P.A.O.K. (, , "P.A.O.K. (Pan-Thesalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans))", commonly known as A.C. PAOK (), is a major multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. The club has several departments, including football, basketball, volleyball, handball, water polo, swimming, wrestling, ice hockey, and weightlifting. P.A.O.K was founded on 20 April 1926. Because of its crest, it is also known as the "Double-Headed Eagle of the North", in contrast with AEK, the "Double-Headed Eagle". They are one of the most popular Greek sports-clubs with many fans all over the country (mostly, but not exclusively, in Northern Greece), and also among the Greek diaspora.
History
PAOK is closely linked with Hermes Sports Club (), which was formed in 1875 by the Greek community of Pera, a district of Constantinople (Istanbul). The club was founded on 20 April 1926 by Constantinopolitans who fled to Thessaloniki after the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War (see Rum Millet).
The club's first memorandum of association signed on 30 March 1926 at Enosis Konstantinoupoliton Thessalonikis office, and was approved on 20 April 1926 by a decision of the Thessaloniki Court of First Instance (No. 822). The founding members were A. Angelopoulos, A. Athanasiadis, K. Anagnostidis, M. Ventourellis, F. Vyzantinos, V.Karapiperis, A. Dimitriadis, D. Dimitriadis, N. Zoumboulidis, M. Theodosiadis, T. Ioakimopoulos, P. Kalpaktsoglou, T. Kartsambekis, D. Koemtzopoulos, K. Koemtzopoulos, P. Kontopoulos, K. Kritikos, M. Konstantinidis, P. Maleskas, I. Nikolaidis, L. Papadopoulos, F. Samantzopoulos, T. Tsoulkas, M. Tsoulkas, S. Triantafyllidis and T. Triantafyllidis (who was also its first chairman).
P.A.O.K.'s first Board of Directors, serving between 1926 and 1927, consisted of:
Triantafyllos Triantafyllidis (President) Pantelis Kalpaktsoglou (1st vice-president) Konstantinos Kritikos (General Secretary) Menelaos Tsoulkas (Special Secretary) Ioakim Ioakimopoulos (Treasurer) Alexandros Angelopoulos (Director of Football) Aristodimos Dimitriadis (Director of Sports) Panagiotis Maleskas (Consultant) Konstantinos Koemtzopoulos (Consultant) Michalis Theodosiadis (Consultant)
The club's policy was to be open to every citizen of Thessaloniki, leading to a minor rivalry with AEK Thessaloniki, the other Constantinopolitan team of the city, in which only refugees were allowed to play. The original logo of PAOK was a horseshoe and a four-leaf clover. The leaves were green and above them were the initials of the word PAOK. Kostas Koemtzopoulos, one of PAOK's founding members, came up with this idea, inspired by his favourite brand of cigarettes.
The football club played their first game (friendly) on 4 May 1926, at Thermaikos stadium, defeating Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki 2–1. The first coach of the club was Kostas Andreadis, who spent five years on the bench without demanding any payment. Their first captain was Michalis Ventourelis.
The first professional contract was signed by the club on 5 September 1928. The contract stipulated that the French footballer Raymond Etienne – of Jewish descent from Pera Club – would be paid 4,000 drachmas per month. The contract was signed by Dr. Meletiou, the PAOK chairman, and Mr. Sakellaropoulos, the Hon. Secretary.
In early 1929, AEK Thessaloniki was virtually dissolved and absorbed by PAOK. PAOK thereupon changed their emblem, adopting the double-headed eagle, as a symbol of the club's Byzantine/Constantinopolitan heritage. PAOK also got possession of AEK's facilities located around Syntrivani (i.e. Fountain) Square.
In 1937, PAOK won his first title, the Macedonia (EPSM or Thessaloniki) Championship, and participated in the Panhellenic Championship, finishing second. The 1937 team included: Sotiriadis, Vatikis, Goulios, Kontopoulos, Bostantzoglou, Panidis, Glaros, Kritas, Ioannidis, Kalogiannis, Koukoulas, Kosmidis, Apostolou, Vafiadis, Vasiliadis, Anastasiadis, Moschidis, Tzakatzoglou, Zakapidas.
The first Greek championship for the basketball team was achieved in 1958–59 season. The first Greek championship for the football team was achieved in 1975–76 season.
In the 90s, the basketball team won another Greek championship and two European cups, the 1990–91 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup and the 1993–94 FIBA Korać Cup.
Crest and Colours
The original logo of PAOK was a horseshoe and a four-leaf clover. The current symbol since 1929 is the double-headed eagle. The eagle symbolizes the origins of the club in the former Byzantine capital, Constantinople, and the legacy of the Greek refugees from Asia Minor, Eastern Thrace, Pontus and Caucasus. In 2013, a golden outline was added to the football team's crest, as a symbol of the club's Byzantine heritage.
The club's traditional colours are black, as sadness for the Asia Minor Catastrophe of 1922 and the end of the Greek presence in Anatolia, and white as hope for recovery.
Supporters P.A.O.K. is the most widely supported sports-club in Northern Greece and one of the 4 most popular in the country (along with the big-three of capital Athens and Piraeus). PAOK's traditional fanbase comes from the city of Thessaloniki, where the club is based, as well as from the rest of Macedonia region and Northern Greece. They also have fans all over the country and in the Greek Diaspora (Germany, Australia, USA, etc.).
Rivalries
P.A.O.K.'s main rivals are Olympiacos, Aris (local rivals), Panathinaikos, AEK, Iraklis.
Football kit evolution
First
Alternative
P.A.O.K. Departments – Honours
Football Men's Football Source: Greek Championship: 4 1976, 1985, 2019, 2024 Greek Cup: 8 1972, 1974, 2001, 2003, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021 Greater Greece Cup: 1 (defunct) 1973
Women's Football Greek Championship: 20 (record) 2002, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2026 Greek Cup: 8 (record) 2002, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2024, 2026
Basketball Men's Basketball Source: Greek Championship: 2 1959, 1992 Greek Cup: 3 1984, 1995, 1999 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup: 1 1991 FIBA Korać Cup: 1 1994
Volleyball Men's Volleyball Greek Championship: 3 2015, 2016, 2017 Greek Cup: 5 2015, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 Greek Super Cup: 1 2023
Women's Volleyball Greek Cup: 1 2021
Handball Men's Handball Greek Championship: 3 2009, 2010, 2015 Greek Cup: 4 2012, 2015, 2017, 2024 Greek beach handball championship: 1 2001
Women's Handball
Greek Championship: 7 2013, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2026 Greek Cup: 8 2014, 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2026 Greek Super Cup: 2 2023, 2026
Weightlifting 7 Greek men's Championships: 2006, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2024, 2025
Wrestling 10 Greek men's Championships Greco-Roman: 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, 2026
Judo 2 Greek men's Championships: 2019, 2021 2 Greek women's Championships: 2019, 2022 1 Greek mixed team Championships: 2023
Athletics 3 Greek women's Open Athletics Championships: 1976, 1977, 1982 2 Greek women's Cross Country Championships: 1968, 1974
Swimming 1 Greek OPEN Championship: 1987
Cycling 1 Greek men's Championship Mountain Bike: 2002
Boxing 2 Greek men's Championships: 2003, 2007
Roller hockey 1 Greek men's Championship: 2008 1 Balkan Amateur Hockey League: 2007
European honours SeasonMen's FootballMen's basketballWomen's volleyballMen's ice hockey 1973–74 UEFA Cup Winners' CupQuarter-finals 1989–90 FIBA European Cup Winners' CupSemi-finals 1990–91 FIBA European Cup Winners' Cup Winners 1991–92 FIBA European Cup Final 1992–93 FIBA European League3rd place 1993–94 FIBA Korać Cup Winners 1995–96 FIBA European Cup Final 2006–07 Balkan Amateur Hockey League Winners 2021–22 UEFA Conference LeagueQuarter-finals 2023–24 UEFA Conference LeagueQuarter-finals 2024–25 FIBA Europe Cup Final BVA CupFinal 2025–26 FIBA Europe Cup Final
Notable former athletes Football: Men: Giorgos Koudas, Stavros Sarafis, Konstantinos Iosifidis, Christos Terzanidis, Angelos Anastasiadis, Georgios Skartados, Georgios Kostikos, Theodoros Zagorakis, Zisis Vryzas, Georgios Georgiadis, Pablo Gabriel García, Lino, Sérgio Conceição, Vieirinha, Dimitar Berbatov, Aleksandar Prijović, Lucas Pérez, Magdy Tolba, Hossam Hassan, Percy Olivares, Dimitris Paridis, Giannis Gounaris, Filotas Pellios, Neto Guerino, Ioannis Damanakis, Nikos Alavantas, Christos Dimopoulos, Giorgos Toursounidis, Kostas Frantzeskos, Omari Tetradze, Pantelis Kafes, Stelios Venetidis, Ioannis Okkas, Omar El Kaddouri, Panagiotis Engomitis, Pablo Contreras, Zlatan Muslimović, Dimitrios Salpingidis, José Ángel Crespo, Léo Matos, Yevhen Shakhov (footballer, born 1990), Diego Biseswar, Stefanos Athanasiadis, Dimitrios Pelkas, Maurício (footballer, born October 1988), Fernando Varela Women: Natalia Chatzigiannidou, Jelena Dimitrijević, Dimitra Panteliadou Basketball: Men: Bane Prelević, John Korfas, Peja Stojaković, Scott Skiles, Walter Berry, Ken Barlow, Cliff Levingston, Nikos Boudouris, Giorgos Balogiannis, Efthimios Rentzias, Giannis Giannoulis, Kostas Vasileiadis, Zoran Savić, Anthony Bonner, Frankie King, Claudio Coldebella, Manthos Katsoulis, Nikos Stavropoulos, Vangelis Alexandris, Panagiotis Fasoulas, Rasho Nesterovic, İbrahim Kutluay, Damir Mulaomerović, Dejan Tomašević Volleyball: Men: Dante Amaral, Ernardo Gómez, Alexander Shafranovich, Rolando Cepeda, Javier Jiménez, David Lee, Giannis Pantakidis, Giannis Kalmazidis, Vasileios Kournetas, Vladimir Grbić, Kevin Hansen, Matti Hietanen, Plamen Konstantinov, Paul Lotman, Olli-Pekka Ojansivu, Evan Patak, Vlado Petković, Konstantinos Prousalis, Clayton Stanley, Riley Salmon, Nikolaos Smaragdis, Saša Starović, Mitar Tzourits, Nikolay Uchikov, Ronald Zoodsma Athletics: Men: Michalis Akritidis, Themistoklis Akritidis, Dimitrios Kokotis, Konstantinos Koukodimos, Dimitrios Koutsoukis Women: Vasiliki Anastasiou, Xanthipi Koukoumaka, Voula Patoulidou Swimming: Men: Christos Papadopoulos Women: Kalliopi Araouzou, Antonia Machaira, Aikaterini Sarakatsani, Katerina Stikoudi, Aikaterini Klepkou, Anna Ntountounaki.
Presidential History
YearPresident 1926–1927 Triantafyllos Triantafyllidis 1927–1928 Vyzantios Fanourios1928–1929 Konstantinos Meletiou1929–1930 Athinodoros Athinodorou1930–1931 Pantelis Kalpaktsoglou1931–1933 Petros Levantis1933–1935 Savvas Tsantas1935–1936 Filaretos Tsompektsoglou1936–1938 Savvas Tsantas1938–1939 Ioannis Tsakiroglou1939–1940 Dimitrios Kamaras1940–1944 Pantelis Kalpaktsoglou1944–1946 Filaretos Tsompektsoglou1946–1948 Pantelis Kalpaktsoglou1948–1949 Mirodis Dimitrakopoulos1949–1963 Georgios Charalampidis1963–1964 Ippokratis Iordanoglou1964–1966 Dimitrios Dimadis
YearPresident1966–1969 Vassilios Zervas1969 Evangelos Mylonas1969–1971 Stavros Georgiadis1971–1972 Ioannis Arvanitakis1972–1973 Stavros Simitzis1973–1974 Ioannis Arvanitakis1974 Georgios Zografos1974–1975 Arthouros Merdikian1975–1981 Georgios Pantelakis1981–1983 Ioannis Vranialis1983–1984 Dimosthenis Fintanidis1984–1993 Nikolaos Vezyrtzis 1993–1995 Apostolos Oikonomidis 1995–1997 Charis Lazaridis Apostolos Alexopoulos 1997–1998 Apostolos Alexopoulos 1998–2025 Athanasios Katsaris 2025–2026 Alkiviadis Isaiadis 2026– Nikolaos Paraskevopoulos
PAOK FC Presidential History From the organization of the 1979–80 Alpha Ethniki Greece Football Clubs Association became professional, as based on a bill submitted on January 19, 1979 (Law 879/1979) the Greece Football Clubs Association (FCA) department of the club PAOK FC was converted into a Football Anonyme Company A.E