# 1971–72 AEK Athens F.C. season

The 1971–72 season was the 48th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 13th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the European Cup. The season began on 29 August 1971 and finished on 11 June 1972.

## Overview

After the distinctions of the previous years, AEK seemed to operate in a "frantic tempo", until this season, which was the passing to a declining period for the team. The team's roster was constantly renewed as a generation of players left, passing the torch to the next one. The new generation was consisted of great and talented players, however the club was not ready to claim a leading role in the league.
AEK participated in the European Cup. The draw was tough for them, as from the very first round faced one of the greastest European clubs over time, the great Internazionale of Ivano Bordon, Giacinto Facchetti and Sandro Mazzola. The first match at San Siro in front of almost 80,000 spectators, AEK managed to take the lead at the 14th minute with Pomonis, but Inter's superiority was obvious and after equalizing 5 minutes later, they finished the first half leading by 3–1. The second half turned out to be a standard procedure with Inter raising the score to 4–1 and likewise the few chances of AEK qualifying disappeared. In the rematch at the crowded AEK Stadium no one expected what was about to happen. Everything started wrong for the yellow-blacks, as they were left behind the score at the 17th minute with a goal by Mazzola. Bertini's dismissal two minutes later and Stankovic's offensive style, brought AEK in taking the lead at the half time with Ventouris and Papaioannou, while also having two shoots hit the post. The Italians, wanting if nothing else not to lose, chased the goal and equalized with Boninsegna at the 76th minute. The players of AEK, realizing that the qualification was lost definitively, sought the victory and achieved it with a goal by Nikolaidis at the 89th minute, that made the final 3–2. One of the greatest victories for the then "poor" Greek football and the first great European night for AEK.
In the league AEK paid their bad performances in the away matches, dropping points in almost every away game, achieving only 4 wins out of the 17 away games. That resulted in a third-place finish with 6 points away from the top.
This season was one of the worst for the club's history for the cup. A very important year for the development of the tournament, as the amateur teams of the local legal associations cease to participate and only the teams of the national divisions could participate. The ties of the first round competed again according to geographical criteria, while from the second round onwards the draw was free. AEK easily overcame PAO Rouf in the first round and Kozani in the second round, but in the round of 16 they faced Lamia, who to everyone's surprise, eliminated them with 1–0 at the extra time.

## 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 11 June 1972, 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 36) | 1953 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1972 |
| Stelios Konstantinidis | GK | (1947-06-06)6 June 1947 (aged 25) | 1967 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1973 |
| Giorgos Daditsos | GK | (1953-03-09)9 March 1953 (aged 19) | 1970 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1975 |
| Kostas Silivistras | GK | 1954 (aged 17–18) | 1971 | Atromitos | Free | 1976 |
| Defenders ||||||||
| Giorgos Kefalidis | RB / CB | (1941-03-21)21 March 1941 (aged 31) | 1964 | Pierikos | Free | 1972 |
| Giorgos Tanidis | CB | (1946-12-25)25 December 1946 (aged 25) | 1971 | Aris Ptolemaidas | Free | 1974 |
| Apostolos Toskas | CB | (1947-12-28)28 December 1947 (aged 24) | 1969 | Trikala | Free | 1979 |
| Nikos Karapoulitidis | CB / RB | (1948-11-30)30 November 1948 (aged 23) | 1967 | Free agent | Free | 1975 |
| Stefanos Theodoridis | CB / RB | (1950-06-19)19 June 1950 (aged 22) | 1969 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1978 |
| Kostas Triantafyllou | CB / DM | 1950 (aged 21–22) | 1969 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1972 |
| Lefteris Istorios | RB / LB / CM / DM | (1951-10-02)2 October 1951 (aged 20) | 1971 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1976 |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| Stelios Skevofilakas | LM / RM / AM | (1939-01-06)6 January 1939 (aged 33) | 1960 | Eleftheroupoli | Free | 1972 |
| Panagiotis Ventouris | AM / SS | (1943-03-01)1 March 1943 (aged 29) | 1965 | Fostiras | ₯435,000 | 1972 |
| Nikos Stathopoulos | LM / LB | (1943-11-08)8 November 1943 (aged 28) | 1965 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1974 |
| Giorgos Karafeskos | CM / DM / RM / RW | (1946-12-08)8 December 1946 (aged 25) | 1963 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1974 |
| Giorgos Lavaridis | CM / DM | (1947-10-15)15 October 1947 (aged 24) | 1968 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1975 |
| Forwards ||||||||
| Andreas Papaemmanouil | RW / LW / SS / ST | (1939-02-18)18 February 1939 (aged 33) | 1969 | Canterbury | Free | 1972 |
| Mimis Papaioannou (Captain) | SS / ST / AM | (1942-08-23)23 August 1942 (aged 29) | 1962 | Veria | ₯175,000 | 1979 |
| Spyros Pomonis | LW / LM | (1944-02-12)12 February 1944 (aged 28) | 1960 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1973 |
| Kostas Nikolaidis | RW / LW / SS / ST | (1944-09-10)10 September 1944 (aged 27) | 1965 | PAO Safrabolis | Free | 1973 |
| Kostas Chanios | ST / SS | 1947 (aged 24–25) | 1969 | Levadiakos | Free | 1972 |
| Babis Psimogiannos | ST | (1947-08-13)13 August 1947 (aged 24) | 1971 | Aris Agios Konstantinos | Free | 1976 |
| Giorgos Kachris | RW / LW / RM / LM | 1949 (aged 22–23) | 1969 | Amyna Ampelokipoi | Free | 1972 |
| Lakis Nikolaou | ST / CB / RB / DM | (1949-07-17)17 July 1949 (aged 22) | 1971 | Atromitos | ₯600,000 | 1979 |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos. | Player | From | Fee | Date | Contract Until |
| GK | Kostas Silivistras | Atromitos | Free transfer | 1 July 1971 | 30 June 1976 |
| DF | Giorgos Tanidis | Aris Ptolemaidas | Free transfer | 1 July 1971 | 30 June 1974 |
| DF | Lefteris Istorios | AEK Athens U20 | Promotion | 1 July 1971 | 30 June 1976 |
| FW | Babis Psimogiannos | Aris Agios Konstantinos | Free transfer | 1 July 1971 | 30 June 1976 |
| FW | Lakis Nikolaou | Atromitos | ₯600,000 | 31 July 1971 | 1 December 1979 |
    a. $^^$ plus Dimitris Liakouris and Kostas Chanios, Giorgos Kefalidis and Stelios Skevofilakas as exchange from the next season.

### Out

| Pos. | Player | To | Fee | Date |
| DF | Dimitris Liakouris | Atromitos | Free transfer | 31 July 1971 |
| MF | Lakis Avramidis | Olympiakos Nicosia | Free transfer | 1 July 1971 |
| FW | Panagiotis Psychogios | Atromitos | ₯300,000 | 31 July 1971 |

### Loan out

| Pos. | Player | To | Fee | Date | Until | Option to buy | Source |
| FW | Dimitris Palasidis | AO Koropi | Free | 1 July 1971 | 30 June 1972 | N | |

### Overall transfer activity

Expenditure: ₯600,000
Income: ₯300,000
Net Total: ₯300,000

## 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 | 19 September 1971 | 11 June 1972 | Matchday 1 | 3rd | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 57 | 23 | +34 | 058.82 |
| Greek Cup | 29 August 1971 | 8 March 1972 | First round | Round of 16 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2 | +6 | 066.67 |
| European Cup | 15 September 1971 | 29 September 1971 | First round | First round | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 050.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 39 | 23 | 8 | 8 | 69 | 31 | +38 | 058.97 |
Last updated: 11 June 1972 Source: Competitions

### Alpha Ethniki
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Panathinaikos (C) | 34 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 89 | 23 | +66 | 88 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Olympiacos | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 61 | 33 | +28 | 83 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | AEK Athens | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 57 | 23 | +34 | 82 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Aris | 34 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 52 | 25 | +27 | 81 | |
| 5 | PAOK | 34 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 53 | 27 | +26 | 80 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |

#### 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 | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A |
| Result | W | L | W | D | W | L | D | W | D | W | D | W | D | W | W | D | W | L | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | L | W | W | W | W | L | W | W | L |
| Position | 6 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

#### Fixtures
### European Cup
#### First round
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

    As of 11 June 1972
| No. | Pos | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | Greek Cup | European Cup | European Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| — | GK | Stelios Serafidis | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| — | GK | Stelios Konstantinidis | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| — | GK | Giorgos Daditsos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| — | GK | Kostas Silivistras | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| — | DF | Giorgos Kefalidis | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 1 |
| — | DF | Giorgos Tanidis | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| — | DF | Apostolos Toskas | 33 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 37 | 1 |
| — | DF | Nikos Karapoulitidis | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| — | DF | Stefanos Theodoridis | 23 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| — | DF | Kostas Triantafyllou | 12 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 0 |
| — | DF | Lefteris Istorios | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| — | MF | Stelios Skevofilakas | 25 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| — | MF | Panagiotis Ventouris | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 30 | 3 |
| — | MF | Nikos Stathopoulos | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| — | MF | Giorgos Karafeskos | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 25 | 2 |
| — | MF | Giorgos Lavaridis | 24 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 28 | 1 |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| — | FW | Andreas Papaemmanouil | 16 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 2 |
| — | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 28 | 12 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 17 |
| — | FW | Spyros Pomonis | 27 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 32 | 11 |
| — | FW | Kostas Nikolaidis | 33 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 38 | 14 |
| — | FW | Kostas Chanios | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| — | FW | Babis Psimogiannos | 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 2 |
| — | FW | Giorgos Kachris | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 1 |
| — | FW | Lakis Nikolaou | 31 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 11 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 11 June 1972
| Rank | Pos. | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | European Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 12 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| 2 | FW | Kostas Nikolaidis | 10 | 3 | 1 | 14 |
| 3 | FW | Lakis Nikolaou | 11 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 3 | FW | Spyros Pomonis | 10 | 0 | 1 | 11 |
| 5 | MF | Panagiotis Ventouris | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 6 | MF | Giorgos Karafeskos | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | FW | Babis Psimogiannos | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 6 | FW | Andreas Papaemmanouil | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 | DF | Apostolos Toskas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | DF | Giorgos Kefalidis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | MF | Giorgos Lavaridis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | MF | Stelios Skevofilakas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 9 | FW | Giorgos Kachris | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 57 | 8 | 4 | 69 |

### Hat-tricks

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.
| Player | Against | Result | Date | Competition | Source |
| Lakis Nikolaou | Pierikos | 5–0 (H) | 4 June 1972 | 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 11 June 1972
| Rank | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | European Cup | Total |
| 1 | Stelios Serafidis | 11 | 1 | 0 | 12 |
| 2 | Stelios Konstantinidis | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 3 | Kostas Silivistras | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | 17 | 1 | 0 | 18 |

### Disciplinary record

    As of 11 June 1972
| N | P | Name | Alpha Ethniki | European Cup | European Cup | Total | Total |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||||||||
| — | GK | Stelios Serafidis | | | | | |
| — | GK | Stelios Konstantinidis | | | | | |
| — | GK | Giorgos Daditsos | | | | | |
| — | GK | Kostas Silivistras | | | | | |
| Defenders |||||||||||||||||
| — | DF | Giorgos Kefalidis | | | | | |
| — | DF | Giorgos Tanidis | | | | | |
| — | DF | Apostolos Toskas | | | 1 | | 1 |
| — | DF | Nikos Karapoulitidis | | | | | |
| — | DF | Stefanos Theodoridis | | | | | |
| — | DF | Kostas Triantafyllou | | | | | |
| — | DF | Lefteris Istorios | | | | | |
| Midfielders |||||||||||||||||
| — | MF | Stelios Skevofilakas | | | | | |
| — | MF | Panagiotis Ventouris | | | | | |
| — | MF | Nikos Stathopoulos | | | | | |
| — | MF | Giorgos Karafeskos | | | | | |
| — | MF | Giorgos Lavaridis | | | | | |
| Forwards |||||||||||||||||
| — | FW | Andreas Papaemmanouil | | | | | |
| — | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | | | | | |
| — | FW | Spyros Pomonis | 1 | 1 | | 2 | |
| — | FW | Kostas Nikolaidis | | | | | |
| — | FW | Kostas Chanios | | | | | |
| — | FW | Babis Psimogiannos | | | | | |
| — | FW | Giorgos Kachris | | | | | |
| — | FW | Lakis Nikolaou | | | | | |