CHICAGO, IL – The National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) announced on June 30 that Panathinaikos Chicago has joined the league as an expansion team. The club will begin competition in the Midwest Region in 2021.

“This area is full to the brim with culture, passion, and a love of the game,” NPSL Managing Director Cindy Spera said. “The Panathinaikos Chicago organization exemplifies the meaning of grassroots soccer. The team was born out of the local community, with immigrant owners that have built their life in the area. The team will fill the roster with local players, and there is already overwhelming support from the community.”

The club is led by Dimitrios Chronopoulos, Vasiliki Chronopoulos, and Trevor McGrann.

Dimitrios Chronopoulos, who is the club’s owner, is a diehard fan of Panathinaikos and has a history of playing in the Fourth Division in Greece and semi-professionally in Canada. Vasiliki is an administrative assistant and the director of media. Head coach Trevor McGrann, who is of Brazilian and Columbian decent, comes from the youth ranks of River Plate and Banfield in Argentina. He then went on to play for Aris FC, Trikala FC, and Ialysos FC in Greece.

“We expect to win our conference and have a good run in the playoffs,” Chronopoulos said. Panathinaikos Chicago is a Greek-American soccer club that was founded by Denny Chronopoulos in 2019. Their academies were created in 2019 and their first team was created in 2020.

“We bring loads of experience to the league,” Chronopoulos said. “For example, we have two players who have MLS experience and another player who captained Greece’s U-20 national team in the European Under-20 Cup.”

Home matches will be played at Harper College located in Palatine, IL.

More information can be found visiting paochicago.com or by following the club on Facebook (@panathinaikoschicago), Instagram (@paochicago), and Twitter (@chicago_pao).

“The NPSL is excited to announce the addition of Panathinaikos Chicago to the Midwest Region,” NPSL Director of Membership Development Dina Case said. “It is extremely positive for the league to regain a presence in the Chicago market and will further help anchor an already strong group of teams in this region. Panathinaikos Chicago’s leadership brings great passion and enthusiasm to put a great product on and off the field. Despite being a new team, they have already established a roster of quality amateur and former professional players and have formed strong ties with the Greek community in the Chicago Metro area. We expect this to translate into a very successful club.”

More information about expansion opportunities in the NPSL is available online: http://www.npsl.com/expansion-application.