The early years (1924–1959) , first president of AEK. The large Greek population of
Constantinople, not unlike that of the other Ottoman urban centres, continued its athletic traditions in the form of numerous athletic clubs. Clubs such as
Énosis Tatávlon () and
Iraklís () from the
Tatavla district,
Mégas Aléxandros () and
Ermís () of
Galata, and
Olympiás () of
Therapia existed to promote
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's clubs participated in regular competitions with teams formed by foreign troops.
Taxim,
Pera, and Tatavla became the scene of weekly competitions in not only football, but also athletics, cycling, boxing, and tennis. is on the left. Football in the city was dominated by Énosis Tatávlon and Ermís. Ermís, one of the most popular sports clubs, was formed in 1875 by the Greek community of Pera (Galata). Known as "Pera" since the mid-1880s, and "The Greek Football Team" when their football department was formed in 1914, they were forced to change its name to "
Pera Sports Club", and then "Beyoğluspor Kulübü" in 1923. Many of its athletes, and those of most other sporting clubs, fled during the population exchanges at the end of the
Greco-Turkish War, settling in Athens and
Thessaloniki. The founders of AEK – a group of Constantinopolitan refugees (among them former athletes from the Pera Sports Club and the other Constantinopolitan clubs) – met at the athletic shop "Lux" owned by Emilios Ionas and Konstantinos Dimopoulos on Veranzerou Street, in the centre of Athens, and created
AEK. 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). The first AEK team was:
Goalkeeper Kitsos; Defenders Ieremiadis and Asderis; Midfielders Kechagias, Paraskevas, Dimopoulos, and Karagiannidis; and Forwards Baltas, Milas, Ippiadis, and Georgiadis. AEK played their first match against
Aias Athens on 23 November 1924, where they won by 2–0. AEK's football team grew rapidly in popularity during the 1920s, eclipsing the already-established Athens-based refugee clubs (
Panionios,
Apollon Athens, etc.), thanks mainly to the large pool of immigrants that were drawn to the club, the significance of the name "Constantinople" for many refugees and Greeks, plus, in no small part, to the political connections and wealth of several of the club's board members. Not possessing a football ground, AEK played most of its early matches at various locations around Athens, including the grounds of the
Temple of Olympian Zeus and the
Leoforos Alexandras Stadium. AEK's first president, Konstantinos Spanoudis, 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, which 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 1928, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, and AEK began a dispute with the fledgling
Hellenic Football Federation (EPO), decided to break away from the Athens regional league, and formed an alliance called
POK. During the dispute, POK organised friendly matches against each other and several continental European clubs. In 1929, though, the dispute ended and AEK, along with the other POK clubs, entered the EPO fold once again. 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
AEK Stadium. The first home game, in November 1930, was an exhibition match against Olympiacos that ended in a 2–2 draw. In 1932, AEK won their first Greek Cup title, beating
Aris 5–3 in the final. The team boasted a number of star football players like
Kostas Negrepontis (a veteran of the original Pera Club of Constantinople),
Kleanthis Maropoulos,
Tryfon Tzanetis,
Michalis Delavinias,
Giorgos Mageiras and
Spyros Sklavounos. The club's mixed success during the 1930s was highlighted by the first Greek Championship and Greek Cup (winning the double) in 1939. Under former player Kostas Negrepontis as manager, AEK also won the Greek Championship of 1940. On
28 October 1940 all sports competitions were interrupted due to the
Greco-Italian War. In a battle at
Pogradec, the player of AEK, Kostas Valvanis was badly injured by a
mortar bomb, while
Alekos Chatzistavridis seriously injured his leg during a battle in
Tepelenë. After the
Battle of Greece and during the
Axis occupation of Greece sporting events were scarce. In the spring of 1942 Panathinaikos and AEK were to give a friendly match to raise money for a hospital but were asked to give part of the revenue to the occupation forces, which the captains of both clubs,
Kritikos and Maropoulos refused it turned into one of the largest protests of the time. The match became known as the
"Resistance Derby". In June 1944 AEK player
Spyros Kontoulis was killed by the
Nazi forces during his attempt to escape while being transported to
Kaisariani in order to be executed for being part of the resistance. Under manager
Jack Beby, along with new players such as
Kostas Poulis,
Goulios and
Pavlos Emmanouilidis, AEK won the Cup of 1949 and 1950, beating Panathinaikos by 2–1 and Aris by 4–0. AEK won also the AFCA championship in 1950, but the Panhellenic Championship was not played, due to obligations of the national team. The early 1950s saw the addition of star footballers such as
Giannis Kanakis,
Andreas Stamatiadis and
Stelios Serafidis. In 1955, AEK signed the best player of his era,
Kostas Nestoridis, but his former team
Panionios did not consent to the transfer, thus Nestoridis was banned for two seasons, due to the law of the time. In his first season at the club Nestoridis showing his class, finished as the top scorer of the league, while AEK won the Cup in 1956, defeating Olympiacos by 2–1 in the final.
The early Alpha Ethniki years (1959–1974) With
Kostas Nestoridis scoring goals in the early 1960s (top goalscorer for 5 seasons in row, from 1958 to 1963), and the timely signing of attacker
Mimis Papaioannou (the club's all-time top goalscorer and record appearance maker) in 1962, AEK went on to win the 1962–63 championship. Known affectionately as "Mimis" by the AEK supporters, Papaioannou scored twice in the 1963 playoff against Panathinaikos, leveling the score at 3–3 and giving AEK its first post-war championship on goal aggregate. Coached by Hungarian-German
Jenő Csaknády, the championship team also consisted of
Stelios Serafidis,
Miltos Papapostolou, and
Andreas Stamatiadis. Youngsters like
Alekos Sofianidis,
Stelios Skevofilakas,
Giorgos Petridis, and
Manolis Kanellopoulos played a significant role in the victorious 1963 campaign. The club followed up with Cup victories in 1964 and 1966. With the return of Csaknády to the position of the manager in 1968 and the addition of prominent players like
Kostas Nikolaidis,
Giorgos Karafeskos,
Panagiotis Ventouris,
Fotis Balopoulos,
Spyros Pomonis,
Alekos Iordanou,
Nikos Stathopoulos and
Andreas Papaemmanouil, AEK easily won the 1967–68 championship.
European Cup quarter-finalists In the 1968–69 season AEK, under Yugoslav manager
Branko Stanković, became the first Greek football club to reach the quarter-finals of the
European Champions Cup, but were eliminated by the Czechoslovak
Spartak Trnava. The addition of goalkeeper
Stelios Konstantinidis and
Apostolos Toskas reinforced the team, and allowed AEK to take their fifth championship title in 1971.
The Barlos ownership years (1974–1981) Loukas Barlos, a successful industrialist, took over the presidency and financing of AEK in 1974, and with the help of manager
František Fadrhonc built one of the finest teams in the club's history. The Barlos "Golden Era" saw some of the greatest players ever to have played for AEK:
Christos Ardizoglou,
Giorgos Dedes,
Giorgos Skrekis, the Germans
Walter Wagner and
Timo Zahnleiter,
Dionysis Tsamis,
Lakis Nikolaou,
Petros Ravousis,
Dušan Bajević,
Takis Nikoloudis,
Stefanos Theodoridis,
Babis Intzoglou and
Nikos Christidis.
UEFA Cup semi-finalists Captained by Papaioannou in the 1976–1977 season, AEK reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup competition, the first Greek football club to do so. Beating
Dynamo Moscow (Russia) 2–0,
Derby County (England) 2–0 and 3–2,
Red Star Belgrade (
Yugoslavia) 2–0, and
QPR (England) 3–0 and 7–6 on penalties, AEK were eventually eliminated by
Gianni Agnelli's
Juventus. Juventus went on to win their first European title.
Thomas Mavros: a goal-machine It was during this period that AEK signed one of Greece's finest strikers,
Thomas Mavros, the all-time top goalscorer in the
Greek Championship. In the following years, he and
Dušan Bajević formed a formidable attacking duo for AEK. Mavros was an integral part of the team that reached the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 1976, but it was his devastating form (top goalscorer in 1978 and 1979 – 22 and 31 goals, respectively) that helped AEK to win the 1977–78 Championship-Cup double. The addition of former Panathinaikos stars
Domazos and
Eleftherakis to the AEK squad the following year saw the club cap off their most successful decade to date by winning the 1979 Championship. Under the leadership of Loukas Barlos, the
AEK Stadium was finally completed with the addition of the iconic
covered stand, or
Skepasti (), which eventually became home to the most fanatic of AEK supporter groups, "Original 21". The next generation of star players, fresh out of AEK's Academy, made their debut during this period:
Stelios Manolas,
Spyros Ikonomopoulos,
Vangelis Vlachos, and
Lysandros Georgamlis.
The post-Barlos sterile years (1981–1988) After the departure of Loukas Barlos in the ownership of the club was taken over by sports goods businessman,
Andreas Zafiropoulos. The club went on for two season without claiming any titles and destinctions. In the summer of 1982, Zafiropoulos stepped out of the presidency, which was handed over to the shipowner,
Michalis Arkadis. With the Austrian manager
Helmut Senekowitsch, who was hired in mid-season, AEK won the 1983 Cup, beating
PAOK 2–0 in the newly built
Athens Olympic Stadium. Thomas Mavros and Vangelis Vlachos were the goalscorers. After a destuctive season under the presicency of the Cypriot travel agency owner, Lefteris Panagidis, Andreas Zafiropoulos returned at the position of the president in 1984. Despite the signing of players such as
Håkan Sandberg,
Nikos Pias,
Theologis Papadopoulos,
Makis Chatzis and
Márton Esterházy the club finished third. With the magical triplet of Mavros-Sandberg-Esterházy in the team's offense and under the new manager
Jacek Gmoch, AEK were able to defeat
Real Madrid by 1–0 at home for the first round of the UEFA Cup. Nevertheless, they were eliminated by the Spanish club in the rematch and in the league they barely finished third, winning Iraklis in a play-off match. They following season was marked as one of the worst in the clubs history as the club finished seventh in the league with two managerial changes, in the faces of
Ab Fafié and
Nikos Alefantos. The latter spoke out against Mavros, considering him "finished" as a footballer, which led in the departure of Mavros, after 11 years in the club. In the summer of 1987
Todor Veselinović was hired for the position of the manager while
Giorgos Savvidis,
Henrik Nielsen and
Georgios Koutoulas arrived. AEK were in the title race, with their only contenders being AEL. The footballer of AEL, Georgi Tsingov, was tested positive in a dopping test and the case was transferred to the courts becoming known as the "Tsingov case". There, AEL were initially punished with zeroing for the match, a 2-point deduction and punishment of the player, which brought AEK to the top of the table. AEL appealed with their fans rallied, resulting in the alteration of the regulation overnight and the return of the points, which led in their eventual conquest of the championship. In the last match of the season at Nea Filadelfeia, the tension between the ultras and Zafiropoulos peaked, when the riot police invaded the ultra's stand and resulted in heated encounters. That led in Zafiropoulos stepping out from the presidency.
Golden Years (1988–1997) In the summer of 1988 the new president
Stratos Gidopoulos hired the former player Dušan Bajević and with signings such as
Mirosław Okoński and
Antonis Minou built a well-worked team. AEK clinched the title after winning a crucial match 1–0 against Olympiacos at the Athens Olympic Stadium.
Takis Karagiozopoulos scored the goal that gave AEK its first Championship after ten years. The following season with the addition of
Daniel Batista AEK won also the Greek Super Cup of 1989, beating Panathinaikos on penalties after the match ended in a 1–1 draw and the
League Cup winning Olympiacos by 3–2, in an institution that took place only once. In 1991 AEK faced administrative problems and which led Gidopoulos to resign and a temporary administration led by Kostas Generakis took over. The new management of the club put the club's finances of in order and at the same time proceeded in the transfers of
Refik Šabanadžović,
Vasilis Dimitriadis and
Alexis Alexandris. AEK Stadium was renamed to
"Nikos Goumas Stadium". Under Bajević the team presented a solid performance and won the title, with Dimitriadis f8inishing as the top scorer of the league. After the season was over,
Dimitris Melissanidis and Giannis Karras purchased the shares of Zafiropoulos. In the summer of 1992, the new owners of the club, helped the club recover financially and supporte Bdajević. with siginings such as
Zoran Slišković,
Tasos Mitropoulos, and
Ilias Atmatsidis, while in December
Vasilios Tsiartas and
Charis Kopitsis also arrived. AEK won the title for the second consecutive season with a 1-point difference from Panathinaikos. Dimitriadis emerged again top scorer as the league's top with 33 goals, winning the European Silver Shoe. The following season Bajević, decided to make a renewal in the roster, signing the youngsters
Vasilios Borbokis and
Michalis Kasapis. AEK won the championship and with three successive championship wins, established themselves as one of the most successful periods in their history. Alexis Alexandris alongside
Krzysztof Warzycha of Panathinaikos were the top scorers of the league.
First Greek presence in the UEFA Champions League group stage In 1994–95, AEK became the first Greek football club to participate in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League after defeating Scottish champions,
Rangers; AEK were eliminated by
Ajax and
AC Milan, who made it to the final. With
Michalis Trochanas as president and Dušan Bajević as manager, the club won the Greek Cup in 1996. Former player Petros Ravousis took over the position of the manager when Dušan Bajević left for Olympiacos at the end of 1996. By far AEK's most successful run with titles, the period also saw the club sign
Temur Ketsbaia and several young, talented players like
Demis Nikolaidis,
Christos Kostis,
Christos Maladenis and
Akis Zikos. Nikolaidis, in particular, an AEK fan since childhood, declined more lucrative offers from Olympiacos and Panathinaikos to sign for his beloved club. During the 1996–97 and 1997–98 seasons, AEK progressed to the quarter-finals of the
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, where they were eliminated by
Paris Saint-Germain and
Lokomotiv Moscow. Ravousis led the team to its second Super Cup in 1996, and its eleventh Cup title in 1997, beating Panathinaikos in both finals.
ENIC ownership years (1997–2004) Trochanas no longer being support financially the club, was looking for a buyer, sold his shares to the financially powerful, English multinational
ENIC. In 1999, ex-president
Dimitris Melissanidis, took over the management of the club, organised a friendly match against
Partizan in Belgrade, during the height of the
NATO bombing of Serbia. As a gesture of compassion and solidarity towards the embattled Serbs, the AEK players and management staff defied the international embargo and traveled to Belgrade for the match. The game ended 1–1, when after 60 minutes thousands of Serbian football fans invaded the pitch to embrace the footballers. AEK won its twelfth Cup title in 2000 under the manager
Giannis Pathiakakis, defeating
Ionikos 3–0 in the final. The club continued its consistency in the Championship of 2001–02, finishing second on goal difference behind Olympiacos, and beating Olympiacos in the Greek Cup final.
2002–03 UEFA Champions League unbeaten run Dušan Bajević returned as manager in the summer of 2002, a move that sparked open hostility towards Bajević from a section of AEK supporters. A strong team, called
Dream Team by the fans, was created with players like
Kostas Katsouranis,
Ilija Ivić,
Dionysis Chiotis,
Vasilios Borbokis,
Grigoris Georgatos,
Theodoros Zagorakis,
Walter Centeno,
Michalis Kapsis,
Michel Kreek,
Vasilios Lakis, Vasilios Tsiartas (who returned from Sevilla),
Ioannis Okkas,
Nikos Liberopoulos and
Demis Nikolaidis. Under Bajević, AEK progressed through the qualifying rounds in the 2002 UEFA Champions League by eliminating
APOEL. Drawn in Group A with
AS Roma,
Real Madrid, and
Racing Genk, AEK with good performances drew all their games and were knocked out of the competition. They continued to
UEFA Cup, eliminating
Maccabi Haifa (4–0, 4–1) before being knocked out by
Málaga CF. Off the pitch, the administration of Makis Psomiadis caused many problems for AEK, whose mismanagement put the club into debt. He was also accused of assaulting club captain, Demis Nikolaidis and other players with the assistance of his bodyguards. After the altercation, and partly due to the club's growing financial problems, Nikolaidis left on a free transfer by mutual consent to
Atlético Madrid. Unable to cope with the negativity from a large section of AEK fans, Bajević resigned in 2004 in the middle of a match against
Iraklis.
The Demis Nikolaidis era (2004–2008) In 2004,
Demis Nikolaidis and other significant AEK followers formed a supporters' club Enosis 1924 (Union 1924) to motivate all AEK supporters into taking up the club's shares and governance. The project was not fully realised because, in the meantime, various businessmen decided to buy shares and invest money in the club. However, to this date, Enosis 1924's chairman is a member of the AEK Athens board. The same year,
Nikos Goumas Stadium, AEK's home stadium for over 70 years, was demolished, large parts of it having been damaged by the
1999 Athens earthquake. In 2004, on the back of strong AEK fan support, Nikolaidis, at the head of a consortium of businessmen, bought out the beleaguered club and became the new president. His primary task was to lead AEK out of its precarious financial position. The first success was an arrangement through the
Greek judicial system to write off most of the massive debt that previous club administrators had amassed and to repay any remaining public debts in manageable installments. Securing the club's existence in the Alpha Ethniki, Nikolaidis then began a program to rebuild AEK to its former glory. He appointed experienced former player
Ilija Ivić as technical director and brought back
Fernando Santos as a manager. The AEK fans, emboldened by Nikolaidis' efforts, followed suit by buying season ticket packages in record numbers (over 17,000). AEK recruited promising young players to strengthen a depleted team. Led by the experienced Katsouranis and Liberopoulos, and featuring Brazilian
Júlio César, the club made it to the Greek Cup final for the seventh time in 13 years but finished second in the Championship, and in the process, secured a place in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. For the
2006–07 season, former
Real Betis manager
Lorenzo Serra Ferrer was appointed as manager after Fernando Santos' contract was not renewed. By beating Hearts over both legs (2–1 in Scotland and 3–0 in Greece), AEK progressed to the group stage of the Champions League. The club obtained a total of 8 points, having beaten
AC Milan 1–0,
Lille 1–0, and managing two draws with Anderlecht (1–1 in Greece and 2–2 in Belgium). AEK finished second in the Greek Super League, qualifying again for the third round in the UEFA Champions League.
2007–08 Championship controversy For the
2007–08 season AEK changed kit sponsors from
Adidas to
Puma. They played with
Sevilla FC in the
UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. The first leg was played on 15 August, away at the
Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, where AEK were defeated by 2 goals, and the second leg played on 3 September, at the
Athens Olympic Stadium where AEK lost again by 1–4. AEK completed the signings of Brazilian legend
Rivaldo, after he was let free from Olympiacos,
Rodolfo Arruabarrena,
Charis Pappas, and Argentine striker
Ismael Blanco.
Traianos Dellas was rewarded with a new contract, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2009. On 25 August, the
Super League and
EPO decided to postpone the opening season's games due to the
fire disaster in the
Peloponnese. After being eliminated from the
UEFA Champions League, AEK were drawn to play against
FC Salzburg in the
UEFA Cup. On 20 September, AEK claimed a home win over Salzburg by the scoreline of 3–0. In the second leg, played in
Salzburg on 4 October, AEK lost the match but still went through 3–1 on aggregate. On 9 October, AEK were drawn in Group C in the UEFA Cup group stage along with
Villarreal,
Fiorentina,
Mladá Boleslav, and
Elfsborg. On 25 October, AEK kicked off the group stage with a 1–1 draw away to Elfsborg. On 29 November, AEK again drew 1–1, this time at home to Fiorentina. On 5 December, AEK won Mladá Boleslav 1–0 away and on 20 December, AEK were defeated at home with 1–2 by Villarreal, but finally booked a place in the knockout stage of the
UEFA Cup by finishing third in the group. They were then drawn against
Getafe in the third round (phase of 32). AEK advanced to the third round of the UEFA Cup for the second consecutive season. On 12 February, AEK parted company with
Lorenzo Serra Ferrer after a poor run of form and unsuccessful signings and replaced him with former player
Nikos Kostenoglou, on a
caretaker basis. The team initially finished in first place in the league, but after the court case between
Apollon Kalamarias and
Olympiacos for the illegal usage of a player in the 1–0 Apollon Kalamarias win earlier in the season, Olympiacos was awarded 3 points, thus finishing 2 points ahead of AEK. President
Demis Nikolaidis and several other managers and chairmen were angered with the court's decision, stating that the
Hellenic Football Federation knew about the usage of the illegal player prior to the game and had indeed issued a registration (blue card), but didn't do anything about it. Panathinaikos also challenged the result at the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) with no success, as the Hellenic Federation did not support the claim. Rivaldo had stated his intention to leave Greece if the ruling went in favour of Olympiacos and AEK were not declared champions. He stated, "A team that was not good enough to win the title on the pitch does not deserve the trophy".
Georgios Donis was appointed head footballer, born 1954of AEK on 14 May. His reign at the club did not go well. It began when AEK failed to defeat
AC Omonia in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round, which meant their elimination from European competitions for the season. Rivaldo asked to leave the club to sign for
Bunyodkor on 27 August. The league campaign started very well after a win over rivals
Panathinaikos in the opening game of the season, but poor performances and results from then on left AEK in a difficult situation. Manager Donis was eager to leave the club, but president Nikolaidis did not allow him to leave. Nevertheless, Nikolaidis left due to disappointing results and after a controversy with the club's supporters, Original 21, leaving the presidency temporarily to the members of the board of directors, Nikos Koulis, and Takis Kanellopoulos.
Financial struggle and relegation (2008–2013) However, the series of disappointing results continued, bringing anger and insecure situations for everyone on the team. The first to be hit by this wave of disappointment and upset with the team council was manager Donis, who was asked to leave the team. On 21 November 2008, AEK hired
Dušan Bajević as manager for third time. However, after a while, Takis Kanellopoulos left the club, as he sparked a rivalry with Bajević. On 4 February 2009, Nikos Thanopoulos was elected as the 41st president of AEK FC. Bajević brought some much-needed stability to the club, and performances on the pitch improved vastly towards the end of the season, culminating in AEK's progression to the
Greek Cup final against Olympiacos which was played on 2 May 2009, at Athens Olympic Stadium. AEK lost in the
final 14–15 on penalties. AEK finished the regular season in fourth position, thus qualifying for the season's
playoffs, in which they eventually finished second, just missing out on
UEFA Champions League qualification. In the summer transfer period of 2010, AEK, despite being low on budget, managed to reinforce its ranks with many notable players. Club idols
Nikos Liberopoulos and
Traianos Dellas signed the last one-year contracts of their careers, and many new and experienced players signed to AEK, the most notable of whom were
Papa Bouba Diop,
Cristian Nasuti, and
Christos Patsatzoglou. AEK qualified for the
2010–11 Europa League group stage after defeating
Dundee United 2–1 on aggregate. On 7 October 2010,
Manolo Jiménez agreed to a two-year deal and took over for Bajević. On 30 April 2011, AEK won the Greek Cup for the 14th time, defeating 3–0
Atromitos at the final. To compensate for the departures of
Nacho Scocco, Papa Bouba Diop,
Sebastián Saja, and
Ismael Blanco in the summer of 2011, AEK signed the captain of
Iceland Eiður Guðjohnsen, and Colombian international
Fabián Vargas. Due to financial problems, on 25 June 2012, AEK legend
Thomas Mavros took over the club's management and on 1 August 2012, became president in an effort to save the club from financial disaster. Many other former AEK players like Vasilios Tsiartas,
Mimis Papaioannou,
Kostas Nestoridis,
Christos Kostis,
Vangelis Vlachos, Christos Arvanitis, and Giorgos Karafeskos were hired to help the club return to its previous glory days. Due to bad results, on 30 September 2012, Vangelis Vlachos was fired and
Ewald Lienen hired as manager. On 9 April 2013, Lienen was fired after disappointing results and AEK hired Traianos Dellas as manager with
Vasilios Borbokis and
Akis Zikos as assistants. On 19 April 2013, a Super League disciplinary committee voted to remove 3 points from AEK and award Panthrakikos a 3–0 win, after fans stormed the pitch and chased players from the field during the AEK–Panthrakikos match on 14 April 2013. As a result, AEK were relegated from the Super League to the second-tier Football League for the first time in their history. In addition, AEK were to start their Football League campaign with minus 2 points.
Rebirth and return to titles (2013–2018) On 7 June 2013, during an AEK council, it was decided that AEK FC would become an amateur football club and would not participate in the Football League division for the 2013–14 season, preferring instead, to self-relegate and participate in the
Football League 2 division and start from scratch. On the same day
Dimitris Melissanidis, the former president of the club, became administrative leader of the club, under the supervision of
Amateur AEK, with the aim of saving the club. Along with other notable AEK fans and old players, they went on to create the non-profit association
Independent Union of Friends of AEK (;
Anexártiti Énosi Fίlon AEK) which took the majority stake of the football club. AEK began its revival by signing
Traianos Dellas as their new manager. Dellas led AEK to first place in the
third national division with a record of 23 wins, 3 draws, and only one defeat. The following year AEK participated in the
2014–15 Football League, finishing first and undefeated in the regular season standings. AEK successfully finished first in the playoffs and gained promotion back to the top tier, the
Greek Super League. The club's biggest signing after returning to the Greek Super League was that of Argentinian star
Diego Buonanotte, who only stayed at the club for a year. On 20 October 2015, Traianos Dellas was forced to resign as a result of a dispute with the board, and a heavy 4–0 away loss to
Olympiacos.
Stelios Manolas was named interim manager and later
Gus Poyet was appointed as new manager. On 19 April, Poyet was fired by AEK Athens after being accused by the board of revealing private club conversations. Stelios Manolas took charge as interim manager once again. Manolas managed to guide AEK to a 3rd-place finish in the league qualifying for the playoff round and also to their first piece of silverware since the 2010–11 season by lifting the
Greek Cup, defeating Olympiacos in the final 2–1. With the postponement of the final on two separate occasions and the congested fixture list of the playoff round, AEK had to play a fixture every three days, which evidently took its toll on the players, but they finished third in the playoffs and qualified for the
2016–17 UEFA Europa League Third Qualifying Round. The first season back in the top flight was considered a success with a trophy and qualification for European football the following season, a return after a five-year hiatus. The new season started with high expectations by AEK Athens fans as the club signed
Dmytro Chyhrynskyi,
Hugo Almeida and
Joleon Lescott, announcing three of the biggest transfers in their history. Unfortunately, the 34-year-old English defender suffered a knee detached cartilage while cycling in his apartment. The injury ruled Lescott out for the remainder of the season. The player refused to get help from the team's doctors and insisted on completing his rehabilitation in the United Kingdom. The board did not agree to the player's wishes and additional demands, which resulted in his contract being terminated. This outcome led what it until then seemed to be a powerful defending duo to a midsummer night's nightmare. In addition, a 0–1 aggregate loss to
AS Saint-Étienne in the Europa League qualifiers brought disappointment to fans' dreams of European participation. Nevertheless, AEK defeated
Xanthi 4–1 in the first match of the season, raising hopes for domestic success. However, the decision was made to replace
Temur Ketsbaia with
José Morais; the decision was based on the team's stuttering start to the season, 3 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses, and poor displays. José's arrival, however, did not improve the team's results or performances, winning only three of his fourteen matches as manager. On 19 January 2017, former manager
Manolo Jiménez was appointed as manager for the second time following José's resignation. Upon his appointment he got the team from 7th place up to a 4th-place finish, and first place in the European Playoffs, claiming second place in the league overall and qualifying for the
UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round. Jiménez also guided the team to a second consecutive
Greek Cup final where they faced
PAOK in a controversial game marred by pre-match violence between the two sets of fans and a winning goal from an offside position.
UEFA Europa League unbeaten run and Greek champions The third season back in the top flight began with a tough draw in the Champions League Third qualifying round versus
CSKA Moscow, ending in a 3–0 aggregate loss. The defeat meant AEK were demoted to the
Europa League play-off round where they were pitted against Belgians
Club Brugge. A 0–0 draw in Brugge in the first leg and a 3–0 win in the return in Athens meant that AEK qualified for the group stages of a major European competition for the first time in 6 years. They were seeded in pot 4 and drawn along with
AC Milan,
HNK Rijeka and
Austria Wien. AEK would go on to qualify for the round of 32 undefeated, a statement that solidified their return as one of Europe's elite teams, with a record of 1 win and 5 draws, the most notable being the two back-to-back 0–0 draws versus AC Milan. In the Round of 32 AEK were drawn against Ukrainian giants
Dynamo Kyiv. AEK were better than their opponents, but also were unlucky and lost after two draws and on away goal rule. The first match took place in
Athens, with a 1–1 draw and the second game in
Kyiv, finished 0–0. In April, AEK won their 12th Greek championship, by recording a 2–0 home win against
Levadiakos in front of 60,000 fans. This was their first championship after 24 years. AEK were crowned champions in front of 14,500 of their fans in the last matchday against
Apollon Smyrnis at
Georgios Kamaras Stadium.
UEFA Champions League return and consecutive Greek Cup finals The 2018–19 season was the season that AEK returned to the groups of the UEFA Champions League, for the 5th time in the club's history after eliminating
Celtic (3–2 on aggregate) and
MOL Vidi (3–2 on aggregate) in the qualifying stages. Led by former
Panathinaikos' manager,
Marinos Ouzounidis, AEK were drawn in Group E against
Bayern Munich,
Benfica and
Ajax but failed to make an impact after losing all six matches. Key players
Jakob Johansson,
Lazaros Christodoulopoulos,
Sergio Araujo and
Ognjen Vranješ, as well as manager
Manolo Jiménez, who were essential to the triumphant 2017–18 season, left the club, and most transfers failed to improve the team. Greek international
Marios Oikonomou and Argentine striker
Ezequiel Ponce were the only newcomers who managed to make an impact on an overall disappointing season (3rd place, 23 points behind 1st PAOK and 18 points behind 2nd Olympiacos – third consecutive cup final loss from PAOK, 1–0). 2017–18 champions, Ognjen Vranješ and Sergio Araujo returned to Athens, and some other notable additions included Portuguese international
Nélson Oliveira and Serbian midfielder
Nenad Krstičić. The 2019–20 season started catastrophically, with an early Europa League elimination by the Turkish side
Trabzonspor (1–3 in Athens, 0–2 in Trabzon, 3–3 on aggregate) and disappointing domestic results. New manager
Miguel Cardoso was sacked quickly and replaced with the club's veteran player and manager,
Nikos Kostenoglou who was also later replaced by Italian manager
Massimo Carrera. Under Carrera, AEK regained the confidence lost from the previous season and a half of bad results. Before the lockdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, AEK was 3rd in the regular season and in the semi-finals of the Greek Cup (2–1 home victory against
Aris in the first leg). Later they would reach the final for the fifth time in a row. However, they lost 1–0 to
Olympiacos. After the draw for the
Europa League third qualifying round, AEK Athens got
VfL Wolfsburg at the Play-off round and won 2–1 at the Athens Olympic Stadium, securing qualification to the Group stage. However, AEK's campaign results in the Europa League as well as the first half of the domestic Super League were lackluster, the European campaign being one of their worst ever, only recording 1 win in the group stages. In December, Massimo Carrera was relieved of his duties and replaced by Manolo Jiménez, previous Super League and Greek Cup winner with AEK – his fourth term at the club.
Homecoming with new beginning (2022–2024) Hoping to rebuild, AEK acquired the services of
Vladan Milojević. However, his tenure ended early, with AEK Athens being disqualified on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina club,
Velež Mostar in 2021–22
Europa Conference League second qualifying round. Barely making it to Christmas, Milojevic's head was turned by an offer from the Middle East, and AEK dismissed him. They hired the Greek manager
Argiris Giannikis, who managed PAS Giannina successfully prior to his appointment. However, his time at AEK was short and once again, he was dismissed, with AEK B manager
Sokratis Ofrydopoulos managing AEK through a turbulent play-off period and an exclusion from Europe.
Matías Almeyda became AEK's new manager. Ahead of the 2022–23 season and AEK's entry into
Agia Sophia Stadium, AEK underwent another rebuild under the leadership of Matias Almeyda. Signed as manager towards the end of the 2021–22 season but only taking over in the 2022–23 pre-season, Almeyda played a significant part in AEK's 2022–23 success. Instilling a high-pressing, tireless, and attractive style of attacking football, he established AEK as the best team in Greece along with Panathinaikos, themselves under the leadership of Ivan Jovanovic. Despite initial losses, Almeyda gave AEK great derby victories and team cohesion. Overcoming Panathinaikos' early-season unbeaten run, being 8 points behind the league leaders, AEK were level on points with Panathinaikos in the playoff round. Notably, AEK defeated PAOK 2–0 at home, 1–0 away, Panathinaikos 1–0, Olympiacos 3–0 in the Greek Cup (reaching the final with PAOK), and 3–1 away. They also underwent a 14-game win-streak at their new stadium, the Agia Sofia or OPAP Arena stadium. The newly built stadium is located in the place where the old
Nikos Goumas Stadium was situated, at
Nea Filadelfeia. The Agia Sophia Stadium, also known as OPAP Arena for sponsoring reasons, is a
category 4 UEFA stadium and can host 32,500 spectators. The net construction cost is estimated around
€ 81,700,000. The administrative region of Attica funded the stadium with the amount of
€ 20,000,000. The stadium's opening ceremony took place on 30 September 2022. AEK Athens beat
Ionikos 4–1 in the inaugural match on 3 October 2022, which was the sixth fixture of the 2022–23
Greek Super League. In the summer transfer window of the 2022–23 season, AEK Athens announced the signing of two famous football players who played as opponents in the
2018 FIFA World Cup final in Russia. The first player was the Croatian center-back
Domagoj Vida who previously played for
Süper Lig side
Beşiktaş, and the second player was the French right-back
Djibril Sidibé, most recently of
Ligue 1 club
Monaco. The latter was the most valuable player to have ever arrived at the club with a market value of
€ 8,000,000, surpassing the previous record holder
Juanfran by
€ 2,000,000. Sidibé is also the fifth World Cup winner to play in the Greek Super League, after Frenchman
Christian Karembeu and Brazilian players
Rivaldo,
Gilberto Silva and
Denilson. AEK Athens were crowned champions on 14 May 2023, after beating
Volos 4–0 to seal the title, 5 points ahead of second place
Panathinaikos. AEK Athens thus won their 13th championship and the first in Nea Filadelfeia since 1994. On 25 May 2023, AEK Athens defeated
PAOK 2–0 in the
2022–23 Greek Cup final to win the title and seal the double for the first time since 1978. The following season, AEK Athens went head-to-head throughout the whole season against PAOK, and ended up losing a potential second consecutive title, on the final game of the season, staying two points behind the first place. They lost in the Round of 16 of the Greek Cup against
Aris on penalties, and were eliminated in the group stage of the
UEFA Europa League, against
AFC Ajax,
Brighton & Hove Albion and
Olympique de Marseille.
The Marios Iliopoulos era (2024–present) Following an ultimately disappointing season for AEK and a missed chance to win a second consecutive league title, major shareholder and owner
Dimitris Melissanidis announced his departure from the club's ownership on June 10, 2024, selling his shares to
Seajets owner,
Marios Iliopoulos for a seeming €90 million. At his final interview, Melissanidis stated that he "had completed his part and brought AEK back to the top, with a new stadium, a competitive team in Greek and European football, and zero debt". At an Iliopoulos presentation, he stated he wanted a competitive team that will dominate Greek football and become a significant European power, while also focusing on the one thing AEK was lacking in, their academies. On a question regarding an increase on the transfer budget and a change on the current transfer policy, he urged AEK fans to "put on their seatbelts slowly and enjoy it". Not long after, Iliopoulos sold
Ezequiel Ponce for a club record €9,000,000, while signing players such as
Roberto Pereyra,
Erik Lamela and
Thomas Strakosha with club record contract fees. The season, however, started with an early elimination of AEK from the Conference Cup by
FC Noah. On 19 September 2024, the club announced ex
Manchester United player,
Anthony Martial, on a three-year deal. This is the club's highest valued player arrival, with an estimate of €10m. In October 2024 they announced the signing of
Javier Ribalta as their new
Executive Director. In the
2024–25 Super League, AEK finished fourth resulting in the announcement of manager
Matías Almeyda's departure after the end of the season. In June 2025, AEK announced their new manager,
Marko Nikolić. They proceeded in signings such as
Filipe Relvas,
Marko Grujić,
Răzvan Marin,
Luka Jović. Under Nikolić they managed to qualify in the League phase of the Conference League for their first time in their history. There, they finished at the third place of the standings and advanced to the round of 16. ==Crest==