The 1974–75 season was the 51st season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 16th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki and the Greek Cup. The season began on 29 September 1974 and finished on 8 June 1975.
Overview
The summer of 1974 marked the beginning of a new era in the history of the club. The political situation in Greece was normalizing and the "government commissioners" were detaching from the sports clubs. From the previous season Loukas Barlos, a prominent industrialist with the main occupation of the bauxite trade from the region of Boeotia, took charge of AEK. He had a vision to make AEK a team that would surpass the Greek standards.
Barlos started to build the team that he envisioned and without sparing any money he hired František Fadrhonc as the new manager. The Czechoslovak manager was a specialist in both training and coaching, while he was also co-creator of the "flying" Dutchmen of the early 70's, alongside Rinus Michels. Fadrhonc who was a huge name for the Greek standards of the time brought to AEK a series of innovations both in the style of training and coaching, as well as in their organizational structure. The "grandfather", as he was nicknamed, due to his age, set new standards even to the sports equipment and the team's clothing. AEK became the first Greek club to be dressed by a large sportswear brand. The two legally allowed positions of foreign players were filled by two Germans, the forward, Walter Wagner from Austria Wien and Timo Zahnleiter from 1860 München, who was one of the first modern defensive midfielders to play in Greece. From the domestic football market Barlos signed notable players, such as the fast winger, Christos Ardizoglou from Apollon Athens and the diligent scorer, Georgios Dedes, alongside the defender, Giorgos Skrekis from Panionios.
The results were impressive and the renewed AEK, presented the best attack and the best defense of the league, having only two defeats. The second one which was a 3–0 defeat against Olympiacos was the one that cost them the title, since they finished second with 2 points behind the red and whites.
In the Cup, AEK entered at the round of 32, where they eliminated Ethnikos Piraeus, winning them by 2–0 away from home. Afterwards, they passed through Kavala with a 3–0 win at home and reached the quarter-finals. There, they were eliminated by Iraklis with a 1–0 defeat at Kaftanzoglio Stadium.
Top scorer of the club in the league was Walter Wagner with 17 goals. The new administration and the performance of the team, showed that the club had the potential to claim titles and distinctions in the years to come.
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 8 June 1975, 23:59 UTC+3.
PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers Néstor Errea GK 1972 Banfield Free 1975 Giorgos Sidiropoulos GK 1973 Trikala ₯1,800,000 1981 Lakis Stergioudas GK 1972 Niki Poligyrou ₯36,000 1981 Giorgos Daditsos GK 1974 AEK Athens U20 — 1982 Defenders Giorgos Skrekis RB / CB 1974 Panionios ₯500,000 1982 Spyros Stefanidis CB / RB 1973 Panserraikos ₯500,000 1981 Apostolos Toskas CB 1969 Trikala ₯1,500,000 1977 Lakis Nikolaou CB / RB / ST / RW 1971 Atromitos ₯600,000 1979 Sakis Zarzopoulos CB / DM / RB / LB 1973 Panserraikos ₯2,500,000 1981 Stefanos Theodoridis RB / LB / CB / RM / LM 1969 AEK Athens U20 — 1977 Victoras Theofilopoulos LB 1974 Panionios ₯500,000 1982 Nikos Karoulias LB / LM / AM 1973 AEK Athens U20 — 1981 Giorgos Kontopoulos LB / CB 1973 AEK Athens U20 — 1981 Petros Ravousis CB / RB 1972 Aetos Skydra Free 1981 Midfielders Giorgos Lavaridis CM / DM / CB 1968 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Timo Zahnleiter CM / DM 1974 1860 München ₯1,200,000 1976 Takis Timotheou AM / CB 1974 APOEL Free 1982 Lazaros Papadopoulos RM / RB / LM / LB / RW / LW 1973 Veria ₯1,300,000 1981 Dionysis Tsamis CM / DM / AM 1972 Panetolikos ₯2,350,000 1981 Vangelis Makos LM / LW 1972 Thriamvos Athens Free 1980 Christos Ardizoglou RM / LM / RW / LW / AM / RB / LB 1974 Apollon Athens ₯12,000,000 1982 Forwards Mimis Papaioannou (Captain) SS / ST / AM / RW 1962 Veria ₯175,000 1976 Georgios Dedes ST / SS / RW / LW / RM / LM 1974 Panionios ₯1,000,000 1982 Walter Wagner ST / SS / RW / LW / RM 1974 Austria Wien Free 1976 Tasos Konstantinou RW / SS / ST / RM / AM 1972 EPA Larnaca ₯600,000 1980 Jorge Falero Fanìs ST 1973 Danubio ₯750,000 1975
Transfers
In
PlayerFromFeeDateContract Until – Greek and Cypriot professional footballers were bound to their clubs for eight years, effectively functioning as eight-year contracts.Source AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 1982 Panionios₯500,00030 June 1982 Panionios₯500,00030 June 1982 1860 München₯1,200,00030 June 1976 Apollon Athens₯12,000,00030 June 1982 APOELFree transfer30 June 1982 KalamataLoan return Panionios₯1,000,00030 June 1982 Austria WienFree transfer30 June 1976
a. Plus Kostas Panagiotopoulos, Babis Psimogiannos and Ivan Kypritidis as exchange. AEK also paid a total fee of ₯2,000,000 to Panionios. The fee was apportioned to each player for accounting purposes. b. Plus Stefanos Karypidis and Theodoros Kolovos and Thanasis Polychronopoulos (from the reserve team) as exchange. He was initially acquired with a one-year loan with a fee of ₯3,850,000 and mandatory buy-out option of another ₯8,150,000, but in the following season it counted as transfer.
Out
PlayerToFeeDateSource PanachaikiContract termination KastoriaFree transfer Apollon AthensFree transfer PanachaikiContract termination PanioniosFree transfer PanioniosFree transfer Apollon AthensContract termination PanioniosFree transfer KastoriaFree transfer
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure: ₯15,200,000
Income: ₯0
Net Total: ₯15,200,000
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.
Matches
Statistics
Squad statistics
! colspan="9" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="9" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="9" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="9" 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 CupTotal117 320214 014310 111410 0105 6 067 4 158 3 039 2 02 2 02 2 02Own goals 3 03Totals73 578
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 CupTotal116 2182 4 04Totals20 222
Disciplinary record
! colspan="14" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers
! colspan="14" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders
! colspan="14" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders
! colspan="14" 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)244–4–212–25, 27–31, 33, 34134–3–31–11, 26, 32
Player Giorgos SidiropoulosGKSakis ZarzopoulosRCBLakis NikolaouLCBSpyros StefanidisRBChristos ArdizoglouLBDionysis TsamisRDMTimo ZahnleiterLDMTasos KonstantinouRMGeorgios DedesLMWalter WagnerRCFMimis Papaioannou (C)LCF
References
External links AEK Athens F.C. Official Website A.E.K. FC Database