8/2/81: Karaiskakis Stadium disaster

On Sunday 8 February at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Greece, 21 supporters lost their lives in one of the sport’s worst disasters and the biggest football tragedy in Greece’s history.

Pic. gazzetta.gr - the number of dead was initially reported as 19

While rushing out of the stadium to celebrate Olympiacos’ win, some supporters at Gate 7 of the stadium lost their footing and fell. Visibility was poor due to the sheer number of people trying to exit through gate 7 which, according to police reports, was partially closed and fans were unaware that anything had happened. As a result, more fell and were trampled by the other fans which kept coming, also unaware of the incident.

In memory of this event, every year on February 8, there is a memorial service at the stadium in honor of the supporters that died in the incident. 

Source: Gate7 Olympiacos , wikipedia