The 1959–60 season was the 36th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the first season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki and the Greek Cup. The season began on 23 September 1959 and finished on 31 July 1960.
Kits
Overview
From the previous season, the discussions for the establishment of a single championship of a national division were in motion. The HFF was divided and hesitated to take a decision, as the reactions of the local associations were varied. However, two factors played an important role in the final decision of the Greek football officials. On one hand, there was the ever-intensifying pressure for the establishment of a national division championship by UEFA, in order for the representation of the Greek clubs in the European Cups would become more meritorious. On the other hand, there was also the government's will to institutionalize the PRO-PO. That led the HFF in the eventual decision of the establishment of the first and second national divisions as replacements of the regional championships.
In the summer of 1959, AEK were strengthened with the striker, Stefanos Demiris, the goalkeeper, Kimon Dimitriou and the central defenders, Dimitris Diakakis and Giannis Marditsis, while the transfer of Alekos Sofianidis, who was acquired during the previous season, was finally completed. Even though the signings were not buzzing, it seemed that the team was complete and ready to claim the championship. AEK who were the only contender against the omnipotence of Olympiacos during the 1950s, entered the new championship focused exclusively on winning the title. After all, they were one step away from the previous season's title, when in the final matchday at Karaiskakis Stadium they were ahead by 0–2, but were tied and the title eventually ended up to the red and whites.
Ιn the Cup that started at the beginning season, AEK with characteristic ease eliminated at home Proodos Patisia with 5–0 in the first round and Victoria with 7–1 in the second round. Afterwards, they eliminated both Ilisiakos and Dafni Athens with 3–1 at home, for the third and fourth round, respectively. At the fifth round they scattered PAO Kalogreza with a 7–0 win at home and were qualified to the sixth round, where they faced Atromitos and eliminated them with 1–0 home win. At the round of 32, they were drawn against Olympiacos Chalkida, this time away from home and were eliminated with a 2–0 defeat.
The first championship of the first national division started on 25 October and Giannis Kanakis emerged as the scorer of its first ever goal, when at the 3rd minute of the match against Ethnikos Piraeus at Karaiskakis Stadium he made the 0–1 for AEK that remained as the final score. However, the "dark clouds" did not take long to make their appearance, showing in the most emphatic way that the change of conduct did not automatically mean the termination of the issues of previous years. At the 11th matchday, AEK played at Thessaloniki against Aris and the score was 2–1. At the 84th minute the referee, vacillating between giving a penalty or an indirect free kick to a foul on a player of AEK inside the area of Aris, caused a clash between the footballers of both clubs. Thus, he stopped the match, which was repeated ten days later with another referee and ended 2–2. Furthermore, the serious injury of Kostas Nestoridis at the home match against Proodeftiki kept him off the pitch for about a month and during that period AEK achieved 3 draws in equal number of matches, that would cost them in the end of the season. From about the middle of the season onwards AEK had to carry on without their long serving captain, Giannis Kanakis, who retired as a footballer.
Despite everyone seemingly being against them, the yellow-blacks were kept alive in the title race and at the top of the table. On 18 June, they competed at Karaiskakis Stadium against Proodeftiki. The pitch turned into a fighting arena and after a lot of banter between the players and several expulsions, the match ended in a 2–2 draw. Strangely enough, even though the referee did not record the suspensions of Stelios Serafidis and Giorgos Petridis on the match sheet, the two players were eventually punished based on the report of the observer and their monthly ban became effective after the final matchday. Furthermore, with the title race reaching its end, several clubs such as Panionios and Apollon Athens, claiming larger financial incomes, accepted the conduction of their home games against Panathinaikos at the larger home ground of the latter, Leoforos Alexandras Stadium. Even under these conditions, AEK remained at the top of the standings with a 2-point difference from the second Panathinaikos. In the final matchday AEK played at the Nea Smyrni Stadium against Panionios. It was rumored that the friendly relations between Nestoridis and his former teammates at Panionios would end up in an easy win for AEK. The rebuttal came in quickly, as Panionios won by 3–2, proving that for the duty of their players prevailed over friendship. It did not prove to be the same at Karaiskakis Stadium, where at the same time Olympiacos underperformed in the second half and were defeated by 1–4 from Panathinaikos, giving them the points needed to tie with AEK in order for the championship play-off to be set.
The play-off match that took place on 31 July found the yellow-blacks decimated by suspensions from the match against Proodeftiki. Thus they played with Sotiris Fakis under the goalposts for the first time. Disappointed by the turn of the championship race, AEK were defeated by 2–1 despite taking the lead at the 14th minute with Christos Ampos. Thus, the first title of the Alpha Ethniki was "dressed in green".
The end of the season found AEK in second place in the championship having the best attack with 77 goals and Kostas Nestoridis as the top scorer with 33 goals in 27 matches, who in several games seemed to take them by the hand and lead them to their first post-war title.
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 31 July 1960, 23:59 UTC+2.
PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer fee Goalkeepers Sotiris Fakis GK 1957 Amyna Ampelokipoi Free Stelios Serafidis GK 1953 AEK Athens U20 — Kimon Dimitriou GK 1959 Propontis Chalkida Free Defenders Thanasis Tsangaris RB / LB 1953 Apollon Athens Free Giannis Marditsis CB / ST 1959 Egaleo ₯103,000 Petros Stamatelopoulos LB 1959 Panerythraikos ₯100,000 Nikos Melissis CB / DM / ST 1953 PAO Kalogreza Free Mimis Anastasiadis RB / CB / ST 1956 A.O. Nea Ionia Free Antonis Gavanas CB 1956 Ethnikos Asteras Free Theofilos Vernezis RB / CB / GK 1956 AEK Athens U20 — Dimitris Diakakis CB 1959 Free agent Free Midfielders Pavlos Emmanouilidis RM / RW / ST / SS 1947 AEK Athens U20 — Miltos Papapostolou DM / CB 1956 Egaleo Free Giorgos Petridis AM / SS / ST 1957 Pera Club Free Thymios Polyzos CM 1956 Free agent Free Kostas Zografos CM 1955 Free agent — Samaras AM 1958 Free agent Free Forwards Kostas Nestoridis ST / SS 1955 Panionios Free Alekos Sofianidis LW / LM / LB 1959 Beşiktaş Free Andreas Stamatiadis (Vice-captain) RW / LW / SS / ST 1952 AEK Athens U20 — Dimitris Tsanoulas ST 1956 Free agent Free Christos Ampos LW / SS / ST 1956 A.O. Kifisia Free Argyris Argyropoulos ST 1958 AEK Athens U20 — Loukas Sismanis ST 1958 Athinaikos Free Stefanos Demiris ST / SS / AM 1959 AE Kavala — Left during season Giannis Kanakis (Captain) RM / LM / RB / LB 1949 AE Kavala Free
Transfers
In
PlayerFromFeeDateSource Propontis ChalkidaFree transfer Egaleo₯103,000 Free agentFree transfer Panerythraikos₯100,000 BeşiktaşFree transfer AE KavalaFree transfer
a. plus Stavros Giafaloglou, Giannis Chaniotis and Kostas Chatzimichail.
Out
PlayerToFeeDateSource Free agentContract termination PankorinthiakosContract termination Retired Propontis ChalkidaContract termination EgaleoFree transfer EgaleoFree transfer EgaleoFree transfer Free agentContract termination
Overall transfer activity
Expenditure: ₯203,000
Income: ₯0
Net Total: ₯203,000
Pre-season and friendlies
Competitions
Overall record
Alpha Ethniki
League table
Results summary
Results by Matchday
Matches
Championship play-off
Greek Cup
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
! colspan="9" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during season
Goalscorers
The list is sorted by competition order when total goals are equal, then by position and then alphabetically by surname. RankPlayerAlpha EthnikiGreek CupTotal1321042210 414310 2124 7 185 2 466 5 057 2 138 1 129 0 11 0 11 0 11Own goals 4 04Totals732699
Hat-tricks Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored. PlayerAgainst Result Date Competition Source Kostas Nestoridis4 Victoria 7–1 (H) 14 October 1959 Greek Cup Kostas Nestoridis Panegialios 4–1 (A) 6 December 1959 Alpha Ethniki Kostas Nestoridis4 PAO Kalogreza 7–0 (H) 13 January 1960 Greek Cup Kostas Nestoridis Ethnikos Piraeus 4–0 (H) 21 February 1960 Alpha Ethniki Kostas Nestoridis Doxa Drama 4–3 (H) 6 April 1960 Alpha Ethniki Kostas Nestoridis Apollon Kalamarias 6–2 (H) 17 July 1960 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 1162 0 223 0 00Totals15 318
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
! colspan="14" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during season
Awards PlayerAwardSource Kostas Nestoridis FW Alpha Ethniki Top Scorer Kostas Nestoridis FW Greek Cup Top Scorer
References
External links AEK Athens F.C. Official Website A.E.K. FC Database