Foundation and golden years: 1920–1950 (1930) The club was established as a football club ("Podosferikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis") by a group of 22 young friends in a coffee bar in Votsi area on 25 March 1914 and given the name Aris from
Ares, the ancient god of war. Its nickname was inspired by the two
Balkan Wars of 1912–1913, when Greece fought against the
Ottoman Empire before engaging in a war with Bulgaria. In Greek mythology, Aris was a deity who was in conflict with
Heracles, the mythological character after which Aris's rival football team,
Iraklis, was named. Aris holds a fierce rivalry with PAOK. At first, the club was based on a near the
Arch and Tomb of Galerius, but after the accession of two minor football clubs in 1919 and 1921 the club's base was moved near to Flemming Street of eastern Thessaloniki. The first stadium was built on the site where Mars Field Park currently lies on Stratou Avenue. Quickly the club became very popular and soon new teams apart from football were established. During this early stage of football in Greece no professional league was established. Instead, three minor leagues [in
Macedonia (E.P.S.M.),
Athens (E.P.S.A.) and
Piraeus (E.P.S.P.)] were created, with the champions of each league competing in a postseason mini tournament to claim the title of the national champion. The first official game was held in 1923 against
Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki (Alexander the Great), another Thessalonician team. That year marked the first title, when Aris was named regional champion of Macedonia, something that was repeated next year. In 1926 the club was renamed "Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki" to include also other sports than football. Aris' first major success was between 1927 and 1928 when they won the first Greek Championship, beating finalists Atromitos and Ethnikos Piraeus exploiting the abstention from the championship teams of RECs. In the first race on 24 May, the team of Thessaloniki prevailed 3–1 Atromitos, while three days after losing to Ethnikos Piraeus 3–2. In iterative matches played in June in Thessaloniki, Aris won both of his opponents by 3–1 and thus crowned the first champion of Greece. Coach of the team was the German Thomas Kessler, and prominent players of Aris were, among others, Kostas Vikelidis, Savvas Vogiatzis that emerged and top scorer with six goals,
Nikolaos Angelakis, scorer of the finals with four goals and Dionysis Caltech. The following year, it was held the final stage of national championships although Aris won the championship title in Thessaloniki, playing two matches barrage against PAOK. The first took place on 12 May 1929 and ended 1–1, while the second was held on 2 June with Aris to beats 4–3, having Angelakis scoring a hat-trick. On 20 April 1929, the first friendly match took place between Aris and Panathinaikos, the "yellows" to defeat 5–4.
The second championship came four years later in 1932, only this time his opponents were
Olympiacos, Panathinaikos,
AEK Athens, Ethnikos Piraeus, PAOK and Iraklis. Aris managed to collect 22 points in this mini tournament, four more than the second, Panathinaikos, scoring large wins like 7–0 against Panathinaikos, 7–3 against Iraklis and 3–0 versus AEK Athens and Olympiacos in Athens, also new star players emerged, Kitsios, Angelakis, Vogdanou, Gigopoulos, while Belgian manager De Valer guided effectively the club. Four years after winning the first Panhellenic title, the "yellows" won the championship. Aris became champion amassing a total of 22 points, four more than second
Panathinaikos and scoring big wins like 7–0 against Panathinaikos with four goals Maywood, 6–1 on Apollon Athens with six goals in the Angelakis' first home appearance with the first group of Kleanthis Vikelidis, 7–3 vs Iraklis with four goals Kitsos and away 0–3 over Olympiacos, PAOK and AEK. Leading scorer of the league emerged Nikos Kitsos with 15 goals and Nikos Angelakis to 14. Big stars of that team were Kitsos, Angelakis, Kaltekis, and Vogdanou Gikopoulos while coach De Valera. That same year, the EPO instituted for the first time the Greek Cup, Mars crashing Panathinaikos 7–2 in the quarterfinal. This was followed by victory over Apollon Athens, to reach the final where they lost 5–3 from AEK Athens, losing the chance to win the first doubles.
Aris won their third title in 1946, playing against two teams, AEK Athens and Olympiacos, champions of Athens and Piraeus, respectively. Aris beat Olympiacos twice, scoring two goals and conceding none; came to a draw with AEK in Athens and defeated them in PAOK's stadium in Thessaloniki (score 4–1). Aris has not won a championship since the establishment of the First Division (1959). Up to 1959, when the first national division was established, Aris managed to finish first 14 times in the Macedonian division.
Modern times (1950–1981) Aris' status remained high during this period, which was marked by the construction of the club's homeground, the
Kleanthis Vikelides Stadium, named after the legendary
homonymous player. Before World War II, Aris' homeground was located in the center of the city, near the
Thessaloniki International Fair, but was abandoned in 1936 in order for the
Pedion tou Areos park (
Mars Field) to be created. The club managed to buy some land during 1951 in a quarter of the city named
Charilaou, where the new Stadium was slowly built. Also in 1959, the tripartite minor league system was abandoned and a new, unified Championship was created. The club's accomplishments during these years were significant. It was one of the first teams in Greece to qualify for European tournaments. Under the leadership of
Alexandros Alexiades,
Giorgos Pantziaras and
Takis Loukanidis.
1970 Cup Winners Aris earned high placings in the League during the 1960s and 1970s, with apex the
1970 Cup against the club's fierce rival, PAOK, in
Kaftanzoglio Stadium. In the 1970s, Aris was reorganized and a vast number of young players from Thessaloniki, including
Kouis,
Firos,
Drambis,
Zindros and
Papafloratos led the club. Its most important achievements during that period included a successful
1980 UEFA campaign when Aris eliminated
Benfica and
Perugia. Aris was also the first Greek club to score a victory both in Italy and Portugal. At home, the team shared first place with Olympiacos at the end of the
1979–80 season, though it lost the title 2–0 in a tie-breaker against the Piraeus club in Volos National Stadium.
Stone years (1981–2006) After the mid-1980s and the retirement of the club's honored old guard, Aris entered in a slow decline, rarely reaching European league qualification or notable Greek League position, which—in combination with appreciable financial troubles that left the club near bankruptcy—led to the club's relegation to the Second Division in 1997 and 2005. Both times though Aris managed to resume its place in the first division.
Aris Members' Society era (2006–2014) , manager of the club (2009–2011). In recent years, specially after the creation of an
Aris Members' Society that controls the club's fortunes, Aris has qualified several times for the
UEFA Europa League, finished fourth in the Super League three times, and has reached in the
Greek Cup Final four times, losing in 2003, 2005, 2008 and 2010, when 25,000 Aris fans went to Athens in the biggest ever move of fans in Greece. In 2008 and 2010 Aris made it through to the
UEFA Europa League group stage after eliminating
Real Zaragoza and
Austria Wien respectively during the
Cup's play-off rounds. During the
2010–11 UEFA Europa League they managed to play for the first time in club's history in Europe after Christmas, after a very good appearance in the
group stage where they won 1–0 at home and 2–3 away and eliminated the
title holders Atlético Madrid. Recent developments include the interest from the club's board to construct a new, modern stadium in eastern Thessaloniki Metropolitan Area to replace the obsolete Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium and the modernization and expansion of the club's training facilities in Neo Rysio, Thessaloniki. Also, in a unique move for Greek standards, the board decided in December 2009 to establish a radio station,
Aris FM 92.8 in order to promote the communication between Aris fans around the country and the coverage of the clubs activities. In 2014, due to financial problems Aris was relegated to the third tier of Greek football.
Relegation After their relegation many were wondering who was going to take care of the team. American business man Alex Kalas emerged the first season with him in charge of the football department while they failed to gain promotion to the
Football League. In summer 2015 where the next elections for the role of head of football department Kalas won again and promised to put more money into the club. Kalas also made a number of signings, Honduran legend
Carlos Costly,
Sierra Leone international
John Kamara, Spaniard
Guillermo Pérez Moreno, Portuguese footballer
Fábio Ruben Moreira Tavares, defender
Paschalis Melissas and defender
Stavros Petavrakis. Due to Aris failing to get into the second division Kalas was sacked despite only being there for a month. Aris would have to play another year in
Gamma Ethniki. While in the
Gamma Ethniki, the team demanded that the
Hellenic Football Federation allow them to be promoted to a higher level of Greek football. The federation declined to do this and several appeals against the decision were rejected. As a result, 10,000 fans took to the streets on the 26 and 31 August 2015 in Thessaloniki to protest the decision. These protests caused clashes between the police and the fans that led to arrests and Aris didn't manage to get promoted to the professional divisions.
Karipidis era Although after the Aris election Arvanitidis became leader of the football department, Theodoros Karipidis was named the head of football department the day afterwards. He signed many players in a few days including former Greek footballer of the club
Andreas Tatos, former
Real Madrid defender
Raul Bravo club legend
Sergio Koke, as well as many
Super League quality players like
Kostas Kaznaferis,
Vasilios Rovas,
Nikos Tsoumanis,
Giannis Siderakis as well as many others. Theodoros Karipidis appointed
Nikos Anastopoulos as the manager. During the 2015–16 season Aris managed to be promoted to the second division of Greece with a 21-point difference from the second club. Finally, Irene Karypidis became the major shareholder with overwhelming proportion over 89%. ==Club culture, supporters and rivalry with PAOK ==