# 1966–67 AEK Athens F.C. season

The 1966–67 season was the 43rd season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the eighth consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup, the European Cup Winners' Cup and the Balkans Cup. The season began on 1 March 1966 and finished on 30 May 1968.

## Overview

The presence of AEK Athens in the championship of the previous season may have left them with the bitterness for not winning it, but taking into account the injustice and punishments they suffered, combined with the serious issue of the abstention of Mimis Papaioannou, gave the impression that the club was ready for the new championship race without significant transfer additions. The departures of Giorgos Petridis, Fanis Tasinos and, above all, the legendary Kostas Nestoridis, after nine active seasons at the club, did not disturb the manager, Tryfon Tzanetis, who did not proceed in any particular transfer move. Considering that the already existing roster that had been gradually acquired in the early 60's was sufficient to cope with the club's needs, proceeding only in the acquisition of the forward of Apollon Athens, Vasilis Mastrakoulis as a backup choice to Papaioannou and Papageorgiou who had formed an irreplaceable attacking duo. As far as covering the gap in the midfield was concerned, this was filled with the definitive return to the team of the versatile Panagiotis Ventouris, after the end of his spell in South Africa during the previous season.
AEK started the season in the first round of the European Cup Winners' Cup. Their opponent was the Braga, who in the previous season had won their first title and made their maiden appearance in European competitions. The club's performance in both legs was not enough as they were eliminated by 2 defeats. The championship race started with Olympiacos, having found in the person of Márton Bukovi their own reformer, seemed unstoppable, as they achieved 11 straight victories in the same number of games. Additionally, the unexpected draw in Serres from Panserraikos, shook the management of AEK and playing their last card in the race for the league, removed Tzanetis from the team's bench and brought back after three and a half years the emblematic 1963 league winner, Jenő Csaknády. The Hungarian-German coach made his mark from the start, when in the first two matches he achieved as many victories, including a home win against Olympiacos, reducing the distance from the top to 4 points. The imposing 5–1 victory over Panserraikos on 16 April reduced the distance even more to 3 points from Olympiacos.
However, five days later, the championship was interrupted for over a month, as the football stadiums were used by the rulers of the military dictatorship, that had meanwhile been imposed on the country as gathering places for arrested dissidents. Sports matches were some of the first social events that the dictatorial regime restored to their regular conduction.
AEK returned to action on 21 May, winning Egaleo by 0–2, which combined with the draw of the red and whites, brought them within a breathing distance of 2 points from the top. However, a goalless draw against Ethnikos at home, as well as the 1–1 at Karaiskakis Stadium against Olympiacos marked the end of the league race, as they finished second with a difference of 3 points from the red and whites.
In the cup, AEK, like the other teams that reached the round of 16 of the previous season, entered directly into the second round where they defeated with ease Athinaikos and Aspida Xanthi, respectively. In the quarter-finals they faced the eventual winners, Panathinaikos and were eliminated by a 2–1 defeat at home.
AEK also competed in the Balkans Cup of the season, placed in the 2nd group alongside FK Vardar, Lokomotiv Sofia and Farul Constanța. They managed to finish first undefeated as they achieved 3 wins and 3 draws and qualified for the 2-legged final, facing Fenerbahçe. In the first game at Nea Filadelfeia, AEK won by 2–1 and went to Istanbul to defend their slight lead. The Turks managed to equalize the lead of the first leg, winning by 1–0 and since the away goals rule was not applied in the tournament, a third match was set. In order for a free date for the match to be found, 7 months had to pass, and on 30 May 1968 at Mithat Paşa, AEK were defeated by 3–1 and a lost a great opportunity to win an international trophy, that in those years had not yet lost its glory.

## 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 31 December 1967, 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 32) | 1953 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1972 |
| Vangelis Petrakis | GK | (1938-09-07)7 September 1938 (aged 29) | 1962 | Aris | Free | 1967 |
| Theodoros Maniateas | GK | (1945-03-19)19 March 1945 (aged 22) | 1964 | Panthisiakos | Free | 1969 |
| Defenders ||||||||
| Alekos Sofianidis | LB / LM / LW | (1937-08-03)3 August 1937 (aged 30) | 1959 | Beşiktaş | Free | 1969 |
| Aleko Yordan | CB | (1938-01-10)10 January 1938 (aged 29) | 1962 | Beykoz | Free | 1969 |
| Tasos Vasiliou | CB | (1938-08-04)4 August 1938 (aged 29) | 1965 | Apollon Athens | ₯1,500,000 | 1970 |
| Giorgos Kefalidis | RB / CB | (1941-03-21)21 March 1941 (aged 26) | 1964 | Pierikos | Free | 1972 |
| Fotis Balopoulos | CB / DM / CM / ST | (1943-12-17)17 December 1943 (aged 24) | 1964 | Proodeftiki | ₯450,000 | 1970 |
| Lakis Fragoudakis | CB / DM | 1944 (aged 22–23) | 1964 | Free agent | Free | 1970 |
| Midfielders ||||||||
| Stelios Skevofilakas | LM / RM / AM | (1939-01-06)6 January 1939 (aged 28) | 1960 | Eleftheroupoli | Free | 1972 |
| Panagiotis Ventouris | AM / SS | (1943-03-01)1 March 1943 (aged 24) | 1965 | Fostiras | ₯435,000 | 1972 |
| Nikos Stathopoulos | LM / LB | (1943-11-08)8 November 1943 (aged 24) | 1965 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1974 |
| Michalis Simigdalas | CM | (1944-06-23)23 June 1944 (aged 23) | 1963 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1969 |
| Giorgos Karafeskos | CM / DM / RM / RW | (1946-12-08)8 December 1946 (aged 21) | 1963 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1974 |
| Forwards ||||||||
| Andreas Stamatiadis (Captain) | RW / LW / SS / ST | (1935-08-16)16 August 1935 (aged 32) | 1952 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1969 |
| Vasilis Mastrakoulis | RW / ST / SS | 1939 (aged 27–28) | 1966 | Hellenic | Free | 1968 |
| Kostas Papageorgiou | ST | (1941-01-01)1 January 1941 (aged 26) | 1963 | Atromitos | ₯200,000 | 1969 |
| Mimis Papaioannou | SS / ST / AM | (1942-08-23)23 August 1942 (aged 25) | 1962 | Veria | ₯175,000 | 1979 |
| Spyros Pomonis | LW / LM | (1944-02-12)12 February 1944 (aged 23) | 1960 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1973 |
| Kostas Nikolaidis | RW / LW / SS / ST | (1944-09-10)10 September 1944 (aged 23) | 1965 | PAO Safrabolis | Free | 1973 |
| Left during season ||||||||
| Giorgos Petridis | AM / SS / ST | (1938-02-10)10 February 1938 (aged 29) | 1957 | Pera Club | Free | 1966 |
| Nikos Sevastopoulos | RW / SS / AM / ST | (1945-02-26)26 February 1945 (aged 22) | 1963 | AEK Athens U20 | — | 1971 |

## Transfers
### In

| Pos. | Player | From | Fee | Date | Contract Until | Source |
| MF | Panagiotis Ventouris | Hellenic | Loan return | 1 July 1966 | 30 June 1972 | |
| FW | Vasilis Mastrakoulis | Hellenic | Free transfer | 16 August 1966 | 30 June 1968 | |

### Out

| Pos. | Player | To | Fee | Date |
| MF | Fanis Tasinos | Free agent | End of contract | 1 July 1966 |
| MF | Giorgos Petridis | Vyzas Megara | End of contract | 1 July 1966 |
| FW | Dimitris Antoniou | Apollon Limassol | Free transfer | 1 July 1966 |

### Loan out

| Pos. | Player | To | Fee | Date | Until | Option to buy | Source |
| FW | Nikos Sevastopoulos | Hellenic | Free | 1 April 1967 | 30 June 1968 | 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 | 23 October 1966 | 18 June 1967 | Matchday 1 | 2nd | 30 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 52 | 21 | +31 | 060.00 |
| Greek Cup | 14 May 1967 | 25 June 1967 | Round of 32 | Quarter-finals | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 066.67 |
| European Cup Winners' Cup | 28 September 1966 | 5 October 1966 | First round | First round | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Balkans Cup | 1 March 1966 | 29 May 1968 | Group Stage | Runners-up | 9 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 044.44 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 44 | 24 | 13 | 7 | 77 | 38 | +39 | 054.55 |
Last updated: 29 May 1968 Source: Competitions

### Alpha Ethniki
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Olympiacos (C) | 30 | 21 | 7 | 2 | 59 | 17 | +42 | 79 | Qualification for European Cup first round |
| 2 | AEK Athens | 30 | 18 | 10 | 2 | 52 | 21 | +31 | 76 | |
| 3 | Panathinaikos | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 42 | 24 | +18 | 71 | Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round |
| 4 | PAOK | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 36 | 20 | +16 | 67 | Invitation for Inter-Cities Fairs Cup first round |
| 5 | Aris | 30 | 14 | 5 | 11 | 38 | 30 | +8 | 63 | |

#### 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 |
| Ground | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | Η | H | A | H |
| Result | W | W | W | D | L | W | W | L | W | D | W | D | W | W | D | W | W | W | D | W | D | D | W | D | W | W | W | D | D | W |
| Position | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

#### Fixtures
### Greek Cup

AEK entered the Greek Cup at the round of 32.

#### Matches
### Balkans Cup
#### Group B

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | AEK Athens (A) | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 10 | 5 | 2.000 | 9 | Advances to finals |
| 2 | Lokomotiv Sofia | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 10 | 1.100 | 6 | |
| 3 | Farul Constanța | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 0.571 | 5 | |
| 4 | FK Vardar | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 1.000 | 4 | |

#### Matches
##### Finals
## Statistics
### Squad statistics

    As of 29 May 1968
| No. | Pos | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | Greek Cup | European Cup Winners' Cup | European Cup Winners' Cup | Balkans Cup | Balkans Cup | Total | Total |
| No. | Pos | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers |||||||||||||
| — | GK | Stelios Serafidis | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 30 | 0 |
| — | GK | Vangelis Petrakis | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| — | GK | Theodoros Maniateas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Defenders |||||||||||||
| — | DF | Alekos Sofianidis | 28 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 39 | 1 |
| — | DF | Aleko Yordan | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| — | DF | Tasos Vasiliou | 30 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 43 | 2 |
| — | DF | Giorgos Kefalidis | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| — | DF | Fotis Balopoulos | 25 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| — | DF | Lakis Fragoudakis | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 1 |
| Midfielders |||||||||||||
| — | MF | Stelios Skevofilakas | 23 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 35 | 3 |
| — | MF | Panagiotis Ventouris | 25 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 32 | 14 |
| — | MF | Nikos Stathopoulos | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| — | MF | Michalis Simigdalas | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| — | MF | Giorgos Karafeskos | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 28 | 2 |
| Forwards |||||||||||||
| — | FW | Andreas Stamatiadis | 24 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 35 | 2 |
| — | FW | Vasilis Mastrakoulis | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 |
| — | FW | Kostas Papageorgiou | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| — | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 22 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 8 | 36 | 22 |
| — | FW | Spyros Pomonis | 18 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 10 |
| — | FW | Kostas Nikolaidis | 24 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 1 | 37 | 16 |
| Left during season |||||||||||||
| — | MF | Giorgos Petridis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| — | FW | Nikos Sevastopoulos | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Goalscorers

    As of 29 May 1968
| Rank | Pos. | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | European Cup Winners' Cup | Balkans Cup | Total |
| 1 | FW | Mimis Papaioannou | 10 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 22 |
| 2 | FW | Kostas Nikolaidis | 11 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 16 |
| 3 | MF | Panagiotis Ventouris | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 4 | FW | Spyros Pomonis | 9 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 5 | MF | Stelios Skevofilakas | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | FW | Kostas Papageorgiou | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 7 | DF | Tasos Vasiliou | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | FW | Andreas Stamatiadis | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 7 | MF | Giorgos Karafeskos | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 | DF | Lakis Fragoudakis | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | DF | Alekos Sofianidis | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Own goals | Own goals | Own goals | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | 52 | 10 | 2 | 13 | 77 |

### Hat-tricks

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.
| Player | Against | Result | Date | Competition | Source |
| Kostas Nikolaidis | Panserraikos | 5–1 (H) | 16 April 1967 | Alpha Ethniki | |
| Kostas Nikolaidis | Aspida Xanthi | 5–1 (A) | 14 June 1967 | 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 29 May 1968
| Rank | Player | Alpha Ethniki | Greek Cup | European Cup Winners' Cup | Balkans Cup | Total |
| 1 | Stelios Serafidis | 12 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| 2 | Vangelis Petrakis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 3 | Theodoros Maniateas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals | Totals | 15 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 19 |

### Disciplinary record

    As of 29 May 1968
| N | P | Name |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||||||||||||
| — | GK | Stelios Serafidis |
| — | GK | Vangelis Petrakis |
| — | GK | Theodoros Maniateas |
| Defenders ||||||||||||||||||||
| — | DF | Alekos Sofianidis |
| — | DF | Aleko Yordan |
| — | DF | Tasos Vasiliou |
| — | DF | Giorgos Kefalidis |
| — | DF | Fotis Balopoulos |
| — | DF | Lakis Fragoudakis |
| Midfielders ||||||||||||||||||||
| — | MF | Stelios Skevofilakas |
| — | MF | Panagiotis Ventouris |
| — | MF | Nikos Stathopoulos |
| — | MF | Michalis Simigdalas |
| — | MF | Giorgos Karafeskos |
| Forwards ||||||||||||||||||||
| — | FW | Andreas Stamatiadis |
| — | FW | Vasilis Mastrakoulis |
| — | FW | Kostas Papageorgiou |
| — | FW | Mimis Papaioannou |
| — | FW | Spyros Pomonis |
| — | FW | Kostas Nikolaidis |
| Left during season ||||||||||||||||||||
| — | MF | Giorgos Petridis |
| — | FW | Nikos Sevastopoulos |

## Awards

| Player | Pos. | Award | Source |
| Kostas Nikolaidis | FW | Greek Cup Top Scorer | |