The stadium's history dates back to 1931, 25 years before its actual establishment. On the 4th of November 1931 Lysimachos Kaftanzoglou, an outstanding diplomat and jurist, writes his testimony and leaves all his property for the erection of a monument for the Panhellenic Hero in Thessaloniki to honour those who fought for freedom ever since the capture of Constantinople. Among those heroes was also the grandfather of Lysimachos Kaftanzoglo , called Ioannis Goutas Kaftanzoglou, a member and financier of the Philiki Etairia. This decision of Lysimachos Kaftanzoglou was meant to lead to the erection of the Stadium, since it was thought that the city of Thessaloniki was in great need for modern sport structures.
The leading man in this decision was the then Prime Minister of Greece, Konstantinos Karamanlis, as well as the Thessalonician publisher and politician Petros Levantis. In order, however, to abide by the spirit of the benefactor's testimony it was decided to erect busts of the Kaftanzoglou family within the premises of the stadium. Indeed, a 1956 legislative decree defines that the property of Lysimachos Kaftanzoglou Foundation will be disposed for the erection of a stadium. The funds offered by the Lysimachos Kaftazonglou Foundation amounted to 22 million drachmas, a huge property at that time. Another 14 million drachmas were offered by the General Sport Secretariat, while the Municipality of Thessaloniki offered 24,500 m2 land and another 85,000 m2 were offered by the Greek state.
The establishment of the stadium took place on the 26th of October 1956, both a commemoration day of the city's liberation and a celebration of the city's patron saint, Agios Dimitrios. The works proceeded quite fast and after just four years and one day, i . e . on the 27th of October 1960, the stadium was inaugurated before 40,000 viewers.
