AEK (football team)

Constantinople Athletic Association, or AEK for short, is a well-established sports club founded in Greece in 1924. The club's name comes from the Greek expression "Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως" and its colors are yellow and black. The group, known as the "Pera" team in Istanbul in the early periods, participated in a European tournament in December 1923 and won 3-0 and 8-0 in Athens, and 3-0 in Marseille, France.

However, when it was revealed that they were using the Istanbul champion title in Turkey, a complaint was made to FIFA, and the French Federation canceled the matches and the team decided not to return to Turkey. Thereupon, while some members remained in France, some went to Greece and founded the club named "Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupoleos - AEK" in 1924.

AEK achieved great success, especially during the presidency of Loukas Barlos in the 1970s; Stars such as Kostas Nestoridis, Dimitrios Papaioannou and Thomas Mavros joined the team. His most notable performance in European cups was the UEFA Cup semi-final against Juventus in 1976, where he was eliminated by losing 0‑1 and 1‑4. The club's symbol has a design that faces east and west, inspired by the double-headed eagle of the Byzantine Empire.

In terms of stadium, AEK played its matches at the “Nikos Goumas” field in the Nea Philadelphia district of Athens for many years; He played at the Athens Olympic Stadium until the new stadium was completed. Celebrating its 80th anniversary in 2004, the club organized friendly matches with Galatasaray in both Athens and Istanbul. The most well-known fan groups are Original21 and Gate21.

In recent years, AEK became champion in the 3rd League in the 2013-14 season, collecting 72 points and was promoted to Beta Ethniki; They started the 2014-15 season in fourth place, and were in the same group with Atromitos, Panthrakikos and Psachna in the Greek Cup, collecting four points in the first two matches. It completed the 2022‑23 season as league champion.

However, in the 2012-13 season, as a result of the events following Mavroudis Bougaidis' own goal in a match, the club forfeited with a 3-0 defeat, 3 points were deducted and received a fine of 4000 Euros, and started the new season with -2 points; This situation led to its relegation from the league for the first time in its 89-year history.

AEK, which has a total of 13 league championships and 15 KipelloEllados (Greek Cup) victories, aims to rise again after this historical fact.