Athens Kallithea

The club was founded on 18 August 1966 from the merger of five local clubs: Esperos, Iraklis, AE Kallitheas, Kallithaikos, and Pyrsos.

In 1970, Kallithea's Grigoris Lambrakis Stadium, named after the Greek liberal politician and peace activist Grigoris Lambrakis, was opened to the public.

Under co-managers Kostas Nestoridis and Takis Papoulidis, Kallithea clinched their first promotion to Greece's second division with a 1-0 playoff win over AO Koropi on a goal by Giannis Maxouris in extra time on 21 June 1969.

Kallithea’s victory over Koropi had political significance in dictatorial Greece. During the rule of the Greek junta, the Secretary General of Sport Costas Aslanidis had planned a reform of the football map that would eliminate clubs opposed to the regime — including Kallithea. When Kallithea defeated regime-favored Koropi, there were mass celebrations in the streets, with BBC Radio calling it “the first defeat of the junta.”

On 28 April 2002, Kallithea clinched their first promotion to Greece's top division with a 0-1 win over Chalkidona FC at Neapoli Stadium on a goal by Theofanis Gekas.

The club's first win in the competition was a 3–2 upset of PAOK at Toumba Stadium, thanks to two goals from Gekas, on 14 September 2002.

After four seasons in the top flight, Kallithea were relegated in the 2005-06 season.

In August 2021, New York-born Greek-American Ted Philipakos, a former Chief Executive Officer and Chief Brand Officer at Venezia FC, led the takeover of Kallithea FC with his brother and former professional footballer Peter Philipakos and investor Andrew Barroway.

In the 2021-22 season, Kallithea finished second in Super League 2, seven points back of league winners Levadiakos for promotion to Super League 1, which was the club's most successful season since it last appeared in the top division in 2005–06.

In September 2022, the club rebranded as Athens Kallithea FC. The presentation of the club's rebranding was met with widespread acclaim in Greece and abroad, with London-based Versus calling it "one of the cleanest football rebrands ever."

In the 2022-23 season, AKFC missed out on promotion to Super League 1 by one point, finishing second in Super League 2 for the second consecutive season.

After two consecutive second-place finishes, AKFC were crowned 2023-24 Super League 2 South Group champions and earned promotion to the Super League, returning to the top flight for the first time in 18 years. The promotion was clinched in a 1-1 draw with second-place Chania at Grigoris Lamprakis Stadium in the penultimate round of the season on 9 May 2024, after Argentinian defender Nicolás Marotta headed in from Javier Matilla's free-kick to level the match. Giannis Loukinas was the team's leading scorer in the promotion-winning campaign, scoring nine goals during the regular season and nine goals in eight promotion playoff matches.