The 1981 Greek Cup final was the 37th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 21 June 1981 at Nikos Goumas Stadium. The contesting teams were Olympiacos and AEL. It was Olympiacos' twenty-second Greek Cup final in their 56 years of existence and PAOK's eleventh Greek Cup final in their 55-year history. The match was marked by riots between fans of both teams, one of the first expressions of hooliganism in Greece. The footballers of both teams were wearing black brassards, as the players of Olympiacos were mourning the victims of tragedy of gate 7 on 8 February 1981 and the players of PAOK in memory of their coach Gyula Lóránt, who had died at the bench on 31 May 1981.

Venue This was the sixth Greek Cup final held at AEK Stadium, after the 1962, 1967, 1974, 1976 and 1980 finals.

AEK Stadium was built in 1930 and it was renovated in 1979. The stadium is used as a venue for AEK Athens and was used for Greece on various occasions. Its current capacity is 35,000.

Background Olympiacos had reached the Greek Cup final twenty-one times, winning sixteen of them. The last time that they won the Cup was in 1975 (1–0 against Panathinaikos). The last time that they played in a final was in 1976, where they had lost to Iraklis by 6–5 on penalties, which came after a 4–4 draw at the end of the extra time.

PAOK had reached the Greek Cup final ten times, winning two of them. The last time they won the Cup was in 1974 (4–3 on penalties, which came after a 2–2 draw at the end of the extra time against Olympiacos). The last time they played in a final was in 1978, when they lost to AEK Athens by 2–0.

The two teams had met each other in a Cup final four times in 1951, 1971, 1973 and 1974 finals.

Route to the final

OlympiacosRoundPAOKOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legChalkida3–1 (A)First roundNiki Volos1–1 (A)Pierikos5–0 (H)Second roundVeria2–0 (A)Panionios2–00–0 (H)3–0 (A)Round of 16Olympiacos Volos4–22–1 (H)2–1 (A)Kavala2–00–0 (A)2–0 (H)Quarter-finalsEthnikos Asteras8–25–0 (H)3–2 (A)Panegialios6–13–0 (A)3–1 (H)Semi-finalsAEK Athens3–01–0 (A)2–0 (H)

Match Details

GK Nikos SarganisDF Giannis KyrastasDF Nikos VamvakoulasDF Stavros Papadopoulos (c)DF Martin NovoselacMF Vangelis KousoulakisMF Konstantinos Orfanos MF Takis Nikoloudis MF Takis LemonisFW Maik GalakosFW Takis PersiasSubstitutes:DF Petros Michos MF Thomas Ahlström Manager: Kazimierz Górski GK Mladen FurtulaDF Ioannis GounarisDF Konstantinos IosifidisDF József SalamonDF Thomas SingasMF Ioannis DamanakisMF Panagiotis Kermanidis  MF Vasilios GeorgopoulosMF Giorgos Koudas (c)  FW Neto GuerinoFW Georgios KostikosSubstitutes:MF Vasilios Vasilakos  FW Stathis Triantafyllidis  Manager: Aristotelis Fountoukidis Assistant referees: Kostas Dedes (Messinia) Antonis Vassaras (Thessaloniki)Match rules 90 minutes 30 minutes of extra time if necessary Penalty shootout if scores still level Five named substitutes Maximum of two substitutions

See also 1980–81 Greek Football Cup

References