# 1978–79 AEK Athens F.C. season

The 1978–79 season was the 55th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 20th 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 3 September 1978 and finished on 16 June 1979.

## Overview

The peculiarities of the 1978–79 season could well mark it as historic for the Greek Football, while it was also the last semi-professional season as with the enactment of law 879/79 in March, all the football clubs were obliged to be converted into S.A. to participate in the first professional championship of the next season. In the summer, there was an "epidemic" of transfers by iconic players among the big teams. AEK were the only club that was left intact. Georgios Delikaris moved from Olympiacos to Panathinaikos, Antonis Antoniadis followed the opposite path and Mimis Domazos left Panathinaikos. Loukas Barlos seized the chance and signed him to AEK. Thus, for one season, AEK had in their roster at the same time the two best Greek footballers of the century, both born in 1942, both named "Mimis": Papaioannou and Domazos. The addition of the "general", Mimis Domazos to the roster, with his leadership skills and tactical mind, gave the already impressive team, the element that made them one of the most spectacular that have ever played in the Greek stadiums. Furthermore, after the departure of the double winner, Zlatko Čajkovski for Zürich, Barlos brought to the club's bench the great Ferenc Puskás, who alongside Domazos were the architects of Panathinaikos' campaign to the 1971 European Cup Final, hoping that AEK would do a similar breakthrough at the European stage.
In the championship, AEK started impressively and were ahead in the standings. Olympiacos were the only rival for the title. While AEK were generously scattering goals and spectacle, while in the opposite of the event, there were many official complaints of the opponents of Olympiacos for attempts of bribery. In the 12th matchday, Oikonomou of Apollon Athens and on the 23rd and the goalkeeper of PAS Giannina, Lisa, reported of bribery on the side of Olympiacos and on the 32nd matchday, after their match against Olympiacos, Rodos punished Doxakis, Papaoikonomou and Skartados for having reduced performance in the match as Olympiacos turned their 3–1 lead in 23 minutes, with the help of the referee as well.
AEK also started their obligations in the European Cup against Porto. The quality of the opponent and the fullness of AEK foreshadowed two ambiguous matches with an uncertain outcome. In Nea Filadelfeia, AEK and their fans experienced a magical European night and witnessed the club's biggest victory in the European Cup with 6–1, which gave AEK a largely securing qualification to the next round. In the rematch AEK opened the score in the first half and in the last half hour of the match they turned off the engines as the Portuguese grabbed the opportunity and scored four goals. Next opponent for AEK, Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest. The "reds" having learned not to underestimate their opponents and being aware of AEK's impressive performance against Porto, came to Nea Filadelfeia for the first leg, completely focused on their goal. Nottingham took the lead early on and at the 21st minute, AEK were left with 10 players after the suspension of Milton Viera. At the end of the half Nottingham doubled their lead and until the match was over the Englishmen played conservatively with AEK managing to reduce in the final 1–2. In the second leg AEK entered the pitch knowing well that a difficult night that awaited them. In the first half, Nottingham easily scored three goals having lost several opportunities to a widen the score, while at the second half, AEK reduced to 3–1 with a header from Bajević. Nottingham completed their imposing appearance with a 5–1 victory and eventually won the trophy.
Towards the end of the championship, AEK presented an inexplicable decline in their performance and in the face of the risk of losing the title after the away defeat by Aris on March 11, Barlos decided to remove Puskás from bench of the team and assigned it to his assistant, Andreas Stamatiadis for the rest of the season. In the cup, it was the first year that the two legged tie, for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals were established, according to the model of European cups. AEK marched through the first three rounds eliminating Kavala, Proodeftiki and Acharnaikos, respectively. In the quarter-final against Anagennisi Epanomi after a 1–1 away draw, AEK won 2–0 in the second leg and qualified to the semi-finals where they faced Panachaiki. In Patras, they were defeated by 3–2, but at home AEK won easily by 5–1. In the final AEK met Panionios who came from two consecutive unexpected qualifications. In the game, while AEK managed to take the lead early on, Panionios succeeded in putting AEK to "sleep", by not letting them impose their frenetic tempo and completed the comeback winning by 3–1, in one of the biggest surprises in the history of the institution.
The end of the championship found AEK and Olympiacos, even in the first place with 56 points and a play-off match for the title was set. Olympiacos either in fear of a possible embarrassment from AEK, or as part of an unofficial deal with the HFF in exchange for silencing allegations of bribery and consequently avoiding demotion, were not going to show up to the match. The excuse was the protest for the refereeing of Charalampos Pamporidis against OFI in the last matchday, considering him responsible for not managing to complete the comeback of a 3–1 loss that would resulted in winning the league. On June 16, at the stadium on Leoforos Alexandras Stadium, AEK were the only team lined up on the pitch. The absence of Olympiacos automatically declared AEK champion with a 2–0 victory without a match. During the season AEK were an unstoppable football machine that dismantled their opponents as they achieved the league's best offense with a total of 90 goals, rewarding their opponents 6 times with 5 goals and 2 with 7 goals. Thomas Mavros was declared the top scorer of the league with 31 goals and 40 in total, winning the European Silver Shoe, just 3 goals behind Kees Kist. In the third place of the top scorers of the league was Dušan Bajević with 24 goals and in the 8th, Takis Nikoloudis with 12. That season would be the last at AEK for the emblematic leader, Mimis Papaioannou which after 17 consecutive years of presence, he would be passed on the pantheon of the legends in the history of the club.

## Management team

| Position | Staff |
| Manager | Andreas Stamatiadis |
| Goalkeeping coach | Stelios Serafidis |
| 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 16 June 1979, 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 34) | 1976 | Aris | Free | 1982 |
| Lakis Stergioudas | GK | (1952-12-11)11 December 1952 (aged 26) | 1972 | Niki Poligyrou | Free | 1985 |
| Spyros Ikonomopoulos | GK | (1959-07-25)25 July 1959 (aged 19) | 1978 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1984 |
| Defenders ||||||||
| Apostolos Toskas | CB | (1947-12-28)28 December 1947 (aged 31) | 1969 | Trikala | Free | 1979 |
| Lakis Nikolaou (Captain) | CB / RB / ST / DM | (1949-07-17)17 July 1949 (aged 29) | 1971 | Atromitos | ₯600,000 | 1979 |
| Babis Intzoglou | RB / LB / CB | (1949-04-01)1 April 1949 (aged 30) | 1976 | Panionios | Free | 1980 |
| Giannis Mousouris | RB / RM / ST | (1951-01-26)26 January 1951 (aged 28) | 1977 | AEL | ₯3,000,000 | 1982 |
| Petros Ravousis | CB / RB | (1954-10-01)1 October 1954 (aged 24) | 1972 | Aetos Skydra | Free | 1985 |
| Aris Damianidis | CB / RB | (1955-03-02)2 March 1955 (aged 24) | 1977 | Egaleo | Free | 1980 |
| Dimitris Kotsos | LB | (1955-03-30)30 March 1955 (aged 24) | 1978 | Kastoria | Free | 1980 |
| Stavros Letsas | RB / RM / CB | (1957-03-06)6 March 1957 (aged 22) | 1978 | Agioi Anargyroi | Free | 1986 |
| Panagiotis Stylianopoulos | RB / LB | (1957-09-04)4 September 1957 (aged 21) | 1978 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1986 |
| Theodoros Apostolopoulos | CB | 1959 (aged 19–20) | 1978 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1980 |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| Mimis Domazos | AM / SS | (1942-01-22)22 January 1942 (aged 37) | 1978 | Panathinaikos | Free | 1980 |
| Milton Viera | CM / DM | (1946-05-11)11 May 1946 (aged 33) | 1977 | Olympiacos | Free | 1980 |
| Lazaros Papadopoulos | RM / RW | (1950-01-03)3 January 1950 (aged 29) | 1973 | Veria | Free | 1979 |
| Dionysis Tsamis | CM / DM / AM | (1951-05-21)21 May 1951 (aged 28) | 1972 | Panetolikos | ₯2,300,000 | 1980 |
| Takis Nikoloudis | CM / AM / RM / LM | (1951-08-26)26 August 1951 (aged 27) | 1977 | Iraklis | Free | 1981 |
| Christos Ardizoglou | RM / LM / RW / LW / AM / LB | (1953-03-25)25 March 1953 (aged 26) | 1974 | Apollon Athens | ₯5,000,000 | 1982 |
| Christos Kalaitzidis | LM | (1959-02-06)6 February 1959 (aged 20) | 1978 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1981 |
| Dimitris Kokkinopoulos | RM / RW | 1960 (aged 18–19) | 1978 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1980 |
| Forwards ||||||||
| Mimis Papaioannou (Vice-captain) | SS / ST / AM | (1942-08-23)23 August 1942 (aged 36) | 1962 | Veria | ₯175,000 | 1979 |
| Dušan Bajević | ST / SS | (1948-12-10)10 December 1948 (aged 30) | 1977 | Velež Mostar | Free | 1980 |
| Tasos Konstantinou | RW / SS / ST / RM / AM | (1951-03-11)11 March 1951 (aged 28) | 1972 | EPA Larnaca | Free | 1980 |
| Thomas Mavros | ST / LW | (1954-05-31)31 May 1954 (aged 25) | 1976 | Panionios | ₯4,000,000 | 1980 |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos. | Player | From | Fee | Date | Contract Until |
| GK | Spyros Ikonomopoulos | AEK Athens U20 | Promotion | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1984 |
| DF | Theodoros Apostolopoulos | AEK Athens U20 | Promotion | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1980 |
| DF | Stavros Letsas | Agioi Anargyroi | Free transfer | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1986 |
| DF | Panagiotis Stylianopoulos | AEK Athens U20 | Promotion | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1986 |
| DF | Dimitris Kotsos | Kastoria | Free transfer | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1980 |
| ΜF | Dimitris Kokkinopoulos | AEK Athens U20 | Promotion | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1980 |
| ΜF | Christos Kalaitzidis | AEK Athens U20 | Promotion | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1981 |
| MF | Mimis Domazos | Panathinaikos | Free transfer | 17 July 1978 | 30 June 1980 |

### Out

| Pos. | Player | To | Fee | Date |
| DF | Stefanos Theodoridis | Olympiacos | End of contract | 1 July 1978 |
| MF | Fotis Outsikas | Acharnaikos | Contract termination | 1 July 1978 |
| MF | Giorgos Vlachonikolis | Free agent | End of contract | 1 July 1978 |

### Loan out

| Pos. | Player | To | Fee | Date | Until | Option to buy | Source |
| MF | Giorgos Vlantis | Panachaiki | Free | 1 July 1978 | 30 June 1980 | N | |

### 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 | 3 September 1978 | 3 June 1979 | Matchday 1 | Winners | 34 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 90 | 60 | +30 | 073.53 |
| Championship play-off | 16 June 1979 | 16 June 1979 | Final | Winners | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 100.00 |
| Greek Cup | 8 November 1978 | 9 June 1979 | First round | Runners-up | 8 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 24 | 8 | +16 | 062.50 |
| European Cup | 13 September 1978 | 1 November 1978 | First round | Second round | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 025.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 47 | 32 | 7 | 8 | 123 | 80 | +43 | 068.09 |
Last updated: 16 June 1979 Source: Competitions

### Alpha Ethniki
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | AEK Athens (C) | 34 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 90 | 30 | +60 | 56 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | Olympiacos | 34 | 26 | 4 | 4 | 63 | 27 | +36 | 56 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 3 | Aris | 34 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 63 | 26 | +37 | 50 | Qualification for UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | PAOK | 34 | 18 | 9 | 7 | 73 | 23 | +50 | 45 | |
| 5 | Panathinaikos | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 38 | |
* 1 2 AEK Athens pronounced champions, because Olympiacos did not show up for the play-off match.

#### 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 | 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 |
| Result | W | W | W | W | W | D | L | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | W | D | W | L | D | W | W | L | W | W | W | W | D | W | W | W | W | W | W |
| Position | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 |

#### Championship play-off
### Greek Cup
#### Matches
##### Final
### European Cup
#### Second round
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

    As of 16 June 1979
| 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 | Nikos Christidis | 5 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| — | GK | Lakis Stergioudas | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 0 |
| — | GK | Spyros Ikonomopoulos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||
| — | DF | Apostolos Toskas | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| — | DF | Lakis Nikolaou | 28 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 38 | 2 |
| — | DF | Babis Intzoglou | 17 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 24 | 0 |
| — | DF | Giannis Mousouris | 32 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 41 | 3 |
| — | DF | Petros Ravousis | 30 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 41 | 2 |
| — | DF | Aris Damianidis | 7 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| — | DF | Dimitris Kotsos | 21 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| — | DF | Stavros Letsas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| — | DF | Panagiotis Stylianopoulos | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | DF | Theodoros Apostolopoulos | 9 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||
| — | MF | Mimis Domazos | 29 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 35 | 5 |
| — | MF | Milton Viera | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 |
| — | MF | Lazaros Papadopoulos | 9 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 2 |
| — | MF | Dionysis Tsamis | 27 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 33 | 0 |
| — | MF | Takis Nikoloudis | 31 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 41 | 15 |
| — | MF | Christos Ardizoglou | 29 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 39 | 7 |
| — | MF | Christos Kalaitzidis | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| — | MF | Dimitris Kokkinopoulos | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| Forwards |||||||||||
| — | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 22 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 2 |
| — | FW | Dušan Bajević | 29 | 24 | 8 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 41 | 36 |
| — | FW | Tasos Konstantinou | 25 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 35 | 8 |
| — | FW | Thomas Mavros | 33 | 31 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 43 | 40 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 16 June 1979
| Rank | Pos. | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | European Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | Thomas Mavros | 31 | 7 | 2 | 40 |
| 2 | FW | Dušan Bajević | 24 | 9 | 3 | 36 |
| 3 | MF | Takis Nikoloudis | 12 | 3 | 0 | 15 |
| 4 | FW | Tasos Konstantinou | 4 | 2 | 2 | 8 |
| 5 | MF | Christos Ardizoglou | 6 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
| 6 | MF | Mimis Domazos | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| 7 | DF | Giannis Mousouris | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 8 | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | MF | Lazaros Papadopoulos | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 8 | DF | Lakis Nikolaou | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 8 | DF | Petros Ravousis | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 90 | 24 | 9 | 123 |

### Hat-tricks

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.
| Player | Against | Result | Date | Competition |
| Dušan Bajević | Iraklis | 5–1 (H) | 1 October 1978 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Thomas Mavros | Kavala | 5–2 (H) | 8 November 1978 | Greek Cup |
| Dušan Bajević$^4$ | Panserraikos | 5–0 (H) | 31 December 1978 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Thomas Mavros | AEL | 4–2 (H) | 14 January 1979 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Thomas Mavros | Egaleo | 5–0 (H) | 4 February 1979 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Thomas Mavros | Panserraikos | 5–2 (A) | 6 May 1979 | Alpha Ethniki |
| Thomas Mavros | Kavala | 7–0 (H) | 27 May 1979 | 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 16 June 1979
| Rank | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | European Cup | Total |
| 1 | Lakis Stergioudas | 13 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 2 | Nikos Christidis | 2 | 3 | 0 | 5 |
| Totals | Totals | 15 | 3 | 0 | 18 |

### Disciplinary record

    As of 16 June 1979 N P Nat. Name Alpha Ethniki Greek Cup European Cup Total Notes Goalkeepers — GK Nikos Christidis — GK Lakis Stergioudas 1 1 — GK Spyros Ikonomopoulos Defenders — DF Apostolos Toskas 1 1 — DF Lakis Nikolaou 1 2 1 3 1 — DF Babis Intzoglou 1 1 — DF Giannis Mousouris 2 1 3 — DF Petros Ravousis 7 1 1 1 9 1 — DF Aris Damianidis — DF Dimitris Kotsos 3 3 — DF Stavros Letsas — DF Panagiotis Stylianopoulos — DF Theodoros Apostolopoulos Midfielders — MF Mimis Domazos — MF Milton Viera 1 1 2 1 4 1 — MF Lazaros Papadopoulos — MF Dionysis Tsamis 1 1 — MF Takis Nikoloudis 1 1 — MF Christos Ardizoglou 1 1 — MF Christos Kalaitzidis — MF Dimitris Kokkinopoulos Forwards — FW Mimis Papaioannou — FW Dušan Bajević 2 1 1 3 1 — FW Tasos Konstantinou 1 1 — FW Thomas Mavros

## Awards

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