PAOK FC
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| Full name | Πανθεσσαλονίκιος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών Panthessalonikeios Athlitikos Omilos Konstantinoupoliton (Pan-Thessalonikan Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans) | ||
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| Nickname(s) | TOURKOI, GIFTOI
ground = PAOK Stadium, Toumba, Thessaloniki, Greece | ||
| Founded | 1926 | ||
| Capacity | 28,701 | ||
| Chairman |  Theodoros Zagorakis | ||
| Manager | Georgios Paraschos | ||
| League | Super League Greece (Σούπερ Λίγκα Ελλάδα 2007) | ||
| 2006-07 | Super League Greece,6th | ||
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PAOK FC (Greek: ΠΑΟΚ - Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών - Panthessalonikeios Athlitikos Omilos Konstantinoupoliton), the Pan-Thessalonikan Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans, is a Greek association football club based in Thessaloniki, Greece.
Established in Thessaloniki in 1926 by Greek refugees from Constantinople and Pontus in the aftermath of the Greco-Turkish War, PAOK has become one of the biggest football clubs in Greece.
The club currently competes in the Super League Greece.
History
The Foundation
PAOK is the historical continuation of the Hermes (Greek: Ερμής - Ermis) Sports Club, which was formed in 1875 by the Greek community of Pera, a district of Constantinople. It was the need of Constantinople’s Greek residents to express and support their spirit within Turkey that led to the creation of this club. The club won cup after cup proving that although the Greeks were a minority they continued to have a strong presence in the sporting sector. However, that situation did not last long and most players were forced to flee leaving behind a team consisting of residents of Constantinople renamed Politakia. Those who fled settled in Thessaloniki and in 1926 established PAOK which translated means the Panthessalonikian Athletic Club of Constantinople. The twin-headed eagle of the Byzantine Empire combined with mourning black and white, a window onto the future, symbolizing their struggle for tomorrow and the victories they intended to win. This club history stretching back to the 19th century in effect makes PAOK one of Greece’s oldest athletic clubs.
The club’s first charter was approved on 20th April 1926 by means of decision of the Thessaloniki Court of First Instance (No. 822).PAOK's first emblem adopted in 1926 was a four-leaved clover and a horseshoe. The leaves were green with the letters PAOK marked on each of them, a symbol devised by Kostas Koemtzopoulos(president of Pera Club) who took the idea from a packet of cigarettes he smoked.
The club’s founding members were A. Angelopoulos, A. Athanassiadis, K. Anagnostidis, M. Ventourellis, F. Vyzantinos (second Chairman), A. Dimitriadis, D. Dimitriadis, N. Zoumboulidis, M. Theodosiadis, T. Ioakimopoulos, P. Kalpaktsoglou, T. Kartsambekis, D. Koemtzopoulos, K. Koemtzopoulos, P. Kontopoulos, K. Kritikos, M. Konstantinidis, P. Maletskas, I. Nikolaidis, L. Papadopoulos, F. Samantzopoulos, T. Tsoulkas, M. Tsoulkas, S. Triantafyllidis, T. Triantafyllidis (who was also its first Chairman).
After 2 months of preparation by the team following the club’s establishment it was decided that the team should compete against the other teams in Thessaloniki.The first match of the club was a win against Iraklis Thessaloniki on 26th July 1925 by 2-1.Two weeks later PAOK lost 5-2 to the champion of Thessaloniki, Aris.
The vision of the club’s founders and the whole Paok community of establishing a home ground became reality in 1928 following much effort and thus on 12th December 1930 the Syntrivaniou Football Ground was officially opened. This was followed by a friendly match against Aris with PAOK winning 2-1.
The first professional contract was a document of historic importance. It was signed by the Club on 5th September 1928. The contract stipulated that the footballer Etien who had come from the Constantinople club Peraclub would be paid 4,000 drachmas per month. The contract was singed by Dr. Meletiou (PAOK Chairman) and Mr. Sakellaropoulos, Hon. Secretary.
Merging with AEK Thessalonikis
Until 20th March 1929 the two clubs were rivals, competing against each other although both had been established by refugees from Constantinople. It was the Chairman of AEK AEK Thessalonikis,- which had been established in 1924-25 by the first wave of refugees who had come to Thessaloniki from Constantinople in 1922 - , Dr.Musa,who brokered the merger between Thessaloniki’s two refugee teams.
Following the merger with AEK Thessalonikis in 1929, PAOK changed its emblem. The new emblem became the Eagle, which it remains to this day, and symbolizes the arrival of the club and the return to the roots and heritage of the refugees (Byzantium and Constantinople). The Eagle holds a sword and a crown, with its two heads looking East and West. The difference between this emblem and that of AEK Athens, (which is also the symbol of the Eastern Orthodox Church), is that PAOK’s emblem has its wings folded and the colours are black and white (as opposed to AEK Athens Spread wings, yellow and black which is the Original Byzantium Eagle), signifying mourning for expulsion from the homeland.
The first foreign coach in the history of the team was the German Rudolph Ganser, who served with PAOK for the 1931-1932 season.
Decades 1940,1950
Following World War II and the German Occupation of Greece, the team known as the ‘Double-Headed Eagle of the North’ entered upon a shining chapter in its career starting at the beginning of the 1950s. Willi, an Austrian coach (1950-1952) who had worn the PAOK jersey in 1931-1932 established a young talent academy within the club which gave rise to leading names who later left their mark such as Leandros, Symeonidis, Giannelos, Margaritis, Giorgos Havanidis, and others.
1953 marked the beginning of PAOK’s golden age. During the summer transfer period, Kouiroukidis, Petridis, Progios, Geroudis, Kemanidis, Hourvouliadis, Hasiotis and Angelidis all joined the club. PAOK became all-powerful, taking the Thessaloniki championship for 3 successive years and becoming a worthy representative of Greece’s second largest city in the national championship. The legendary trio Yientzis, Kouiroukidis and Papadakis went down in history!
During 1957 the club managers envisioned a new football ground worthy of the team’s performance since the old ground had been annexed by the state. The search for a site led to the choice of a piece of land belonging to the National Defence Fund in the Toumba neighbourhood of eastern Thessaloniki, which in addition to offering unlimited free space was also an area closely associated with refugees from Asia Minor. A total area of 30,000 m2 was acquired by PAOK for a significant price, and construction of the new football ground began. Lottery tickets were even issued to aid construction of the new stadium, which was eventually opened on 6th September 1959 by the Minister of National Defence, Mr. G. Themelis. Before the first kick off an Air Force plane dropped a ball on a fly-past as a symbolic donation from the armed forces. Thanks to its new, large football ground, PAOK was ready to start a brilliant career which has lasted to this day, starting with the 1st Division established in October 1959.
At the opening of the 1st Division’s first championship on 25th October 1959 PAOK welcomed the Katerini team Megas Alexandros beating them 3-1. The team line-up was as follows: Zarko Michailovic (Yugoslavian) and Progios, Hasiotis, Raptopoulos, Giannelos, Kemanidis, Havanidis, Leandros, Kiourtzis, Kouiroukidis, Salousto and Nikolaidis.
1960-Today
The success of the 50's was followed by a decade during which PAOK had an average performance. One could say that it was as if it were building up its strength to unleash it during the 1970s, when the team became established as one of the best ever to play at Greek football grounds with players whose names became legens for Greek football. It was a team and players who set records which even today are difficult to beat. Thanks to the team PAOK put together it managed to strike a blow to the traditional football powers of Athens, and took the cup twice in 1972 and 1974, and a championship in 1976 and could have won more trophies if the teams of Athens weren't constantly favored by the system. PAOK became established as Northern Greece’s greatest team with thousands of fanatical fans. In Europe it performed exceptionally well during the 1973-74 season, qualifying for the quarter finals of the Cup Winner’s Cup but was knocked out in the end by Italian team Milan. PAOK’s excellent performance continued during the 1980s with very few unsuccessful seasons. The high point came mid-decade when the team won its second Greek Championship in 1985, its first title since Greek football turned professional.
Characteristic of the 1980s was the excessive fanaticism of the fans, which reached levels never seen before and which began to move beyond Greece becoming a European-wide phenomenon. However, the obsession shown by fans also had a downside, translating in quite a few cases into episodes which entailed penalties being imposed on the club. At European level, PAOK made a memorable appearance against Bayern Munich, where it was knocked out on penalties, possibly one of the best-ever performances by a Greek team in a European cup. The 1990s started well with PAOK firmly among the top three teams in Greece. However, it was stigmatized by an extremely average-to-poor team performance under the chairmanship of T. Voulinos, who came into direct conflict with the fan club following serious episodes during a PAOK – Paris St. Germain match in Uefa Cup , which led to PAOK’s exclusion from european competitions for 5 years and very soon to financial ruin. In 1996 the change long demanded by PAOK fans came about. Thomas Voulinos handed over the reigns of the club to Giorgos Batatoudis and an air of optimism was tangible everywhere in Thessaloniki. Numerous transfers of well-known players such as Zisis Vryzas, Spyros Marangos, Kostas Fratzeskos and others took place from the first season under new management. In 1997 PAOK eventually found a place in the UEFA Cup and team coach Angelos Anastassiadis (a legendary PAOK footballer from the past) made his debut on the PAOK bench. The team’s reappearance at European level was marked by the elimination of legendary team Arsenal with a 1-0 win in Tumba stadium and a 1-1 draw at Arsenal's home ground.
The following year Anastassiadis was dismissed and Oleg Blachin took his place only for a few months only as fans demanded the urgent return of Anastassiadis. He stayed for a season, succeeded by Ari Haan and then in December by Dusan Bajievic who took over the reigns.
PAOK had firmly established its position among the teams that play in Europe every year but that was no longer enough. A place in the Champions League was the next target. The team’s next steps were taken in 2001 with a win in the Greek Cup after 25 years in an unforgettable final against Olympiacos. Playing at Nea Philadelphia,Athens PAOK thrashed the then champions 2-4.
However, financial problems continued to plague the club and the team started to underachieve. Angelos Anastassiadis returned to the PAOK bench as coach in the summer of 2002. The season led to winning of yet another Cup (the second in the last three years) at the Toumba Stadium by defeating arch-rivals Aris 1-0.
However, the following season PAOK -under the excellent management of Anastasiadis and although in accordance to a tight financial policy(in order to decrease it's debts) many key players left over the summer (Georgiadis, Okkas, Kafes)- managed to secure it's participation in the qualifying rounds of following year's Champions League by finishing third in the championship. Although key PAOK managed to secure its participation
Despite great optimism among PAOK fans, the team failed to qualify for the 2004-2005 Champions League group stage, as they were knocked out by Maccabi Tel Aviv on a two-legged tie. After several more bad results, manager Anastasiadis resigned.
Current squad
| Number | Nationality | Player | Position | Birth Year | Previous Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | |||||
| 1 | 
|
Daniel Fernandes | GK | 1983 | Celta de Vigo |
| 33 |
|
Kyriakos Tochouroglou | GK | 1972 | Olympiakos |
| 40 |
|
Dimitris Kyriakidis | GK | 1986 | Kavala FC |
| Defenders | |||||
| 2 |
|
Nikos Arabatzis | DR/AMR | 1984 | Panserraikos |
| ?? | 
|
Alan | SW/DC | 1979 | Rio Branco |
| 15 |
|
Stelios Malezas | DC | 1985 | AEP Katerini |
| 44 | 
|
Ilias Haralambous | DL/DMLC | 1980 | AC Omonia |
| 45 |
|
Xristos Melissis | DC/DMC | 1982 | Panserraikos |
| Midfielders / Wingers | |||||
| 10 | 
|
Antonio González | ML | 1982 | Murcia |
| 18 |
|
Lambros Vagelis | DM/AMC | 1982 | AC Siena |
| 25 |
|
Sotiris Balafas | DMC | 1986 | Anag. Artas |
| 27 |
|
Husein Mumin | DMC | 1987 | Panthrakikos |
| 28 |
|
Stelios Iliadis | DMLC | 1986 | Apollon Kal. |
| 31 |
|
Pantelis Kostandinidis | DL/AML | 1975 | Panathinaikos |
| 46 |
|
Giorgos Georgiadis | AMR/FR | 1972 | Iraklis |
| 29 |
|
Lazaros Hristodoulopoulos | AMC/FC | 1986 | AS Neapoli |
| ? |
|
Baiano | AMRC | 1984 | ? |
| ? |
|
Vasilis Lakis | AMR | 1976 | AEK FC |
| Forwards | |||||
| ? |
|
Zisis Vryzas | FW | 1973 | Xanthi |
| 29 | 
|
Sandor Torghelle | FW | 1982 | Panathinaikos |
Official Squad Information (in Greek)
2007 Transfer In
Alan Free from Rio Branco
Notable Players
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Notable CoachesMany famous coaches both Greeks and foreigners have served PAOK throughout its rich history. Some of the most important and successful are the following:
Interesting facts:
Domestic Honors1st Division ChampionshipGreek CupWinners: 1972, 1974, 2001, 2003 Runners-up: 1939,1951,1955,1970,1971,1973,1977,1978,1981,1983,1985,1992 (record) European CampaignsPAOK FC have played in the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup on many occasions, and made a name for themselves, both for their fanatically obsessed fans, and for eliminating a handful of European teams. PAOK's best Cup Winner's cup performance was in the 1973/74 season, when PAOK reached the quarter finals of the competition. Eliminating Legia Warsaw and Olympique Lyonnais on the way, PAOK were finally eliminated by A.C. Milan. After a 3-0 defeat at the San Siro,PAOK was confined to a thrilling 2-2 draw at Toumba Stadium. Milan would later reach the final, only to lose it to 1. FC Magdeburg. PAOK's most memorable appearance in the UEFA cup was on September the 30th, 1997, when PAOK managed to qualify to the second round at the expense of Arsenal FC. Having won by a single goal in Thessaloniki, PAOK was facing the prospect of going into extra time with 10 men and in foreign ground, with Arsenal leading 1-0 in Highbury with an early goal by Dennis Bergkamp. Yet three minutes from the end, a great individual effort from Zisis Vryzas provided the equaliser and PAOK qualified by 2-1 on aggregate. Yet the club was eliminated in the second round by Atletico Madrid (5-2 in madrid and 4-4 in thessaloniki) in a tie that was marked by the two spectacular free-kicks scored by PAOK's specialist, Kostas Frantzeskos, both home and away. PAOK's last good UEFA Cup campaign was in the 2001/2002 season, reaching the third round, only to be eliminated at the hands of PSV Eindhoven. Having eliminated Kärnten FC (4-0 on aggregate) and FK Marila Příbram (4-3 on aggregate), PAOK managed to defeat PSV in Toumba by 3-2. Yet they were thrashed 4-1 in the return leg at Eindhoven, leaving them two goals behind on aggregate, in a night that PAOK fans ponder as full of missed chances. This was the second time in two years that PAOK was eliminated in the competition by PSV. PAOK FC also holds the record for the most consecutive UEFA Cup appearances, having qualified for the UEFA Cup ten times in a row from 1995 to 2005. This record was broken in 2006, as PAOK were banned by UEFA from taking part in the 2006/2007 season of the UEFA Cup, because of the club's long-unsettled debts.
FacilitiesName: PAOK Stadium (Toumba Stadium) Location: Toumba District, Thessaloniki Year Built: 1959 Capacity: 28701 seats Ownership: A.S. PAOK See also
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