The purpose of this article is to highlight and discuss the strategies used to diffuse and manage a primary ELT innovation in Greece, strategies that proved essential for developing stakeholders' acceptance and ownership of the innovation, thereby facilitating its further development and sustainability. The PEAP Programme, launched in 2010, involved the introduction of EFL in the first and second grades of public primary schools in Greece. The extent of its impact and acceptance by teachers and other stakeholders was unexpected given the fact that the project was developed and implemented within a context of social and political instability and massive public sector and economic reform. The strategies reported in this article have implications for the successful management and implementation of primary EFL innovations in Europe and elsewhere.