Kalamata FC

The Football Club «Kalamata» was founded in 1967, following a forced merger imposed by the dictatorial regime on the city’s football clubs: Apollon, Pammessiniakos (itself the result of a previous merger between AEK Kalamata and Omilos Kalamatas, which had also originated from an earlier union of Prasina Poulia and Olympiakos Kalamata), Prasina Poulia (which had been re-established), and Ethnikos Kalamata. All these clubs were later re-established and continue to participate to this day in the local competitions organized by the Messinia Football Association (EPS Messinia). Initially, the club was forced by the dictatorship to adopt the mythical phoenix as its emblem, which the team abolished in 1974.