But how did the nicknames "vazelos" and "anchovy" come about?
"Vaselos"
Regarding the nickname of Panathinaikos, there are two versions about its origin.
According to the first, the designation "Vaselos" prevailed in 1965, when in a derby of "eternals", the fans of the "red and whites" smeared the bench of Panathinaikos with Vaseline, shortly before the start of the match.
According to the second point of view, this characterization was given to the fans of Panathinaikos by those of Olympiakos. As is well known, the "green" followers traditionally come from the upper social strata, while the "red and whites" from the lower. As the first ones used to use bragantin (a type of jelly) in their hair, the Piraeus people jokingly described them as "jerks", likening the jelly to Vaseline.
"Anchovy"
As for the nickname of the "red and white" fans, if we look at it etymologically, we find that it does not come from the fish "anchovy", but from the "anchovy or anchovy" which is called on the one hand the horse that is ready for race and on the other the proud people and are specially strung for magic and courtship. Karyotakis, in his work states: "Older anchovies also become". In ancient Greek the adjective the anchovy, the anchovy means the adjective, the brave, the arrogant.
Of course, there is the version that states that the name appeared around 1965, in a derby of "eternals" in "Apostolos Nikolaidis". Specifically, the fans of Panathinaikos welcomed the "red and white" football players with fish boxes full of anchovies, which they had stolen from the port of Piraeus, as a sign of imposition and superiority.