PAOK Saloniki

PAOK Saloniki is a football (soccer) club from Greece.

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PAOK FC, is a Greece Football (soccer) club based in Thessaloniki, Greece. PAOK Saloniki currently competes in the Super League Greece. PAOK has spent its entire history playing in the top division, winning 2 league championships (1976, 1985) and 4 cups (1972, 1974, 2001, 2003). PAOK also holds the record as a runner-up in the Greek cup (12 times). According to a 2008 research, about 11.4% of all active Greek football fans support PAOK, with PAOK Saloniki's strength being mainly in Thessaloniki, where support is about 50%, and the rest of Northern Greece, where support is close to 40%.

History

- Foundation

PAOK is the historical continuation of the Hermes 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 Greek spirit within Turkey that led to the creation of this club. PAOK Saloniki 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 Constantinopolitans. A Double-headed eagle,combined with mourning black and white. 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 20 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:
), F. Vyzantinos (2nd Chairman), A. Angelopoulos, G. Minos, L.Kouklentes, M. Sougias, A. Athanasiadis, K. Anagnostidis, M. Ventourellis, 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

- Local

After 2 months of preparation by PAOK Saloniki following PAOK Saloniki's establishment it was decided that PAOK Saloniki should compete against the other teams in Thessaloniki. The first match of PAOK Saloniki was a win against Iraklis_FC on 26 July 1925 by 2-1. Two weeks later PAOK lost 5-2 to their worst rivals, Aris_Thessaloniki_F.C..

The vision of PAOK Saloniki's founders and the whole PAOK community of establishing a home ground became reality in 1928 following much effort and thus on December 12, 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 5 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 signed by Dr. Meletiou (PAOK Chairman) and Mr. Sakellaropoulos, Hon. Secretary.

Until March 20, 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 Thessaloniki's 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 Thessaloniki's in 1929, PAOK changed its emblem. The new emblem became the Double-headed eagle, which it remains to this day, indicating the heritage of the refugees (Constantinople).
The difference between the PAOK eagle and the Byzantine eagle, is that PAOK's emblem has its wings folded and the colors are black and white, signifying mourning for expulsion from the homeland.

The first foreign coach in the history of PAOK Saloniki was the German Rudolph Ganser, who served with PAOK for the 1931-1932 season.

Following World War II and the German Occupation of Greece, PAOK Saloniki known as the ‘Two-Headed Eagle of the North’ entered upon a shining chapter in its career starting at the beginning of the 1950s. Willi Sevcik, an Austrian coach (1950-1952) who had worn the PAOK jersey in 1931-1932 established a young talent academy within PAOK Saloniki 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, winning 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 PAOK Saloniki 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 Square metre 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 6 September 1959 by the minister (government) 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 25 October 1959 PAOK welcomed the Katerini team Megas Alexandros beating them 3-1. The team line-up was as follows: Zarko Mihailovic (Serbian) and Progios, Hasiotis, Raptopoulos, Giannelos, Kemanidis, Havanidis, Leandros, Kiourtzis, Kouiroukidis, Salousto and Nikolaidis.

The success of the 50s 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 in the 60s to unleash it during the 1970s.

- European

The team became established as one of the best ever to play at Greek football grounds with players whose names became legendary for the Greek football. It was a team which set several records, organised by the legendary president Giorgos Pantelakis. During that time, when the democratic political system had collapsed (1967-1974), PAOK was not only a football power, but it also became an antidictatorship power and Toumba stadium a place where the citizens-fans used Anti-junta slogans. PAOK managed to strike a blow to the traditional football powers of Athens, winning the Super League Greece in 1975-76 in Greek football and the Greek football Cup twice, in 1971-72 in Greek football and 1973-74 in Greek football. In Europe, PAOK made their best performance ever, qualifying for the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1973-74, where they were knocked out by the Italian team A.C. Milan. In PAOK in 1976 Gate 4 was created.

PAOK's excellent performance continued during the 1980s with very few unsuccessful seasons. The high point came mid-decade when PAOK Saloniki won its second Greek Championship in 1985, its first title since Greek football turned professional. Another characteristic of the '80's was the excessive fanaticism of the fans, which reached levels of Hooliganism never seen before yet began to move beyond Greece becoming a Europe-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 Thomas Voulinos, who came into direct conflict with the fan club following serious Hooliganism episodes during a PAOK – Paris St. Germain match in UEFA Cup, which led to PAOK's exclusion from UEFA European competitions for 5 years and very soon to financial ruin. In 1996 the change long demanded by PAOK fans came about. Voulinos handed over the reins of PAOK Saloniki to Giorgos Batatoudis and an air of optimism was tangible everywhere in Thessaloniki. Numerous transfers of well-known players such as Zisis Vryzas, Spiros Marangos, Kostas Frantzeskos 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 Anastasiadis (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 team's appetite for wins. After the elimination of legendary team Arsenal FC with a 1-0 win in Toumba Stadium and a 1-1 draw at Arsenal's home ground historic Highbury stadium. PAOK was eliminated on the next round by the then powerful Atlético Madrid.

The following year Angelos Anastasiadis was dismissed and Oleg Blokhin took his place only for a few months, as fans demanded the urgent return of Anastasiadis. He stayed for a season, was then succeeded by Ari Haan and then in December by Dusan Bajevic(Serbian) who took over the reins.

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 UEFA 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 PAOK Saloniki and PAOK Saloniki started to underachieve.
Angelos Anastasiadis 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.

Nevertheless, the following season PAOK - under the excellent management of Anastasiadis and although in accordance to a tight financial policy (in order to decrease its debts) many key players were bought by then league champion Olympiacos (Georgiadis, Okkas, Kafes) - managed to secure its participation in the qualifying rounds of following year's Champions League by finishing third in the championship.

Despite great optimism among PAOK fans, PAOK Saloniki failed to qualify for the 2004-2005 UEFA Champions League group stage, as they were knocked out by Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. after the Greek club fielded a suspended player (Liassos Louka, a Cypriot midfield player who was still serving a two-match ban for his sending-off in a UEFA Intertoto Cup tie for former club Nea Salamis FC against FK Austria Wien on 8 July 2000) during the 1-2 UEFA Champions League third qualifying round first-leg defeat by the Israeli team. PAOK was punished with 3-0 loss and didn't manage to "turn the tables" in the second leg match (4-0 aggregate loss). After several more bad results, coach Angelos Anastasiadis resigned.

- The Renaissance

In the summer of 2007, Theodoros Zagorakis became the new chairman of PAOK Saloniki replacing the hated Yiannis Goumenos and thus ushered in a new era. One of the first actions was to create a plan for tackling PAOK's massive crippling debts and bring in an established manager in the form of Fernando Santos (Portuguese footballer). In addition to that Zisis Vryzas decided to retire in the middle of the Super League Greece 2007-08 season and on January 6, 2008 played his last game. On the following day Vryzas became the Technical Manager of the team. PAOK became a well-organised club and as a result widely known players (like Sergio Conceicao, Pablo Contreras, Zlatan Muslimovic, Pablo Garcia) were transferred to PAOK Saloniki for the "rebirth". A new training center was announced to be built in Nea Mesimvria, Thessaloniki. In the 2008-09 season PAOK is doing perfectly well in the league, surprisingly being in the second position, after Olympiacos F.C.

General View

European Campaigns

PAOK FC have played in the UEFA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup on many occasions, and made a name for themselves - both for eliminating a handful of famous European teams, and for their fanatically obsessed fans, massively following PAOK Saloniki to almost every away game.

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.
Agter that, PAOK was tied with then-strong Atletico Madrid, yet everybody expected that PAOK would prove a difficult opponent for the Spaniards. This was not the case, however, as PAOK was demolished 5-2 at Vicente Calderon, paying dearly for their childish defensive errors, with Christian Vieri scoring a hat-trick. Despite this, PAOK chased what little chances they had in the return leg, and managed a memorable 4-4 draw. These games featured two spectacular free-kicks, one home and one away, scored by PAOK's dead-ball specialist, Kostas Frantzeskos.

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 FC Kärnten (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 defeated 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 holds the second place for UEFA Cup records and statistics Miscellaneous records in the UEFA Cup, one behind Club Brugge, having participated in the UEFA Cup nine times in a row from 1997-98 up to 2005-2006. PAOK missed the chance to tie with Brugge in 2006, as PAOK Saloniki was banned by UEFA from taking part in the UEFA Cup 2006-07 season of the UEFA Cup, despite having qualified, because of PAOK Saloniki's long-unsettled debts.

Honours

Domestic
- Super League Greece

- Greek football Cup

(- ) Record

Current Squad 2009-10

Out On Loan(Season 2009-10)

- Sotiris Balafas to PAS Giannina F.C
- Vangelis Georgiou to Panserraikos FC
- Stefanos Athanasiadis to Panserraikos FC
- Panagiotis Glikos to Olympiakos Volou
- Hussein Mumin to Panetolikos
- Giannis Pechlivanis to Panetolikos
- Dimitris Kyriakidis to Panserraikos FC
- Stelios Delibasis to Agrotikos Asteras
- Stauros Tsoukalas to Doxa Dramas

Notable Players

Many famous players both Greeks and foreigners have served PAOK throughout its rich history.

Bosnia & Hervegovina
- Rade Paprica

Brazil
- Neto Guerino
- Luciano de Souza

Cameroon
- Guy Feutchine

Chile
- Pablo Contreras

Colombia
- Adolfo Valencia

Cyprus
- Constantinos Charalambidis
- Elias Charalambous
- Panayiotis Engomitis
- Ioannis Okkas
- Yiasoumis Yiasoumi

England
- Mike Small

Georgia
- Omar Tetradze

Ghana
- Koffi Amponsah
- Ebenezer Hagan

Greece
- Anestis Afentoulidis
- Nikos Alavantas
- Alexis Alexiou
- Angelos Anastasiadis
- Achilleas Aslanidis
- Koulis Apostolidis
- Ilias Atmatzidis
- Stefanos Borbokis
- Vassilis Borbokis
- Lambros Choutos
- Lazaros Christodoulopoulos
- Giannis Damanakis
- Christos Dimopoulos
- Aristarchos Fountoukidis
- Kostas Frantzeskos
- Nikolaos Frousos
- Christoforos Gentzis
- Georgios Georgiadis
- Giannis Giakoumis
- Giannis Gounaris
- Kostas Iosifidis
- Pantelis Kafes
- Nikos Karageorgiou
- Anastasios Katsambis
- Panagiotis Katsouris
- Panagiotis Kermanidis
- Pantelis Konstantinidis
- Georgios Kostikos
- Giorgos Koudas
- Lampis Kouiroukidis
- Vassilis Lakis

- Kostas Lagonidis
- Spiros Marangos
- Georgios Mitsibonas
- Dimitris Markos
- Dimitris Nalitzis
- Kostas Orfanos
- Lefteris Papadakis
- Lakis Papaioannou
- Dimitris Paridis
- Stavros Sarafis
- Giorgos Skartados
- Leandros Symeonidis
- Christos Terzanidis
- Giorgos Toursounidis
- Panagiotis Tsalouchidis
- Apostolos Vasileiadis
- Stelios Venetidis
- Leonidas Vokolos
- Zisis Vryzas
- Theodoros Zagorakis

Hungary
- Sándor Torghelle

Italy
- Mirko Taccola

Ivory Coast
- Ibrahima Bakayoko

Liberia
- Joe Nagbe

Nigeria
- Ifeanyi Udeze

Peru
- Paul Cominges
- Percy Olivares

Poland
- Marek Koźmiński
- Mariusz Kukielka
- Marcin Mieciel

Serbia
- Milan Đurđević
- Mladen Furtula
- Goran Gavrančić

Slovakia
- Milan Luhový

- Momčilo Vukotić
- Angelos Anastasiadis¹ Greek Cup Winner, 2003.
- Dušan Bajević Greek Cup Winner, 2001.
- Arie Haan
- Oleg Blokhin
- Miroslav Blažević
- Thijs Libregts
- Walter Skocik Greek League Champion, 1985.
- Gyula Lóránt Greek League Champion, 1976.
- Les Shannon² Greek Cup Winner, 1972 and 1974.
- Jenő Csaknady
- Willi Sevcik
- Nikos Pagkalos

¹Anastasiadis is the only coach to win trophies with PAOK as both a player and coach. He won the 1974 Cup and the 1976 League Championship as a player and then the 2003 Cup as a coach.

²Lóránt died of a myocardial infarction while coaching a PAOK-Olympiacos derby (0-0 at the time of the incident, final score 1-0) on May 31, 1981, in Toumba Stadium.

Managerial Executives

PAOK FC Board of Directors
- President: Theodoros Zagorakis (Former Player-Captain-Recordman Of Greece national football team and PAOK FC)
- Vice President: Ilias Violidis
- General Director: Vassilis Gagatsis (Former Hellenic Football Federation President)
- Financial Director: Andreas Mandrinos
- Technical Director: Zisis Vryzas (Former Player Of Greece national football team and PAOK FC)
- Assistant Director: Andreas Mandrinos
- Organisation Director: Panagiotis Pikilidis

Stadium

Name: Toumba Stadium

Location: Toumba District, Thessaloniki, Macedonia (Greece), Greece

Year Built: 1959

Capacity: 28.701 seats

Ownership: AS PAOK

Used By: PAOK FC and PAOK Youth Team

Retired Numbers

Retired PAOK FC Numbers

- 17 – in honour of Panagiotis Katsouris, PAOΚ player that died in 1998 in a car accident.
- 12 – in honour of the fans, considered the "twelfth player" of PAOK Saloniki in the pitch.

AEK Athen, Aris Saloniki, Asteras Tripolis, Ergotelis, Iraklis Saloniki, Larisa, Levadiakos, OFI Kreta, Olympiakos, PAE Thrasivoulos Filis, Panathinaikos, Panionios, Panserraikos, Panthrakikos, PAOK Saloniki, Xanthi