1980–81 AEK Athens F.C. season

The 1980–81 season was the 57th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 22nd consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki, the Greek Cup and the Balkans Cup. The season began on 7 September 1980 and finished on 14 June 1981.

AEK Athens

1980–81 season
Chairman	Loukas Barlos
Manager	Miltos Papapostolou
Stadium	AEK Stadium
Alpha Ethniki	2nd
Greek Cup	Semi-finals
Balkans Cup	Group Stage
Top goalscorer	League: Dušan Bajević (12) All: Thomas Mavros Dušan Bajević (18 each)
Highest home attendance	36,766 vs Panathinaikos (30 November 1980)
Lowest home attendance	2,885 vs Flamurtari (8 October 1980)
Average home league attendance	15,377
Biggest win	AEK Athens 6–2 Egaleo AEK Athens 5–1 Kavala AEK Athens 4–0 Korinthos AEK Athens 4–0 PAOK
Biggest defeat	Olympiacos 6–0 AEK Athens
Home colours Away colours
← 1979–80 1981–82 →

Kits

Supplier: Adidas

Home

Away

Overview

AEK entered the decade, essentially closing one of their most successful historical periods, since this season was the last year of Loukas Barlos at the management of the club. That was the second championship since the establishment of the professional football in Greece. AEK did not compete in any UEFA competitions this year, thus they played in the Balkans Cup instead.

AEK with their veteran player and 1963 champion with the yellow-black jersey, Miltos Papapostolou on the bench started ideally the league achieving a 6 wins in a row. Among others, they beat PAOK away and Olympiacos at home, as a result they were named by many as favorite for the title early on. It was noteworthy that AEK set an all time ticket record at home, after 36,766 tickets were sold in the league game against Panathinaikos.^[1] However, the continuation was not proportionate. AEK, although they finished the championship having by far the best attack with 63 goals and Dušan Bajević as their top scorer with 12, were betrayed by their mediocre defensive performance. The second round of the championship was not good for the team, culminating in the derby with Olympiacos at Karaiskakis Stadium. AEK went down in the match having 2 points less than the first Olympiacos and were looking for the victory that would bring them to top of the standings. Nevertheless, they play a terrible game and a disastrous second half, where they conceded 5 goals in 27 minutes and experienced one of the worst defeats in their history by 6–0. However, the defeat and the match was overshadowed by the tragic events at gate 7 of the stadium, where the fans, trying to leave the field, were trapped and many were trampled, resulting in the death of 21 people and the injury of more than 50 people.^[2] At the end of the season AEK finished at the second place five points behind Olympiacos, but were not qualified for any European competition, carrying a ban^[3] from the previous season.

In the Greek Cup, AEK eliminated Egaleo in the first round and the title defender, Kastoria in the second round. Afterwards, they eliminated Panathinaikos at the round of 16 and Aris in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals they were drawn with PAOK and faced elimination by 2 defeats without scoring a single goal.^[4]

In the Balkans Cup, AEK were eliminated in the group stage, where all three teams were on par with 2 wins and 2 defeats, thus Velež Mostar with a better goal ratio were qualified to the final of the institution.^[5]

"I do not want to take from AEK, I just wanted to give. I am not an investor and I probably do not have a place in modern football. I thank God for the moments he gave me at AEK. This club is the most important thing I've had in my life"^[6]

Statements of Loukas Barlos on leaving AEK

At the end of the season Barlos left AEK Athens, after seven years, as a result of the dire financial situation that came from his involvement with the club, but also due to his inability to adapt to the new model of professional football, fearing alienation through the professionalism that was entering into the field of football. At the end of the year, one of the stars of the team, Dušan Bajević, left with him.^[7]

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 14 June 1981, 23:59 UTC+3.

Player	Nat.	Position(s)	Date of birth (Age)	Signed	Previous club	Transfer fee	Contract until
Goalkeepers
Nikos Christidis		GK	(1944-08-02)2 August 1944 (aged 36)	1976	Aris	Free	1982
Lakis Stergioudas		GK	(1952-12-11)11 December 1952 (aged 28)	1972	Niki Poligyrou	Free	1985
Spyros Ikonomopoulos		GK	(1959-07-25)25 July 1959 (aged 21)	1978	AEK Athens U20	—	1984
Defenders
Lakis Nikolaou (Captain)		CB / RB / ST / DM	(1949-07-17)17 July 1949 (aged 31)	1971	Atromitos	₯600,000	1982
Giannis Mousouris		RB / RM / ST	(1951-01-26)26 January 1951 (aged 30)	1977	AEL	₯3,000,000	1982
Giorgos Rigas		CB / RB / DM	(1953-12-06)6 December 1953 (aged 27)	1980	Kavala	Free	1982
Michalis Tzirakis		CB / RB / RM	(1954-03-06)6 March 1954 (aged 27)	1980	OFI	₯8,000,000	1985
Giorgos Kalogeropoulos		RB	(1954-09-14)14 September 1954 (aged 26)	1979	Panionios	Free	1981
Petros Ravousis		CB / RB	(1954-10-01)1 October 1954 (aged 26)	1972	Aetos Skydra	Free	1985
Vangelis Paraprastanitis		LB / CB / DM	(1955-02-10)10 February 1955 (aged 26)	1979	Trikala	Free	1985
Stavros Letsas		RB / RM / CB	(1957-03-06)6 March 1957 (aged 24)	1978	Agioi Anargyroi	Free	1986
Stelios Manolas		RB / CB	(1961-07-13)13 July 1961 (aged 19)	1979	AEK Athens U20	—	1984
Lysandros Georgamlis		RB / CB / DM / LB	(1962-02-25)25 February 1962 (aged 19)	1979	AEK Athens U20	—	1985
Midfielders
Kostas Eleftherakis		RM / AM	(1950-07-18)18 July 1950 (aged 30)	1980	Panathinaikos	Free	1981
Franjo Vladić		AM / SS	(1950-10-19)19 October 1950 (aged 30)	1979	Velež Mostar	Free	1981
Petros Karavitis		DM / CM / LB / LM / LW	(1952-03-11)11 March 1952 (aged 29)	1980	Olympiacos	Free	1983
Christos Ardizoglou		RM / LM / RW / AM	(1953-03-25)25 March 1953 (aged 28)	1974	Apollon Athens	₯5,000,000	1982
Spyros Thodis		CM / AM / DM	(1955-07-23)23 July 1955 (aged 25)	1979	Anagennisi Karditsa	Free	1984
Vangelis Vlachos		AM / CM	(1962-01-06)6 January 1962 (aged 19)	1979	AEK Athens U20	—	1984
Forwards
Dimitrios Gesios		ST	(1948-10-24)24 October 1948 (aged 32)	1980	Iraklis	Free	1982
Dušan Bajević		ST / SS	(1948-12-10)10 December 1948 (aged 32)	1977	Velež Mostar	Free	1981
Dimitrios Papadopoulos		ST	(1950-03-01)1 March 1950 (aged 31)	1980	OFI	Free	1982
Thomas Mavros		ST / LW	(1954-05-31)31 May 1954 (aged 27)	1976	Panionios	₯4,000,000	1983
Manolis Kottis		ST / LW	(1955-01-25)25 January 1955 (aged 26)	1980	Rodos	Free	1985
Thomas Stafylas		ST	(1958-04-04)4 April 1958 (aged 23)	1980	AEK Athens U20	—	1982
Left during Winter Transfer Window
Tasos Konstantinou		RW / SS / ST / RM / AM	(1951-03-11)11 March 1951 (aged 30)	1972	EPA Larnaca	Free	1981
Giorgos Chatziioannidis		ST	(1960-11-30)30 November 1960 (aged 20)	1979	AEK Athens U20	—	1984

Transfers

In

Summer

Pos.	Player	From	Fee	Date	Contract Until	Source
DF	Giorgos Rigas	Kavala	Free transfer	1 July 1980	30 June 1982
DF	Michalis Tzirakis	OFI	₯8,000,000	1 July 1980	30 June 1985
DF	Stavros Letsas	Panelefsiniakos	End of loan	1 July 1980	30 June 1985
MF	Giorgos Vlantis	Panachaiki	Loan return	1 July 1980	30 June 1984
ΜF	Kostas Eleftherakis	Panathinaikos	Free transfer	1 July 1980	30 June 1981
FW	Dimitrios Gesios	Iraklis	Free transfer	1 July 1980	30 June 1982
FW	Dimitrios Papadopoulos	OFI	Free transfer	1 July 1980	30 June 1982
FW	Manolis Kottis	Rodos	Free transfer[a]	1 July 1980	30 June 1985
FW	Thomas Stafylas	Acharnaikos	Loan return	1 July 1980	30 June 1982

a. ^{^} and Christos Kalaitzidis as an exchange.

Winter

Pos.	Player	From	Fee	Date	Contract Until	Source
MF	Petros Karavitis	Olympiacos	Free transfer	18 December 1980	30 June 1983	[8]

Out

Summer

Pos.	Player	To	Fee	Date	Source
DF	Dimitris Argyros	Kastoria	Free transfer	1 July 1980
DF	Aris Damianidis	Olympiacos	End of contract	1 July 1980
DF	Babis Intzoglou	Diagoras	End of contract	1 July 1980
DF	Dimitris Kotsos	Free agent	End of contract	1 July 1980
ΜF	Christos Kalaitzidis	Rodos	Free transfer	1 July 1980
ΜF	Stelios Kaselakis	Agioi Anargyroi	Free transfer	1 July 1980
FW	Panikos Hatziloizou	Aris Limassol	End of contract	1 July 1980
FW	Stefanos Zografos	Free agent	End of contract	1 July 1980

Winter

Pos.	Player	To	Fee	Date	Source
FW	Tasos Konstantinou	Atromitos	End of contract	1 December 1980

Loan out

Summer

Pos.	Player	To	Fee	Date	Until	Option to buy	Source
DF	Panagiotis Stylianopoulos	Atromitos	Free	1 July 1980	30 June 1981	N
MF	Giorgos Vlantis	Diagoras	Free	1 July 1980	30 June 1982	N

Winter

Pos.	Player	To	Fee	Date	Until	Option to buy	Source
FW	Giorgos Chatziioannidis	PAS Giannina	Free	1 December 1980	30 June 1981	N

Contract renewals

Pos.	Player	Date	Former Exp. Date	New Exp. Date	Source
DF	Lakis Nikolaou	1 December 1980	30 June 1980	31 July 1982
FW	Thomas Mavros	13 June 1980	31 July 1980	31 July 1983

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure Summer: ₯8,000,000 Winter: ₯0 Total: ₯8,000,000

Income Summer: ₯0 Winter: ₯0 Total: ₯0

Net Totals Summer: ₯8,000,000 Winter: ₯0 Total: ₯8,000,000

Pre-season and friendlies

Fenerbahçe v AEK Athens

26 July 1980 Friendly	Fenerbahçe	0–0	AEK Athens	Istanbul
				Stadium: Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium

Tennis Borussia Berlin v AEK Athens

27 July 1980 Friendly	Tennis Borussia Berlin	0–0	AEK Athens	Berlin
				Stadium: Mommsenstadion

AEK Athens v Twente

30 July 1980 Friendly	AEK Athens	2–2	Twente	Nea Filadelfeia
				Stadium: AEK Stadium

AEK Athens v Fortuna Düsseldorf

4 August 1980 Friendly	AEK Athens	3–1	Fortuna Düsseldorf	Nea Filadelfeia
				Stadium: AEK Stadium

AEK Athens v Chelsea

11 August 1980 Friendly	AEK Athens	2–2	Chelsea	Nea Filadelfeia
	Thodis 41' Ardizoglou 61'	Report	Walker 42' Fillery 81' (pen.)	Stadium: AEK Stadium

AEK Athens v Baník Ostrava

13 August 1980 Friendly	AEK Athens	1–4	Baník Ostrava	Nea Filadelfeia
	Bajević 45'			Stadium: AEK Stadium

AEK Athens v Stoke City

3 December 1980 Friendly	AEK Athens	2–2	Stoke City	Nea Filadelfeia
15:30 EET (UTC+2)	Kottis 3' Bajević 42'		69' 88'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Referee: Giorgos Saraliotis (Kavala)
Note: The game was briefly interrupted at the 57th minute, due to a fierce downhill.

AEK Athens v CSKA Sofia

26 January 1981 Friendly	AEK Athens	1–0	CSKA Sofia	Nea Filadelfeia
	Kottis 62'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 1,500

Competitions

Overall record

Competition	First match	Last match	Starting round	Final position	Record
					Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Alpha Ethniki	7 September 1980	14 June 1981	Matchday 1	2nd	34	17	10	7	63	42	+21	050.00
Greek Cup	29 October 1980	10 June 1981	First round	Semi-finals	8	4	1	3	14	10	+4	050.00
Balkans Cup	18 September 1980	19 March 1981	Group stage	Group stage	4	2	0	2	7	7	+0	050.00
Total					46	23	11	12	84	59	+25	050.00

Last updated: 14 June 1981
Source: Competitions

Alpha Ethniki

Main article: 1980–81 Alpha Ethniki

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Olympiacos (C)	34	20	9	5	47	18	+29	49	Qualification for European Cup first round
2	AEK Athens	34	17	10	7	63	42	+21	44
3	Aris	34	16	11	7	57	33	+24	43	Qualification for UEFA Cup first round
4	PAOK	34	15	12	7	52	31	+21	42	Qualification for Cup Winners' Cup first round[lower-alpha 1]
5	Panathinaikos	34	13	13	8	44	21	+23	39	Qualification for UEFA Cup first round

Source: RSSSF
Rules for classification: 1st points; 2nd head-to-head points; 3rd head-to-head goal difference; 4th decision match.
(C) Champions
Notes:

1. Since Olympiacos, winners of 1980–81 Greek Football Cup, was qualified for the 1981–82 European Cup, losing cup finalists PAOK earned a spot in the first round of the 1981–82 European Cup Winners' Cup.

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
34	17	10	7	63	42	+21	44	13	4	0	45	14	+31	4	6	7	18	28	−10

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	31	32	33	34
Ground	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A
Result	W	W	W	W	W	W	D	D	L	W	D	D	L	W	D	D	W	L	W	L	W	D	W	W	L	W	L	W	D	W	D	D	W	L
Position	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2

Source: Competitive matches
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss; P = Postponed

Fixtures

AEK Athens v Kavala

7 September 1980 1	AEK Athens	5–1	Kavala	Nea Filadelfeia
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Thodis 7' Gesios 54', 69' Bajević 78' Eleftherakis 88'		Kakkalis 89'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 21,279 Referee: Makis Mersinis (Chalkidiki)

PAOK v AEK Athens

14 September 1980 2	PAOK	1–2	AEK Athens	Thessaloniki
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Sarafis 45'		Ardizoglou 24' Mavros 45'	Stadium: Kaftanzoglio Stadium Attendance: 36,964 Referee: Vasilis Vourakis (Piraeus)

AEK Athens v Olympiacos

21 September 1980 3	AEK Athens	2–1	Olympiacos	Nea Filadelfeia
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Mavros 14', 33'		Papadopoulos 17'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 36,191 Referee: Giorgos Loutridis (Larissa)

Atromitos v AEK Athens

28 September 1980 4	Atromitos	1–2	AEK Athens	Peristeri
15:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Paunovski 18'		Gesios 38' Bajević 57'	Stadium: Peristeri Stadium Attendance: 12,799 Referee: Giannis Aggelidis (Serres)

AEK Athens v Panserraikos

5 October 1980 5	AEK Athens	2–1	Panserraikos	Nea Filadelfeia
15:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Mavros 53' Eleftherakis 89'		Batis 73'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 20,249 Referee: Kostas Tsouris (Thrace)

Kastoria v AEK Athens

19 October 1980 6	Kastoria	2–3	AEK Athens	Kastoria
15:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Voitsidis 25' Chounouzidis 73'		Mavros 10' Ardizoglou 70' Rigas 88'	Stadium: Municipal Stadium of Kastoria Attendance: 5,144 Referee: Vasilis Tikmoglou (Thessaloniki)

Apollon Athens v AEK Athens

26 October 1980 7	Apollon Athens	0–0	AEK Athens	Rizoupoli
14:45 EET (UTC+2)				Stadium: Rizoupoli Stadium Attendance: 13,241 Referee: Manolis Platopoulos (Athens)

AEK Athens v AEL

2 November 1980 8	AEK Athens	1–1	AEL	Nea Filadelfeia
14:45 EET (UTC+2)	Bajević 62'		Valaoras 45'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 20,687 Referee: Dimitris Koutoulas (Serres)

Panachaiki v AEK Athens

9 November 1980 9	Panachaiki	2–0	AEK Athens	Patras
14:45 EET (UTC+2)	Psarras 13' Xanthopoulos 44'			Stadium: Panachaiki Stadium Attendance: 10,644 Referee: Apostolos Karavasilis (Larissa)

AEK Athens v Korinthos

16 November 1980 10	AEK Athens	4–0	Korinthos	Nea Filadelfeia
14:45 EET (UTC+2)	Ardizoglou 11' Eleftherakis 25' Bajević 39', 46'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 15,019 Referee: Giorgos Koukoulakis (Heraklion)

Panionios v AEK Athens

23 November 1980 11	Panionios	1–1	AEK Athens	Nea Smyrni
14:45 EET (UTC+2)	Mavrikis 65'		Paraprastanitis 45'	Stadium: Nea Smyrni Stadium Attendance: 14,549 Referee: Giorgos Kounalakis (Heraklion)

AEK Athens v Panathinaikos

30 November 1980 12	AEK Athens	0–0	Panathinaikos	Nea Filadelfeia
14:45 EET (UTC+2)				Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 36,766 Referee: Giorgos Kifonidis (Kavala)
Note: All time attendance record for AEK Stadium.[1]

PAS Giannina v AEK Athens

14 December 1980 13	PAS Giannina	3–1	AEK Athens	Ioannina
14:45 EET (UTC+2)	Papageorgiou 50' Ananiadis 84' Sofias 89'		Ravousis 59'	Stadium: Zosimades Stadium Attendance: 8,245 Referee: Nikos Lagogiannis (Piraeus)

AEK Athens v Doxa Drama

21 December 1980 14	AEK Athens	2–1	Doxa Drama	Nea Filadelfeia
14:45 EET (UTC+2)	Kottis 11' Vlachos 37'		Charalampidis 54' (pen.)	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 13,691 Referee: Manolis Vardakas (Kozani)

Aris v AEK Athens

28 December 1980 15	Aris	1–1	AEK Athens	Thessaloniki
14:45 EET (UTC+2)	Kouis 38' (pen.)		Vlachos 80'	Stadium: Aris Stadium Attendance: 20,690 Referee: Vasilis Messalas (Patras)

AEK Athens v Ethnikos Piraeus

4 January 1981 16	AEK Athens	0–0	Ethnikos Piraeus	Nea Filadelfeia
14:45 EET (UTC+2)				Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 19,103 Referee: Theoklis Kontzalis (Thessaloniki)

AEK Athens v OFI

11 January 1981 17	AEK Athens	3–0	OFI	Nea Filadelfeia
14:45 EET (UTC+2)	Eleftherakis 64' Thodis 71' Bajević 84'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 10,898 Referee: G. Moschopoulos (Thessaloniki)

Kavala v AEK Athens

18 January 1981 18	Kavala	1–0	AEK Athens	Kavala
14:45 EET (UTC+2)	Kakkalis 49'			Stadium: Kavala National Stadium Attendance: 5,175 Referee: Kostas Tsouris (Thrace)

AEK Athens v PAOK

1 February 1981 19	AEK Athens	4–0	PAOK	Nea Filadelfeia
15:15 EET (UTC+2)	Manolas 22' Gesios 32' Mavros 59' Vlachos 65'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 21,973 Referee: Giorgos Loutridis (Larissa)

Olympiacos v AEK Athens

8 February 1981 20	Olympiacos	6–0	AEK Athens	Piraeus
15:15 EET (UTC+2)	Galakos 30', 54', 84' Kousoulakis 68' Orfanos 75' Vamvakoulas 80'			Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium Attendance: 35,450 Referee: Dimitris Koutoulas (Serres)
Note: The biggest football tragedy in Greece occurred at the end of the game when 20 fans of Olympiacos and 1 of AEK died in their effort to get out of the gate 7 of the Stadium where they found the door closed and were trampled by passing fans.[2]

AEK Athens v Atromitos

18 February 1981 21	AEK Athens	3–0	Atromitos	Nea Filadelfeia
15:15 EET (UTC+2)	Bajević 22' Thodis 51' Vlachos 61'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 3,528 Referee: Nikos Lagogiannis (Piraeus)

Panserraikos v AEK Athens

22 February 1981 22	Panserraikos	1–1	AEK Athens	Serres
15:15 EET (UTC+2)	Anastasiadis 30'		Bajević 82'	Stadium: Serres Municipal Stadium Attendance: 6,615 Referee: Antonis Vassaras (Thessaloniki)

AEK Athens v Kastoria

1 March 1981 23	AEK Athens	3–1	Kastoria	Nea Filadelfeia
15:45 EET (UTC+2)	Bajević 38', 58' Vlachos 69'		Liolios 64'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 6,726 Referee: Nikos Aggelakis (Thessaloniki)

AEK Athens v Apollon Athens

22 March 1981 24	AEK Athens	3–0	Apollon Athens	Nea Filadelfeia
	Paraprastanitis 18' Mavros 83' Vlachos 89'			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 9,972 Referee: Nikos Karathanasis (Athens)

AEL v AEK Athens

29 March 1981 25	AEL	2–1	AEK Athens	Trikala
	Koutas 16' Mousouris 74' (o.g.)		Bajević 44'	Stadium: Trikala Municipal Stadium Attendance: 11,364 Referee: G. Moschopoulos (Thessaloniki)

AEK Athens v Panachaiki

5 April 1981 26	AEK Athens	3–1	Panachaiki	Nea Filadelfeia
	Ardizoglou 46' Vladić 61' Vlachos 65'		Spentzopoulos 54'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 12,714 Referee: Dimitris Sidiropoulos (Thessaloniki)

Korinthos v AEK Athens

12 April 1981 27	Korinthos	2–1	AEK Athens	Corinth
	Pissas 18' Togias 40'		Pittas 72' (o.g.)	Stadium: Korinthos Stadium Attendance: 7,950 Referee: Nikos Zlatanos (Thessaloniki)

AEK Athens v Panionios

19 April 1981 28	AEK Athens	3–1	Panionios	Nea Filadelfeia
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Vlachos 19', 82' Vladić 86'		Kaltsas 89'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 14,724 Referee: Leonidas Printezis (Athens)

Panathinaikos v AEK Athens

10 May 1981 29	Panathinaikos	0–0	AEK Athens	Piraeus
21:00 EEST (UTC+3)				Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium Attendance: 25,387 Referee: Pantelis Argyriou (Dodecanese)
Note: Match held at Karaiskakis Stadium due to the inappropriateness of the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium which had damages caused by a strong earthquake at 24 February.

AEK Athens v PAS Giannina

17 May 1981 30	AEK Athens	3–2	PAS Giannina	Nea Filadelfeia
	Gesios 28' Bajević 38' Eleftherakis 82'		Liakos 4' Kontogeorgakis 55'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 13,611 Referee: Thanasis Nikolitsas (Argolida)

Doxa Drama v AEK Athens

24 May 1981 31	Doxa Drama	2–2	AEK Athens	Drama
	Charalampidis 46' (pen.) Strantzalis 81'		Thodis 22' (pen.) Ardizoglou 52'	Stadium: Doxa Drama Stadium Attendance: 5,284 Referee: Theoklis Kontzalis (Thessaloniki)

AEK Athens v Aris

31 May 1981 32	AEK Athens	4–4	Aris	Nea Filadelfeia
	Kottis 23' Mavros 54' Mousouris 56', 64'		Kouis 37', 45+3' (pen.) Chatziantoniou 55' Zindros 86'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 13,728 Referee: Makis Mersinis (Chalkidiki)

Ethnikos Piraeus v AEK Athens

7 June 1981 33	Ethnikos Piraeus	0–2	AEK Athens	Piraeus
17:30 EEST (UTC+3)			Gesios 50', 73'	Stadium: Karaiskakis Stadium Attendance: 5,551 Referee: Pounartzis (Thessaloniki)

OFI v AEK Athens

14 June 1981 34	OFI	3–1	AEK Athens	Heraklion
18:30 EEST (UTC+3)	Karaiskos 30' Georgiadis 31' Drakos 66'		Mavros 18'	Stadium: Theodoros Vardinogiannis Stadium Attendance: 3,141 Referee: Kostas Dedes (Messinia)

Greek Cup

Main article: 1980–81 Greek Football Cup

Matches

AEK Athens v Egaleo

29 October 1980 First round	AEK Athens	6–2	Egaleo	Nea Filadelfeia
14:00 EET (UTC+2)	Bajević 15', 60' Vladić 66' Ardizoglou 76' Mavros 82', 85'		Mavronasios  8' Konstantopoulos 78' Pigaditis 84'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 3,382 Referee: Panagiotis Tsolakidis (Thessaloniki)

AEK Athens v Kastoria

17 December 1980 Second round	AEK Athens	2–0	Kastoria	Nea Filadelfeia
14:00 EET (UTC+2)	Thodis 18' Kottis 38' Bajević			Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 4,003 Referee: Kanaris (Thessaloniki)

Round of 16

Panathinaikos v AEK Athens

7 January 1981 First leg	Panathinaikos	3–2	AEK Athens	Ampelokipoi
14:30 EET (UTC+2)	Konstantinou Katsiakos 25' Tzirakis 70' (o.g.) Simeoforidis 78'	Report	Tzirakis Vlachos Ravousis 51' Bajević 84'	Stadium: Leoforos Alexandras Stadium Attendance: 18,094 Referee: Nikos Zlatanos (Thessaloniki)

AEK Athens v Panathinaikos

4 February 1981 Second leg	AEK Athens	1–0 (3(a)–3 agg.)	Panathinaikos	Nea Filadelfeia
14:30 EET (UTC+2)	Gesios  21', 34' Vladić  26' Vlachos  80'	Report	Livathinos  21' Kapsis  26'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 27,797 Referee: Ioannis Ioannidis (Thessaloniki)

Quarter-finals

AEK Athens v Aris

13 May 1981 First leg	AEK Athens	2–2	Aris	Nea Filadelfeia
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Kottis 55', 85' Nikolaou  63'	Report	Alexiou 18' Zindros 74' Pantziaras  80'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 12,000 Referee: Thanasis Nikolitsas (Argolida)
Note: AEK were punished 2 games away from home due to fan incidents.

Aris v AEK Athens

27 May 1981 Second leg	Aris	0–1 (2–3 agg.)	AEK Athens	Thessaloniki
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Tzifopoulos  10' Zelelidis  41'	Report	Nikolaou  14' Mavros 44' Tzirakis  71' Ardizoglou  47'  72'	Stadium: Aris Stadium Attendance: 13,164 Referee: Kostas Dimitriadis (Piraeus)

Semi-finals

PAOK v AEK Athens

3 June 1981 First leg	PAOK	1–0	AEK Athens	Thessaloniki
21:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Kostikos 39' (pen.)	Report	Ardizoglou 80'	Stadium: Toumba Stadium Attendance: 26,674 Referee: Kostas Dedes (Messinia)

AEK Athens v PAOK

10 June 1981 Second leg	AEK Athens	0–2 (0–3 agg.)	PAOK	Chalcis
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Mousouris  32'	Report	Damanakis  20', 51' Georgopoulos 81'	Stadium: Municipal Stadium of Chalkida Attendance: 12,736 Referee: Manolis Vardakas (Kozani)
Note: Match held at Chalcis because AEK had a stadium ban due to incidents in the match against Aris in the previous round.

Balkans Cup

Main article: 1980–81 Balkans Cup

Group Α

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification		VEL	AEK	FLA
1	Velež Mostar	4	2	0	2	8	6	1.333	4	Advance to Final		—	2–0	4–1
2	AEK Athens	4	2	0	2	7	7	1.000	4			3–1	—	3–2
3	Flamurtari	4	2	0	2	7	9	0.778	4			2–1	2–1	—

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored

Velež Mostar v AEK Athens

18 September 1980 1	Velež Mostar	2–0	AEK Athens	Mostar, Yugoslavia
17:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Skočajić 49' Matijević 89'	Report	Eleftherakis  15'	Stadium: Bijeli Brijeg Attendance: 13,000 Referee: Stjepan Glavina (Yugoslavia)

AEK Athens v Flamurtari

8 October 1980 2	AEK Athens	3–2	Flamurtari	Athens, Greece
16:00 EEST (UTC+3)	Paraprastanitis  36' Stafylas 75' Kottis 77' Rigas 78' Konstantinou 87'	Report	Çuri 14',  51' Kovaçi 36'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Attendance: 2,885 Referee: Cumhur Demir (Turkey)

AEK Athens v Velež Mostar

5 March 1981 3	AEK Athens	3–1	Velež Mostar	Athens, Greece
15:00 EET (UTC+2)	Mavros 53', 58', 65'	Report	Mulahasanović  14' Međedović 25'	Stadium: AEK Stadium Referee: Georgescu (Romania)

Flamurtari v AEK Athens

19 March 1981 4	Flamurtari	2–1	AEK Athens	Vlorë, Albania
16:00 EET (UTC+2)	Çuri 21' Kovaçi 50'	Report	Eleftherakis 86'	Stadium: Flamurtari Stadium Attendance: 18,000 Referee: Ivan Yosifov (Bulgaria)

Statistics

Squad statistics

As of 14 June 1981

No.	Pos	Player	Alpha Ethniki		Greek Cup		Balkans Cup		Total
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Goalkeepers
—	GK	Nikos Christidis	4	0	0	0	3	0	7	0
—	GK	Lakis Stergioudas	5	0	2	0	0	0	7	0
—	GK	Spyros Ikonomopoulos	26	0	6	0	1	0	33	0
Defenders
—	DF	Lakis Nikolaou	12	0	4	0	0	0	16	0
—	DF	Giannis Mousouris	13	2	3	0	4	0	20	2
—	DF	Giorgos Rigas	19	1	6	0	3	1	28	2
—	DF	Michalis Tzirakis	22	0	5	0	4	0	31	0
—	DF	Giorgos Kalogeropoulos	8	0	3	0	2	0	13	0
—	DF	Petros Ravousis	21	1	5	1	1	0	27	2
—	DF	Vangelis Paraprastanitis	32	2	7	0	1	0	40	2
—	DF	Stavros Letsas	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
—	DF	Stelios Manolas	23	1	5	0	4	0	32	1
—	DF	Lysandros Georgamlis	3	0	2	0	1	0	6	0
Midfielders
—	MF	Kostas Eleftherakis	23	5	3	0	3	1	29	6
—	MF	Franjo Vladić	21	2	4	1	2	0	27	3
—	MF	Petros Karavitis	7	0	2	0	0	0	9	0
—	MF	Christos Ardizoglou	26	5	7	1	0	0	33	6
—	MF	Spyros Thodis	28	4	7	1	3	0	38	5
—	MF	Vangelis Vlachos	29	9	6	0	2	0	37	9
Forwards
—	FW	Dimitrios Gesios	22	7	6	1	2	0	30	8
—	FW	Dušan Bajević	27	12	6	3	1	0	34	15
—	FW	Dimitrios Papadopoulos	6	0	1	0	2	0	9	0
—	FW	Thomas Mavros	22	9	6	3	1	3	29	15
—	FW	Manolis Kottis	16	2	6	3	3	1	25	6
—	FW	Thomas Stafylas	11	0	1	0	4	1	16	1
Left during Winter Transfer Window
—	FW	Tasos Konstantinou	1	0	1	0	2	0	4	0
—	FW	Giorgos Chatziioannidis	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0

Goalscorers

As of 14 June 1981

Rank	Pos.	Player	Alpha Ethniki	Greek Cup	Balkans Cup	Total
1	FW	Dušan Bajević	12	3	0	15
	FW	Thomas Mavros	9	3	3	15
3	MF	Vangelis Vlachos	9	0	0	9
4	FW	Dimitrios Gesios	7	1	0	8
5	MF	Christos Ardizoglou	5	1	0	6
	MF	Kostas Eleftherakis	5	0	1	6
	FW	Manolis Kottis	2	3	1	6
8	MF	Spyros Thodis	4	1	0	5
9	MF	Franjo Vladić	2	1	0	3
10	DF	Giannis Mousouris	2	0	0	2
	DF	Vangelis Paraprastanitis	2	0	0	2
	DF	Petros Ravousis	1	1	0	2
	DF	Giorgos Rigas	1	0	1	2
14	DF	Stelios Manolas	1	0	0	1
	FW	Thomas Stafylas	0	0	1	1
Own goals			1	0	0	1
Totals			63	14	7	84

Hat-tricks

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.

Player	Against	Result	Date	Competition	Source
Thomas Mavros	Velež Mostar	3–1 (H)	5 March 1981	Balkans 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 14 June 1981

Rank	Player	Alpha Ethniki	Greek Cup	Balkans Cup	Total
1	Spyros Ikonomopoulos	8	2	0	10
2	Lakis Stergioudas	1	1	0	1
3	Nikos Christidis	1	0	0	1
Totals		10	3	0	13

Disciplinary record

As of 14 June 1981

N	P	Nat.	Name	Alpha Ethniki			Greek Cup			Balkans Cup			Total			Notes
Goalkeepers
—	GK		Nikos Christidis
—	GK		Lakis Stergioudas
—	GK		Spyros Ikonomopoulos
Defenders
—	DF		Lakis Nikolaou	1			2						3
—	DF		Giannis Mousouris	1			1						2
—	DF		Giorgos Rigas	2									2
—	DF		Michalis Tzirakis	1			2						3
—	DF		Giorgos Kalogeropoulos	3									3
—	DF		Petros Ravousis	4									4
—	DF		Vangelis Paraprastanitis	4						1			5
—	DF		Stavros Letsas
—	DF		Stelios Manolas	5	1								5	1
—	DF		Lysandros Georgamlis
Midfielders
—	MF		Kostas Eleftherakis	1						1			2
—	MF		Franjo Vladić	2					1				2		1
—	MF		Petros Karavitis
—	MF		Christos Ardizoglou	4			2	1					6	1
—	MF		Spyros Thodis	4									4
—	MF		Vangelis Vlachos	2			2						4
Forwards
—	FW		Dimitrios Gesios				1						1
—	FW		Dušan Bajević	1					1				1		1
—	FW		Dimitrios Papadopoulos
—	FW		Thomas Mavros	1		1							1		1
—	FW		Manolis Kottis
—	FW		Thomas Stafylas
Left during Winter Transfer Window
—	FW		Tasos Konstantinou
—	FW		Giorgos Chatziioannidis

References

1. "OUR OLD HOME "NIKOS GOUMAS"". aekfc.gr.
2. Κυριακόπουλος, Γιώργος (8 February 2022). "Η τραγωδία που σημάδεψε τον ελληνικό αθλητισμό". onsports.gr.
3. "ΑΕΚ: "Εγκλημα" και τιμωρία". enwsi.gr. 3 October 2020.
4. "Greek Cup 1980/81". RSSSF.
5. "Balkans Cup 1980–81 season". RSSSF.
6. "Λουκάς Μπάρλος, ο "πρόεδρος των τίτλων" που έβαλε υποθήκη το σπίτι του για να κατασκευαστεί η σκεπαστή. "Μόλις κατάλαβα ότι η τσέπη δεν τραβάει άλλο, υπέβαλα την παραίτηση μου"". mixanitouxronou.gr. 19 October 2017.
7. "Περίοδος 1980-1981". aekpedia.com (in Greek). 21 May 2015.
8. newsp. Athletic Echo, 18 December 1980, p. 1, 2, 6

External links

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