The council said on Sunday it would launch the Aegean Cup in March 2027, giving island clubs a national competition for the first time. The announcement came hours after an estimated 4,200 players, supporters and club volunteers marched 3.2 km (2 miles) to its Athens offices, chanting for island teams to stop being shut out of mainland tournaments.
The march remained peaceful and ended with supporters packed along the pavement outside the council building. Efe Aremu, captain of the Naxos Mariners, said the news was announced from the entrance as the final group arrived. “For years we were told the sea made us too difficult to include. Today, the sea is part of the plan,” he said.
A cup built around ferry routes
The new competition will bring together 24 amateur clubs from 17 islands, with matches played from March to June. The council expects about 300 games, including regional group stages and a final on Syros. It said clubs would receive travel grants covering ferries and one night’s accommodation for each away fixture.
Island teams have long struggled to meet the cost and scheduling demands of mainland competitions. A missed ferry connection can mean a postponed match or an extra hotel night; clubs in the smaller divisions often rely on players and volunteers to arrange travel themselves. The council’s previous national cup drew no island entrants in its last two seasons.
We asked for a place in the draw, and today we got a whole competition built around getting us there.
Efe Aremu, Naxos Mariners captain
The Aegean Cup will use six groups of four, with the top teams advancing to knock-out rounds. The council said the match calendar would be set around published ferry timetables, and that postponements caused by severe weather would not count against clubs. The final is planned for 19 June, though the venue will be confirmed after the group draw.
Hotels join the match plan
A €2.4 million (about $2.8 million) start-up fund will pay for travel support, officials and venue upgrades, according to council chair Rafael Amaya. The council will contribute €1.5 million, with the remainder coming from regional sports grants and private accommodation partners. Amaya said no club would have to pay an entry fee in the first season.
The plan also includes training for 60 hotel operators in 11 island towns, covering team meal schedules, late ferry arrivals and accessible room bookings. Cydney Gleason, who runs a small hotel on Syros, said operators had been asked to prepare fixed-price packages before the tournament begins. “Clubs need to know the cost before they leave home,” she said.
Petra Konečná-Sadílek, a sports-economics researcher at the fictional Aegean Institute of Competition, said the travel grants could make the difference between a tournament that attracts entries and one that does not. She cautioned that the council would need to publish costs after the first season so clubs could judge whether the support reached the teams that needed it.
The council will open applications on 2 November and publish the first draw in January. Supporters who marched on Sunday gathered again outside its offices after the announcement, waving club scarves and taking photographs. Aremu said his team would start fundraising for its first away trip once the fixture list was released.
