Sydney Olympic

1957: Pan-Hellenic – The Beginnings

In the late 1940s and 1950s, there were several small Greek teams for the purposes of socialising and giving a sense of home for the newly arrived migrants. These teams included: Taxiarchis, Atlas, Astro, Pansamiakos, as well as several others. Many people wondered about uniting all of these smaller teams to establish 1 strong Greek team in order to participate in the NSW Soccer Federation. The founding date of the club is set as 28 November 1957, as this was the first meeting of Club Founder Christos Giannakoulias at his home in Alexandria, together with Elias Michalopoulos, Giorgos Lagoudakos, Emmanuel Karras, Dimitris Vlachos, and Stelios Papageorgiou. It was decided there that the newly formed team would be known as Pan-Hellenic, as it represented the shared journeys of Greeks from all over the world who migrated to Sydney and not just from Greece and Cyprus, but also from various other places like Egypt, Romania, Albania, Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Anatolia, and Asia Minor.

The club was established as Pan-Hellenic Soccer Club and its initial strip was blue and white vertical stripes.

1958–60: NSW 2nd Division

In its first season in 1958, Pan-Hellenic found itself in the NSW 2nd Division, which at the time was split into 2 groups – Western & Eastern – After topping its group, Pan-Hellenic faced off with Budapest, who had topped the other group, in the Grand Final, which Pan-Hellenic won 3–1. This still was not good enough for promotion, and Pan-Hellenic was forced to play a separate play-off with Budapest for promotion. The initial match ended 1–1, and a replay was ordered a few days later, which Budapest won 4–0.

For season 1959, the Federation did away with a Finals Series and promotion playoffs, instead awarding promotion to the club which topped the competition table after the 26 rounds. Pan-Hellenic would miss out again on promotion, as it finished runner-up to Neerlandia.

In 1960 and in what would become a tradition in Australian Football, the format was changed yet again. A Finals Series would be played this season; Pan-Hellenic reached the Grand Final again, but would go on and lose to Polonia 2–1. But this time, the team which would end up atop the competition ladder was crowned the Champions and would be promoted; fortunately for Pan-Hellenic, they finished top of the ladder 1 point ahead of Polonia, were crowned Champions and finally earned promotion to the NSW 1st Division for 1961.

1960s: NSW 1st Division

In its first season in the NSW 1st Division in 1961, the club would finish in the top 4, finishing 4th, a fantastic achievement. In the Finals Series Pan-Hellenic lost its Semi-Final to Hakoah 1–0.

1962 saw Pan-Hellenic finish in 7th place. The 1962 season also saw a competition attendance record for the regular season, with 16,265 spectators attending Pan-Hellenic's home match at Wentworth Park against APIA Leichhardt on July 8th. In 1963, Pan-Hellenic rebounded to once again make the top 4, finishing 4th once again and qualifying for the Finals Series. South Coast United delivered a heavy blow in the Semi-Final, dishing out a 7–1 loss to Pan-Hellenic. The 1963 season also saw the previous season's record attendance for a regular season club match in NSW beaten, when 19,676 spectators saw the 1-1 draw between Pan-Hellenic and APIA Leichhardt.

In 1964, Pan-Hellenic finished a disappointing 6th in the League, while in contrast, it made a better fist of it in the Cup, reaching the Semi-Finals. The Final round of the 1964 league season witnessed a record-breaking attendance for a non-Finals match in Australian club football. Pan-Hellenic and APIA Leichhardt drew 27,150 spectators in a match Pan-Hellenic ultimately lost 6-2 to its old rival.

In 1965, the club endured a difficult League campaign, coming within a whisker of being relegated, finishing 2nd last and having to endure the 3 relegation playoff ties. The first 2 ended in draws (0–0 and 1–1) against Polonia; the 3rd match was a 5–4 result to Pan-Hellenic. 11,000 turned up on a Wednesday night to see the match, a victory which preserved the club's 1st Division status. This was in total contrast with Pan-Hellenic's Cup form, which saw them go on a run all the way to the Final, only to lose 3–1 to Hakoah.

For season 1966, Pan-Hellenic finished in 5th spot. The club would return to Finals Football once again in 1967, finishing in 4th, but would once again fail to progress in the Finals Series. 1967 also saw Pan-Hellenic go on a great run in the inaugural National Club Knock-Out competition the – Australia Cup – falling one game short of the Final, as it lost to APIA Leichhardt 3–2 after extra-time in the Semi-Final.

The 1968 season was the highlight of the pre-National Soccer League era; Pan-Hellenic finished 2nd in the standings and reached the NSW First Division Grand Final for the first time. Pan-Hellenic rode the wave of momentum, crowds of: 11,500, 10,153, 14,521, 18,180 against Polonia, St George, Hakoah and APIA respectively in the back half of the 1968 season, catapulted the team into the Grand Final, Pan-Hellenic would unfortunately lose 4–2 to bitter rivals Hakoah in front of a crowd of 22,111 at the Sydney Sports Ground.

To bring the decade to a close in 1969, Pan-Hellenic would have to settle for a mid-table 6th-placed finish. The club also experienced another great Cup run making it to the Final once again in 1969, a Final it would ultimately lose 3–2 to Prague.