothers have started to include fans of Spartak Moscow in their club.

Olympiacos fans are renowned for their passionate and fervent support to their team, with the atmosphere at home matches regarded as intimidating. When they played Newcastle United at home in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup, the match was televised in the United Kingdom on Channel 5 and the guest commentator was former England international Tony Cottee, who was constantly mentioning how great the atmosphere was. During the game he was asked whether it was the most atmospheric stadium he had been to and replied: "I'd have to say it probably is. You hear a lot about various places and the atmosphere there but when you go you realise it's not all that... But this place is the real deal." The experienced Czech international winger Jaroslav Plašil paid further testament to the hostile atmosphere created by Olympiacos fans at home before his team Bordeaux visit Karaiskakis Stadium, where he had played during his time at Monaco and stated: "It was one of the most intense atmospheres I've ever experienced in a stadium, so I expect it will be a bit like hell for us. Their supporters really can help their team."