page_title: PAOK FC
section_title: Foundation and early years (1926–1945)
hierarchical_section_title: PAOK FC / History / Foundation and early years (1926–1945)
caption_attribution_description: Ελληνικά: Η ομάδα του ΠΑΟΚ το 1926, χρωματική επεξεργασία από το χρήστη Sportingn
context_page_description: PAOK Football Club, commonly known as PAOK FC, PAOK Thessaloniki or simply PAOK, is a Greek professional football club based in Thessaloniki, Macedonia. PAOK are one of the top domestic clubs, the most widely supported in Northern Greece and with the 3rd largest fanbase in the country, according to the latest polls and researches. A research by Marca in August 2018, reported that PAOK are the most popular Greek football team on social media.
  Established on 20 April 1926 by Greek refugees who fled to Thessaloniki from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War, they play their home games at Toumba Stadium, a 29,000 seating capacity football ground. Their name, along with the club's emblem, the Byzantine-style double-headed eagle with retracted wings, honours the memory of the people and places that once belonged to the Byzantine Empire.
  PAOK currently plays in the top-flight Super League, which they have won three times. They are seven-time winners of the Greek Cup. The club has never been relegated to a lower national division, a feat equalled only by rivals Olympiacos and Panathinaikos.
context_section_description: PAOK FC is the oldest department of the major multi-sport club AC P.A.O.K., which is closely linked with Hermes Sports Club, that was formed in 1875 by the Greek community of Pera, a district of Istanbul (Constantinople).
  The football club was founded in April 1926 by Constantinopolitans who fled to Thessaloniki after the Greek defeat in the Greco-Turkish War. PAOK's policy was to be open to every citizen of Thessaloniki, leading to a minor rivalry with AEK Thessaloniki, the other Constantinopolitan club of the city, in which only refugees were allowed to play. The original logo of PAOK was a horseshoe and a four-leaf clover.
  PAOK played their primary friendly match on 4 May 1926 at the stadium of Thermaikos, defeating Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki 2–1. The first coach of the club was Kostas Andreadis who spent five years on the team's bench without demanding payment. Their first captain was Michalis Ventourelis.
  In 1926–1927 season, PAOK participated in the 2nd tier of Macedonia Football Clubs Association (Greek: Ένωση Ποδοσφαιρικών Σωματείων Μακεδονίας or Ε.Π.Σ.Μ.) local championship. PAOK FC historic inaugural official match was a 3–1 win against Nea Genea Kalamaria on 12 December 1926. Despite finishing at the top of the 2nd division, PAOK were forced by the organizing committee to play against the 1st division teams and defeat all of them in order to get promoted. Eventually, they defeated all four teams: Thermaikos 4–1, Aris 2–1, Atlas Ippodromiou 2–0 and Iraklis 1–0. In 1927–1928, PAOK participated for the first time in the 1st tier of Ε.Π.Σ.Μ..
  The first professional contract was signed by the club on 5 September 1928. The contract stipulated that the French footballer Raymond Etienne (of Jewish descent from Pera Club) would be paid 4,000 drachmas per month. The contract was signed by Dr. Meletiou, the PAOK chairman, and Mr. Sakellaropoulos, the Hon. Secretary.
  In March 1929, AEK Thessaloniki was disbanded as a sports club and their members joined PAOK. PAOK thereupon changed their emblem, adopting the Double-headed eagle, as a symbol of the club's Byzantine/Constantinopolitan heritage. PAOK also got possession of AEK's facilities located around Syntrivani (i.e. Fountain) Square, next to the Children's Heritage Foundation, where today stands the Faculty of Theology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.
  In 1930–1931, PAOK made their debut in the Panhellenic Championship, playing their first match on 1 February 1931 against Olympiacos at Piraeus, where they were defeated by 3–1, and ended the season in 5th place. The first foreign coach in team's history was Austrian Rudolf Gasner, who served at PAOK in 1931–1932. On 5 June 1932 the Syntrivani Stadium was inaugurated with PAOK's 3–2 victory over Iraklis. Syntrivani meant to be their home ground for 27 years.
  In 1937, PAOK won their first title, the Macedonia (Greek: Ε.Π.Σ.Μ.) Championship, and participated in the Panhellenic Championship, finishing 2nd. The 1937 team included: Sotiriadis, Vatikis, Goulios, Kontopoulos, Bostantzoglou, Panidis, Glaros, Kritas, Ioannidis, Kalogiannis, Koukoulas, Kosmidis, Apostolou, Vafiadis, Vasiliadis, Anastasiadis, Moschidis, Tzakatzoglou, Zakapidas.
  On 28 May 1939, PAOK competed for first time in a Greek Cup final against AEK Athens and were defeated 2–1 at Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium. The following season, PAOK won the Northern Greece Championship and reached the two-legged final of Panhellenic Championship, but they lost 5–3 on aggregate to AEK.
  The declaration of the Greco-Italian War caused mobilization in Greece and ended every sport activity. PAOK football players recruited to Hellenic Army and two of them died on duty. Goalkeeper Nikolaos Sotiriadis and left defender Georgios Vatikis. They are both among the four Greek footballers who took their last breath on the front. The others were Spyridon Kontoulis of AEK and Mimis Pierrakos of Panathinaikos. Georgios Vatikis, who was the first Greek athlete to fall on the Greek-Italian front, served as a warrant officer. He was 22 years old when he died in Battle of Morava–I
caption: PAOK in 1926
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