# 1981 Greek Football Cup final

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 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 in 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

| Olympiacos | Olympiacos | Olympiacos | Olympiacos | Round | PAOK | PAOK | PAOK | PAOK |
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Chalkida | 3–1 (A) | 3–1 (A) | 3–1 (A) | First round | Niki Volos | 1–1 (5–3 p) (A) | 1–1 (5–3 p) (A) | 1–1 (5–3 p) (A) |
| Pierikos | 5–0 (H) | 5–0 (H) | 5–0 (H) | Second round | Veria | 2–0 (A) | 2–0 (A) | 2–0 (A) |
| Panionios | 2–0 | 0–0 (H) | 3–0 (a.e.t.) (A) | Round of 16 | Olympiacos Volos | 4–2 | 2–1 (H) | 2–1 (A) |
| Kavala | 2–0 | 0–0 (A) | 2–0 (H) | Quarter-finals | Ethnikos Asteras | 8–2 | 5–0 (H) | 3–2 (A) |
| Panegialios | 6–1 | 3–0 (A) | 3–1 (H) | Semi-finals | AEK Athens | 3–0 | 1–0 (A) | 2–0 (H) |

## Match
### Details

| Olympiacos | PAOK |
| GK | Nikos Sarganis |
| DF | Giannis Kyrastas |
| DF | Nikos Vamvakoulas |
| DF | Stavros Papadopoulos (c) |
| DF | Martin Novoselac |
| MF | Vangelis Kousoulakis |
| MF | Konstantinos Orfanos | 80' |
| MF | Takis Nikoloudis | 69' |
| MF | Takis Lemonis |
| FW | Maik Galakos |
| FW | Takis Persias |
| Substitutes: ||
| DF | Petros Michos | 69' |
| MF | Thomas Ahlström | 80' |
| Manager: ||
| Kazimierz Górski ||
| GK | Mladen Furtula |
| DF | Ioannis Gounaris |
| DF | Konstantinos Iosifidis |
| DF | József Salamon |
| DF | Thomas Singas |
| MF | Ioannis Damanakis |
| MF | Panagiotis Kermanidis | 68' |
| MF | Vasilios Georgopoulos |
| MF | Giorgos Koudas (c) | 75' |
| FW | Neto Guerino |
| FW | Georgios Kostikos |
| Substitutes: ||
| MF | Vasilios Vasilakos | 75' |
| FW | Stathis Triantafyllidis | 68' |
| Manager: ||
| Aristarchos 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 |