NEW YORK – With an impetus from New York, the preparation of the historic Panachaiki for the new Super League 2 championship began, with the aim of promotion to the first division, after 22 years. All this while at the team’s stadium, in the Agyia neighborhood of Patras, where an open training session was held on August 1, in the presence of a large number of fans, a visitor from the United States drew interest from the crowd.

Businessman Jared Weiss, who lives on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and for the last three years has participated in the investment program of the Panachaiki football club, together with his brothers, Erik Weiss and Dilon Weiss and his business partners, Ashton Bailey, Brandon Bailey, Joseph Kobzan and Michael Margent, seeing the team based in Patras as an opportunity in the unknown market of Greece.

The connecting link was the Greek-American actor Petros Stathakis, also born in New York but mostly a well-known person in the field of Greek football, since he had also served in the past on his hometown team as General Manager.

“Petros Stathakis was the bridge between America and Patras. He suggested Panachaiki to us and as a group of investors we evaluated the project. At the end of the day we thought it was a great opportunity. We also did our own research, we saw that Panachaiki is a great and historic football team in Greece. It seemed that the fan base is strong, even if they have had some tough times in the past. So we got involved and now we have a better understanding than when we took over the team. Now we realize what has happened,” Weiss told The National Herald.

Of course, the American businessman’s connection with Greek reality – especially the football one – was also accompanied by a so-called “culture shock.” He and his partners already knew that Panachaiki FC was carrying debts from past years, which came to the surface again when promotion was achieved from the semi-professional 3rd national tier team to the 2nd (Super League 2). But what he could not imagine was that the league would be suspended for two months during the first year in the second division, resulting in revenue and operational issues that risked shaking things up- again.

“We made mistakes along the way, you can’t avoid them, but we learned from them and we’re fixing them. It took some time to understand how things work in Greece. It’s a little different with America. This was a bit disappointing, especially the first year in the Second National where the league was suspended for two months and we were just waiting to see what would happen, without any particular instructions or guidance from the government and the organizing authority. But that is in the past. We focus on the future,” Jared Weiss said.

For his part, Petros Stathakis, whose paternal family resides in Long Island and who himself has spent almost 20 years in New York, emphasized that Panachaiki is “the last football diamond in the rough” and expressed his optimism that the investment from America can work beneficially for the Patras team.

“We are talking about a group of young entrepreneurs who have been together for many years and are active in business worldwide. They are very smart and quick and they realized the opportunity that exists in Patras and Panachaiki. Some of the group members are involved in football. They had played soccer in America at the college level, they watch the European championships and have a passion for the sport. Having confidence in my person who has been dealing with the subject for many years, we decided together to make this move and implement a plan that has a certain duration. It is not a plan for 1-2 years. We are now in our fourth year. There is the opportunity and the possibility for many things for Panachaiki,” concluded Stathakis.