Kavala Football Club was formed on 24 September 1965 from the merger of three local clubs: Iraklis Kavala, Filippoi Kavala and AEK Kavala. The club's emblem, an ancient trireme, was chosen to reflect the city's maritime tradition, with the oars representing the players, the sails the management, and the wind the supporters. The club is known to fans by two nicknames, "Blue Argonauts" and "Light Brigade of the North," and enjoyed its most successful era in the 1970s, when it spent twelve years in Greece's top division between 1969 and 1982.