No matter how many years pass, no one can forget October 4, 1999. Today, six PAOK fans lost their lives in Tempi and the “black and white” family was scarred forever.
The derby against Panathinaikos and the coach of the “Double-Headed Eagle” fans, took the way back to Thessaloniki.
Inside it were 77 souls. Crossing the Tempe River, the coach collided with a passing van and overturned, falling into a ditch.
The collision was fatal for six fans. Christina, Charalambos, Kyriakos, Giorgos, Christos and Anastasis lost their lives, as did the driver of the second vehicle, with the PAOK family - and all of Greece - plunged into mourning.
Two days after the tragedy of Tempi, the article by Yannis Michaelides in «ELEFTHEROTYPIA» caused a shudder.
«Anyone who has not travelled by coach to see their favourite team play on the road will find this note very difficult to understand. On the day yesterday when Thessaloniki buried six of its children, I heard in the usual conversations between friends and acquaintances during the TV news, many people asking, somewhat dismissively, ’Why did they want to come to Athens with PAOK?“.
And occasionally, when we happen to have fan scuffles in various cities, I hear the familiar, standard people easily come up with the “moral”: “Let's see what kind of upbringing these kids have had”.
The journey, then, for the boy on the podium is only one part, perhaps the most beautiful part, of this thrilling journey through his most beautiful years. He travels because it is a crime at that age to remain stagnant. His team is often just a pretext.
These football outings develop, as nowhere else, the concept of solidarity and selfless support for one another. What we used to call “the joy of company” in the fans“ coaches is a tangible reality. One man's sandwich belongs to another. ”Buying a beer or a soft drink" is an action that is completely natural, like wiping - so to speak - the sweat off your forehead, you don't think about it, you do it.
Many times, when one person says “I can't come this weekend, I don't have any money”, it's amazing how quickly the other people will get the word out and money will be found. Money that no one ever demands to be returned. On these trips - which we comfortable people always view with a bad eye - the kids are happy.
As they are not, that is, at home, at school, in the neighbourhood, in the city. They fall in love, they talk, they argue, they talk nonsense, they sing, they sometimes cross the line.;
Irony! At a time when half of the population of this monstrous city, Athens, was fleeing in fear of earthquakes, these kids, PAOK fans, came here. And they were killed on the way out, when the elated Athenians had returned.
At the time of the collision they were asleep. It was a sweet sleep, not so much because PAOK got a good result against Panathinaikos, but because they had just had a good time. They had lived. They hadn't been mouldy like the rest of us. So long, fellas! And don't forget to take your scarves with you, to make the sky even more beautiful.».
The names of the children:
Dimitris Andreadakis 25 years old
Anastasios Themelis 22 years old
Charalambos Zapounidis 20 years old
Christina Tziova 18 years old
Georgios Ganatsios 18 years old
Kyriakidis Lazaridis 17 years old
