PAOK FC, short for "Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans", and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional football club based in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. PAOK are one of the top domestic clubs, the most widely supported in Northern Greece and the current Greek Super League champions.
A.E.K. Football Club, known simply as A.E.K in Greece and AEK Athens internationally, is a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica, Greece.
Dimitris Saravakos, nicknamed "the Kid", is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a forward. Saravakos is widely considered to be one of the greatest Greek footballers of all time and a Panathinaikos' legend. The IFFHS chose him in the best XI of all time of Greek football in 2021.
Vasilis Dimitriadis is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a striker.
The 1979–80 Greek Football Cup was the 38th edition of the Greek Football Cup.
The 1993–94 Greek Football Cup was the 52nd edition of the Greek Football Cup.
The 1994–95 Greek Football Cup was the 53rd edition of the Greek Football Cup.
The 1996–97 season was the 73rd season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 38th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup, the Greek Super Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The season began on 11 August 1996 and finished on 25 May 1997.
The 2021–22 season was the 98th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 61st competitive season and seventh consecutive in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the Europa Conference League. The season began on 22 July 2021 and finished on 17 May 2022.
The 1999–2000 season was the 76th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 41st consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 7 August 1999 and finished on 27 May 2000.
The 1994–95 season was the 71st season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 36th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup, the Greek Super Cup and the UEFA Champions League. The season began on 10 August 1994 and finished on 3 June 1995.
The 2009 Greek Cup final was the 65th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 2 May 2009 at the Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were AEK Athens and Olympiacos. It was AEK Athens' nineteenth Greek Cup final in their 85-year history and Olympiacos' thirty fourth Greek Cup final and second consecutive in their 84 years of existence. With 8 goals, including 2 turnarounds and a penalty shoot-out of 29 penalties in total, the match was widely considered as the most entertaining final in the tournament. It was the last match for the captain of Olympiacos, Predrag Đorđević as a footballer, having spent 13 years of his 17 years playing for the club.
The 2004 Greek Cup final was the 60th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 8 May 2004 at Nea Smyrni Stadium. The contesting teams were Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. It was Panathinaikos' twenty sixth Greek Cup final in their 96 years of existence and Olympiacos' thirtieth Greek Cup final in their 79-year history. The final was originally scheduled to take place at the Pampeloponnisiako Stadium in Patras, but at the last minute the approval for its performance was not given after the refusal of the Achaia Police Department, for fear of provoking incidents by the fans of both teams and even a few months before the Olympic Games, and Patras was among the Olympic cities. Finally, following recommendations from the Minister of Public Order, George Voulgarakis, that the final should be held within the Attica Basin for the best possible policing, it was decided to take place at the Nea Smyrni Stadium, as the Olympic Stadium, due to upcoming games, was in the final phase of its reconstruction. Initially, the mayor of Nea Smyrni and president of the amateur Panionios, George Koutelakis, expressed his opposition and refusal to concede the stadium and for security reasons the number of tickets available for sale was limited.
The 2002 Greek Cup final was the 58th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 27 April 2002 at Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were AEK Athens and Olympiacos. It was AEK Athens' seventeenth Greek Cup final in their 78 years of existence and Olympiacos' twenty-ninth Greek Cup final and second consecutive in their 77-year history. For the 5th and last time, the President of the Republic, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, honored the final with his presence, awarding the trophy to the players of the winning team.
The 2013 Greek Cup final was the 69th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 11 May 2013 at the Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were Olympiacos and Asteras Tripolis. It was Asteras Tripolis' first ever Greek Cup final in their 72 years of existence and Olympiacos' thirty seventh and second consecutive Greek Cup final of their 88-year history. The match was marked by the bad refereeing of Athanasios Giachos, who deprived Asteras Tripolis the chance of winning the trophy on multiple occasions, once at the 68th minute, with the score at 1–1, the midfielder of Olympiacos, Maniatis saved a header from Sankaré pushing it back with his hand over the goal line, with the referee and his assistant turning a blind eye to the violation and indicating play on. Another was at the 117th minute, when the midfielder of Olympiacos, Fejsa fouled Rayos inside the area and no penalty was awarded. On the contrary, in the following phase the referee awarded Olympiacos a penalty, even though he was 40 meters away from the spot of the foul that was clearly outside the area. Several fans of the "red and whites" left the stadium before the award ceremony, as an act of bitterness over their club's loss.
The 2019 Greek Cup final was the 75th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 11 May 2019 at the Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were PAOK and AEK Athens for a third time in row. It was PAOK's twentieth Greek Cup final and third consecutive, in their 93 years of existence and AEK Athens' twenty fourth Greek Cup final and fourth consecutive, of their 95-year history. For security issues, the match occurred behind closed doors with 1,500 invitations been distributed by both clubs and the HFF. With their conquest of the Cup, PAOK achieved the first double in their history.
The 2022–23 season was the 99th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 62nd competitive season and eighth consecutive in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League and the Greek Cup. The season began on 20 August 2022 and finished on 24 May 2023.
The 2000 Greek Cup final was the 56th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 10 May 2000 at the Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were AEK Athens and Ionikos. It was AEK Athens' sixteenth Greek Cup final in their 76 years of existence and Ionikos' first-ever Greek Cup final of their 35-year history. A remarkable moment of the match was at 32nd minute while score was at 0–0, AEK Athens took the lead with Demis Nikolaidis scoring with his hand. The referee did not realize the violation and ran towards the center of the pitch, but the player approached him and told him that he should not count the goal, explaining what exactly had happened. As a result, the goal was canceled and Nikolaidis was shown a yellow card for handball. Nikolaidis was later honored for his fair play by the International Olympic Committee.
The 1998 Greek Cup final was the 54th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 29 April 1998 at Karaiskakis Stadium. The contesting teams were Panionios and Panathinaikos. It was Panionios' sixth Greek Cup final in their 108 years of existence and Panathinaikos' twenty fourth Greek Cup final and second consecutive in their 90-year history. For the first time in the history of the institution, the president of Greece, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos graced the final with his presence, also awarding the trophy to the captain of Panionios, Leonidas Vokolos, who shortly after signed with his opponent in the final, Panathinaikos.
The 1988 Greek Cup final was the 44th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 8 May 1988 at the Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were Olympiacos and Panathinaikos. It was Olympiacos' twenty-fourth Greek Cup final in their 63 years of existence and Panathinaikos' seventeenth Greek Cup final in their 80-year history. Both clubs were extra motivated for the title since were out of the championship race and were looking for a ticket to the UEFA competition. The match went into penalty shoot-out where the goalkeeper of Panathinaikos, Nikos Sarganis emerged as the hero for his team, saving two penalties and scoring one. In a future interview, the Greek goalkeeper revealed that the owner of Olympiacos, George Koskotas attempted to bribe him for reduced performance in the final. That would be the second time Koskotas was accused for attempted bribery, as he did the same as well on Theologis Papadopoulos and Vasilios Vasilakos of AEK Athens at the round of 16.
