Skoda Xanthi Athlitikos Omilos was founded in 1967 as a result of a merger between two previously existing clubs from the city, Aspida and Orfeas. They made their first appearance in the top flight of Greek football after achieving promotion in 1989. The team have made notable progress in recent years, consistently finishing in the top half of the division.
Initially known as Athletic Club Xanthi, the team adopted its current name in 1992, after a takeover from Viamar, a company owned by Christos Panopoulos. Viamar are Greece's main importer of Skoda cars. The team's associaiton with Skoda has brought significant benefits to the club, including improved youth team facilities and a move to a new stadium in 2004.
Although major silverware has been beyond the team's grasp so far, the 21st century has been relatively successful for Xanthi. Their domestic performances gained the club entry into the UEFA Cup for the 2002–03, 2005–06 and 2006-07 editions of the competition. Unfortunately, on all three occasions, they were knocked out in the first round, losing to Lazio, Middlesbrough and Dinamo București, respectively. The 2004-05 season saw their best recent league performance, as they finished the campaign in 4th place.
Antonis Antoniadis, Emerson Moisés Costa, George Boateng, Tomasz Radzinski and Spyros Vallas are amongst the most notable and best-known footballers to have played for Xanthi over the years.
The side currently play their home games at the Skoda Xanthi Arena, which is also sometimes known as Pigadia Stadium. The venue currently holds up to 7,422 supporters, although at present it only has three stands. A fourth stand is expected to be constructed in the future and will take the ground's capacity up to over 9,000. The record attendance was set at 6,410 for a game against PAOK back in 2005.
