He was the son of klepht captain Sotiris. He became close friends with the renowned klepht Panagiotaros. During Ottoman period this place was the refuge of local anti-Ottoman insurgents known as Klepht. Athanasios was forced to flee into the nearby mountains and become a klepht. He was probably a "kachak" or "klepht" fighting the Ottomans in Epirus region. The club's badge portrays the Greek Klepht/Armatolos from the Greek War of Independence, Georgios Karaiskakis.