The 1972–73 season was the 49th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 14th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 13 September 1972 and finished on 3 June 1973.
Kits
Overview
The declining course of AEK Athens continued. However, prominent players such as Petros Ravousis, Tasos Konstantinou and Dionysis Tsamis were acquired. On the other hand, the arrival of dubious value of Latin American footballers, according to the current of the time, such as Néstor Errea, Rodolfo Vicente and Hugo Zeer did not offer anything special to the problematic performance of the club. Among the departures were players with many years of service, such as Giorgos Kefalidis and Stelios Skevofilakas, who moved to Atromitos, Panagiotis Ventouris who went to Cyprus, Andreas Papaemmanouil who retired, but most importantly, Stelios Serafidis who also retired after 19 years at the yellow-blacks.
AEK competed in the UEFA Cup for the first time in their history. In the first round, they were drawn against the Hungarian Salgótarján. It was characteristic, that the two matches against AEK constitute the whole of the European presence in Salgótarján's history. In the first leg at Nea Filadelfeia, AEK prevailed easily with 3–1. The rematch in Hungary had acquired a purely procedural character and the yellow-blacks qualified with a 1–1 draw. In the second round, luck completely turned its back on AEK, bringing them against Liverpool of Bill Shankly. The first match on Anfield, the superiority of Liverpool was certified, as the reds took the victory with 3–0 and largely ensured the qualification for the next round. In the rematch of AEK Stadium, Liverpool finished the job with a 3–1 win, which sent them to the next round and in the eventual conquest of the title, at the end of the season.
For another year AEK stayed away from claiming the Cup. In the first round, they eliminated Korinthos at home and in the round of 32, they overcame Ethnikos Asteras, with an impressive 9–0 home win. At the round of 16, AEK were drawn against the second division club Apollon Kalamarias and were eliminated with a 2–1 defeat at Kalamaria. That resulted in the removal of Branko Stanković from the bench of the team, after 5 years at the club.
After a period with the manager of the reserve team, Kostas Chatzimichail at the wheel, Billy Bingham, the manager of the national team, was hired in February at a difficult turn for the club, which was plagued by administrative and competitive problems. AEK were far from the top and the Irishman failed to change the situation and was fired at the end of the season. As a result, the club finished fifth, at a distance of 23 points from the top. The counterproductive attack of AEK in contrast to their long tradition in this section, was remarkable, as they scored only 39 goals while conceding 36.
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 3 June 1973, 23:59 UTC+2.
PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until Goalkeepers Néstor Errea GK 1972 Banfield Free 1975 Stelios Konstantinidis GK 1967 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Lakis Stergioudas GK 1972 Niki Poligyrou ₯36,000 1981 Defenders Giorgos Tanidis CB 1971 Aris Ptolemaida ₯120,000 1979 Rizos Lellis CB / LB 1972 AEL ₯1,200,000 1980 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 Petros Ravousis CB / RB 1972 Aetos Skydra Free 1981 Midfielders Nikos Stathopoulos LM / LB / CM 1965 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Hugo Horacio Zerr CM / AM 1972 Argentinos Juniors Free 1974 Giorgos Karafeskos CM / DM / RM / RW 1964 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Giorgos Lavaridis CM / DM / CB 1968 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Dionysis Tsamis CM / DM / AM 1972 Panetolikos ₯2,350,000 1981 Vangelis Makos LM / LW 1972 Thriamvos Athens Free 1980 Forwards Mimis Papaioannou (Captain) SS / ST / AM / RW 1962 Veria ₯175,000 1976 Spyros Pomonis (Vice-captain) LW / LM 1960 AEK Athens U20 — 1976 Kostas Nikolaidis RW / LW / SS / ST 1965 PAO Safraboli Free 1976 Giannis Dandelis ST 1972 Veria ₯540,000 1980 Rodolfo Vicente RW / RM 1972 Atlanta Free 1974 Babis Psimogiannos ST 1971 Aris Agios Konstantinos Free 1979 Lakis Nikolaou ST / RW / CB / RB 1971 Atromitos ₯600,000 1979 Tasos Konstantinou RW / SS / ST / RM / AM 1972 EPA Larnaca ₯600,000 1980 Stefanos Karypidis RW / ST / RM 1972 AEK Athens U20 — 1981
Transfers
In
PlayerFromFeeDateContract Until – Greek and Cypriot professional footballers were bound to their clubs for eight years, effectively functioning as eight-year contracts.Source BanfieldFree transfer30 June 1975 Niki Poligyrou₯36,00030 June 1981 AEL₯1,200,00030 June 1980 Aetos SkydraFree transfer30 June 1981 Argentinos JuniorsFree transfer30 June 1974 Panetolikos₯2,350,00030 June 1981 Thriamvos AthensFree transfer30 June 1980 AtlantaFree transfer30 June 1974 EPA Larnaca₯600,00030 June 1980 AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 1981 Veria₯540,00030 June 1980 AO KoropiLoan return30 June 1974
a. plus Dimitris Palasidis as exchange and the incomes of a friendly between the two clubs.
Out
PlayerToFeeDateSource Retired KallitheaContract termination AtromitosContract termination AtromitosContract termination Anorthosis FamagustaFree transfer Retired VeriaFree transfer
Loan out
PlayerToFeeDateUntilOption to buySource AtromitosFree30 June 1973 AtromitosFree30 June 1973
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure: ₯4,726,000
Income: ₯0
Net Total: ₯4,726,000
Pre-season and friendlies
OPAP Summer Championship
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Greek Cup
Matches
UEFA Cup
First round
Second 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 CupUEFA CupTotal1 7 4 2132 7 3 0103 7 1 084 5 0 275 6 0 066 2 2 047 2 0 02 1 1 02 1 0 1210 1 0 01 0 1 01Own goals 0 0 00Totals3912 556
Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Kostas Nikolaidis4 Ethnikos Asteras 9–0 (H) 3 January 1973 Greek Cup Giannis Dandelis Fostiras 3–0 (H) 21 January 1973 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 CupUEFA CupTotal111 1 0122 2 1 033 0 0 00Totals13 2 015
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)414–2–41–34
Player Néstor ErreaGKApostolos ToskasRCBGiorgos TanidisLCBStefanos TheodoridisRBRizos LellisLBGiorgos LavaridisRDMGiorgos KarafeskosLDMLakis NikolaouRWSpyros PomonisLWMimis Papaioannou (C)RCFKostas NikolaidisLCF
References
External links AEK Athens F.C. Official Website A.E.K. FC Database