PAOK FC, commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional football club based in Thessaloniki, Macedonia. PAOK are one of the top domestic clubs, the most widely supported in Northern Greece and with the third largest fanbase in the country, according to the latest polls and researches. A research by Marca in August 2018, reported that PAOK are the most popular Greek football team on social media.
Panathinaikos Football Club, known as Panathinaikos, or by its full name, and the name of its parent sports club, Panathinaikos A.O. or PAO, is a Greek professional football club based in Athens, Greece.
The 1971–72 Greek Football Cup was the 30th edition of the Greek Football Cup. The competition culminated with the Greek Cup Final, held at Karaiskakis Stadium, on 5 July 1972. The match was contested by PAOK and Panathinaikos, with PAOK winning by 2–1.
The 2012 Greek Cup final was the 68th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 28 April 2012 at Olympic Stadium, between Atromitos and Olympiacos. It was the second consecutive Greek Cup final for Atromitos, in their 89 years of existence and Olympiacos' thirty sixth Greek Cup final of their 87-year history.
The 1976–77 season was PAOK Football Club's 51st in existence and the club's 18th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. The team entered the Greek Football Cup in first round and also competed in the European Cup.
The 1983–84 season was PAOK Football Club's 57th in existence and the club's 25th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. The team entered the Greek Football Cup in first round and also participated in the UEFA Cup.
The 1989–90 season was PAOK Football Club's 63rd in existence and the club's 31st consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. The team entered the Greek Football Cup in first round.
The 1990–91 season was PAOK Football Club's 64th in existence and the club's 32nd consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. The team entered the Greek Football Cup in first round and faced Sevilla in the UEFA Cup.
The 1994–95 season was PAOK Football Club's 68th in existence and the club's 36th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. The team entered the Greek Football Cup in first round. By finishing 3rd in the league, PAOK would normally qualify for the next season's UEFA Cup, but Apollon Athens who finished 4th replaced them, because the club was carrying a 1-year ban from European competitions after being charged by UEFA for the eventful match against Paris Saint-Germain on 1 October 1992. PAOK conceded only 3 goals in 17 matches at home during the 1994–95 Alpha Ethniki.
The 2010 Greek Cup final was the 66th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 24 April 2010 at Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were Panathinaikos and Aris. It was Panathinaikos' twenty seventh Greek Cup final in their 102-year history and Aris' ninth Greek Cup final in their 96 years of existence. Aris achieved a record of most mass movement of fans in Greece. About 25,000 Aris' fans followed their team to the Olympic Stadium forming a queue of many kilometers on the Thessaloniki-Athens highway from a number of buses, as well as cars. It was characteristic that the last vehicle of the procession arrived at the stadium three hours after the arrival of the first.
The 2009 Greek Cup final was the 65th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 2 May 2009 at 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. It was the last match for Olympiacos' captain, Predrag Đorđević as a footballer, having spent 13 years of his 17 years playing for the club.
The 2008 Greek Cup final was the 64th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 17 May 2008 at Kaftanzoglio Stadium. The contesting teams were Olympiacos and Aris. It was Olympiacos' thirty-third Greek Cup final in their 83 years of existence and Aris' eighth Greek Cup final in their 94-year history. It was the last match of the referee, Giorgos Kasnaferis before his retirement, as he whistled in 4 of the last 8 cup finals.
The 2005 Greek Cup final was the 61st final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 21 May 2005 at Pampeloponnisiako Stadium. The contesting teams were Olympiacos and Aris. It was Olympiacos' thirty first Greek Cup final and second consecutive in their 80 years of existence and Aris' seventh Greek Cup final in their 91-year history. It was the first time that the match was held outside Athens or Thessaloniki Prefecture. It is characteristic that Aris had already been relegated to the second division during his presence in the final, with the result that the competitive and psychologically superior Olympiacos reached the conquest of the cup and consequently the double, while Dušan Bajević reached the 4th cup win as a coach. The following season, Aris, as a cup finalist played in the UEFA Cup thus becoming the first and only second division team in Greece that ever competed in any European competition.
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-year history and Olympiacos' twenty ninth Greek Cup final and second consecutive in their 77 years of existence. 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 2001 Greek Cup final was the 57th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 12 May 2001 at Nikos Goumas Stadium. The contesting teams were Olympiacos and PAOK. It was Olympiacos' twenty-ninth Greek Cup final in their 76 years of existence and PAOK's fifteenth Greek Cup final in their 75-year history. A draw was preceded on 19 April to determine in which stadium/city the final would be hosted: Nikos Goumas Stadium in Athens or Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki. Several days before the game, Olympiacos president Sokratis Kokkalis made a memorable statement using a Greek expression that Olympiacos would lose the upcoming final only if the devil would break his leg, meaning that it was almost impossible for his team to lose. However, PAOK won the match 4–2 with an impressive performance and earned the trophy 27 years after their last success, in the same stadium against the same opponent. During the awarding ceremony, former goalkeeper of PAOK Mladen Furtula whispered to Kokkalis that the devil did break his leg that day and Kokkalis responded with a laugh. PAOK manager Dušan Bajević, became the first in history to win the trophy with three different teams. He also won it with AEK Athens in 1996 and Olympiacos in 1999.
The 2017 Greek Cup final was the 73rd final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 6 May 2017 at Panthessaliko Stadium, between PAOK and AEK Athens. It was PAOK's eighteenth Greek Cup final in their 91 years of existence and AEK Athens' twenty second Greek Cup final and second consecutive, of their 93-year history. The HFF announcement for the 2016–17 Greek Cup mentioned the Olympic Stadium as the host for the final, but PAOK had clarified that they did not want to play at AEK Athens' home stadium, suggesting the Pankritio Stadium, however, the Federation chose the Panthessaliko Stadium. It was a stadium that until the completion of the semi-finals, did not actually exist on the table. The people of Thessaly Football Clubs Association quickly made the decision to submit a file after the qualification of PAOK to the final. In fact, within two hours, they tilted the plate in favor of conducting the game in their area, submitting a complete file. So it was decided that the final would take place at Volos with fans of both clubs and special constructions for the security in the conduction of the match. However, the match was marked by incidents between the fans of both clubs in the streets, inside and outside the stadium, where also was an invasion on the pitch by PAOK fans before the beginning of the match which resulted in punishment on both clubs for the next season.
The 2018 Greek Cup final was the 74th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 12 May 2018 at Olympic Stadium, between AEK Athens and PAOK for a second time in row. It was AEK Athens' twenty third Greek Cup final and third consecutive, of their 94-year history and PAOK's nineteenth Greek Cup final and second consecutive, in their 92 years of existence.
The 2019 Greek Cup final was the 75th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 11 May 2019 at Olympic Stadium, between 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.
The 2021 Greek Cup final was the 77th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 22 May 2021 at Olympic Stadium, between Olympiacos and PAOK. It was Olympiacos' forty-first Greek Cup final and second consecutive, in their 97 years of existence and PAOK's twenty first Greek Cup final of their 96-year history.
The 2022 Greek Cup final was the 78th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 21 May 2022 at Olympic Stadium, between Panathinaikos and PAOK. It was Panathinaikos' twenty-ninth Greek Cup final in their 114 years of existence and PAOK's twenty second Greek Cup final and second consecutive, of their 97-year history.
