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PAOK FC
(GREECE) |
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PAOK FC,
Panthessalonikios Athlitikos Omilos Konstantinoupoliton Football Club stands
for Panthessalonikian Athletic Club of Constantinople and is a Greek
football club, founded in Thessaloniki in 1926. It was a continuation of the
Hermes Athletic and Cultural Association of Constantinople (Istanbul) which
was founded in 1875, and transferred to Thessaloniki when the Greek
population of Turkey was expelled in the 1920s.
History
PAOK is the historical continuation of the Hermes Athletic and Cultural
Association from Constantinople established by Greek residents of the city
in 1875. It is located in the very heart of the city, in the Pera area. The
need of Constantinople’s Greek residents to express and support their
Hellenism within Turkey was what led to the creation of this club. In 1923
following the Asia Minor Catastrophe when the Turks expelled countless
Greeks from the coastal regions of Turkey, the Greeks of Constantinople
renamed their club Peraclub in line with the new constitution adopted by
Kemal Ataturk. Despite this blow to Hellenic culture in Turkey, which was
forced to take the path of the refugee and to abandon its traditional home,
Peraclub continued its sporting struggle, promising to continue to do so as
long as there were Greeks left in Constantinople.
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, retaining the symbols of their ‘Greekness’, the twin-headed
eagle of the Byzantine Empire combined with mourning black to symbolize the
tragic history of the Greeks in Turkey and white, the colour of optimism, 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 but
also means that it shoulders a heavy historical burden.
The club’s first charter was approved on 20th April 1926 by means of
decision of the Thessaloniki Court of First Instance (No. 822). However,
PAOK had in effect been established a year earlier when it took part in the
Thessaloniki Championship where it was unfortunately demoted to the 2nd
Division, a demotion which forced the founders of the club to bolster it
substantially.
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 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).
PAOK’s first Board of Directors serving between 1926 and 1927 consisted of :
1) T. Triantafyllidis (Chairman), 2) P. Kalpaktsoglou (1st Vice-Chairman),
3) A. Athanassiadis (2nd Vice Chairman), 4) K. Kritikos (Hon. Secretary), 5)
M. Tsoulkas (Secretary), 6) T. Ioakimopoulos (Treasurer), 7) A. Angelopoulos
(Football Steward), 8) M. Konstantinidis (Director) and 9) S.
Triantafyllidis (Director).
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 desire to see the new team compete led many to the Iraklis
Football Ground on 26th July 1925 where it won 2-1. Two weeks later PAOK
lost to the champion of Thessaloniki, ARIS 5-2.
In 1927 PAOK’s first anthem was heard: "We are the praiseworthy children of
Constantinople who play outstanding football; overflowing with joy like no
other team. Our system is to pass the ball, and at the season’s end to
reckon up how many goals we have scored and how many we have let in. We have
everything, yes everything: studs, boots, shorts, black tops and kneepads,
to drive the young girls crazy. We fear no one not even ARIS or Iraklis,
because we have skilful Ventourellis as our chief."
The vision of the club’s founders and fans of the team of establishing a
home base 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 the home team 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
The decision to merge with the club AEK Thessaloniki can also be considered
to be of historic importance. 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, Dr. Karamaounas,
who brokered the merger between Thessaloniki’s two refugee teams. The main
figures behind the idea and its implementation were Fanourios Vyzantios and
Pantelis Kalpaktsoglou who had defected from AEK Thessaloniki, which had
been established in 1924-25 by the first wave of refugees who had come to
Thessaloniki from Constantinople in 1922. Certain members of AEK
Thessaloniki headed south to the capital upon the merger to found the
modern-day team AEK.
Following the merger with AEK 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 (which is also the symbol of the Eastern Orthodox Church) is that
PAOK’s emblem has its wings folded signifying mourning for expulsion from
the homeland.
The first foreign coach in the history of the team, German Rudolph Ganser,
who served with PAOK for the 1931-1932 season.
Following World War II and the German Occupation of Greece, the team known
as the ‘Twin-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 compulsorily purchased. The
search for a site led to the choice of a plot belonging to the National
Defence Fund in the Toumba neighbourhood, which in addition to offering
unlimited free space was also an area of Thessaloniki 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 over 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 premier of the 1st Division’s first championship on 25th October 1959
PAOK welcomed the Katerini team Megas Alexandros beating it 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
This was followed by a decade during which PAOK had an average performance.
One could say that it was as if it was building up its strength only 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
legends 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 in 1974 and a championship in 1976 and could have
won more trophies if the circumstances were different. 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 Cupholder’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 and its
first professional title since Greek football had changed course towards
professional games
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
moving appearance against Bayern Munich, where it was knocked out on
penalties leaving in the mind of all Greeks one of the best appearances 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 the PAOK – Paris St. Germaine match, which led to PAOK’s exclusion
and very nearly to financial ruin. In 1996 the change demanded by PAOK fans
came about. Thomas Voulinos handed over the baton 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 made his debut on the PAOK bench. The team’s
reappearance at European level was accompanied by the resounding exclusion
of legendary team Arsenal.
The following year Anastassiadis was dismissed and Oleg Blachin took his
place for a few months only since the 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 Olympiakos.
Playing at Nea Philadelphia PAOK thrashed the former champions 4-2.
However, financial problems continued to plague the club and acted as a
brake on the efforts of the team’s footballers to achieve even greater
targets.
Angelos Anastassiadis returned to the PAOK bench as coach in the summer of
2002. The season led to another great triumph with a win in the Cup for a
second time in three years at the Toumba Stadium against ARIS 1-0.
However, it was the following season that held much more in store and which
rocketed the team skyward. Although key players left over the summer
(Georgiadis, Okkas, Kafes) PAOK managed to secure its participation in the
qualifying rounds of the Champions League taking third place
Toumba Stadium
Name: Toumba Stadium Location: Toumba, Thessaloniki Year Built: 1959
Capacity: 28701 seats Ownership: PAOK Sports Club Spectator Record: 45.252
(19/12/1976, PAOK FC vs. AEK FC: 0-0)
Information:
The stadium was named from the location that it was built. The capacity of
the stadium was for years over 40,000 seats. In 1998 seats were reduced to
32,000. The introduction of security zones in 2000 further reduced capacity
to 28,701.
Toumba's Stadium is one of the official Olympic Training Venues for the
football tournament of the 2004 Olympic Games. Stadium will be renovated by
the time of the Games. Toumba Stadium will be renovated by the time of the
Games.
The «new» stadium will include: a new four-floor building, which will be
built behind gates 1, 2 and 3. This will host a number of VIP suites and
lounge, presswork areas, press conference rooms, offices etc. a new metal
roof, which will replace the old one over the west stand. An impressive
metal construction will decorate the outside look of the new building and
roof. This will hold a special net, on which advertising banners can be
supported. repairs and a full renovation of the existing stadium facilities. |
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