PAOK FC (, ), short for "Pan-Thessalonian Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans" (), and commonly known as PAOK Thessaloniki, PAOK Salonika or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional football club based in Thessaloniki, Macedonia, Greece. PAOK are one of the top domestic clubs, the most successful and widely supported in Northern Greece.
Established on 20 April 1926 by Greek refugees who fled to Thessaloniki from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War (1919–1922), they play their home games at Toumba Stadium, a 29,000 seating capacity football ground. Their name, along with the club's emblem, the Byzantine-style double-headed eagle with retracted wings, honours the memory of the people and places (mostly from the city of Constantinople) that once belonged to the Eastern Roman Empire. PAOK currently plays in the top-flight Super League, which they have won four times (in 1976, 1985, 2019 and 2024). They are eight-time winners of the Greek Cup (in 1972, 1974, 2001, 2003, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2021). The club is one of the three which have never been relegated from the top national division and the only team in Greece that have won the Double (in 2019) going unbeaten (26–4–0 record) in a national round-robin league tournament (league format since 1959).
The team has appeared several times in the UEFA Europa League, but has yet to reach the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. PAOK have reached the quarter-finals of a European competition three times; once in the 1973–74 European Cup Winners' Cup and twice in the UEFA Conference League, in the 2021–22 and 2023–24 seasons. PAOK is the only Greek team that has more wins than losses in their European record (102 wins, 71 draws and 91 defeats, as of 26 February 2026) and the 0–7 away UEFA Cup win over Locomotive Tbilisi on 16 September 1999 is the largest ever achieved by a Greek football club in all European competitions.
Foundation and early years (1926–1939)
PAOK FC is the oldest department of the major multi-sport club AC P.A.O.K., which is closely linked with Hermes Sports Club, that was formed in 1875 by the Greek community of Pera, a district of Istanbul (Constantinople).
The football club was founded in April 1926 by Constantinopolitans who fled to Thessaloniki after the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War. PAOK's policy was to be open to every citizen of Thessaloniki, leading to a minor rivalry with AEK Thessalonikis, the other Constantinopolitan club of the city, in which only refugees were allowed to play. Both clubs were founded by Enosis Konstantinoupoliton Thessalonikis (E.K.Th.), a social and political organisation.Ιστορία acpaok.gr The original logo of PAOK was a horseshoe and a four-leaf clover.
PAOK played their primary friendly match on 4 May 1926 at the stadium of Thermaikos, defeating Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki 2–1. The first coach of the club was Kostas Andreadis who spent five years on the team's bench without demanding payment. Their first captain was Michalis Ventourelis.
In 1926–1927 season, PAOK participated in the 2nd tier of Macedonia Football Clubs Association ( or Ε.Π.Σ.Μ.) local Macedonia championship. PAOK FC historic inaugural official match was a 3–1 win against Nea Genea Kalamarias on 12 December 1926. PAOK finished at the top of the 2nd division and faced the 1st division teams in post-season classification matches, defeating all of them: Thermaikos 4–1, Aris 2–1, Atlas Ippodromiou (w/o) and Iraklis 1–0. In 1927–1928, PAOK participated for the first time in the 1st tier of Macedonian league.
The first professional contract was signed by the club on 5 September 1928. The contract stipulated that the French footballer Raymond Etienne (of Jewish descent from Pera Club) would be paid 4,000 drachmas per month. The contract was signed by Dr. Meletiou, the PAOK chairman, and Mr. Sakellaropoulos, the Hon. Secretary.
In March 1929, Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupoliton Thessalonikis (AEK Thessaloniki) was disbanded as a sports club and their members joined PAOK. PAOK thereupon changed their emblem, adopting the Double-headed eagle, as a symbol of the club's Byzantine/Constantinopolitan heritage. PAOK also got possession of AEK facilities located around Syntrivani (i.e. Fountain Square), next to the Children's Heritage Foundation, where today stands the Faculty of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The same year PAOK and Enosis Konstantinoupoliton Thessalonikis (E.K.Th.) wanted to expand the football ground, but they faced problems with the underground flow of the river. Finally, after technical works the keystone was put on 12 December 1930.
In 1930–1931, PAOK made their debut in the Panhellenic Championship, playing their first match on 1 February 1931 against Olympiacos at Piraeus, where they were defeated by 3–1, and ended the season in 5th place. The first foreign coach in team's history was Austrian Rudolf Gasner, who served at PAOK in 1931–1932. On 5 June 1932 the Syntrivani Stadium was inaugurated with PAOK's 3–2 victory over Iraklis. Syntrivani meant to be their home ground for 27 years.
In 1937, PAOK won their first regional title, the Macedonia championship () and participated in the Panhellenic Championship, finishing 2nd. The 1937 team included: Sotiriadis, Vatikis, Goulios, Kontopoulos, Bostantzoglou, Panidis, Glaros, Kritas, Ioannidis, Kalogiannis, Koukoulas, Kosmidis, Apostolou, Vafiadis, Vasiliadis, Anastasiadis, Moschidis, Tzakatzoglou, Zakapidas.
Greco-Italian War and World War II (1939–1945)
On 28 May 1939, PAOK competed for first time in a Greek Cup final against AEK Athens and were defeated 2–1 at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium. The following season, PAOK won the Northern Greece Championship and reached the two-legged final of the Panhellenic Championship, but they lost 5–3 on aggregate to AEK Athens.
The declaration of the Greco-Italian War caused mobilization in Greece and ended every sport activity. PAOK football players recruited to Hellenic Army and two of them died on duty: left defender Georgios Vatikis and goalkeeper Nikolaos Sotiriadis. They were among four Greek footballers who died in the war (the others were Spyridon Kontoulis of AEK Athens and Mimis Pierrakos of Panathinaikos). Georgios Vatikis, the first Greek athlete to fall on the Greek-Italian front, served as a warrant officer. He was 22 years old when he died in Battle of Morava–Ivan. After his death, Vatikis was honorarily promoted to lieutenant and awarded the Silver Cross of Valour and the Homeland of Gratitude. Nikolaos Sotiriadis, who played from 1932 until 1940 for PAOK, died on 28 January 1941 in Kleisura, fighting with the rank of Sergeant for the 5th Infantry Regiment. He was 33 years old.
Macedonia Football Clubs Association League (1946–1959)
After the World War II, in the early 1950s, PAOK Academy was created by the Austrian coach, Wilhelm (Willy) Sevcik, and was known as the "chicos of Willi". From the newly founded academy sprang some great football players of the period, such as Leandros Symeonidis, Giannelos Margaritis and Giorgos Havanidis.
In 1948, PAOK won their second Macedonia Championship, and then participated in the final phase of the Panhellenic Championship where they were ranked third. PAOK footballers dedicated the title to the memory of team captain, Thrasyvoulos Panidis, who had lost his life (18 February 1948) in the civil war few days before. Panidis played for PAOK since 1930 and had 122 appearances. In 1950, they became champions of Macedonia for a third time, and the following year (1950–51), the team reached their second Greek Cup final, but lost 4–0 to Olympiacos at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium.
During the summer transfer period of 1953 Kouiroukidis, Petridis, Progios, Geroudis, Kemanidis, Chassiotis and Angelidis joined the team. The arrival of Lampis Kouiroukidis from Doxa Drama was vital and alongside Lefteris Papadakis and Christophoros Yientzis, they formed a famous attacking trio.
For four consecutive seasons (1954, 1955, 1956, 1957), PAOK won the Macedonia championship and participated in the Panhellenic Championship, finishing fourth each year. Yientzis was the top scorer in 1953–54 season and Kouiroukidis in 1955–56 season. Coached by Nikos Pangalos, PAOK won the 1954 and 1955 local Macedonia championship unbeaten. In 1955, PAOK participated in a third Greek Cup final and were defeated 2–0 by Panathinaikos at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium (home ground of Panathinaikos). Ιn 1956, under Hungarian coach Erman Hoffman they won their third consecutive unbeaten local championship. The successful 4-year period ended with 1957 championship, coached by the Austrian Walter Pfeiffer.
Toumba Stadium and rise of Giorgos Koudas to prominence (1959–1969)
The Aristotle University of Thessaloniki purchased a two-acre piece of land in the area of Syntrivani Stadium in order to construct new schools. PAOK had to relocate and a 7.5 acres area, owned by the Ministry of National Defence at Toumba district was chosen as the adequate location. The purchase cost was set at 1.5 million drachmas and was paid by PAOK administration in 20 six-month instalments of 75,000 drachmas each. On 7 February 1958, a committee of III Army Corps officers delivered the land to PAOK representatives.
There were still barracks on the premises, housing victims of the Greek Civil War and the 1953 Ionian earthquake. Relocating all these people cost the club 70,000 drachmas. The total cost of the stadium's construction amounted to 6 million drachmas, with just 1.1 million coming from the General Secretariat of Sports as subvention. In spring of 1958 construction work started, based on the plans of architect Minas Trempelas and civil engineer Antonis Triglianos. In an attempt to collect the necessary funds, the club issued the "Lottery for the construction of PAOK New Stadium" in April 1958 at a cost of 20 drachmas each. Since 1956, the administration was withholding 15% of the gate income in order to fund the construction of the new stadium. Many PAOK fans, apart from money, also contributed to construction by volunteering to work as builders. The construction of the stadium was completed at a record time of one year.
The inauguration event was scheduled for Sunday 6 September 1959 with a friendly encounter against AEK Athens (PAOK prevailed 1–0 with a goal by Kostas Kiourtzis). Prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis's attendance was cancelled at the last minute. However, several ministers of his government were there for the occasion. As for the ball for the first kick-off, it fell at 17:30 off an airplane of Sedes Military Air Base. On inauguration day, 15,000 PAOK supporters packed Toumba Stadium, as that was the stadium's capacity back then. It would increase to 20,000 seats in the following months until it reached a 45,000-seat capacity in the mid-'70s through extensive expansion work.
The attendance record remains at 45,252 tickets and was registered on 19 December 1976 in the goalless draw against AEK Athens. In European football, the highest attendance was a 45,200 crowd in the 1–0 win against Barcelona (UEFA Cup, 16 September 1975).
The first Alpha Ethniki years
In 1959, Alpha Ethniki – the precursor of the current Super League – was set up as a national round-robin tournament and the 1959–60 championship was the first nationwide league competition. In the first decade of Greek Alpha Ethniki (1959–1969), PAOK had a top-half finish in every season except from the 10th-place finish in 1961. The best outcome came out in 1963 and 1967 with a 4th-place finish. Notable players of this period were Leandros Symeonidis, Giannis Giakoumis, Giannis Nikolaidis, Toulis Mouratidis, Pavlos Papadopoulos, Anestis Afentoulidis and Giorgos Makris.
Giorgos Koudas debut and start of the rivalry with Olympiacos