1959–60 AEK Athens F.C. season

AEK Athens

1959–60 season
Chairman	Nikos Goumas
Manager	Lukas Aurednik
Stadium	AEK Stadium
Alpha Ethniki	2nd
Greek Cup	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: Kostas Nestoridis (32) All: Kostas Nestoridis (42)
Highest home attendance	20,000 vs Olympiacos (10 January 1960)
Lowest home attendance	2,000 vs Victoria (14 October 1959)
Average home league attendance	10,376
Biggest win	AEK Athens 7–0 PAO Kalogreza
Biggest defeat	Doxa Drama 2–0 AEK Athens Olympiacos Chalkida 2–0 AEK Athens
Home colours Away colours

The 1959–60 season was the 36th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the first season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki and the Greek Cup. The season began on 23 September 1959 and finished on 31 July 1960.

Home

Away

From the previous season, the discussions for the establishment of a single championship of a national division were in motion. The HFF was divided and hesitated to take a decision, as the reactions of the local associations were varied. However, two factors played an important role in the final decision of the Greek football officials. On one hand, there was the ever-intensifying pressure for the establishment of a national division championship by UEFA, in order for the representation of the Greek clubs in the European Cups would become more meritorious. On the other hand, there was also the government's will to institutionalize the PRO-PO. That led the HFF in the eventual decision of the establishment of the first and second national divisions as replacements of the regional championships.^[1]

In the summer of 1959, AEK were strengthened with the striker, Stefanos Demiris, the goalkeeper, Kimon Dimitriou and the central defenders, Dimitris Diakakis and Giannis Marditsis, while the transfer of Alekos Sofianidis, who was acquired during the previous season, was finally completed. Even though the signings were not buzzing, it seemed that the team was complete and ready to claim the championship. AEK who were the only contender against the omnipotence of Olympiacos during the 1950s, entered the new championship focused exclusively on winning the title. After all, they were one step away from the previous season's title, when in the final matchday at Karaiskakis Stadium they were ahead by 0–2, but were tied and the title eventually ended up to the red and whites.

Ιn the Cup that initiated at the beginning season, AEK eliminated with characteristic ease at home Proodos Patisia with 5–0 at the first round and Victoria with 7–1 for the second round. Afterwards, they eliminated both Ilisiakos and Dafni Athens with 3–1 at home, for the third and fourth round, respectivelly. At the fifth round they scattered PAO Kalogreza with a 7–0 win at home and were qualified to the sixth round, where they faced Atromitos and eliminated them with 1–0 home win. At the round of 32, they were drawn against Olympiacos Chalkida, this time away from home and were eliminated with a 2–0 defeat.

The first championship of the first national division started on 25 October and the captain of AEK, Giannis Kanakis was the scorer of its first ever goal, when at the 3rd minute of the match against Ethnikos Piraeus at Karaiskakis Stadium he shaped the final 0–1 for AEK. However, the "dark clouds" did not take long to make their appearance, showing in the most emphatic way that the change of conduct did not automatically mean the termination of the issues of previous years. At the 11th matchday, AEK played at Thessaloniki against Aris and the score was 2–1. At the 84th minute the referee, vacillating between giving a penalty or an indirect free kick to a foul on a player of AEK inside the area of Aris, he caused a clash between the footballers of both clubs. Thus, he stopped the match, which was repeated ten days later with another referee and ended 2–2. Furthermore, the serious injury of Kostas Nestoridis at the home match against Proodeftiki kept him off the pitch for about a month and during that period AEK achieved 3 draws in equal number of matches, that would cost them in the end of the season.

Despite everyone seemingly being against them, the yellow-blacks were kept alive in the title race and at the top of the table. On 18 June, they competed at Karaiskakis Stadium against Proodeftiki. The pitch turned into a fighting arena and after a lot of banter between the players and several expulsions, the match ended in a 2–2 draw. Strangely enough, even though the referee did not record the suspensions of Stelios Serafidis and Giorgos Petridis on the match sheet. Nevertheless, the two players were eventually punished based on the report of the observer and their monthly ban became effective from the title play-off against Panathinaikos. Furthermore, with the title race reaching its end, several clubs such as Panionios and Apollon Athens, claiming larger financial incomes, accepted the conduction of their home games against Panathinaikos at the larger home ground of the latter, Leoforos Alexandras Stadium. Even under these conditions, AEK remained at the top of the standings with a 2-point difference from the second Panathinaikos. In the final matchday AEK played at the Nea Smyrni Stadium against Panionios. It was rumored that the friendly relations between Nestoridis and his former teammates at Panionios would end up in a easy win for AEK. The rebuttal came in quiclky, as Panionios won by 3–2, proving that for the duty of their players prevailed over friendship. It did not prove to be the same at Karaiskakis Stadium, where at the same time Olympiacos, underperformed during the second half and were defeated by 1–4 from Panathinaikos, giving them the points needed to get in the tie with AEK in order for the championship play-off to be set.

The play-off match on the last day of July found the yellow-blacks decimated by suspensions from the match against Proodeftiki, with Sotiris Fakis starting under the goalposts for the first time. Disappointed by the turn the championship race, AEK were defeated by 2–1 despite taking the lead at the 14th minute with Christos Ampos. Thus, the first title of the Alpha Ethniki was "dressed in green" .^[2]

The end of the season found AEK in second place in the championship having the best attack with 77 goals and Kostas Nestoridis the top scorer with 33 goals in 27 matches, who in several games seemed to take them by the hand and lead them to their first post-war title. From about the middle of the season, the greatest post-war captain of AEK, Giannis Kanakis, had retired as a footballer, while at the end of the season, Thanasis Tsangaris, Loukas Sismanis and Kostas Zografos also departed.^[3]

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 July 1960, 23:59 UTC+2.

Player	Nat.	Position(s)	Date of birth (Age)	Signed	Previous club	Transfer fee	Contract until
Goalkeepers
Sotiris Fakis		GK	1934 (aged 25–26)	1957	Amyna Ambelokipoi	Free	1963
Stelios Serafidis		GK	(1935-08-06)6 August 1935 (aged 24)	1953	AEK Athens U20	—	1972
Kimon Dimitriou		GK	1938 (aged 21–22)	1959	Propontis Chalkida	Free	1961
Defenders
Thanasis Tsangaris		RB / LB	1929 (aged 30–31)	1953	Apollon Athens	Free	1960
Giannis Marditsis		CB / ST	(1933-02-19)19 February 1933 (aged 27)	1959	Egaleo	₯103,000	1964
Petros Stamatelopoulos		LB	(1934-03-19)19 March 1934 (aged 26)	1959	Panerythraikos	₯100,000	1962
Nikos Melissis		CB / DM / ST	1936 (aged 23–24)	1953	PAO Kalogreza	Free	1961
Mimis Anastasiadis		RB / CB / ST	(1936-10-26)26 October 1936 (aged 23)	1956	A.O. Nea Ionia	Free	1964
Alekos Sofianidis		LB / LM / LW	(1937-08-03)3 August 1937 (aged 22)	1959	Beşiktaş	Free	1969
Antonis Gavanas		CB	1938 (aged 21–22)	1956	Ethnikos Asteras	Free	1961
Theofilos Vernezis		RB / CB / GK	1938 (aged 21–22)	1956	AEK Athens U20	—	1965
Dimitris Diakakis		CB	1942 (aged 17–18)	1959	Free agent	Free	1961
Midfielders
Giannis Kanakis (Captain)		RM / LM / RB / LB	(1927-08-27)27 August 1927 (aged 32)	1949	AE Kavalas	Free	1960
Pavlos Emmanouilidis		RM / RW / ST / SS	(1929-10-15)15 October 1929 (aged 30)	1947	AEK Athens U20	—	1961
Miltos Papapostolou		DM / CB	(1935-09-09)9 September 1935 (aged 24)	1956	Egaleo	Free	1965
Giorgos Petridis		AM / SS / ST	(1938-02-10)10 February 1938 (aged 22)	1957	Pera Club	Free	1966
Thymios Polyzos		CM	1939 (aged 20–21)	1956	Free agent	Free	1961
Kostas Zografos		CM	1941 (aged 18–19)	1955	Free agent	—	1960
Stefanos Demiris		AM / SS / ST	(1941-01-19)19 January 1941 (aged 19)	1959	AE Kavalas	—	1962
Samaras		AM	1941 (aged 18–19)	1958	Free agent	Free	1963
Forwards
Kostas Nestoridis		ST / SS	(1930-03-15)15 March 1930 (aged 30)	1955	Panionios	Free	1966
Andreas Stamatiadis		RW / LW / SS / ST	(1935-08-16)16 August 1935 (aged 24)	1952	AEK Athens U20	—	1969
Christos Ampos		LW / SS / ST	(1937-10-19)19 October 1937 (aged 22)	1956	AO Kifisia	Free	1962
Dimitris Tsanoulas		ST	1938 (aged 21–22)	1956	Free agent	Free	1961
Argyris Argyropoulos		ST	1939 (aged 20–21)	1958	AEK Athens U20	—	1962
Loukas Sismanis		ST	1939 (aged 20–21)	1958	Athinaikos	Free	1963

Pos.	Player	From	Fee	Date	Contract Until	Source
GK	Kimon Dimitriou	Propontis Chalkida	Free transfer	1 July 1959	30 June 1961
DF	Giannis Marditsis	Egaleo	₯103,000[a]	1 July 1959	30 June 1964
DF	Dimitris Diakakis	Free agent	Free transfer	1 July 1959	30 June 1961
DF	Petros Stamatelopoulos	Panerythraikos	₯100,000	3 August 1959	30 June 1962	[4]
DF	Alekos Sofianidis	Beşiktaş	Free transfer	1 July 1959	30 June 1969
MF	Stefanos Demiris	AE Kavalas	Free transfer	1 July 1959	30 June 1962

Pos.	Player	To	Fee	Date	Source
GK	Anastasiou	Free agent	Contract termination	1 July 1959
DF	Lelos Adamantidis	Pankorinthiakos	End of contract	1 July 1959
MF	Kostas Poulis	Propontis Chalkida	End of contract	1 July 1959
MF	Stavros Giafaloglou	Egaleo	Free transfer	1 July 1959
FW	Giannis Chaniotis	Egaleo	Free transfer	1 July 1959
FW	Kostas Chatzimichail	Egaleo	Free transfer	1 July 1959
FW	Panagiotis Kourtidis	Free agent	End of contract	1 July 1959

Expenditure: ₯203,000

Income: ₯0

Net Total: ₯203,000

As of 31 July 1960

No.	Pos	Player	Alpha Ethniki		Greek Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
—	GK	Sotiris Fakis	1	0	3	0	4	0
—	GK	Stelios Serafidis	29	0	4	0	33	0
—	GK	Kimon Dimitriou	1	0	0	0	1	0
Defenders
—	DF	Thanasis Tsangaris	5	0	4	0	9	0
—	DF	Giannis Marditsis	29	0	5	1	34	1
—	DF	Petros Stamatelopoulos	1	0	2	0	3	0
—	DF	Nikos Melissis	2	0	0	0	2	0
—	DF	Mimis Anastasiadis	28	0	5	0	33	0
—	DF	Alekos Sofianidis	24	5	2	0	26	5
—	DF	Antonis Gavanas	0	0	0	0	0	0
—	DF	Theofilos Vernezis	26	0	3	0	29	0
—	DF	Dimitris Diakakis	3	0	3	0	6	0
Midfielders
—	MF	Giannis Kanakis	6	2	4	4	10	6
—	MF	Pavlos Emmanouilidis	13	0	2	1	15	1
—	MF	Miltos Papapostolou	28	1	4	1	32	2
—	MF	Giorgos Petridis	25	10	4	2	29	12
—	MF	Thymios Polyzos	29	0	5	0	34	0
—	MF	Kostas Zografos	1	0	4	0	5	0
—	MF	Stefanos Demiris	10	2	1	1	11	3
Forwards
—	FW	Kostas Nestoridis	28	32	6	10	34	42
—	FW	Andreas Stamatiadis	29	10	7	4	36	14
—	FW	Christos Ampos	20	7	4	1	24	8
—	FW	Dimitris Tsanoulas	1	0	3	1	4	1
—	FW	Argyris Argyropoulos	1	0	0	0	1	0
—	FW	Loukas Sismanis	1	0	1	0	2	0
—	FW	Samaras	0	0	1	0	1	0

As of 31 July 1960

Rank	Pos.	Player	Alpha Ethniki	Greek Cup	Total
1	FW	Kostas Nestoridis	32	10	42
2	FW	Andreas Stamatiadis	10	4	14
3	MF	Giorgos Petridis	10	2	12
4	FW	Christos Ampos	7	1	8
5	MF	Giannis Kanakis	2	4	6
6	DF	Alekos Sofianidis	5	0	5
7	MF	Stefanos Demiris	2	1	3
8	MF	Miltos Papapostolou	1	1	2
9	DF	Giannis Marditsis	0	1	1
	MF	Pavlos Emmanouilidis	0	1	1
	FW	Dimitris Tsanoulas	0	1	1
Own goals			4	0	4
Totals			73	26	99

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.

Player	Against	Result	Date	Competition	Source
Kostas Nestoridis4	Victoria	7–1 (H)	14 October 1959	Greek Cup
Kostas Nestoridis	Panegialios	4–1 (A)	6 December 1959	Alpha Ethniki
Kostas Nestoridis4	PAO Kalogreza	7–0 (H)	13 January 1960	Greek Cup
Kostas Nestoridis	Ethnikos Piraeus	4–0 (H)	21 February 1960	Alpha Ethniki
Kostas Nestoridis	Doxa Drama	4–3 (H)	6 April 1960	Alpha Ethniki
Kostas Nestoridis	Apollon Kalamarias	6–2 (H)	17 July 1960	Alpha Ethniki

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 31 July 1960

Rank	Player	Alpha Ethniki	Greek Cup	Total
1	Stelios Serafidis	15	1	16
2	Sotiris Fakis	0	2	2
3	Kimon Dimitriou	0	0	0
Totals		15	3	18

As of 31 July 1960

N	P	Nat.	Name	Alpha Ethniki			Greek Cup			Total			Notes
Goalkeepers
—	GK		Sotiris Fakis
—	GK		Stelios Serafidis
—	GK		Kimon Dimitriou
Defenders
—	DF		Thanasis Tsangaris
—	DF		Giannis Marditsis
—	DF		Petros Stamatelopoulos
—	DF		Nikos Melissis
—	DF		Mimis Anastasiadis			1						1
—	DF		Alekos Sofianidis
—	DF		Antonis Gavanas
—	DF		Theofilos Vernezis
—	DF		Dimitris Diakakis
Midfielders
—	MF		Giannis Kanakis
—	MF		Pavlos Emmanouilidis
—	MF		Miltos Papapostolou
—	MF		Giorgos Petridis
—	MF		Thymios Polyzos			1						1
—	MF		Kostas Zografos
—	MF		Stefanos Demiris
Forwards
—	FW		Kostas Nestoridis
—	FW		Andreas Stamatiadis
—	FW		Christos Ampos
—	FW		Dimitris Tsanoulas
—	FW		Argyris Argyropoulos
—	FW		Loukas Sismanis
—	FW		Samaras

Player	Pos.	Award	Source
Kostas Nestoridis	FW	Alpha Ethniki Top Scorer
Kostas Nestoridis	FW	Greek Cup Top Scorer

• AEK Athens F.C. Official Website
• A.E.K. FC Database