# 1967–68 AEK Athens F.C. season

The 1967–68 season was the 44th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the ninth consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the Balkans Cup. The season began on 7 October 1967 and finished on 31 August 1968.

## Overview

In the summer of 1967, the good course of the club was guaranteed by the presence, from the beginning of the season, of Jenő Csaknády. Evaluating the team's existing roster, he decided that without the need of particular transfer additions, he could turn it into a worthy contender for the title. The experience of the previous season, in which Csaknády took the team 6 points behind Olympiacos and managed to make them equal contenders, the confidence and admiration of the players towards his person and his undoubted ability and hard work, convinced everyone in AEK that better days were ahead for the club, even talking about the repeat of the championship conquest of 1963. Csaknády managed to turn the players into soldiers, ready to give their best to the team and their coach.
AEK entered the championship race and in their first six matches achieved 5 wins and a draw in the derby against Panathinaikos at Leoforos Alexandras Stadium. The team appeared complete in all their lines and under the guidance of Csaknády, seemed capable of subduing any opponent. The defeat in Katerini against Pierikos by 1–0 on 29 November, temporarily removed them from the top of the standings. The yellow-blacks reacted in a deafening and thunderous way at the very next matchday, when they destroyed the other contender, Olympiacos and their hopes in winning the league, by crushing them by 1–4 at Karaiskakis Stadium. On 31 March, AEK with their second victory by 2–1 over the club of Piraeus at Nea Filadelfeia, ultimately secured the title from the 26th matchday.
While AEK had already been crowned champions, it seemed that they would achieve the conquest of the domestic double, as they eliminated Vyzas Megara, Aris and Panionios for the cup and were drawn against Olympiacos in the semi-final at Karaiskakis Stadium. However, the red and whites took their revenge for their loss of the league, by eliminating AEK by 2–1 and eventually winning the title.
The Hungarian-German coach, consistent to the "tradition" he had created, did not agree on staying in the club for the next season, thus achieving the absolute of two championship wins in his two full seasons on the bench of AEK.

## 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 August 1968, 23:59 UTC+2.
| Player | Position(s) | Date of birth (Age) | Signed | Previous club | Transfer fee | Contract until |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||
| Stelios Serafidis | GK | (1935-08-06)6 August 1935 (aged 33) | 1953 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1972 |
| Theodoros Maniateas | GK | (1945-03-19)19 March 1945 (aged 23) | 1964 | Panthisiakos | Free | 1969 |
| Stelios Konstantinidis | GK | (1947-06-06)6 June 1947 (aged 21) | 1967 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1973 |
| Mimis Maniakis | GK | 1949 (aged 18–19) | 1967 | Panionios | Free | 1972 |
| Defenders ||||||||
| Alekos Sofianidis | LB / LM / LW | (1937-08-03)3 August 1937 (aged 31) | 1959 | Beşiktaş | Free | 1969 |
| Aleko Yordan | CB | (1938-01-10)10 January 1938 (aged 30) | 1962 | Beykoz | Free | 1969 |
| Tasos Vasiliou | CB | (1938-08-04)4 August 1938 (aged 30) | 1965 | Apollon Athens | ₯1,500,000 | 1970 |
| Giorgos Kefalidis | RB / CB | (1941-03-21)21 March 1941 (aged 27) | 1964 | Pierikos | Free | 1972 |
| Fotis Balopoulos | CB / DM / CM / ST | (1943-12-17)17 December 1943 (aged 24) | 1964 | Proodeftiki | ₯450,000 | 1970 |
| Lakis Fragoudakis | CB / DM | 1944 (aged 23–24) | 1964 | Free agent | Free | 1970 |
| Nikos Karapoulitidis | CB / RB | (1948-11-30)30 November 1948 (aged 19) | 1967 | Free agent | Free | 1975 |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| Stelios Skevofilakas | LM / RM / AM | (1939-01-06)6 January 1939 (aged 29) | 1960 | Eleftheroupoli | Free | 1972 |
| Panagiotis Ventouris | AM / SS | (1943-03-01)1 March 1943 (aged 25) | 1965 | Fostiras | ₯435,000 | 1972 |
| Nikos Stathopoulos | LM / LB | (1943-11-08)8 November 1943 (aged 24) | 1965 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1974 |
| Michalis Simigdalas | CM | (1944-06-23)23 June 1944 (aged 24) | 1963 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1969 |
| Giorgos Karafeskos | CM / DM / RM / RW | (1946-12-08)8 December 1946 (aged 21) | 1963 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1974 |
| Forwards ||||||||
| Andreas Stamatiadis (Captain) | RW / LW / SS / ST | (1935-08-16)16 August 1935 (aged 33) | 1952 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1969 |
| Vasilis Mastrakoulis | RW / ST / SS | 1939 (aged 28–29) | 1966 | Hellenic | Free | 1968 |
| Kostas Papageorgiou | ST | (1941-01-01)1 January 1941 (aged 27) | 1963 | Atromitos | ₯200,000 | 1969 |
| Mimis Papaioannou | SS / ST / AM | (1942-08-23)23 August 1942 (aged 26) | 1962 | Veria | ₯175,000 | 1979 |
| Spyros Pomonis | LW / LM | (1944-02-12)12 February 1944 (aged 24) | 1960 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1973 |
| Kostas Nikolaidis | RW / LW / SS / ST | (1944-09-10)10 September 1944 (aged 23) | 1965 | PAO Safrabolis | Free | 1973 |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos. | Player | From | Fee | Date | Contract Until |
| GK | Mimis Maniakis | Panionios | Free transfer | 1 July 1967 | 30 June 1972 |
| GK | Stelios Konstantinidis | AEK Athens U20 | Promotion | 1 July 1967 | 30 June 1973 |
| DF | Nikos Karapoulitidis | Free agent | Free transfer | 1 July 1967 | 30 June 1975 |

### Out

| Pos. | Player | To | Fee | Date | Source |
| GK | Vangelis Petrakis | OFI | End of contract | 1 July 1967 | |

### Overall transfer activity

Expenditure: ₯0
Income: ₯0
Net Total: ₯0

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Alpha Ethniki | 7 October 1967 | 9 June 1968 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 34 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 68 | 24 | +44 | 064.71 |
| Greek Cup | 16 June 1968 | 14 July 1968 | Round of 32 | Semi-finals | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | +2 | 075.00 |
| Balkans Cup | 6 March 1968 | 31 August 1968 | Group Stage | Group Stage | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | −5 | 016.67 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 44 | 26 | 8 | 10 | 80 | 39 | +41 | 059.09 |
Last updated: 31 August 1968 Source: Competitions

### Alpha Ethniki
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | AEK Athens (C) | 34 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 68 | 24 | +44 | 84 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Olympiacos | 34 | 21 | 4 | 9 | 63 | 32 | +31 | 80 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Panathinaikos | 34 | 17 | 11 | 6 | 44 | 19 | +25 | 79 | Invitation for Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 4 | Aris | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 61 | 49 | +12 | 75 | Invitation for Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 5 | Pierikos | 34 | 15 | 5 | 14 | 42 | 46 | −4 | 69 | |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Competitive matches

#### Results by Matchday

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H | Η | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | H | A | A | H |
| Result | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | D | L | D | L | D | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | L | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | L | W |
| Position | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Fixtures
### Greek Cup

AEK entered the Greek Cup at the round of 32.

#### Matches
### Balkans Cup

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Spartak Sofia (A) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 3 | 3.333 | 9 | Advances to finals |
| 2 | Olimpija Ljubljana | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 6 | 1.667 | 7 | |
| 3 | AEK Athens | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 0.583 | 4 | |
| 4 | Fenerbahçe | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 0.455 | 4 | |

#### Matches
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

    As of 31 August 1968
| No. | Pos | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | Greek Cup | Balkans Cup | Balkans Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| — | GK | Stelios Serafidis | 23 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| — | GK | Theodoros Maniateas | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| — | GK | Stelios Konstantinidis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| — | GK | Mimis Maniakis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| — | DF | Alekos Sofianidis | 30 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 39 | 1 |
| — | DF | Aleko Yordan | 20 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 29 | 1 |
| — | DF | Tasos Vasiliou | 33 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| — | DF | Giorgos Kefalidis | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| — | DF | Fotis Balopoulos | 30 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 38 | 2 |
| — | DF | Lakis Fragoudakis | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| — | DF | Nikos Karapoulitidis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| — | MF | Stelios Skevofilakas | 31 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 39 | 0 |
| — | MF | Panagiotis Ventouris | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 24 | 5 |
| — | MF | Nikos Stathopoulos | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| — | MF | Michalis Simigdalas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| — | MF | Giorgos Karafeskos | 21 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 30 | 3 |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| — | FW | Andreas Stamatiadis | 33 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 41 | 14 |
| — | FW | Vasilis Mastrakoulis | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| — | FW | Kostas Papageorgiou | 11 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 19 | 11 |
| — | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 27 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 34 | 21 |
| — | FW | Spyros Pomonis | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 18 | 3 |
| — | FW | Kostas Nikolaidis | 30 | 18 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 38 | 19 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 31 August 1968
| Rank | Pos. | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | Balkans Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 19 | 1 | 1 | 21 |
| 2 | FW | Kostas Nikolaidis | 18 | 1 | 0 | 19 |
| 3 | FW | Andreas Stamatiadis | 13 | 0 | 1 | 14 |
| 4 | FW | Kostas Papageorgiou | 8 | 3 | 0 | 11 |
| 5 | MF | Panagiotis Ventouris | 2 | 0 | 3 | 5 |
| 6 | MF | Giorgos Karafeskos | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | FW | Spyros Pomonis | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 8 | DF | Fotis Balopoulos | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | DF | Aleko Yordan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | DF | Alekos Sofianidis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 68 | 5 | 7 | 80 |

### Hat-tricks

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.
| Player | Against | Result | Date | Competition |
| Mimis Papaioannou | Panserraikos | 4–0 (H) | 12 November 1967 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Kostas Nikolaidis | Olympiakos Nicosia | 5–0 (H) | 20 December 1967 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Mimis Papaioannou | Vyzas Megara | 6–1 (H) | 21 January 1968 | 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.
    As of 31 August 1968
| Rank | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | Balkans Cup | Total |
| 1 | Stelios Serafidis | 9 | 2 | 1 | 12 |
| 2 | Theodoros Maniateas | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Totals | Totals | 13 | 2 | 1 | 16 |

### Disciplinary record

    As of 31 August 1968
| N | P | Name | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | Balkans Cup | Total |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||||||||
| — | GK | Stelios Serafidis | | | | |
| — | GK | Theodoros Maniateas | | | | |
| — | GK | Stelios Konstantinidis | | | | |
| — | GK | Mimis Maniakis | | | | |
| Defenders |||||||||||||||||
| — | DF | Alekos Sofianidis | | | | |
| — | DF | Aleko Yordan | 1 | | 1 | 2 |
| — | DF | Tasos Vasiliou | | | 1 | 1 |
| — | DF | Giorgos Kefalidis | | | | |
| — | DF | Fotis Balopoulos | | | | |
| — | DF | Lakis Fragoudakis | | | | |
| — | DF | Nikos Karapoulitidis | | | | |
| Midfielders |||||||||||||||||
| — | MF | Stelios Skevofilakas | | | | |
| — | MF | Panagiotis Ventouris | | 1 | | 1 |
| — | MF | Nikos Stathopoulos | | | | |
| — | MF | Michalis Simigdalas | | | | |
| — | MF | Giorgos Karafeskos | | | | |
| Forwards |||||||||||||||||
| — | FW | Andreas Stamatiadis | | | | |
| — | FW | Vasilis Mastrakoulis | | | | |
| — | FW | Kostas Papageorgiou | | | | |
| — | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | | | | |
| — | FW | Spyros Pomonis | | | | |
| — | FW | Kostas Nikolaidis | | | | |