A.E.K. (Greek: AEK [ˈaek], formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, Athletic Union of Constantinople), known as A.E.K., is a major Greekmulti-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Athens. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens.[1]
Established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople after the 1919–22 Greco-Turkish war and the subsequent population exchange between Greece and Turkey, it is one of the three most successful clubs in Greece. While it fields teams in many sports under the umbrella of its amateur sports arm, Amateur AEK (Greek: Ερασιτεχνική ΑΕΚ; Erasitechnikί AEK)
with A.E.K. Handball team to be the best Greek handball club in European achievements having obtained one EHF European Cup (in 2021) and having also reached to the finals (in 2018) and to the semi-finals (in 2019),
AEK sports club is best known for its professional football team which have made some notable wins on European competitions (participating at the Semi-final of Europa League in 1977), having also obtained 13 Greek Championships, 16 Greek Cups, 1 Greek League Cup, 2 Greek Super Cups) and also for the professional basketball team which has won the Greek Basket League eight times, the Greek Basket Cup five times, the FIBA Saporta Cup twice, once the FIBA Basketball Champions League and once the FIBA Intercontinental Cup.
The large Greek population of Constantinople, not unlike those of the other Ottoman urban centres, continued its athletic traditions in the form of numerous athletic clubs. Clubs such as Énosis Tataoúlon (Ένωσις Ταταούλων) and Iraklís (today Kurtuluş S.K.) (Ηρακλής) from the Tatavla district, Mégas Aléxandros (Μέγας Αλέξανδρος) and Ermís (Ερμής) of Galata, and Olympiás (Ολυμπιάς) of Therapia existed to promote the Hellenic athletic and cultural ideals. These were amongst a dozen Greek-backed clubs that dominated the sporting landscape of the city in the years preceding World War I. After the war, with the influx of mainly French and British soldiers to Constantinople, many of the city clubs participated in regular competition with teams formed by the foreign troops. Taxim, Pera, and Tatavla became the scene of weekly competitions in football, athletics, cycling, boxing and tennis.
Ermís, one of the most popular clubs, was formed in 1875 by the Greek community of the city.
Another club of Pera (Galata), known as Pera, since the mid-1880s, forced to change its name to Pera Sports Club, and then Beyoğlu S.K., in 1923. Many of its athletes, with those of the other sporting clubs, fled during the population exchanges at the end of the Greco-Turkish War, and settled mainly in Athens and Thessaloniki.[2]
In 1924, the founders of AEK - a group of Constantinopolitan refugees (among them many athletes from the Pera Sports Club and the other Constantinopolitan clubs) - met at the athletic shop "Lux" of Emilios Ionas and Konstantinos Dimopoulos on Veranzerou Street, in the center of Athens, and created AEK.[3] Their intention was to create a club that provided athletic and cultural diversions for the thousands of predominantly Constantinopolitan and Anatolian refugees who had settled in the new suburbs of Athens (including Nea Filadelfeia, Nea Ionia, Nea Chalkidona, Nea Smyrni).
Basketball team (1928)Volleyball team (1932)
AEK's first president, Konstantinos Spanoudis (1871–1941), a journalist and associate of the Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, petitioned the government to set aside land for the establishment of a sports ground. In 1926, land in Nea Filadelfeia that was originally set aside for refugee housing, was donated as a training ground for the refugees' sports activities. AEK began using the ground for training, albeit unofficially.
In 1930, the property where AEK trained was officially signed over to the club. Venizelos soon approved the plans to build what was to become AEK's home ground for the next 70 years, the Nikos Goumas Stadium. The liberal politician was present at the inauguration of the stadium.
AEK Athletic Club was established in 1924 and is one of the most successful departments of AEK. One of the first sections of the AEK athletic club was cycling. M. Kaloudis was a winner in the Balkan Games (in 1940 in Bucharest when he was third) and was one of the founders of the Chamber. He first appeared in 1929 and was followed by Petoun, Tarsinian and Krisalis. Another cycling ace was Kouvelis, who won the gold medal in the Balkan Games of 1940 in the race of 33 kilometers. Both Kaloudis and his Kouvelis participated in the Olympic Games in London in 1948.
1945–1960
In the Olympic Games of 1948 in London, M. Kaloudis led to the new excursion of AEK in cycling. At the beginning of the 1950s, the sport had blossomed and AEK competed with Panionios and Panathinaikos. The department then had a plethora of skilled cyclists as Davouti, Kouyioumtzis (won the race Athens-Loutraki 1952), Chatziargyri, Georgiadis, Arapi, Barda, Alexis, Tzioti, Barla, Trasian, etc.
AEK Table Tennis Club acquired the third position, both in men and in young men championships, in Greece in 1959. AEK Athens Table Tennis (ping-pong) Club, participated in Greek championships during the decades of 1950s, 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
AEK Athens V.C. is the volleyball team of the Greek sports club AEK. It was re-founded in 1967 by Jason Platsi. Over the years AEK have struggled to stay in the top flight of Greek volleyball, competing in A2 (Greece's second division) and A1.
The Boxing Club was founded in 1969 and during the 1970s had its first success.
1971–1980
The football team, with star player the striker Thomas Mavros, reached the semi-finals of UEFA Cup in 1977, where they were eliminated by Juventus. The Italian team eventually won the trophy.
AEK Table Tennis Club acquired the third position in Greek Cups of 1984 and 1985. The relevant department of AEK was inactive for almost 23 years (1986–2009).
The biggest success for the boxing department came in the late 1990s, with Tigran Ouzlian, Artur Mikaelyan and Mike Arnaoutis (who became a professional boxer in the United States).
2001–2010
AEK chess club (2008)AEK boxing
AEK H.C. is also another growing department of AEK. It was founded by a decision of the General Assembly of AEK on July 12, 2005. On August 5, 2005, the Greek Handball Federation accepted a merger of GA Ilioupolis with the Handball Sports Union of Constantinople. In 2007 AEK HC was 3rd in A1 and gained the first participation in European Cups. On 31 May 2009, AEK HC won the Greek Cup in Serres.
The department of AEK Futsal Club was established in 2008 by a merger with Enosi Geraka futsal team and participated in B'Ethniki (second division), where it finished first at the regular season and second after play-off games. However, for the period 2009–10 AEK futsal club is playing again at B'Ethniki, due to a decision taken by EPO (Greek Football Federation), forbidding all team mergers generally. AEK Futsal Club terminated at second position of B'Ethniki after play-off games in April 2010 and gained the participation in A'Ethniki (first division) for the period 2010–11 and has been advanced to the semi-finals of the Greek Cup (2011).
The Chess department was founded by a decision of the General Assembly of AEK on 12 July 2005. The department staffed directly by 3 September 2005 is a member of the Greek Chess Federation. In 2006 AEK Chess Club was Greek Cup finalist and in 2008 Greek Cup semi-finalist (third place). Also won the Attica Cup in 2006 and the Attica Rapid Championships in 2006, 2009 and 2010. In 2010 participated at A' Ethniki (1st Division) and took the seventh place.
AEK VC had its finest moment with coach Stelios Prosalikas, as has prevailed in the final four of the European Cup Winners Cup. The races held (9–10 March 2000) in the closed Nea Liosia and AEK lost in the semi-final by Cuneo, but won 3–1 Galatasaray in the small final and won the third place.
In 2023, AEK Futsal Women's department won a national treble after winning the Hellenic Futsal Championship, Cup, and Super Cup.
Crest and colours
Since the club's foundation AEK adopted the image of a double-headed eagle on a golden yellow background. The emblem and colours were chosen as a reminder for the lost homelands and they represent the club's historical ties to Constantinople. Its usage also survived as a decorative element in the Greek Orthodox Church, which was the inheritor of the Byzantine legacy during the Ottoman Empire, while it remained a popular symbol among Greeks. In modern Greece various variations of the two-headed eagles are used in Church flags (based on Byzantine flag patterns and heraldic emblems) and officially by the Hellenic Army; the bird found also its way into the Greek coat of arms for a brief period in 1925–1926.[5]
Sport departments
AEK is an amateur multi-sports club with the mission to create and advance as many sports as it is possible and its main professional and semiprofessional teams operate independently.
_pictogram.svg){kind=small}
_pictogram.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.png)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.JPG)
