The 1962–63 season was the 39th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the fourth consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki and the Greek Cup. The season began on 27 September 1962 and finished on 7 July 1963.
Kits
Overview
Since the beginning of the previous season, Nikos Goumas aimed for AEK Athens to win the league. With a series of actions and by sparing no expense, he sought to strengthen the club at multiple levels. The Nea Filadelfeia Stadium had already been modernized by acquiring turf and reconstructed spectator stands and since its official inauguration in January 1962, was among the most modern stadiums in Greece at the time. The former player, Kleanthis Maropoulos, serving in an administrative role, was tasked with protecting the club from off-field interference. The transfer reinforcement laid the foundations for the club’s upcoming season, with the signing of the international Syrian striker, Ibrahim Mughrabi, Manolis Kanellopoulos, Sofos Koulidis and Manolis Klikopoulos from Egaleo, Vangelis Petrakis from Aris and most importantly Mimis Papaioannou from Veria. All of the above was preceded by the arrival of the Hungarian-German Jenő Csaknády as their new manager. Csaknády was already a successful manager at the Bundesliga and a prominent figure by the Greek standards of the time. The new manager showed from the beginning that he intended to align AEK with the professional standards of major European clubs, emphasizing discipline and the uniform treatment of players and the adoption of contemporary training methods and tactical systems. Csaknády quickly recognized the potential of Papaioannou and urged the management to pay the fee of 175,000 drachmas for his acquisition rather than signing him on a free transfer and wait for the expiration of the player's typical one-year suspension. The emphasis on discipline was reflected in the team's routine, which included managerial decisions such as the exclusion of Kostas Nestoridis and Mimis Anastasiadis from a friendly match against Barcelona at the Camp Nou, due to a prior breach of team rules. The approach of Csaknády endowed the team with cohesion, passion and commitment, while the imposition of the start of preparation from August 1, earlier than was typical for Greek clubs at the time, contributed to the improved physical conditioning of the players throughout the season.
The start of the league showed that the scenario of the previous seasons would be repeated with AEK and Panathinaikos fighting for the title, while Olympiacos would be waiting to take advantage of any possible missteps. The certainty of the "greens" for the conquest of the Championship was to such an extent that they did not proceed with any additions to their roster, as considering it complete. The three contenders engaged in a title-race that was close, until AEK prevailed over Olympiacos at Karaiskakis Stadium by 1–3 on the 13th matchday and moved to the top of the table with 33 points. However, in February, the defeat at the same stadium by Ethnikos Piraeus, removed the yellow-blacks from the top of the table. AEK responded with a streak of eight consecutive victories from the 19th matchday to the 26th matchday and combined with the draw by Panathinaikos in the same matchday, they again reached the top of the table. The following matchday against Panathinaikos at home in an inconclusive match despite an underwhelming performance by AEK, they lost by 0–2 and the "greens" emerged as the favorite for their fourth consecutive title. After the end of the three final matches of the league AEK and Panathinaikos finished tied at the top with 77 points each. The regulation of the championship stipulated a play-off match between the two clubs and in the event of a tie declared the team with the best goal ratio in the regular season as the champion.
On June 23, AEK and Panathinaikos met at the Stadium of Nea Filadelfeia, which was selected as the venue for the match. Panathinaikos took the lead at the 8th minute with a goal by Toumpelis, but AEK responded immediately by turning the match with a brace by Papaioannou at the 23rd and 27th minute, respectively. Furthermore, at the 39th minute Nestoridis made it 3–1 from a direct corner kick, bringing AEK close to the title. The "greens" took advantage of a period of inactivity of AEK and with goals from Linoxilakis at the 64th minute and Panagiotidis at the 65th minute, equalized the match at 3–3, which remained as the final score. Thus, despite Panathinaikos having a superior goal difference with +47 compared to AEK which had +45, the goal ratio defined by the regulation gave AEK the title with 3.14 against the 2.68 of the "greens". As AEK won their first post-war league and the first since the establishment of national divisions, Kostas Nestoridis emerged as the top scorer in the championship with 23 goals for the 5th time in a row and for the last in his career.
As all the first division clubs of the season, AEK entered the Cup at the round of 32. There, they defeated Olympiacos Kalamata with 7–1 at home and were qualified to the round of 16. Afterwards, they got the ticket for the quarter-finals by eliminating Atromitos with a 0–3 victory at Peristeri Stadium. In the quarter-finals, AEK faced Aris at Thessaloniki and were eliminated with a 1–0 defeat which came by a header from Panitsidis at the 9th minute.
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 7 July 1963, 23:59 UTC+2.
PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer fee Goalkeepers Stelios Serafidis GK 1953 AEK Athens U20 — Vangelis Petrakis GK 1962 Aris ₯500,000 Defenders Manolis Klikopoulos CB 1962 Ethnikos Piraeus Free Giannis Marditsis CB / ST 1959 Egaleo ₯103,000 Petros Stamatelopoulos LB 1959 Panerythraikos ₯100,000 Alekos Sofianidis LB / LM / LW 1959 Beşiktaş Free Mimis Anastasiadis RB / CB / ST 1956 A.O. Nea Ionia FreeGiannis Doukas CB / DM 1962Free agent Free Manolis Kanellopoulos RB / CB 1962 Egaleo Free Theofilos Vernezis RB / CB / GK 1956 AEK Athens U20 — Stamatis Skafidas RB / CB 1962 AEK Athens U20 — Midfielders Miltos Papapostolou DM / CB 1956 Egaleo Free Giorgos Petridis AM / SS / ST 1957 Pera Club Free Panikos Krystallis AM / SS / CM / RM / LM 1961 Apollon Limassol ₯1,900,000 Stelios Skevofilakas LM / RM / AM / CM 1961 Eleftheroupoli Free Thanasis Gouvas AM / RW / SS / ST 1960 A.E. Messolonghi Free Sofos Koulidis CM / AM 1962 Egaleo Free Forwards Kostas Nestoridis ST / SS 1955 Panionios Free Andreas Stamatiadis (Captain) RW / LW / SS / ST 1952 AEK Athens U20 — Dimitris Zagylos RW 1961 Anorthosis Famagusta ₯320,000 Ibrahim Mughrabi ST 1962 Halab Al-Ahli Free Nikos Zagotsis ST / SS 1960 AEK Athens U20 — Aris Tsachouridis LW / LM / RM / RW 1960 Makedonikos Free Mimis Papaioannou SS / ST / AM / RW 1962 Veria ₯175,000 Spyros Pomonis LW / LM 1960 AEK Athens U20 — Nikos Spyropoulos CF 1962Free agent Free
Transfers
In
PlayerFromFeeDateSource Aris₯500,000newspaper Athletic Echo 18/7/1962 pages 1, 8 Ethnikos PiraeusFree transfernewspaper Athletic Echo 31/7/1962 page 1 Free agentFree transfer EgaleoFree transfernewspaper Athletic Echo 1/8/1962 pages 1, 4 AEK Athens U20Promotion EgaleoFree transfer Veria₯175,000 Halab Al-AhliFree transfer Free agentFree transfer
Out
PlayerToFeeDateSource EgaleoFree transfer Free agentContract termination PanegialiosFree transfer Free agentContract termination PanegialiosContract termination EgaleoFree transfer
a. as an exchange from the transfers of Kanellopoulos and Koulidis.
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure: ₯675,000
Income: ₯0
Net Total: ₯675,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Championship play-off
Greek Cup
AEK 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 CupTotal124 428218 1193 7 294 4 155 4 04 2 247 3 038 1 01 1 01 1 01Own goals 4 04Totals691079
Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Ibrahim Mughrabi Egaleo 7–2 (H) 27 September 1962 Alpha Ethniki Kostas Nestoridis Apollon Athens 4–3 (H) 24 March 1963 Alpha Ethniki Kostas Nestoridis Olympiacos Kalamata 7–1 (H) 19 May 1963 Greek Cup Kostas Nestoridis5 Iraklis 5–0 (H) 2 June 1963 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 CupTotal115 116Totals15 116
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
Awards PlayerAwardSource Kostas Nestoridis FW Alpha Ethniki Top Scorer
References
External links AEK Athens F.C. Official Website A.E.K. FC Database