PAOK FC, 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.
Răzvan Lucescu is a Romanian professional football manager and former player, who is currently managing Greek Super League club PAOK.
The 2007–08 season was the 84th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 49th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup, the Champions League and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 15 August 2007 and finished on 14 May 2008.
The 2010–11 season was the 87th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 52nd consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Europa League. The season began on 19 August 2010 and finished on 25 May 2011.
The 2016–17 season was the 93rd season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 56th competitive season and second consecutive in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League. The season began on 28 July 2016 and finished on 31 May 2017.
Vasilios Vasilakos is a Greek former professional footballer, who played as an attacking midfielder.
The 2019–20 season was the 96th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 59th competitive season and fifth consecutive in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League, the Greek Cup and the Europa League. The season began on 8 August 2019 and finished on 12 September 2020.
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 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 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 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 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 broke his leg", meaning that it was almost impossible for his team to lose. However, PAOK won the match by 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 and member of the coaching staff of PAOK, Mladen Furtula whispered to Kokkalis that the devil indeed broke his leg that day and the latter responded with a laugh. The manager of PAOK, Dušan Bajević became the first in history to win the trophy with three different clubs, as he had previously won it in 1996 with AEK Athens and in 1999 with Olympiacos.
The 2016 Greek Cup final was the 72nd final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 17 May 2016 at the Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were Olympiacos and AEK Athens. It was Olympiacos' thirty ninth Greek Cup final and second consecutive, in their 91 years of existence and AEK Athens' twenty first Greek Cup final of their 92-year history. On 5 April 2016, FIFA Emergency Committee decided to provide the Greek authorities with a deadline to have the cancellation of the competition reversed before 15 April 2016 or the HFF would face an automatic suspension. The Greek authorities announced on deadline day that the Greek Football Cup will be resumed after an agreement reached with FIFA, UEFA and HFF. A new schedule with the remaining match was announced with the final being played on 7 May 2016, but the final was later postponed to 15 May 2016. It was again postponed to 17 May 2016.
The 2017 Greek Cup final was the 73rd final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 6 May 2017 at Panthessaliko Stadium. The contesting teams were 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 the Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were 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 2020 Greek Cup final was the 76th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 12 September 2020 at Panthessaliko Stadium. The contesting teams were AEK Athens and Olympiacos. It was AEK Athens' twenty fifth Greek Cup final and fifth consecutive, of their 96-year history and Olympiacos' fortieth Greek Cup final in their 95 years of existence. The final was originally scheduled for 26 July and was postponed to 30 August because of Olympiacos' pressure in HFF to change the stadium from Georgios Kamaras Stadium to Olympic Stadium and after the refusal of the Hellenic Police in the first stadium. The final was rescheduled for 30 August in the Olympic Stadium, but it was postponed again because 2 days before the game Olympiacos' player, Maximiliano Lovera was tested positive for COVID-19. The final was rescheduled again for 12 September at Panthessaliko Stadium. Due to the delay of the match, the teams had to compete without the players acquired from the 2020 summer transfer period, by decision of the UEFA. With their defeat, AEK Athens achieved negative record of four consecutive lost Cup finals, surpassing that of Panathinaikos that lost three staight Cup finals from 1997 to 1999.
The 2022 Greek Cup final was the 78th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 21 May 2022 at the Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were 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 96-year history. The game was marked by incidents and specifically, when Aitor after scoring for Panathinaikos celebrated in front of the stands of the PAOK ultras. As a result, he a stone was thrown to his hand, injuring him with tensions occuring between the players of both teams immediately after. The refere interrupted the match and in fact, as he headed to the locker room, he was holding the stone that hit the player.
The 2023 Greek Cup final was the 79th final of the Greek Cup. It took place on 24 May 2023 at Panthessaliko Stadium. The contesting teams were AEK Athens and PAOK. It was AEK Athens' twenty-seventh Greek Cup final in their 99 years of existence and PAOK's twenty third Greek Cup final and third consecutive, of their 97-year history. After the continuous refusals of the mayor of Volos, Achilleas Beos to grant Panthessaliko Stadium to host the match, as the proclamation dictated, a series of consultations occurred about the venue of the match throughout the season. The HFF, examined many proposals which included stadiums from the United States, England, Germany, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Cuprus, Albania and stadiums all over Greece. Eventually, Beos accepted and it was decided at 12 May that the match would take place at Panthessaliko Stadium.
The 1995 Greek Cup final was the 51st final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 19 April 1995 at the Olympic Stadium. The contesting teams were Panathinaikos and AEK Athens for a second time in row. It was Panathinaikos' twenty-first Greek Cup final and third consecutive in their 87 years of existence and AEK Athens' fourtheenth Greek Cup final and second consecutive in their 71-year history. In contrast to the sensational last season's final of the two teams, this year's match was marked by incidents on and off the pitch, by the moment that the referee, Filippos Bakas awarded a penalty in favour of Panathinaikos a few minutes before the end of extra time. This event caused protests, expulsions and riots between fans of both teams with a total of 21 arrests by the police. Furthermore, certain footballers of AEK Athens denied to attend the title ceremony. Bakas managed to escape from the players of the yellow-blacks with a torn sleeve but a few days later a group of strangers attacked him in a street near to the airport of Elliniko. A couple of days after the final, the president of AEK, Dimitris Melissanidis had a phone call with Bakas live on the TV, with the referee implying the invomvent of Melissanidis in his beating with president of AEK responding that the only thing he knows is that the referee is showing his "red underwear" all over Greece.
