# P.A.O.K. H.C.

Active departments of P.A.O.K. :
| Football (Men's) | Football B (Men's) | Football (Women's) |
| Basketball (Men's) | Basketball (Women's) | Volleyball (Men's) |
| Volleyball (Women's) | Handball (Men's) | Handball (Women's) |
| Water Polo (Men's) | Water Polo (Women's) | Boxing |
| Taekwondo | Cycling | Athletics |
| Ice hockey | Futsal (Men's) | Wrestling |
| Weightlifting | Swimming | Judo |
| Esports | Chess | |
PAOK Handball Club is the handball section of PAOK, the major multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki, Greece. PAOK has both men's and women's team. So far, men's team has won 3 Greek Championships and 4 Greek Cups and women's team has won 6 Greek Championships and 7 Greek Cups. Despite its relatively short history, it is considered amongst the most successful departments of the club.

## History

PAOK Handball Club was founded in 1999 after it merged with another club from Thessaloniki, Triton. Stelios Seirekidis, former club's coach, has connected his name with the whole club's history. PAOK was promoted to A1 Ethniki for first time in 2000–01 season. Three years later, they relegated to A2 Ethniki, but they were promoted back to the top-tier level the following season. As the years passed, the team became stronger and they won two consecutive Greek Handball Championships in 2009 and 2010. PAOK defeated Panellinios at the last game of the 2009 play-offs and Doukas at the last game of the 2010 play-offs. In 2009–10 season, PAOK became the second Greek team after Filippos Veria, who reached the EHF Champions League group stage. In 2011, even though PAOK needed only a draw in the last home game in Thessaloniki to secure their third consecutive title, they lost the championship to AEK. In 2012, PAOK won the Greek Cup by beating AEK 25–24 in Patras. In 2015, PAOK claimed the double for the first time overcoming Diomidis Argous in the Greek Championship play-off finals and beating AEK 29–27 in the Greek Cup final held at the P.A.O.K. Sports Arena in Thessaloniki. In 2017, PAOK prevailed over Panellinios with 25–23 in Kozani, winning the Greek Cup for the third time. In 2024, PAOK won 21–20 against Drama and earned their fourth Greek Cup title.

## Crest, colours, supporters
### Kits

HOME :
| 2016–17 | 2021–22 | 2023–24 |
AWAY :
| 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 2023–24 |

## Team
### Current squad

    Squad for the 2024–25 season
P.A.O.K. H.C. :
Goalkeepers
01 Viktor Gigov
16 Eleftherios Papazoglou
Left Wingers
10 Nikolaos Nikolaidis (c)
13 Konstantinos Koukmisis
14 Nikolaos Chatzilias
Right Wingers
09 Dimitrios Papageorgiou
11 Grigorios Ioannou
Line Players
02 Markos Zafeiris
08 Anastasios Tsamouridis
22 Ioannis Batzios
Left Backs
30 Dimitrios Triantafyllidis
44 Emmanouil Ladakis
Central Backs
09 Christos Tsigaridas
21 Nikolaos Koukmisis
Right Backs
19 Marko Georgievski
20 Marek Korbel :

### Technical staff

* Head coach: Stelios Seirekidis
* Assistant coach: Dimitrios Pelekidis
* Assistant coach: Vassilis Skandalis
* Physiotherapist: Panagiotis Papadopoulos

### Transfers

    Transfers for the 2023–24 season

## Honours

* Greek Championship:
** Winners (3): 2009, 2010, 2015
** Runners-up (2): 2011, 2021
* Greek Cup:
** Winners (4): 2012, 2015, 2017, 2024
** Runners-up (2): 2013, 2021
* Double
** Winners (1): 2015

## Recent seasons

| Season | Division | Place | Notes |
| 2000–01 | A1 Ethniki | 9th | |
| 2001–02 | A1 Ethniki | 7th | |
| 2002–03 | A1 Ethniki | 7th | |
| 2003–04 | A1 Ethniki | 11th | Relegated to A2 |
| 2004–05 | A2 Ethniki | 2nd | Promoted to A1 |
| 2005–06 | A1 Ethniki | 5th | |
| 2006–07 | A1 Ethniki | 5th | |
| 2007–08 | A1 Ethniki | 4th | |
| 2008–09 | A1 Ethniki | 1st | |
| 2009–10 | A1 Ethniki | 1st | |
| 2010–11 | A1 Ethniki | 2nd | |
| 2011–12 | A1 Ethniki | 3rd | Greek Cup Winner |
| 2012–13 | A1 Ethniki | 4th | Greek Cup Finalist |
| 2013–14 | A1 Ethniki | 5th | |
| 2014–15 | A1 Ethniki | 1st | Greek Cup Winner |
| 2015–16 | Handball Premier | 3rd | |
| 2016–17 | Handball Premier | 5th | Greek Cup Winner |
| 2017–18 | Handball Premier | 3rd | |
| 2018–19 | Handball Premier | 4th | |
| 2019–20 | Handball Premier | 5th | |
| 2020–21 | Handball Premier | 2nd | Greek Cup Finalist |
| 2021–22 | Handball Premier | 3rd | |
| 2022–23 | Handball Premier | 3rd | |
| 2023–24 | Handball Premier | 3rd | Greek Cup Winner |

## European competition

| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate | Advance |
| 2006–07 | EHF Challenge Cup | R2 | RK Vardar | 29–34 | 29–43 | 58–77 | |
| 2007–08 | EHF Challenge Cup | R2 | RK Kolubara | 28–31 | 28–31 | 3rd place | |
| 2007–08 | EHF Challenge Cup | R2 | Great Dane HC London | 32–21 | 32–21 | | 3rd place |
| 2007–08 | EHF Challenge Cup | R2 | Burevestnik Lugansk | 28–32 | 28–32 | | 3rd place |
| 2008–09 | EHF Challenge Cup | R3 | Sungul Snezhinsk | 23–23 | 25–25 | 48–48 | |
| 2008–09 | EHF Challenge Cup | 1/8 | Știința Bacău | 28–31 | 29–31 | 57–62 | |
| 2009–10 | EHF Champions League | QR | SPE Strovolos | 32–29 | 32–29 | 1st place | |
| 2009–10 | EHF Champions League | QR | ZTR Zaporizhia | 30–30 | 30–30 | | 1st place |
| 2009–10 | EHF Champions League | Group Stage | Chekhovskiye Medvedi | 25–37 | 22–46 | 6th place | |
| 2009–10 | EHF Champions League | Group Stage | Montpellier HB | 23–34 | 20–46 | 6th place | |
| 2009–10 | EHF Champions League | Group Stage | SC Pick Szeged | 27–26 | 24–27 | 6th place | |
| 2009–10 | EHF Champions League | Group Stage | BM Valladolid | 27–37 | 19–38 | 6th place | |
| 2009–10 | EHF Champions League | Group Stage | HCM Constanța | 26–30 | 23–34 | 6th place | |
| 2010–11 | EHF Cup | R2 | A1 Bregenz | 23–31 | 24–27 | 47–58 | |
| 2011–12 | EHF Cup | R2 | Tatabánya KC | 23–27 | 25–29 | 48–56 | |
| 2012–13 | EHF Challenge Cup | 1/16 | IL Runar | 31–32 | 26–36 | 57–68 | |
| 2013–14 | EHF Challenge Cup | R3 | HC Victoria Regia MINSK | 26–27 | 21–28 | 47–55 | |
| 2017–18 | EHF Challenge Cup | R2 | Aloysians Von Taine | 39–15 | 34–17 | 73–32 | |
| 2017–18 | EHF Challenge Cup | R3 | Göztepe SK | 29–28 | 26–35 | 55–63 | |
| 2021–22 | EHF European Cup | R3 | TENAX Dobele | 29–24 | 28–25 | 57–49 | |
| 2021–22 | EHF European Cup | 1/8 | CS Minaur Baia Mare | 28–27 | 21–32 | 49–59 | |
| 2022–23 | EHF European Cup | R2 | Sesvete | 21–27 | 24–29 | 45–56 | |
| 2023–24 | EHF European Cup | R2 | Linz AG | 25–25 | 26–27 | 51–52 | |
| 2024–25 | EHF European Cup | R2 | Anorthosis | 33–37 | 24–30 | 57–67 | |

### EHF ranking

    As of 06/12/2023
| Rank | Team | Points |
| 126 | Granitas Kaunas | 37 |
| 127 | HV Hurry-Up | 37 |
| 128 | P.A.O.K. H.C. | 36 |
| 129 | HC Tallinn | 36 |
| 130 | BSV Bern | 36 |
| 131 | GC Amicitia Zürich | 36 |
| 132 | Belenenses | 36 |

## Former club members
### Notable former players

* Alexandros Alvanos (2014–2016)
* Petros Boukovinas (2014–2016)
* Vyron Papadopoulos (2003–2009)
* Grigorios Sanikis (2016–2017)
* Jan Komínek (2009–2011)
* István Székely (2006–2007)
* Marko Pejovic (2017–2018)
* Milan Grubanov (2009–2010)