The 1997–98 season was the 74th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 39th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. The season began on 31 August 1997 and finished on 17 May 1998.
Overview
In the summer of 1997, Michalis Trochanas, no longer able to bear the weight of managing the club, but also with the vast majority of the supporters against him, unsuccessfully looked for a buyer, putting the lawyer, Alexis Kougias as president. The team lost 2 more important players, Temur Ketsbaia and Vasilios Borbokis, who left for England. In addition, Stelios Manolas, who was against the club's major shareholder, did not join in the team at the start of the season. On the other hand, Giannis Kalitzakis, Arnar Grétarsson, Evripidis Katsavos, Theodoros Alexis and Vangelis Kefalas were transferred to the club. The first gathering of the team was episodic with about 2,000 fans gathered, "boiling" against the administration. Tensions and incidents occurred between the supporters, with Alexis Kougias and Vasilis Karagiannis being the main victims. The season started with these adverse conditions and the Romanian manager Dumitru Dumitriu.
The team started the Championship relatively well and after a few months the psychology of the crowd rose, since Michalis Trochanas eventually sold his shares to the financially powerful, English multinational ENIC. The former player of AEK, Lakis Nikolaou took over as president, Manolas returned to the team and rich contract renewals and in January some transfers were made. Despite being the winter champions, AEK were affected by the injuries on the roster, left quite behind in the league table and eventually could not claim the title from Olympiacos. Towards the end of the season, Dumitriu was fired, who had already started to have problems with the administration, during the January transfer window. In his position, as an interim, Antonis Minou was hired to close the season.
In the Cup, AEK, after passing through the first two rounds without a match, were drawn against Skoda Xanthi for the round of 32. There, they were eliminated with defeats at both legs.
AEK, taking advantage of their good coefficient in the UEFA ranking, had a good draw in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup coming against Dinaburg from Latvia. The absence of Nikolaidis, affected the team's performance against the Latvians. In the "cold" Nikos Goumas Stadium Dinaburg kept resting the yellow-blacks, but after the dismissal of their goalkeeper shortly after half an hour of match, AEK scatered the Latvians with 5 goals, clearly turning the rematch into a formal procedure. The rematch in Daugava Stadium went as expected with AEK winning by 2–4 and their qualification was completed. Their next opponent were the Sturm Graz. At Nea Filadelfeia the game was lopsided as expected, but in the end the stadium played its part and AEK took a safe score with two goals in the last quarter of the game. Unfortunately, the game marked the career of Christos Kostis, who in a collision with Sidorchuk was seriously injured, never managing to fully recover. The rematch at Arnold Schwarzenegger Stadium was more difficult than Dumitriu and his footballers expected. Sturm pressed, toiled and were well set up on the pitch. Nevertheless, they achieved nothing more than scoring a goal 8 minutes before the end of the match. In the quarter-finals AEK came across Lokomotiv Moscow for the first time and in one of the biggest challenges in their history. In a full Nea Filadelfeia Stadium AEK were seeking for a qualifying score in order to make the rematch an easy task. However, the yellow-blacks were not performing as expected, having a bad day and at the same time facing a suffocating pressure and overlap from the defense of the guests. AEK did not reach a goal and ended the match with 9 players, due to the dismissal of Doboș at the 75th minute and Vaios Karagiannis in the stoppage time. Despite the 0–0 first leg, the yellow-blacks were going to Moscow to qualify for the semi-finals. The team started the game numbly, but went to the locker rooms for half-time with a 0–0 draw. The hosts were pressing and in the 53rd minute made the score 1–0. AEK were getting up and missing a lot of chances and at the 66th minute, their pressure paid off and Maladenis won a penalty which Kopitsis converted into a goal. AEK had the qualification in their hands and had imposed themselves over Lokomotiv. The Russians were pressing and left their defenses exposed, with the counterattacks of AEK reaching the opposing area with claims, but either the final pass or the final effort was bad, since anxiety and nervousness were evident in their game. At the 90th minute, Sebwe made a run with the ball at his feet, neutralized everyone and passed to Nikolaidis. The opposing goalkeeper was eliminated and the striker of AEK had to score one of the easiest and most important goals of his career. Either out of overconfidence or out of too much anxiety, he took a lifeless shot from the small area, but his finish was bad and weak, which was caught by a Lokomotiv defender who came behind him and recovered the ball. Afterwards, in the last phase of the match Lokomotiv entered the area of AEK and after many counters, bad clearances of the defenders and constant crosses somehow the ball ended up in the net of Atmatsidis, leaving AEK unexpectedly out of the tournament in a qualification that would have been historic.
One of the highlights of the season the unprecedented "absolute" in derby victories against Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, at both home and away. Additionally, the end of the season was marked by the retirement of Stelios Manolas, after 19 years of service to the club. The top scorer of the season for AEK was Demis Nikolaidis with 19 goals.
Management team
Players
Squad information
NOTE: The players are the ones that have been announced by the AEK Athens' press release. No edits should be made unless a player arrival or exit is announced. Updated 17 May 1998, 23:59 UTC+3.
No.PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers 1 Ilias Atmatsidis GK 1992 Pontioi Veria ₯40,000,000 1999 15 Chrysostomos Michailidis GK 1997 Eordaikos Free 2002 22 Vasilis Karagiannis GK 1993 Diagoras ₯20,000,000 1998 26 Dionysis Chiotis GK 1995 AEK Athens U20 — 2005 Defenders 3 Michalis Kasapis LB / LM 1993 Levadiakos ₯25,000,000 2002 4 Anton Doboș CB 1996 Steaua București ₯60,000,000 1999 5 Nikos Kostenoglou (Vice-captain 2) CB / RB 1994 Skoda Xanthi ₯70,000,000 2003 9 Georgios Koutoulas CB / LB 1987 AEK Athens U20 — 1999 12 Charis Kopitsis RB / RM / LB / LM 1992 Panionios Free 2001 13 Vaios Karagiannis (Vice-captain) LB / CB 1990 A.O. Karditsa ₯11,000,000 2000 23 Vangelis Kefalas CB / DM 1997 Apollon Athens Free 2000 25 Giannis Kalitzakis CB 1997 Panathinaikos ₯23,800,000 2000 29 Stelios Manolas (Captain) CB / RB 1980 AEK Athens U20 — 1998 Midfielders 2 Triantafyllos Macheridis DM / CB / RB / LB 1996 Skoda Xanthi ₯100,000,000 2001 7 Christos Maladenis CM / RM / LM / AM / DM / RW / LW / SS 1995 Skoda Xanthi ₯100,000,000 2000 8 Toni Savevski CM / LM / DM 1988 Vardar ₯34,000,000 1999 18 Evripidis Katsavos CM / DM / RM 1997 Veria Free 2001 19 Mattheos Platakis AM / ST / SS 1996 Phinikas Polichini Free 2000 24 Arnar Grétarsson CM / DM 1997 Leiftur Free 2000 27 Giorgos Passios DM / CM / CB 1997 AEK Athens U20 — 2003 30 Kelvin Sebwe AM / SS 1997 Skoda Xanthi ₯350,000,000 2003 Forwards 10 Christos Kostis SS / ST / AM / RW / LW 1994 Iraklis ₯350,000,000 1998 11 Demis Nikolaidis ST / SS 1996 Apollon Athens ₯330,000,000 1999 20 Daniel Batista ST / SS / AM 1995 Olympiacos Free 1998 21 Marcelo Veridiano ST / SS 1996 Skoda Xanthi ₯35,000,000 1998 28 Georgios Donis RW / RM 1997 Blackburn Rovers Free 2003 31 Goran Tomić ST 1998 Vicenza ₯80,000,000 1998 Left during Winter Transfer Window 6 Michalis Vlachos CB / DM 1993 Olympiacos Free 2000 16 Konstantinos Pavlopoulos CB 1995 OFI Free 1998 14 Theodoros Alexis RM 1997 Apollon Athens Free 2001
Transfers
In
Summer
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource14 Apollon AthensFree transfer30 June 200115 EordaikosFree transfer30 June 200218 VeriaFree transfer30 June 200123 Apollon AthensFree transfer30 June 200024 LeifturFree transfer30 June 200025 Panathinaikos₯23,800,00030 June 200027 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 2003— EdessaikosLoan return30 June 1997
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateContract UntilSource28 Blackburn RoversFree transfer30 June 200330 Skoda Xanthi₯350,000,00031 December 2003
Out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateSource— Doxa VyronasFree transfer— Sheffield United₯400,000,000— Newcastle UnitedEnd of contract
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateSource6 PortsmouthContract termination16 OFIContract termination
Loan in
Winter
PlayerFromFeeDateUntilOption to buySource31 Vicenza₯80,000,00030 June 1998
Loan out
Summer
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource— Aris PetroupolisFree30 June 1998— Aris PetroupolisFree30 June 1998
Winter
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource14 AthinaikosFree30 June 1998
Contract renewals
PlayerDateFormer Exp. DateNew Exp. DateSource3 30 June 199830 June 20025 30 June 199830 June 200312 30 November 199731 December 200129 30 June 199730 June 1998
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure Summer: ₯103,800,000
Winter: ₯350,000,000
Total: ₯553,800,000
Income Summer: ₯400,000,000
Winter: ₯0
Total: ₯412,000,000
Net Totals Summer: ₯296,200,000
Winter: ₯350,000,000
Total: ₯53,800,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
AEK Athens entered the Greek Cup at the Round of 32.
Round of 32
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
First round
Second round
Quarter-finals
Statistics
Squad statistics
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards
! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer Window
Goalscorers
The list is sorted by competition order when total goals are equal, then by position and then by squad number. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupCup Winners' CupTotal11119 0 22127 9 0 09320 7 0 18412 3 0 3658 5 0 0510 4 0 1521 3 0 2584 3 0 03928 2 0 0231 2 0 02115 1 0 0124 1 0 013 0 1 016 0 0 1125 0 0 1118 0 0 11Own goals 2 0 02Totals61 11274
Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Demis Nikolaidis Apollon Athens 4–3 (A) 15 November 1997 Alpha Ethniki
Assists
The list is sorted by competition order when total goals are equal, then by position and then by squad number. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupCup Winners' CupTotal121 9 0 21123 8 0 1938 4 0 48428 4 0 0420 4 0 04624 2 0 027 2 0 0230 2 0 0212 1 0 12109 1 0 0125 1 0 012 1 0 0118 1 0 0111 1 0 0131 1 0 0110 0 0 11Totals42 0 951
Clean sheets
The list is sorted by competition order when total clean sheets are equal and then by squad number. Clean sheets in games where both goalkeepers participated are awarded to the goalkeeper who started the game. Goalkeepers with no appearances are not included. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupCup Winners' CupTotal1113 0 316226 1 0 01322 0 0 00Totals14 0 317
Disciplinary record
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards