# 1977–78 AEK Athens F.C. season

The 1977–78 season was the 54th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 19th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 11 September 1977 and finished on 4 June 1978.

## Overview

AEK started the season "boosted" from last season's course to the UEFA Cup semi-finals, as well as the quality they presented in their games, showed the unquenchable willingness of the club of Loukas Barlos to constantly look for more. The staffing of the team continued at a steady pace. The full-back of Egaleo, Aris Damianidis, the Uruguayan midfielder Milton Viera from Olympiacos, the top scorer of last season's second division with AEL, Giannis Mousouris, who was converted into a right-back and most importantly the Yugoslav international striker, Dušan Bajević from Velež Mostar, filled any gaps in the club's roster.
At the beginning of the season, the first rifts appeared over the relations of Barlos and František Fadrhonc. The philosophical differences between the two men regarding the future course of the team were presented, as Barlos wanted the staffing of AEK with big names, who would launch them to the top, while the "grandfather" seemed to prefer the gradual staffing of the team through their academies, which he had under his supervision and had upgraded to a fairly high level.
The price of their difference of philosophy resulted in the removal of Fadrhonc after the away defeat against Olympiacos at the 2nd matchday. The Czech's assistant Andreas Stamatiadis sat on the team's bench for the next two games as an interim coach and from there Zlatko Čajkovski took over the wheel of AEK. The so-called "Čik" as an ardent supporter of attacking and spectacular football, continued Fadrhonc's work handling the club's roster perfectly.
In the UEFA Cup, AEK faced the Romanian ASA Târgu Mureș, for the first round. In Romania, AEK presented a mediocre appearance, which was largely due to the tragic condition of the field. It rained torrentially at the city for two consecutive days before the match, resulting in a mud-flooded pitch. The Romanians, took advantage of AEK's inability to develop their technical virtues on the field and not only did they defend effectively, but also won by 1–0. In the replay match, AEK were imposing and the score stopped at 3–0, while they lost many opportunities for more throughout the second half. The draw brought AEK at the second round opponents with the Belgian Standard Liège, which proved to be a difficult opponent and managed to leave the AEK stadium with a draw. The replay match found AEK unlucky, as they were left behind 1–0 by an own goal. The yellow-blacks managed to recover from the shock and they equalized to 1–1, but in the last half hour of the match found AEK exhausted and Standard Liège with everything on their side, including necessary luck, they scored 3 goals.
At the 15th matchday, the games took place the day after Christmas and the footballers' union proceeded to the first mobilization of the industry, claiming a strike for the specific matchday, which resulted the clubs lining up with players from the amateur divisions and only foreign professionals. After the passing of the first months and the recovery of the injured Bajević, AEK looked like a goal machine.
They achieved a total of 74 goals having the best attack of the league, which they won with a difference of 7 points from the second PAOK. It was characteristic that after the defeat in the 2nd match that brought about the removal of Fadrhonc, AEK were defeated only once. Thomas Mavros was the league's top scorer with 22 goals, while in fourth place was Takis Nikoloudis with 15.
AEK's superiority and the big difference of points which they won the league was also confirmed in the Greek Cup. Čajkovski's team seemed unstoppable as they eliminated AO Chania at home in the first round, Panathinaikos away in the second round and Panionios at home in the round of 16. In the quarter-finals, AEK defeated Panelefsiniakos away and advanced to the semi-finals, where they faced Olympiacos in Nea Filadelfeia. The "mistake" of Olympiacos to take the lead at the beginning of the match, made AEK "furious" and retaliated with 6 goals. Confirming their characterization as "unstoppable" in the final, AEK defeated PAOK as well by 2–0 and won the title, achieving the domestic double for the second time in their history after 39 years. Bajević emergerd as the top scorer in the tournament with 9 goals.

## Management team

| Position | Staff |
| Manager | Zlatko Čajkovski |
| Assistant manager | Alexi Petrović |
| Assistant manager | Andreas Stamatiadis |
| Goalkeeping coach | Stelios Serafidis |
| Academy director | František Fadrhonc |
| Physiotherapist | Nikos Pantazis |

## 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 4 June 1978, 23:59 UTC+3.
| Player | Position(s) | Date of birth (Age) | Signed | Previous club | Transfer fee | Contract until |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||
| Nikos Christidis | GK | (1944-08-02)2 August 1944 (aged 33) | 1976 | Aris | Free | 1982 |
| Lakis Stergioudas | GK | (1952-12-11)11 December 1952 (aged 25) | 1972 | Niki Poligyrou | Free | 1985 |
| Defenders ||||||||
| Apostolos Toskas | CB | (1947-12-28)28 December 1947 (aged 30) | 1969 | Trikala | Free | 1979 |
| Lakis Nikolaou (Vice-captain) | CB / RB / ST / DM | (1949-07-17)17 July 1949 (aged 28) | 1971 | Atromitos | ₯600,000 | 1979 |
| Babis Intzoglou | RB / LB / CB | (1949-04-01)1 April 1949 (aged 29) | 1976 | Panionios | Free | 1980 |
| Stefanos Theodoridis | CB / RB | (1950-06-19)19 June 1950 (aged 28) | 1969 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1978 |
| Giannis Mousouris | RB / RM / ST | (1951-01-26)26 January 1951 (aged 27) | 1977 | AEL | ₯3,000,000 | 1982 |
| Petros Ravousis | CB / RB | (1954-10-01)1 October 1954 (aged 23) | 1972 | Aetos Skydra | Free | 1985 |
| Aris Damianidis | CB / RB | (1955-03-02)2 March 1955 (aged 23) | 1977 | Egaleo | Free | 1980 |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| Milton Viera | CM / DM | (1946-05-11)11 May 1946 (aged 32) | 1977 | Olympiacos | Free | 1980 |
| Lazaros Papadopoulos | RM / RW | (1950-01-03)3 January 1950 (aged 28) | 1973 | Veria | Free | 1979 |
| Dionysis Tsamis | CM / DM / AM | (1951-05-21)21 May 1951 (aged 27) | 1972 | Panetolikos | ₯2,300,000 | 1980 |
| Takis Nikoloudis | CM / AM / RM / LM | (1951-08-26)26 August 1951 (aged 26) | 1977 | Iraklis | Free | 1981 |
| Christos Ardizoglou | RM / LM / RW / LW / AM / LB | (1953-03-25)25 March 1953 (aged 25) | 1974 | Apollon Athens | ₯5,000,000 | 1982 |
| Fotis Outsikas | LM / LB / LW | (1957-05-26)26 May 1957 (aged 21) | 1975 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1980 |
| Giorgos Vlantis | CM | (1958-01-30)30 January 1958 (aged 20) | 1976 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1984 |
| Giorgos Vlachonikolis | AM / SS | 1958 (aged 19–20) | 1977 | Ilisiakos | Free | 1978 |
| Forwards ||||||||
| Mimis Papaioannou (Captain) | SS / ST / AM | (1942-08-23)23 August 1942 (aged 35) | 1962 | Veria | ₯175,000 | 1979 |
| Dušan Bajević | ST / SS | (1948-12-10)10 December 1948 (aged 29) | 1977 | Velež Mostar | Free | 1980 |
| Tasos Konstantinou | RW / SS / ST / RM / AM | (1951-03-11)11 March 1951 (aged 27) | 1972 | EPA Larnaca | Free | 1980 |
| Thomas Mavros | ST / LW | (1954-05-31)31 May 1954 (aged 24) | 1976 | Panionios | ₯4,000,000 | 1980 |
| Left during season ||||||||
| Giorgos Sidiropoulos | GK | (1949-06-25)25 June 1949 (aged 29) | 1973 | AO Trikala | Free | 1978 |
| From Reserve Squad ||||||||
| Spyros Ikonomopoulos | GK | (1959-07-25)25 July 1959 (aged 18) | — | AO Akratas | — | — |
| Panagiotis Stylianopoulos | RB / LB | (1957-09-04)4 September 1957 (aged 20) | — | AEK Athens U20 | — | — |
| Theodoros Apostolopoulos | CB | 1959 (aged 18–19) | — | Chaidari | — | — |
| Kottidis | CB | 1959 (aged 18–19) | — | AEK Athens U20 | — | — |
| Saxanidis | CB | 1959 (aged 18–19) | — | AEK Athens U20 | — | — |
| Takis Papatheodorou | CB | 1959 (aged 18–19) | — | AEK Athens U20 | — | — |
| Christos Kalaitzidis | LM | (1959-02-06)6 February 1959 (aged 19) | — | PO.K.E. | — | — |
| Stefanos Kallinteroglou | ST | 1954 (aged 23–24) | — | AEK Athens U20 | — | — |
| Thomas Stafylas | ST | (1958-04-04)4 April 1958 (aged 20) | — | AEK Athens U20 | — | — |
| Giannis Outsikas | ST | 1959 (aged 18–19) | — | AEK Athens U20 | — | — |
| Stefanos Zografos | ST | 1959 (aged 18–19) | — | AEK Athens U20 | — | — |
| Tasos Boulmentis | ST | 1959 (aged 18–19) | — | AEK Athens U20 | — | — |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos. | Player | From | Fee | Date | Contract Until |
| DF | Aris Damianidis | Egaleo | Free transfer | 1 July 1977 | 30 June 1980 |
| DF | Giannis Mousouris | AEL | ₯3,000,000 | 26 July 1977 | 30 June 1982 |
| ΜF | Milton Viera | Olympiacos | Free transfer | 1 July 1977 | 30 June 1980 |
| MF | Giorgos Vlachonikolis | Ilisiakos | Free transfer | 1 July 1977 | 30 June 1978 |
| FW | Dušan Bajević | Velež Mostar | Free transfer | 1 July 1977 | 30 June 1980 |

### Out

| Pos. | Player | To | Fee | Date |
| GK | Giorgos Sidiropoulos | AEL | Contract termination | 1 January 1978 |
| DF | Sakis Zarzopoulos | OFI | End of contract | 1 July 1977 |
| DF | Michalis Michalas | Free agent | Contract termination | 1 July 1977 |
| DF | Giorgos Skrekis | Panionios | End of contract | 1 July 1977 |
| MF | Timo Zahnleiter | VfR Bürstadt | End of contract | 1 July 1977 |
| FW | Georgios Dedes | Panionios | End of contract | 1 July 1977 |
| FW | Walter Wagner | Aris | End of contract | 1 July 1977 |
| FW | Alekos Papadopoulos | OFI | Free transfer | 1 July 1977 |
| FW | Andreas Xenos | Free agent | Contract termination | 1 July 1977 |

### Overall transfer activity

Expenditure: ₯3,000,000
Income: ₯0
Net Total: ₯3,000,000

## 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 | 11 September 1977 | 28 May 1978 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 34 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 74 | 27 | +47 | 061.76 |
| Greek Cup | 21 December 1977 | 4 June 1978 | First round | Winners | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 4 | +18 | 100.00 |
| UEFA Cup | 14 September 1977 | 2 November 1977 | First round | Second round | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 7 | −1 | 025.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 44 | 28 | 12 | 4 | 102 | 38 | +64 | 063.64 |
Last updated: 4 June 1978 Source: Competitions

### Alpha Ethniki
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | AEK Athens (C) | 34 | 21 | 11 | 2 | 74 | 27 | +47 | 53 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | PAOK | 34 | 16 | 14 | 4 | 48 | 24 | +24 | 46 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 3 | Panathinaikos | 34 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 63 | 25 | +38 | 45 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Olympiacos | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 46 | 20 | +26 | 44 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | PAS Giannina | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 45 | 39 | +6 | 38 | |
* ↑ Since AEK Athens also won the Greek Cup and qualified for the 1978–79 European Cup, the Cup finalists, PAOK earned a spot in the 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 | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A |
| Result | W | L | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | D | W | D | W | D | D | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | D | W | D | W | D | W | D | W | W | L |
| Position | 1 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |

#### Fixtures
### UEFA Cup
#### First round
#### Second round
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

    As of 4 June 1978
| No. | Pos | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | Greek Cup | UEFA Cup | UEFA Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||
| — | GK | Nikos Christidis | 19 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| — | GK | Lakis Stergioudas | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| — | DF | Apostolos Toskas | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| — | DF | Lakis Nikolaou | 31 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 2 |
| — | DF | Babis Intzoglou | 25 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| — | DF | Stefanos Theodoridis | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| — | DF | Giannis Mousouris | 31 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 41 | 9 |
| — | DF | Petros Ravousis | 30 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 40 | 0 |
| — | DF | Aris Damianidis | 14 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| — | MF | Milton Viera | 25 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 33 | 2 |
| — | MF | Lazaros Papadopoulos | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| — | MF | Dionysis Tsamis | 26 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 1 |
| — | MF | Takis Nikoloudis | 32 | 15 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 42 | 17 |
| — | MF | Christos Ardizoglou | 17 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 23 | 5 |
| — | MF | Fotis Outsikas | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| — | MF | Giorgos Vlantis | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| — | MF | Giorgos Vlachonikolis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| — | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 31 | 7 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 39 | 9 |
| — | FW | Dušan Bajević | 19 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 13 |
| — | FW | Tasos Konstantinou | 25 | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 32 | 10 |
| — | FW | Thomas Mavros | 33 | 22 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 42 | 31 |
| Left during season |||||||||||
| — | GK | Giorgos Sidiropoulos | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| From Reserve Squad |||||||||||
| — | GK | Spyros Ikonomopoulos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | DF | Panagiotis Stylianopoulos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | DF | Theodoros Apostolopoulos | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| — | DF | Kottidis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | DF | Saxanidis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | DF | Takis Papatheodorou | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | MF | Christos Kalaitzidis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | FW | Stefanos Kallinteroglou | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | FW | Thomas Stafylas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | FW | Giannis Outsikas | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | FW | Stefanos Zografos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | FW | Tasos Boulmentis | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 4 June 1978
| Rank | Pos. | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | UEFA Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | Thomas Mavros | 22 | 8 | 1 | 31 |
| 2 | MF | Takis Nikoloudis | 15 | 1 | 1 | 17 |
| 3 | FW | Dušan Bajević | 4 | 9 | 0 | 13 |
| 4 | FW | Tasos Konstantinou | 9 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 5 | DF | Giannis Mousouris | 8 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| 5 | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 7 | 1 | 1 | 9 |
| 7 | MF | Christos Ardizoglou | 4 | 0 | 1 | 5 |
| 8 | DF | Lakis Nikolaou | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | MF | Milton Viera | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | DF | Babis Intzoglou | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | Dionysis Tsamis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | MF | Giorgos Vlantis | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | FW | Tasos Boulmentis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 74 | 22 | 6 | 102 |

### Hat-tricks

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.
| Player | Against | Result | Date | Competition |
| Thomas Mavros | Panachaiki | 4–0 (H) | 4 December 1977 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Dušan Bajević$^4$ | AO Chania | 6–1 (A) | 21 December 1977 | Greek Cup |
| Takis Nikoloudis | Egaleo | 4–2 (Α) | 26 February 1978 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Thomas Mavros | Olympiacos | 6–1 (H) | 17 May 1978 | Greek Cup |

### 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 4 June 1978
| Rank | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | UEFA Cup | Total |
| 1 | Nikos Christidis | 10 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| 2 | Lakis Stergioudas | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | Spyros Ikonomopoulos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Giorgos Sidiropoulos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | 15 | 3 | 1 | 19 |

### Disciplinary record

    As of 4 June 1978 N P Nat. Name Alpha Ethniki Greek Cup UEFA Cup Total Notes Goalkeepers — GK Nikos Christidis — GK Lakis Stergioudas 1 1 Defenders — DF Apostolos Toskas — DF Lakis Nikolaou 1 1 2 — DF Babis Intzoglou 4 1 2 7 — DF Stefanos Theodoridis 1 1 — DF Giannis Mousouris — DF Petros Ravousis 3 1 4 — DF Aris Damianidis Midfielders — MF Milton Viera 3 2 2 7 — MF Lazaros Papadopoulos — MF Dionysis Tsamis — MF Takis Nikoloudis 1 1 — MF Christos Ardizoglou 1 1 — MF Fotis Outsikas 3 3 — MF Giorgos Vlantis — MF Giorgos Vlachonikolis Forwards — FW Mimis Papaioannou — FW Dušan Bajević 1 1 1 1 — FW Tasos Konstantinou 2 1 3 — FW Thomas Mavros 1 1 1 3 Left during season — GK Giorgos Sidiropoulos From Reserve Squad — GK Spyros Ikonomopoulos — DF Panagiotis Stylianopoulos — DF Theodoros Apostolopoulos — DF Kottidis — DF Saxanidis — DF Takis Papatheodorou — MF Christos Kalaitzidis — FW Stefanos Kallinteroglou — FW Thomas Stafylas — FW Giannis Outsikas — FW Stefanos Zografos — FW Tasos Boulmentis

## Awards

| Player | Pos. | Award | Source |
| Thomas Mavros | FW | Alpha Ethniki Top Scorer | |
| Dušan Bajević | FW | Greek Cup Top Scorer | |