AEK Football Club (), known simply as A.E.K. (; ) in Greece and AEK Athens internationally, are a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica, Greece. Part of the major multi-sport club A.E.K., the club's emblem is the double-headed eagle, the symbol of Palaiologos dynasty and the Byzantine Empire, their colours yellow and black, also inspired by the Byzantine Empire, serving to remind future generations of the glorious legacy of the Greeks of Constantinople. Their home ground is the Agia Sophia Stadium, a 32,500-capacity stadium in Nea Filadelfeia.

AEK was founded on 13 April 1924 in Athens by Greek refugees from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922) and nicknamed Énosi (Union), AEK are one of the most successful clubs in Greek football history. They have won 33 national titles (achieved 3 times the Double), their major titles are 14 Greek Championships, 16 Greek Cups, 2 Super Cups and 1 League Cup and they are the only Greek club to have won all the domestic competitions organised by the Hellenic Football Federation. AEK have also achieved three consecutive Greek Championship title wins in one occasion (1992–1994).

At the international level, the club has appeared several times in European competitions (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Conference League). They are the only Greek club to have reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Europa League (1976–77) and the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup twice (1996–97 and 1997–98). They are the first Greek club to have reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League (1968–69) and to qualify for the group stage of the institution (1994–95). AEK are also the only Greek club to have reached the quarter-finals of four European competitions. They did so in the UEFA Champions League (1968–69), UEFA Europa League (1976–77), UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1996–97 and 1997–98) and UEFA Conference League (2025–26).

AEK are one of the most popular football clubs in Greece, and has a strong fanbase all over the world with well over 1 million supporters.

History

The early years (1924–1959)

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.

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 history of AEK by Panos Makridis. Athletic Echo] Newspaper, 1953

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, Nikos Christidis, and Thomas Mavros.

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.