The 1971–72 season was the 48th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 13th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the European Cup. The season began on 29 August 1971 and finished on 11 June 1972.
Overview
After the distinctions of the previous years, AEK seemed to operate in a "frantic tempo", until this season, which was the passing to a declining period for the club. The roster was constantly renewed as a generation of players left, passing the torch to the next one. The new generation was consisted of prominent players, however the club was not ready to claim a leading role in the league. The notable transfers of the season were the arrivals of Giorgos Tanidis from Aris Ptolemaida, Babis Psimogiannos from Aris Agios Konstantinos, but most importantly that of the promising striker of Atromitos, Lakis Nikolaou.
AEK participated in the European Cup. The draw was tough for them, as from the very first round faced one of the greastest European clubs over time, the great Internazionale of Ivano Bordon, Giacinto Facchetti and Sandro Mazzola. The first match at San Siro in front of almost 80,000 spectators, AEK managed to take the lead at the 14th minute with Pomonis, but Inter's superiority was obvious and after equalizing 5 minutes later, they finished the first half leading by 3–1. The second half turned out to be a standard procedure with Inter raising the score to 4–1 and likewise the few chances of AEK qualifying disappeared. In the rematch at the crowded AEK Stadium no one expected what was about to happen. Everything started wrong for the yellow-blacks, as they were left behind the score at the 17th minute with a goal by Mazzola. Bertini's dismissal two minutes later and Stankovic's offensive style, brought AEK in taking the lead at the half time with Ventouris and Papaioannou, while also having two shots hit the post. The Italians, wanting if nothing else not to lose, chased the goal and equalized with Boninsegna at the 76th minute. The players of AEK, realizing that the qualification was definitively lost, sought the victory and achieved it with a goal by Nikolaidis at the 89th minute, that made the final 3–2. One of the greatest victories for the then "poor" Greek football and the first great European night for AEK.
This season was marked by changes in the conduct of the Cup, as the amateur clubs of the local associations cease to participate, while clubs of the national divisions only could participate. The ties of the first round competed again according to geographical criteria. There AEK easily overcame PAO Rouf winning them by 4–1 at home. From the second round onwards the draw was free and thus AEK faced Kozani prevailing with a 4–0 home win. At the round of 16 they were drawn against Lamia of Andreas Stamatiadis away from home and to everyone's surprise they were eliminated, losing by 1–0 at the extra time.
In the league AEK presented two faces throughout the season. In the home matches they achieved only one draw and one defeat, winning the rest of the games. However they paid their bad performances in the away matches, dropping points in almost every away game, achieving only 4 wins out of the 17 total of games. That resulted in a third-place finish with 6 points behind the champion Panathinaikos. Top scorer of the team was Mimis Papaioannou with 12 league 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 11 June 1972, 23:59 UTC+2.
PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers Stelios Serafidis GK 1953 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Stelios Konstantinidis GK 1967 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Kostas Silivistras GK 1971 Atromitos Free 1979 Defenders Giorgos Kefalidis RB / CB 1964 Pierikos ₯800,000 1976 Giorgos Tanidis CB 1971 Aris Ptolemaida ₯120,000 1979 Apostolos Toskas CB 1969 Trikala ₯1,500,000 1977 Nikos Karapoulitidis LB / RB / CB 1968 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Stefanos Theodoridis RB / LB / CB / RM / LM 1969 AEK Athens U20 — 1977 Kostas Triantafyllou CB / RB / LB / DM 1969 AEK Athens U20 — 1977 Lefteris Istorios RB / LB / CM / DM 1971 AEK Athens U20 — 1979 Midfielders Stelios Skevofilakas (Vice-captain) LM / RM / AM / CM 1961 Eleftheroupoli Free 1976 Panagiotis Ventouris LM / RM / LW / RW / ST / AM / SS 1965 Fostiras ₯400,000 1976 Nikos Stathopoulos LM / LB / CM 1965 AEK Athens U20 — 1977 Giorgos Karafeskos CM / DM / RM / RW 1964 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Giorgos Lavaridis CM / DM / CB 1968 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Forwards Andreas Papaemmanouil RW / LW / RM / LM / SS / AM / CM 1969 Panathinaikos Free 1977 Mimis Papaioannou (Captain) SS / ST / AM / RW 1962 Veria ₯175,000 1976 Spyros Pomonis LW / LM 1960 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Kostas Nikolaidis RW / LW / SS / ST 1965 PAO Safraboli Free 1976 Kostas Chanios LW / SS 1969 Levadiakos ₯300,000 1977 Babis Psimogiannos ST 1971 Aris Agios Konstantinos Free 1979 Giorgos Kachris RW / LW / RM / LM 1969 Amyna Ampelokipoi ₯200,000 1977 Lakis Nikolaou ST / RW / CB / RB 1971 Atromitos ₯600,000 1979
Transfers
In
PlayerFromFeeDateContract Until – Greek and Cypriot professional footballers were bound to their clubs for eight years, effectively functioning as eight-year contracts.Source AtromitosFree transfer30 June 1979 Aris Ptolemaida₯120,00030 June 1979 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 1979 Aris Agios KonstantinosFree transfer30 June 1979 Atromitos₯600,00030 June 1979
a. plus sports material and incomes from a friendly match between the two clubs.
b. plus Dimitris Liakouris and Panagiotis Psychogios as an exchange, while Giannis Kokkinos and Manolis Tsakiroglou from the reserve team as a loan.
Out
PlayerToFeeDateSource AtromitosFree transfer Olympiakos NicosiaContract termination AtromitosFree transfer PanarkadikosContract termination
Loan out
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource AO KoropiFree30 June 1972
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure: ₯720,000
Income: ₯0
Net Total: ₯720,000
Pre-season and friendlies
OPAP Summer Championship
Greek Super Cup
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
Matches
European Cup
First round
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
Goalscorers
The list is sorted by competition order when total goals are equal, then by position and then alphabetically by surname. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupEuropean CupTotal112 4 117210 3 114311 0 01110 0 1115 2 0 136 2 0 02 2 0 02 1 1 029 1 0 01 1 0 01 1 0 01 1 0 01 1 0 01Own goals 2 0 02Totals57 8 469
Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Lakis Nikolaou Pierikos 5–0 (H) 4 June 1972 Alpha Ethniki
Clean sheets
The list is sorted by competition order when total clean sheets are equal and then alphabetically by surname. 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 CupEuropean CupTotal111 1 0122 6 0 063 0 0 00Totals17 1 018
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
Starting 11 This section presents the most frequently used formation along with the players with the most starts across all competitions.
Formation Matchday(s)324–2–43–17, 20–29, 31–3474–3–31, 2, 18, 19, 30
Player Stelios SerafidisGKApostolos ToskasRCBGiorgos LavaridisLCBStefanos TheodoridisRBNikos KarapoulitidisLBPanagiotis VentourisRCMStelios SkevofilakasLCMLakis NikolaouRWSpyros PomonisLWMimis Papaioannou (C)RCFKostas NikolaidisLCF
References
External links AEK Athens F.C. Official Website A.E.K. FC Database