1968–69 AEK Athens F.C. season

AEK Athens
1968–69 season
Chairman	Ilias Georgopoulos
Manager	Branko Stanković
Stadium	AEK Stadium
Alpha Ethniki	6th
Greek Cup	Round of 16
European Cup	Quarter-finals
Top goalscorer	League: ; Mimis Papaioannou (20); All: ; Mimis Papaioannou (27)
Highest home attendance	29,842 vs Spartak Trnava; (12 March 1969)
Lowest home attendance	2,162 vs AEL Limassol; (8 June 1969)
Average home league attendance	17,081
Biggest win	AEL Limassol 0–5 AEK Athens; AEK Athens 5–0 Lamia
Biggest defeat	Panachaiki 4–2 AEK Athens; Panionios 2–0 AEK Athens; Aris 2–0 AEK Athens; OFI 2–0 AEK Athens (w/o)
	Home colours
	Home colours
	← 1967–68 1969–70 →

The 1968–69 season was the 45th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the tenth 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 18 September 1968 and finished on 15 June 1969.

Overview

The season found AEK in a transitional period with the changing of the coach, as the way of training the football players changed radically. The championship win in 1968 was accompanied by the departure of Jenő Csaknády and the arrival of an equally capable coach was deemed imperative. Thus, the great Yugoslav Branko Stanković was hired, who had already presented great achievements as a technician, with Vojvodina and as a member of the coaching staff at Yugoslavia. The management of the team, due to a lack of sufficient money, did not proceed with big transfer moves. They acquired a couple of young footballers from smaller clubs, while also counted on players such Lavaridis, Stathopoulos, Simigdalas, Sevastopoulos, Ventouris, who were previously decommissioned. The preparation of the team under Stanković was based on the modern football of the period, which was characterized by tactics, technique and physical strength, while the discipline of the footballers was a prerequisite for their progress, as well as that of the team. However, due to the players had not yet adapted to the new way of working to fully respond, the several injuries that limited the options and the advanced age of some of them, AEK started very badly in the championship. Afterwards, they continued with five consecutive victories. One of these was an emphatic 2–3 away win against Olympiacos with Papaioannou playing as goalkeeper from the 85th minute, due to the suspension of Serafidis and even making two great saves and securing the great victory.^[1]

For the first round of the European Cup AEK were lucky to be drawn against Jeunesse Esch from Luxembourg. At Nea Filadelfeia, the club prevailded harder than the final 3–0 implied.^[2] The qualification was at safety and the rematch became purely procedural. At Luxembourg, the suspense of qualification lasted for 16 minutes when AEK equalized the quick goal of Jeunesse Eschs. AEK also managed to take the lead with a second goal by Ventouris, but the players of Legrand showing character evenatully turned the match again taking the victory.^[3] In the second round AEK were facing the Danish Akademisk Boldklub. At AEK Stadium, despite their offensive style of play, AEK played defensively for the whole match and managed to take the draw by 0–0.^[4] At the rematch in the frozen Copenhagen, AEK started the match very offensively and managed to take the lead early on with Stamatiadis. The Danes started to press unbearably to equalize, but thanks to Konstantinidis and Vasiliou, AEK went for the half time break with their lead intact. In the second half the "yellow blacks" took advantage of the open spaces left by the Danes and played to extend their lead. Αt the 81st minute, after a cross by Sevastopoulos and Papaioannou with his unnatural jump, beat everyone in the air and made the final 0–2.^[5] AEK achieved the very first display of a Greek team in Europe, as they became the first team to achieve an away victory in a European match and the first Greek team to reach the quarter-finals of the European Cup, or in any European competition at all. In the quarter-finals AEK avoided all the giants of the draw as they faced the Czechoslovakian Spartak Trnava. At the first match at Spartak Stadium AEK played to maintain a favourable score for the rematch and after they withstood the pressure of the Czechoslovaks and despite the two goals, they managed to reduce their lead with Sevastopoulos and achieve their target.^[6] The rematch in Athens, AEK seemed ready to respond to their challenge and take the qualification. Unfortunately, after a quick goal by the Czechoslovaks, the "yellow-blacks" were forced to chase the score, as Spartak closed all spaces behind. AEK attacked with everything they got by the Czechoslovak defense seemed impenetrable. Nonetheless, at the 77th minute AEK managed to equalize with Papaioannou and had only 13 minute to take the match to the extra time. Even though the team pressed intensively for another goal the ball would not go in the net and AEK left the tournament^[7] with pride, as they made one of their greatest ever achievements reality.

In the Cup AEK easily eliminated Lamia, at the round of 32 with 5–0 at home. At the round of 16 they faced Panachaiki and were eliminated with a 4–2 away defeat. AEK were consistently close in claiming the title, until they were defeated at home 0–1 by Olympiacos at the 22nd matchday. The end of the championship found AEK in the 6th place with 74 points and a long distance from the champion Panathinaikos with 90 points. As a result, they didn't qualify in any European competition for the next season. At the end of the season, Stanković planned a big renewal of the team's roster in order to improve their weaknesses and make their comeback in claiming titles. The principles of this renewal were based in finding players that would increase the team's height, reduce the team's age average and discipline to the coach's plan during matches.^[8]

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 15 June 1969, 23:59 UTC+2.

Player	Position(s)	Date of birth (Age)	Signed	Previous club	Transfer fee	Contract until
Goalkeepers
Stelios Serafidis	GK	(1935-08-06)6 August 1935 (aged 33)	1953	AEK Athens U20	—	1972
Theodoros Maniateas	GK	(1945-03-19)19 March 1945 (aged 24)	1964	Panthisiakos	Free	1969
Stelios Konstantinidis	GK	(1947-06-06)6 June 1947 (aged 22)	1967	AEK Athens U20	—	1973
Vyronas Amelidis	GK	1949 (aged 19–20)	1968	AEK Athens U20	—	1973
Defenders
Alekos Sofianidis	LB / LM / LW	(1937-08-03)3 August 1937 (aged 31)	1959	Beşiktaş	Free	1969
Aleko Yordan	CB	(1938-01-10)10 January 1938 (aged 31)	1962	Beykoz	Free	1969
Tasos Vasiliou	CB	(1938-08-04)4 August 1938 (aged 30)	1965	Apollon Athens	₯1,500,000	1970
Giorgos Kefalidis	RB / CB	(1941-03-21)21 March 1941 (aged 28)	1964	Pierikos	Free	1972
Fotis Balopoulos	CB / DM / CM / ST	(1943-12-17)17 December 1943 (aged 25)	1964	Proodeftiki	₯450,000	1970
Lakis Fragoudakis	CB / DM	1944 (aged 24–25)	1964	Free agent	Free	1970
Giannis Spyropoulos	CB / RB	1945 (aged 23–24)	1968	PAO Patisia	Free	1970
Christos Antonopoulos	CB / DM	(1946-08-14)14 August 1946 (aged 22)	1968	AE Pangrati	₯120,000	1973
Nikos Karapoulitidis	CB / RB	(1948-11-30)30 November 1948 (aged 20)	1967	Free agent	Free	1975
Midfielders
Stelios Skevofilakas	LM / RM / AM	(1939-01-06)6 January 1939 (aged 30)	1960	Eleftheroupoli	Free	1972
Panagiotis Ventouris	AM / SS	(1943-03-01)1 March 1943 (aged 26)	1965	Fostiras	₯435,000	1972
Nikos Stathopoulos	LM / LB	(1943-11-08)8 November 1943 (aged 25)	1965	AEK Athens U20	—	1974
Michalis Simigdalas	CM	(1944-06-23)23 June 1944 (aged 25)	1963	AEK Athens U20	—	1969
Minas Stavridis	AM / SS / ST	1945 (aged 23–24)	1968	Ionikos	Free	1970
Giorgos Karafeskos	CM / DM / RM / RW	(1946-12-08)8 December 1946 (aged 22)	1963	AEK Athens U20	—	1974
Giorgos Lavaridis	CM / DM	(1947-10-15)15 October 1947 (aged 21)	1968	AEK Athens U20	—	1975
Forwards
Andreas Stamatiadis (Captain)	RW / LW / SS / ST	(1935-08-16)16 August 1935 (aged 33)	1952	AEK Athens U20	—	1959
Kostas Papageorgiou	ST	(1941-01-01)1 January 1941 (aged 28)	1963	Atromitos	₯200,000	1969
Mimis Papaioannou	SS / ST / AM	(1942-08-23)23 August 1942 (aged 26)	1962	Veria	₯175,000	1979
Spyros Pomonis	LW / LM	(1944-02-12)12 February 1944 (aged 25)	1960	AEK Athens U20	—	1973
Kostas Nikolaidis	RW / LW / SS / ST	(1944-09-10)10 September 1944 (aged 24)	1965	PAO Safrabolis	Free	1973
Kostas Sarris	ST	1949 (aged 19–20)	1968	AEK Athens U20	—	1970
Andreas Karakidis	ST	1949 (aged 19–20)	1968	AEK Athens U20	—	1973
Dimitris Kyrmizas	ST	1949 (aged 19–20)	1968	AEK Athens U20	—	1973
Left during season
Nikos Sevastopoulos	RW / SS / AM / ST	(1945-02-26)26 February 1945 (aged 24)	1963	AEK Athens U20	—	1971

Transfers

In

Pos.	Player	From	Type	Fee	Date	Contract Until
GK	Vyronas Amelidis	AEK Athens U20	Promotion	—	1 July 1968	30 June 1973
DF	Giannis Spyropoulos	PAO Patisia	Transfer	Free	1 July 1968	30 June 1970
DF	Christos Antonopoulos	AE Pangrati	Transfer	₯120,000	1 July 1968	30 June 1973
MF	Giorgos Lavaridis	AEK Athens U20	Promotion	—	1 July 1968	30 June 1975
MF	Minas Stavridis	Ionikos	Transfer	Free	1 July 1968	30 June 1970
FW	Nikos Sevastopoulos	Hellenic	End of loan	—	1 July 1968	30 June 1971
FW	Kostas Sarris	AEK Athens U20	Promotion	—	1 July 1968	30 June 1970
FW	Andreas Karakidis	AEK Athens U20	Promotion	—	1 July 1968	30 June 1973
FW	Dimitris Kyrmizas	AEK Athens U20	Promotion	—	1 July 1968	30 June 1973

Out

Pos.	Player	To	Type	Fee	Date	Source
GK	Mimis Maniakis	Panionios	Transfer	Free	1 July 1968
FW	Vasilis Mastrakoulis	Retired		—	1 July 1968

Loan out

Pos.	Player	To	Fee	Date	Until	Option to buy	Source
FW	Nikos Sevastopoulos	Hellenic	Free	1 April 1969	30 August 1969	N

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure: ₯120,000

Income: ₯0

Net Total: ₯120,000

Pre-season and friendlies

18 August 1968 Friendly	Apollon Athens	1–2	AEK Athens	Rizoupoli
				Stadium: Rizoupoli Stadium

21 August 1968 Friendly	AEK Athens	9–1	Panerythraikos	Nea Filadelfeia
				Stadium: AEK Stadium

23 August 1968 Friendly	Kifisia	1–9	AEK Athens	Kifissia
				Stadium: Municipal Stadium of Kifissia

8 September 1968 Friendly	Chalkida	1–0	AEK Athens	Chalcis
				Stadium: Municipal Stadium of Chalkida

12 September 1968 Friendly	Egaleo	3–3	AEK Athens	Aigaleo
				Stadium: Stavros Mavrothalassitis Stadium

15 September 1968 Friendly	PAOK	1–2	AEK Athens	Thessaloniki
				Stadium: Toumba Stadium

26 September 1968 Friendly	Ikaros Athens	3–2	AEK Athens

13 October 1968 Charity match	Olympiacos	3–0	AEK Athens	Piraeus
				Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium
Note: The match was made for the financial support of the footballer of Olympiacos, Aristidis Papazoglou who had contracted the incurable disease.

25 March 1969 Friendly	Triglia Rafinas	0–2	AEK Athens	Rafina
			Sevastopoulos 62' Karakidis 80'	Stadium: Rafina Stadium

24 April 1969 Friendly	AEK Athens	1–0	Ikaros Athens	Nea Filadelfeia
	Ventouris 3'			Stadium: AEK Stadium

27 April 1969 Friendly	AEK Athens	1–1	Ethnikos Piraeus	Nea Filadelfeia
17:00 EET (UTC+2)	Ventouris 78'			Stadium: AEK Stadium

1 May 1969 Friendly	AEK Athens	0–2	Apollon Athens	Nea Filadelfeia
				Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 20,000

4 May 1969 Friendly	AEK Athens	0–1	Egaleo	Nea Filadelfeia
17:00 EET (UTC+2)				Stadium: AEK Stadium

21 May 1969 Friendly	Koropi	2–2	AEK Athens	Koropi
				Stadium: Antonis Priftis Stadium

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Alpha Ethniki	22 September 1968	15 June 1969	Matchday 1	6th	34	17	7	10	58	33	+25	050.00
Greek Cup	14 May 1969	11 June 1969	Round of 32	Round of 16	2	1	0	1	7	4	+3	050.00
European Cup	18 September 1968	12 March 1969	First round	Quarter-finals	6	2	2	2	9	6	+3	033.33
Total					42	20	9	13	74	43	+31	047.62

Last updated: 15 June 1969
Source: Competitions

Alpha Ethniki

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
4	Panionios	34	18	7	9	55	34	+21	77	Invitation for Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round
5	PAOK	34	16	10	8	58	37	+21	76
6	AEK Athens^[a]	34	17	7	10	58	33	+25	74
7	Egaleo	34	13	10	11	48	41	+7	70
8	Ethnikos Piraeus	34	12	10	12	43	45	−2	68

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th decision match.
Notes:

^ AEK Athens were deducted 1 point.

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	17	7	10	58	33	+25	74	13	0	4	38	12	+26	4	7	6	20	21	−1

Source: Competitive matches

Results by Matchday

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	Η	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	A	H	A
Result	D	L	D	L	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	D	W	W	W	W	W	D	W	D	L	D	W	L	L	L	W	L	W	L	L	W	L
Position	7	13	10	13	12	9	6	5	4	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4	6

Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Fixtures

22 September 1968 Matchday 1	Pierikos	1–1	AEK Athens	Katerini
16:15 EET (UTC+2)	Foulidis 88'		Papaioannou 46'	Stadium: Katerini Stadium Attendance: 5,099 Referee: Timoleon Latsios (Larissa)

17 October 1968 Matchday 2	AEK Athens	1–2	Vyzas Megara	Piraeus
15:30 EET (UTC+2)	Papageorgiou 1'		Kouvas 17' Skrivanos 60'	Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium Referee: Christos Michas (Athens)
Note: The game was originally to take place in 29 September but because of referendum of the country the 2nd matchday was postponed for the day after. However, on 2 October AEK had to play the rematch of the First Round of the European Cup, thus the game was postponed again. The match took place at Karaiskakis Stadium due to construction works at AEK Stadium.

6 October 1968 Matchday 3	Ethnikos Piraeus	1–1	AEK Athens	Piraeus
15:30 EET (UTC+2)	Zervoudakis 55'		Papaioannou 88'	Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium Attendance: 23,863 Referee: Famelis (Athens)

20 October 1968 Matchday 4	AEK Athens	0–1	PAOK	Piraeus
15:30 EET (UTC+2)			Koudas 67'	Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium Attendance: 26,336 Referee: Nikos Giannopoulos (Athens)
Note: The match took place at Karaiskakis Stadium due to construction works at AEK Stadium.

27 October 1968 Matchday 5	Olympiacos	2–3	AEK Athens	Piraeus
15:30 EET (UTC+2)	Sideris 30', 63' (pen.)		Nikolaidis 13' Karafeskos 45+12' (pen.) Papaioannou 78'	Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium Attendance: 36,589 Referee: Kostas Xanthoulis (Cyprus)
Note: At 45th minute the match was interrupted for 12 minutes because of the intense protests of the players of Olympiacos to the referee, due to the penalty that was given against them. As a result of the protests Gioutsos was explelled, while the referee continued the match with torn sleeve. At the 85th minute, Serafidis was explelled as well, as he had kicked Sideris who fouled him during an intervention in the air. Even though AEK had the right to make a substitute to the position of the goalkeeper, Stanković decided to play Papaioannou under the posts, who did two wonderful saves. By the end of the match Olympiacos filed a objection with the excuse that the last 15 minutes of the game was held without adequate lighting.^[1]

3 November 1968 Matchday 6	AEK Athens	5–2	Chalkida	Nea Filadelfeia
15:15 EET (UTC+2)	Papaioannou 9', 16', 20' Ventouris 60' Karafeskos 89' (pen.)		Emmanouilidis 24' Koutsoudakis 48'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 19,303 Referee: Dimitris Protonotarios (Athens)
Note: The hat-trick of Papaioannou in 11 minutes is the fastest an AEK player has ever scored.^[9]

10 November 1968 Matchday 7	Egaleo	2–3	AEK Athens	Aigaleo
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Giannakopoulos 68' Lardas 82'		Ventouris 34' Stamatiadis 62' Papageorgiou 72'	Stadium: Stavros Mavrothalassitis Stadium Attendance: 14,137 Referee: Christos Michas (Athens)

17 November 1968 Matchday 8	AEK Athens	2–1	Panserraikos	Nea Filadelfeia
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Nikolaidis 42', 47'		Bitzidis 88'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 15,141 Referee: Kitsoukalis

24 November 1968 Matchday 9	AEK Athens	2–1	Panionios	Nea Filadelfeia
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Sevastopoulos 25' Pomonis 72'		Intzoglou 56'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 17,964 Referee: Karpodinis (Athens)

1 December 1968 Matchday 10	Panathinaikos	1–2	AEK Athens	Ampelokipoi
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Dimitriou 37' (pen.)		Nikolaidis 21' Skevofilakas 64'	Stadium: Leoforos Alexandras Stadium Attendance: 22,803 Referee: Christos Michas (Athens)

15 December 1968 Matchday 11	Iraklis	2–2	AEK Athens	Thessaloniki
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Zafiridis 33' Fitilis 65'		Skevofilakas 9' Papageorgiou 86'	Stadium: Toumba Stadium Attendance: 10,347 Referee: Manolis Panakis (Athens)
Note: Held at Toumba Stadium, due to the anavailability of Kaftanzoglio Stadium.

22 December 1968 Matchday 12	AEK Athens	5–1	Trikala	Nea Filadelfeia
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Karafeskos 4' Papaioannou 6' Nikolaidis 22' Kefalidis 44' Papageorgiou 66'		Zachos 20'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 9,599 Referee: Martinis (Thessaloniki)

29 December 1968 Matchday 13	Veria	1–1	AEK Athens	Veria
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Th. Papadopoulos 71'		Sevastopoulos 36'	Stadium: Veria Stadium Attendance: 3,874 Referee: Timoleon Latsios (Larissa)

5 January 1969 Matchday 14	AEK Athens	3–0	Aris	Nea Filadelfeia
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Sevastopoulos 29' Papaioannou 56' Nikolaidis 76'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 22,749 Referee: Famelis (Athens)

12 January 1969 Matchday 15	AEK Athens	1–0	Apollon Athens	Nea Filadelfeia
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Nikolaidis 43'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 24,201 Referee: Kitsoukalis

18 January 1969 Matchday 16	AEL Limassol	0–5	AEK Athens	Limassol
14:30 EET (UTC+2)			Skevofilakas 6' Papaioannou 21', 79' Lavaridis 28' Pomonis 61' (pen.)	Stadium: GSO Stadium Attendance: 1,379 Referee: Giorgos Katsoras (Thessaloniki)

26 January 1969 Matchday 17	AEK Athens	3–0	OFI	Nea Filadelfeia
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Stamatiadis 31' Skevofilakas 53' Sevastopoulos 70'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 18,134 Referee: Timoleon Latsios (Larissa)

2 February 1969 Matchday 18	AEK Athens	3–0	Pierikos	Nea Filadelfeia
15:15 EET (UTC+2)	Papaioannou 1', 83' Karafeskos 40'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 19,574 Referee: Margaritis Doumousiadis (Magnesia)

9 February 1969 Matchday 19	Vyzas Megara	0–0	AEK Athens	Megara
15:15 EET (UTC+2)				Stadium: Megara Stadium Referee: Komninakis (Athens)

16 February 1969 Matchday 20	AEK Athens	2–0	Ethnikos Piraeus	Nea Filadelfeia
15:30 EET (UTC+2)	Papaioannou 35', 90'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 26,254 Referee: Dilzas (Thessaloniki)

23 February 1969 Matchday 21	PAOK	1–1	AEK Athens	Thessaloniki
15:30 EET (UTC+2)	Terzanidis 23'		Papaioannou 59'	Stadium: Toumba Stadium Attendance: 18,247 Referee: Kostas Dikopoulos (Larissa)

2 March 1969 Matchday 22	AEK Athens	0–1	Olympiacos	Nea Filadelfeia
16:00 EET (UTC+2)			Sideris 85'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 29,708 Referee: Christos Michas (Athens)

19 March 1969 Matchday 23	Chalkida	1–1	AEK Athens	Chalcis
16:00 EET (UTC+2)	Tokpasidis 37'		Ventouris 40'	Stadium: Municipal Stadium of Chalkida Referee: Leonidas Vamvakopoulos (Athens)
Note: The match was originally scheduled to take place on 9 March, but it was postponed because of the mateh against Spartak Trnava for the Quarter-finals of the European Cup on 12 March.

21 December 1969 Matchday 24	AEK Athens	1–0	Egaleo	Nea Filadelfeia
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Papaioannou 47'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 13,032 Referee: Pipergias
Note: A minute of silence was held in honour of Giannis Serafimidis, a 56-year-old fan of AEK, who in the recent European game against Spartak Trnava suffered a fatal heart attack at the moment the opposite side scored.^[10]

23 March 1969 Matchday 25	Panserraikos	1–0	AEK Athens	Serres
16:30 EET (UTC+2)	Stavlas 19'			Stadium: Serres Municipal Stadium Attendance: 7,931 Referee: Timoleon Latsios (Larissa)

30 March 1969 Matchday 26	Panionios	2–0	AEK Athens	Nea Smyrni
16:30 EET (UTC+2)	Dedes 35' Intzoglou 56'			Stadium: Nea Smyrni Stadium Attendance: 9,986 Referee: Pan Marinos (Piraeus)

6 April 1969 Matchday 27	AEK Athens	1–2	Panathinaikos	Nea Filadelfeia
16:30 EET (UTC+2)	Pomonis 15'		Kalaitzidis 27' Mitropoulos 44'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 28,565 Referee: Timoleon Latsios (Larissa)

20 April 1969 Matchday 28	AEK Athens	3–0	Iraklis	Nea Filadelfeia
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Papaioannou 27' Ventouris 74' Nikolaidis 84'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 8,349 Referee: Stathis Papavasileiou (Piraeus)

11 May 1969 Matchday 29	Trikala	1–0	AEK Athens	Trikala
17:00 EET (UTC+2)	Beveniou 56'			Stadium: Trikala Municipal Stadium Attendance: 6,378 Referee: Giorgos Katsoras (Thessaloniki)

18 May 1969 Matchday 30	AEK Athens	2–1	Veria	Nea Filadelfeia
17:30 EET (UTC+2)	Simigdalas 52' Karafeskos 54' (pen.)		Papafotiou 70'	Stadium: Nikos Goumas Stadium Attendance: 6,337 Referee: Dilzas (Thessaloniki)
Note: Career end for Andreas Stamatiadis. In the match, AEK won a penalty and was given to Stamatiadis, where for the first and last time in his career he missed, as the goalkeeper, Masadis denied him a final goal as a farewell.^[11]

25 May 1969 Matchday 31	Aris	2–0	AEK Athens	Thessaloniki
17:30 EET (UTC+2)	Spyridon 40' Sakellaridis 43'			Stadium: Aris Stadium Attendance: 12,759 Referee: Margaritis Doumousiadis (Magnesia)

1 June 1969 Matchday 32	Apollon Athens	1–0	AEK Athens	Rizoupoli
	Kyriakou 46'			Stadium: Rizoupoli Stadium Attendance: 3,863 Referee: Stathis Papavasileiou (Piraeus)

8 June 1969 Matchday 33	AEK Athens	4–0	AEL Limassol	Nea Filadelfeia
17:30 EET (UTC+2)	Papaioannou 24', 46' Nikolaidis 30', 30'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 2,162 Referee: Giannis Petrakis (Heraklion)

15 June 1969 Matchday 34	OFI	2–0 (Awarded)	AEK Athens	Heraklion
17:30 EET (UTC+2)				Stadium: Ergotelis Stadium Referee: Dionisis Voulgaris (Athens)
Note: AEK left the match at 26th minute, after the instructions of the escort, protesting because of a controversial penalty given to OFI, while the score was 0–0. The game was awarded with 2–0 to OFI and AEK were zeroed.^[12]

Greek Cup

AEK entered the Greek Cup at the round of 32.

Matches

14 May 1969 Round of 32	AEK Athens	5–0	Lamia	Nea Filadelfeia
16:30 EET (UTC+2)	Papaioannou 6', 53', 82' Ventouris 78' Pomonis 80'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Referee: Vougiouklakis (Piraeus)

11 June 1969 Round of 16	Panachaiki	4–2	AEK Athens	Patras
17:00 EET (UTC+2)	Davourlis 25', 59', 79' Michalopoulos 37'		Ventouris 47' Papaioannou 68'	Stadium: Panachaiki Stadium Attendance: 15,000 Referee: Nikos Giannopoulos (Athens)

European Cup

First round

18 September 1968 First leg	AEK Athens	3–0	Jeunesse Esch	Athens, Greece
16:30 EET (UTC+2)	Papaioannou 27' Papageorgiou 58' Karafeskos 60' (pen.)	Report		Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 16,205 Referee: Fabio Monti (Italy)

2 October 1968 Second leg	Jeunesse Esch	3–2 (3–5 agg.)	AEK Athens	Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg
20:30 EET (UTC+2)	Hoffmann 6' Drouet 40' Langer 77'	Report	Ventouris 16', 33'	Stadium: Stade Émile Mayrisch Attendance: 3,213 Referee: Joseph Hannet (Belgium)

Second round

13 November 1968 First leg	AEK Athens	0–0	AB	Athens, Greece
15:00 EET (UTC+2)		Report		Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 8,161 Referee: Ferdinand Marschall (Austria)

27 November 1968 Second leg	AB	0–2 (0–2 agg.)	AEK Athens	Copenhagen, Denmark
20:30 EET (UTC+2)		Report	Stamatiadis 25' Papaioannou 81'	Stadium: Københavns Idrætspark Attendance: 11,471 Referee: Robert Holley Davidson (Scotland)

Quarter-finals

26 February 1969 First leg	Spartak Trnava	2–1	AEK Athens	Trnava, Czechoslovakia
16:30 EET (UTC+2)	Jarábek 25' Kabát 44'	Report	Sevastopoulos 60'	Stadium: Spartak Stadium Attendance: 10,747 Referee: Gilbert Droz (Switzerland)

12 March 1969 Second leg	AEK Athens	1–1 (2–3 agg.)	Spartak Trnava	Athens, Greece
16:00 EET (UTC+2)	Papaioannou 77'	Report	Švec 22'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 29,842 Referee: Concetto Lo Bello (Italy)

Statistics

Squad statistics

As of 15 June 1969

No.	Pos	Player	Alpha Ethniki		Greek Cup		European Cup		Total
No.	Pos	Player	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
—	GK	Stelios Serafidis	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
—	GK	Theodoros Maniateas	4	0	0	0	2	0	6	0
—	GK	Stelios Konstantinidis	29	0	2	0	4	0	35	0
—	GK	Vyronas Amelidis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Defenders
—	DF	Alekos Sofianidis	4	0	0	0	2	0	6	0
—	DF	Aleko Yordan	6	0	0	0	2	0	8	0
—	DF	Tasos Vasiliou	28	0	2	0	6	0	36	0
—	DF	Giorgos Kefalidis	33	1	2	0	4	0	39	1
—	DF	Fotis Balopoulos	27	0	2	0	4	0	33	0
—	DF	Lakis Fragoudakis	6	0	2	0	0	0	8	0
—	DF	Giannis Spyropoulos	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
—	DF	Christos Antonopoulos	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
—	DF	Nikos Karapoulitidis	3	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
Midfielders
—	MF	Stelios Skevofilakas	32	4	2	0	6	0	40	4
—	MF	Panagiotis Ventouris	19	4	2	2	5	2	26	8
—	MF	Nikos Stathopoulos	30	0	1	0	6	0	37	0
—	MF	Michalis Simigdalas	11	1	2	0	4	0	17	1
—	MF	Minas Stavridis	1	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
—	MF	Giorgos Karafeskos	32	5	2	0	6	1	40	6
—	MF	Giorgos Lavaridis	11	1	0	0	0	0	11	1
Forwards
—	FW	Andreas Stamatiadis	23	2	0	0	5	1	28	3
—	FW	Kostas Papageorgiou	10	2	0	0	2	1	12	3
—	FW	Mimis Papaioannou	33	20	2	4	6	3	41	27
—	FW	Spyros Pomonis	24	4	2	1	2	0	28	5
—	FW	Kostas Nikolaidis	29	10	1	0	4	0	34	10
—	FW	Kostas Sarris	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
—	FW	Andreas Karakidis	5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
—	FW	Dimitris Kyrmizas	2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
Left during season
—	FW	Nikos Sevastopoulos	19	4	0	0	5	1	24	5

Goalscorers

As of 15 June 1969

Rank	Pos.	Player	Alpha Ethniki	Greek Cup	European Cup	Total
1	FW	Mimis Papaioannou	20	4	3	27
2	FW	Kostas Nikolaidis	10	0	0	10
3	MF	Panagiotis Ventouris	4	2	2	8
4	MF	Giorgos Karafeskos	5	0	1	6
5	FW	Spyros Pomonis	4	1	0	5
5	FW	Nikos Sevastopoulos	4	0	1	5
7	MF	Stelios Skevofilakas	4	0	0	4
8	FW	Andreas Stamatiadis	2	0	1	3
8	FW	Kostas Papageorgiou	2	0	1	3
10	DF	Giorgos Kefalidis	1	0	0	1
	MF	Giorgos Lavaridis	1	0	0	1
	MF	Michalis Simigdalas	1	0	0	1
Own goals			0	0	0	0
Totals			58	7	9	74

Hat-tricks

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.

Player	Against	Result	Date	Competition	Source
Mimis Papaioannou	Chalkida	5–2 (H)	3 November 1968	Alpha Ethniki	^[13]
Mimis Papaioannou	Lamia	5–0 (H)	14 May 1969	Greek Cup

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.

As of 15 June 1969

Rank	Player	Alpha Ethniki	Greek Cup	European Cup	Total
1	Stelios Konstantinidis	10	1	2	13
2	Theodoros Maniateas	0	0	1	1
3	Stelios Serafidis	0	0	0	0
Totals		10	1	3	14

Disciplinary record

As of 15 June 1969

N	P	Nat.	Name							Notes
N	P	Nat.	Name	Alpha Ethniki		Greek Cup	European Cup	Total		Notes
Goalkeepers
—	GK		Stelios Serafidis		1				1
—	GK		Theodoros Maniateas
—	GK		Stelios Konstantinidis
—	GK		Vyronas Amelidis
Defenders
—	DF		Alekos Sofianidis
—	DF		Aleko Yordan
—	DF		Tasos Vasiliou		1				1
—	DF		Giorgos Kefalidis
—	DF		Fotis Balopoulos
—	DF		Lakis Fragoudakis
—	DF		Giannis Spyropoulos
—	DF		Christos Antonopoulos
—	DF		Nikos Karapoulitidis
Midfielders
—	MF		Stelios Skevofilakas
—	MF		Panagiotis Ventouris
—	MF		Nikos Stathopoulos
—	MF		Michalis Simigdalas
—	MF		Minas Stavridis
—	MF		Giorgos Karafeskos
—	MF		Giorgos Lavaridis
Forwards
—	FW		Andreas Stamatiadis
—	FW		Kostas Papageorgiou
—	FW		Mimis Papaioannou
—	FW		Spyros Pomonis
—	FW		Kostas Nikolaidis
—	FW		Kostas Sarris
—	FW		Andreas Karakidis
—	FW		Dimitris Kyrmizas
Left during season
—	FW		Nikos Sevastopoulos

References

^ ^a ^b "Τιτάνια μάχη και επικός θρίαμβος στο Καραϊσκάκη με τον Μίμη… στο τέρμα". aek365.org.
^ "AEK-Jeunesse Esch UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.
^ "Jeunesse Esch-AEK UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.
^ "AEK-AB UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.
^ "AB-AEK UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.
^ "Spartak Trnava-AEK UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.
^ "AEK-Spartak Trnava UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.
^ "Περίοδος 1968-1969". kitrinomavro.gr. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
^ "Ξεπέρασε Μαύρο, Μπάγεβιτς και Τσιάρτα ο Βράνιες!". notosport.eleftheriaonline.gr.
^ "H AEK στους «8» της Ευρώπης!". aek1924.gr. 12 March 2018.
^ "Ο Θωμάς είχε τον τρόπο να νικάει και τους διαιτητές". aek365.org.
^ "Αποχώρηση αγανάκτησης". aek365.org.
^ "Το ιστορικό και ανεπανάληπτο έπος της ΑΕΚ με την Ντέρμπι Κάουντι!". aek-live.gr (in Greek). Online. 3 November 2021.

External links

AEK Athens F.C. Official Website

[table_note_AEK0.50097560393669-9] AEK Athens were deducted 1 point.

[PapAEK-1] "Τιτάνια μάχη και επικός θρίαμβος στο Καραϊσκάκη με τον Μίμη… στο τέρμα". aek365.org.

[2] "AEK-Jeunesse Esch UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.

[3] "Jeunesse Esch-AEK UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.

[4] "AEK-AB UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.

[5] "AB-AEK UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.

[6] "Spartak Trnava-AEK UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.

[7] "AEK-Spartak Trnava UEFA Champions League 1968/69". UEFA.com.

[8] "Περίοδος 1968-1969". kitrinomavro.gr. 20 May 2015. Retrieved 12 July 2021.

[10] "Ξεπέρασε Μαύρο, Μπάγεβιτς και Τσιάρτα ο Βράνιες!". notosport.eleftheriaonline.gr.

[11] "H AEK στους «8» της Ευρώπης!". aek1924.gr. 12 March 2018.

[12] "Ο Θωμάς είχε τον τρόπο να νικάει και τους διαιτητές". aek365.org.

[13] "Αποχώρηση αγανάκτησης". aek365.org.

[14] "Το ιστορικό και ανεπανάληπτο έπος της ΑΕΚ με την Ντέρμπι Κάουντι!". aek-live.gr (in Greek). Online. 3 November 2021.

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