1976–77 AEK Athens F.C. season explained

Club:AEK Athens
Season:1976–77
Manager:František Fadrhonc
Mgrtitle:Manager
Chairman:Loukas Barlos
Chrtitle:Chairman
League:Alpha Ethniki
League Result:4th
Cup1:Greek Cup
Cup1 Result:Round of 16
Cup2:UEFA Cup
Cup2 Result:Semi-finals
League Topscorer:
Thomas Mavros (18)
Season Topscorer:
Thomas Mavros (21)
Highest Attendance:35,000 vs QPR
(16 March 1977)
Lowest Attendance:5,440 vs Panachaiki
(19 June 1977)
Average Attendance:19,769
Largest Win:
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Prevseason:1975–76
Nextseason:1977–78

The 1976–77 season was the 53rd season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 18th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the UEFA Cup. The season began on 15 September 1976 and finished on 26 June 1977.

Overview

The vision that Loukas Barlos had left in the hands of František Fadrhonc was beginning to take shape. Barlos, according to his usual strategy, increasingly enriched the galaxy of stars in the club's roster. The experienced goalkeeper, Nikos Christidis and the diligent shooter and free-kick specialist, Takis Nikoloudis were integrated in the team of Fadrhonc, both coming from Thessaloniki, Aris and Iraklis respectively, while their defensive capabilities were strengthened with Babis Intzoglou from Panionios. The crowning glory of AEK, of course, was the free move of the great Thomas Mavros in their offense, after the end of the legal dispute with Panionios that kept him out of any competitive activity for a year.[1] Fadrhonc, considering the playing intelligence and high technical qualities of Papaioannou, decided to relocate him as a "classic number 10", in order to fit all the great attackers the club had to offer.[2]

The negative results that were occurred in matches that coincided near European games, costed AEK points that prevented them from winning the title. As a result, AEK finished 4th place with 51 points at a distance of only 3 points from the top, as the first 4 teams finished with 54, 52, 52 and 51 points, respectively. Thomas Mavros showed from the beginning a sample of his skills, by scoring with 18 goals in the league.

In the Greek Cup, AEK eliminated away from home Proodeftiki in the first round and Iraklis in the second round. In the round of 16, AEK, again away from home, faced PAOK and were eliminated by a 2–1 defeat.[3]

The campaign in the UEFA Cup

The season was overshadowed by the magnificent European course of AEK to the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, which was the biggest international distinction of the club and second greatest in Greek football at a club level at the time, after the campaign of Panathinaikos to the 1971 European Cup Final.

The draw for the first round of the UEFA Cup, brought AEK facing the Soviet club, Dynamo Moscow. The opponent was considered anything but easy, as the Dynamo players were the backbone of the Soviet national team. At Nea Filadelfeia, Dynamo started offensively, but AEK balanced the game and in the 34th minute won a foul outside the area. Nikoloudis introduced to the fans of AEK his power free-kicks and opened the score. AEK continued in pressuring their opponents and took the victory by 2–0. The yellow-blacks entered the Central Dynamo Stadium in icy Moscow and at the end of the first half were back at the score by 1–0, while at the beginning of the second half Dynamo managed to equalize the score of the first match. The match was led to extra time, where at the 119th minute in AEK's last offensive effort, Wagner attempted a shot from the right which was blocked by Dolmatov's hand who, fortunately for AEK, was not the goalkeeper. The referee gave the undisputed penalty and Konstantinou, showing unparalleled composure, sent the ball to the right, the goalkeeper at the opposite direction and AEK Athens to the next round.

AEK entered the draw of the next round, where they were found themselves against Derby County. The opponent's size was huge considering that the creation of Brian Clough were English champion in 1972 and 1975, FA Community Shield winner of 1975 and semi-finalists at the 1972–73 European Cup. In the first match at Athens, AEK had a great performance and won 2–0. At the second leg AEK were lucky to have Lakis Stergioudas in perhaps the greatest night of his career, keeping the 0–0 at the half time. At the second half Derby opened the score, bringing AEK in distress. However, AEK increased their tempo and at the 64th minute they managed to equalize by a free-kick by Nikoloudis. AEK did not stop there, as at the 77th minute took the lead and 8 minutes later they doubled their advantage. The final 2–3 found AEK qualifying to the next round and were the first club in European tournaments' history to achieve a victory in English ground.[4]

AEK were drawn for the third round, against Red Star Belgrade. At AEK Stadium, AEK were superior taking the lead early on and after an imposing performance won with the poor 2–0. At the rematch in Belgrade, the apparent superiority of AEK in the first match was not confirmed at the beginning of the match, as the Yugoslavs were ahead from the 20th minute. AEK, managed to equalize 5 minutes later only to find themselves back in the score by 2 goals at the end of the half time. Red Star needed just one more goal to qualify, which never came, thus AEK were among the 8 best teams of the tournament.

The draw sent yet again, AEK against another English club, Queens Park Rangers. In Loftus Road, the match quickly turned into a real nightmare for AEK, as the English entered aggressively and scored 2 goals from the penalty spot, while by the end of half time, made the final 3–0. The English considered that they had a secure score for the rematch and AEK was looking for a miracle. In Greece at a hot atmosphere made by the fans, AEK entered the game doing what they knew how to do best, to attack. The efforts bear fruit after a great offensive team performance managed to equalize the score of the first leg, which sent the match to extra time. At the end of the extra time, Fadrhonc, to everyone's surprise, subbed his goalkeeper, putting the "cold-blooded" Christidis in the match knowing that the experienced goalkeeper was a cerebral player who psychologized the opponent and in training had about 70% success rate in penalty saves. AEK won 7–6 in the penalty shoot-out with a block from Christidis at the final penalty that justified Fandronk and AEK were in the semi-finals.

The draw put the Italian giants, Juventus on the road of AEK to the final of the UEFA Cup. Trapattoni's club had in their roster, players such as Dino Zoff at the goalpost, Gaetano Scirea in defence, Marco Tardelli at the midfield and Roberto Bettega in offense. In Turin AEK, without having anything to lose, played with confidence and despite the fact that were losing 1–0 in the 18th minute they stare their great opponent at even managing to equalize at the 31st minute. In the second half, AEK were inattentive and the unforgiving Italians punished them with 3 goals that made the final 4–1. At the rematch, AEK played their attractive football, but did not succeed in a yet another miracle, as they lost by 0–1 ending their great European journey.[5]

Management team

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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 26 June 1977, 23:59 UTC+3.

PlayerNat.Position(s)Date of birth (Age)SignedPrevious clubTransfer feeContract until
Goalkeepers
Nikos ChristidisGKJune 30, 19771976 ArisFree1982
Giorgos SidiropoulosGKJune 30, 19771973 AO TrikalaFree1978
Lakis StergioudasGKJune 30, 19771972 Niki PoligyrouFree1985
Defenders
Giorgos SkrekisRB / CBJune 30, 19771974 PanioniosFree1977
Apostolos ToskasCBJune 30, 19771969 TrikalaFree1979
Lakis NikolaouCB / RB / ST / DMJune 30, 19771971 Atromitos₯600,0001979
Babis IntzoglouRB / LB / CBJune 30, 19771976 PanioniosFree1980
Sakis ZarzopoulosCB / RB / LBJune 30, 19771973 PanserraikosFree1977
Stefanos TheodoridisCB / RBJune 30, 19771969 AEK Athens U201978
Petros RavousisCB / RBJune 30, 19771972 Aetos SkydraFree1985
Michalis MichalasCB1976Free agentFree1977
Midfielders
Timo ZahnleiterCM / DMJune 30, 19771974 1860 MünchenFree1978
Lazaros PapadopoulosRM / RWJune 30, 19771973 VeriaFree1979
Dionysis TsamisCM / DM / AMJune 30, 19771972 Panetolikos₯2,300,0001980
Takis NikoloudisCM / AM / RM / LMJune 30, 19771977 IraklisFree1981
Christos ArdizoglouRM / LM / RW / AMJune 30, 19771974 Apollon Athens₯5,000,0001986
Fotis OutsikasJune 30, 19771975 AEK Athens U201980
Giorgos VlantisCMJune 30, 19771976 AEK Athens U201984
Forwards
Mimis Papaioannou (Captain)SS / ST / AMJune 30, 19771962 Veria₯175,0001979
Georgios DedesJune 30, 19771974 PanioniosFree1977
Walter WagnerJune 30, 19771974 Austria WienFree1977
Tasos KonstantinouRW / SS / ST / RM / AMJune 30, 19771972 EPA LarnacaFree1980
Alekos PapadopoulosST / SSJune 30, 19771976 Pakhtakor TashkentFree1977
Thomas MavrosST / LWJune 30, 19771976 Panionios₯4,000,0001984
Andreas Xenos ST1976Free agentFree1977

Transfers

In

width=200 style="background:#FFDE00Playerwidth=200 style="background:#FFDE00Fromwidth=150 style="background:#FFDE00Feewidth=150 style="background:#FFDE00Datewidth=150 style="background:#FFDE00Contract UntilSource
ArisFree transfer30 June 1982
Free agentFree transfer30 June 1977
PanioniosFree transfer30 June 1980
IraklisFree transfer30 June 1981
AEK Athens U20Promotion30 June 1984
Panionios₯4,000,00030 June 1984
Pakhtakor TashkentFree transfer30 June 1977
Free agentFree transfer30 June 1977

Notes

a. AEK gave Panionios ₯10,000,000 in an out-of-court settlement between the two clubs. ₯4,000,000 for the player and the rest from incomes from 6 friendly matches.[6] Τhe amount received was ₯1,500,000 in cash and the remaining ₯8,500,000 in two-year bills.

Out

width=200 style="background:#FFDE00Playerwidth=200 style="background:#FFDE00Towidth=150 style="background:#FFDE00Feewidth=150 style="background:#FFDE00DateSource
AtromitosEnd of contract
Apollon AthensEnd of contract

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure: ₯4,000,000

Income: ₯0

Net Total: ₯4,000,000

Competitions

Alpha Ethniki

See main article: 1976–77 Alpha Ethniki.

Fixtures

Greek Cup

See main article: 1976–77 Greek Football Cup.

Matches

UEFA Cup

See main article: 1976–77 UEFA Cup.

Semi-finals

Statistics

Squad statistics

! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers|-! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders|-! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders|-! colspan="11" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards|-|}

Goalscorers

Rankwidth=200 style="background:#FFDE00Playerwidth=120 style="background:#FFDE00Alpha Ethnikiwidth=120 style="background:#FFDE00Greek Cupwidth=120 style="background:#FFDE00UEFA Cupwidth=120 style="background:#FFDE00Total
1180321
2121316
3110213
491212
53238
63104
3014
82002
91001
1001
0101
Own goals1001
Totals64 61484

Hat-tricks

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.

width=200 style="background:#FFDE00Playerwidth=200 style="background:#FFDE00Against width=70 style="background:#FFDE00Result width=150 style="background:#FFDE00Date width=150 style="background:#FFDE00Competition Source
Walter Wagner4–1 (H)12 December 1976Alpha 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.

Rankwidth=200 style="background:#FFDE00Playerwidth=120 style="background:#FFDE00Alpha Ethnikiwidth=120 style="background:#FFDE00Greek Cupwidth=120 style="background:#FFDE00UEFA Cupwidth=120 style="background:#FFDE00Total
1140418
20000
Totals14 0 418

Disciplinary record

|-! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers|-! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders|-! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders|-! colspan="17" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards|}

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Το χρονικό της μεταγραφής του Θωμά Μαύρου. Ευάνθης. Γκόγκουλης. oldfootball.gr.
  2. Web site: Μίμης Παπαϊωάννου. aekpedia.com.
  3. Web site: Περίοδος 1976-1977. 20 May 2015. aekpedia.com. el.
  4. Web site: Η ΑΕΚ έγινε η πρώτη ελληνική ομάδα που νίκησε στην Αγγλία, το έπος της Ντέρμπι. 3 November 2021. enwsi.gr.
  5. Web site: Η μεγάλη πορεία του 1976/77 στο Κύπελλο UEFA. 20 May 2015. aekpedia.com. el.
  6. Web site: Η μεταγραφή του Θ(ε)ωμά στην ΑΕΚ Έσκασε 10 εκατομμύρια ο Μπάρλος. 18 June 2021. sportdog.gr. el.