AEK H.C.

AEK H.C.
AEK Handball Club is the handball department of the major Greek multi-sports club A.E.K. It was established in 2005. The club is commonly known in European competitions as AEK Athens HC.
History
The department Handball of A.E.K. was founded by a decision of the General Assembly of A.E.K. on 12 July 2005.
On 5 August 2005, the Greek Handball Federation accepted a merger through the absorption of the association's Board of Handball GA Ilioupolis with AEK Handball Club.
During the period 2006–07, AEK Handball Club acquired the 3rd position in A1 (Greek Men's handball championship) and gained participation at European Cups for the first time.
During the period 2007–08, AEK participated in EHF Cup (European Handball Federation Cup) and was eliminated by Dinamo Baumit Bucuresti in the second round.
On 31 May 2009, with Nikos Georgantzoglou as president, AEK won the first Greek handball cup winning Filippos by a score of 33–31 in Serres.
For the period 2009–10 AEK participated at EHF Cup Winners' Cup.
For the third round of EHF Cup Winners' Cup, AEK HC played against BSB Izmir on 14 November 2009 in Athens (losing 24–29) and on 21 November 2009 in Smyrni (drawing 22–22).
During the period 2009–10, AEK HC terminated at 4th position of A1, gaining its European participation for the 2nd consecutive time and for 3rd in general.
In addition, AEK HC participated in the final four of Greek men's handball cup on 29 May 2010 in Lamia, but the semi-final game against PAOK did not take place due to fan "fights".
For the second round of the European Challenge Cup (2010–11), AEK HC won HC Dinamo Minsk 31–25 in Athens and lost 32–27 in Minsk and therefore AEK has been advanced to the top 16 teams.
For the third round (phase of 16), AEK defeated Sporting Lisboa at penalties. AEK lost 27–23 in Lisboa but won 27–23 in Athens and so the game went on penalty-kicks, where AEK advanced
to the top 8 with the final score of 32–27. For the Quarter-Final (phase 8),
AEK played against Partizan of Beograd and was disqualified.
On 7 May 2011, AEK won the Greek handball championship through the playoffs and became champion for the first time in their short history. AEK needed only the win against PAOK at Thessaloniki and was losing by one goal (22–21) 30 seconds before the final whistle but with great will and power scored twice (the final goal at the exact second of the final)
and gained the first championship of its history just 6 years after its establishment. AEK participated in the first round of the EHF Champions League for the period 2011–12 and also in the first round of Challenge Cup, losing to Lions (Holland).
On 17 March 2012, AEK participated in the final game of the Greek men's handball cup against PAOK but lost the game 26–24. AEK participated to the EHF Cup for the period 2012–13
but was eliminated by Diomidis Argous in the first round, losing both games at Argos and Athens.
On 3 March 2013, AEK won the second Greek handball cup in its history, winning PAOK by a score of 27–23 in Kerkyra (Corfu). The same year on 1 June 2013 AEK won the second Greek handball championship against Diomidis.
On 19 March 2014, AEK won the third Greek handball championship in its history, winning Diomidis 18–16 in Athens.
On 29 March 2015, AEK participated in the final of the Greek men's handball cup for the fifth time in a row, against PAOK, but lost the game by a score of 27–29. The team finished third in the Greek handball championship.
On 14 and 20 May 2018, AEK HC played the final games of EHF Challenge Cup 2017–18 and became one of the three most successful teams in Greek handball
(including Diomidis Argous and Filippos Verias) in European achievements. In 2020, AEK won its third Greek Championship.
On 23 May 2021, AEK HC won the fourth Greek handball cup in its history, winning PAOK by a score of 24–22 in Kozani. On 30 May of the same year, AEK HC won the first EHF European Cup in its history by winning the Swedish club Ystads IF, this way AEK HC became the most successful Greek club in European handball competitions. AEK won its fourth Greek Championship on 6 July 2021 celebrating a historic treble.
At the start of the 2022–23 season, the club made several changes in the first-team squad due to last year's unsuccessful results. The first-team changes of the summer transfer period helped AEK to finish at the top of the league in the regular season. The club was drawn to play against Olympiacos after qualifying for the championship finals through the regular season. In an exciting match series, which ended 3-2 in favor of AEK, the club was crowned champion for the fifth time.
Kits
Honours and titles
European competitions
EHF European Cup
Winners (1): 2020–21
Runners-up (1): 2017–18
Semi-finalists (1): 2018–19
Quarter-finalists (2): 2010–11, 2019–20
Domestic competitions
Greek Championship
Winners (5): 2010–11, 2012–13, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23
Runners-up (5): 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022
Greek Cup
Winners (4): 2008–09, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2020–21
Runners-up (6): 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022
Greek Super Cup
Runners-up (1): 2023
Tournaments
Official Tournaments
47th International Handball Tournament Struga (1): 2019
1st International Tournament "Andreas Papastamatis" (2): 2020, 2021
Unofficial team awards
European Treble (HHF League and Cup, and EHF League or Cup)
Winners (1): 2020–21
National Double (HHF League and Cup)
Winners (2): 2012–13, 2020–21
Players
Squad for the 2023–24 season
Goalkeepers
1 Ivan Matskevich
16 Konstantinos Raspitsos
32 Igor Arsić
Back players
CB
5 Philip Jonsson
11 Charalampos Mallios
96 Patrick Andre Toniazzo Lemos
LB
8 Nikolaos Kritikos
9 Stipe Mandalinić
10 Panagiotis Nikolaidis (c)
51 Luka Sokolić
RB
15 Efthimios Iliopoulos
92 Patrik Martinović
Wingers
Line players
3 Igor Žabić
22 Anastasios Papadionysiou
27 Nikolaos Liapis
LW
18 Vyron Papadopoulos
88 Jonathan Azorin
89 Karim Ouadah
99 Christos Kederis
RW
2 Evangelos Arampatzis
25 Krzysztof Komarzewski
Transfers
Transfers for the 2023–24 season
Joining
Vyron Papadopoulos (LW) (from Olympiacos)
Nikolaos Kritikos (LB) (from CSM Focșani)
Patrik Martinović (RB) (from RK Celje)
Krzysztof Komarzewski (RW) (from Wisła Płock)
Charalampos Mallios (CB) (from Nancy Handball)
Philip Jonsson (CB) (from HK Aranäs)
Igor Žabić (LP) (from Kadetten Schaffhausen)
Leaving
Aurélien Tchitombi (LW) (to ?)
Maximilien Tike (LW) (to Villeurbanne HA)
Radojica Čepić (CB) (to RK Celje)
Đorđe Golubović (RB) (to ?)
Leonardo Domenech de Almeida (LP) (to BM Logroño La Rioja)
Nemanja Živković (RW) (to ?)
Nikola Jukić (RB) (to Mudhar HC)
Ignacio Moya Florido (CB) (to ?)
Łukasz Rogulski (LP) (to ?)
Team officials
Staff for the 2023–24 season
Season by season
In the 2019–20 season, the Greek Cup final against Diomidis Argous and the EHF Challenge Cup quarterfinal against Potaissa Turda were canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic.
European competitions record
Notable former coaches
Giannis Arvanitis
Dimitris Dimitroulias
Kostas Toutsis
Nikos Grammatikos (2017–2019)
Dimitris Dimitroulias (2019–2022)
Alexandros Alvanos (2022–2023)
Notable current and former players
Abderrahim Berriah (2021–2022)
Sofiane Bendjilali (2021–2022)
Thomas Bauer (2020–2021)
Nikola Stevanovic (2022)
Ivan Matskevich (2022–)
Tomislav Nuić (2021)
Patrick Andre Toniazzo Lemos (2020–)
Leonardo Domenech de Almeida (2022–2023)
Marin Buneta (2019–2021)
Stipe Mandalinić (2022–)
Nikola Jukić (2022–2023)
Patrik Martinović (2023–)
Ioulios Argyrou
Aurélien Tchitombi (2022–2023)
Lars Jacobsen (2018–2020)
Jesper Meinby (2021)
Malik Hoggas (2019–2020)
Maximilien Tike (2022–2023)
Christoforos Bakaoukas (2005–2016)
Savvas Karypidis (2013–2015)
Fanis Tsaousis (2005–2015)
Giorgos Papadopoulos
Dimitris Kaffatos (2005–2007, 2009–2014, 2019–2020)
Dionysis Georgiadis (2010–2020)
Giorgos Perros
Alexandros Alvanos (2012–2014, 2018–2019)
Spyros Balomenos (2012–2013)
Panagiotis Nikolaidis
Konstantinos Tsilimparis (2013–2015)
Grigoris Sanikis (2013–2015)
Nikolaos Kritikos (2023–)
Vyron Papadopoulos (2023–)
Charalampos Mallios (2023–)
Gergö Rózsavölgyi (2019)
Laurynas Palevicius (2018–2019)
Mladen Rakčević (2013–2014)
Goran Andjelic (2021–2022)
Radojica Čepić (2023)
Joakim Hykkerud (2021)
Łukasz Rogulski (2022–2023)
Krzysztof Komarzewski (2023–)
Bogdan Criciotoiu (2020)
Radule Radulovic (2017–2019)
Milan Kosanović (2019–2021)
Miljan Manić
Mirko Lukić
Zlatko Šuša
Eldin Vražalica
Igor Arsic (2019–2020)
Nemanja Živković (2022–2023)
Đorđe Golubović (2023)
Maros Balaz (2018–2019)
Juraj Briatka (2021–2022)
Igor Žabić (2023–)
Luis Felipe Jiménez Reina (2020–2021)
Ignacio Plaza Jiménez (2019–2022)
Cristian Ugalde (2020–2022)
Ignacio Moya Florido (2020–2023)
Philip Jonsson (2023–)
Anis Gatfi
Yunus Özmusul (2019)
Olexandr Shevelev (2022)
Sponsorships
Great Sponsor: Elliniki Etairia Graniton
Official Sport Clothing Manufacturer: Macron
Official Broadcaster: ERT3
References
External links
Official websites
AEK H.C. at HHF
AEK H.C. at EHF
Media
Official Facebook page
Handball
Handball clubs in Greece
2005 establishments in Greece
Handball clubs established in 2005