PAOK Thessaloniki

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This was followed by a decade during which PAOK had an average performance. One could say that it was as if it was building up its strength only to unlealalalala during the 1970s when the team became established as one of the best ever to play at Greek football grounds with players whose names became legends for Greek football. It was a team and players who set records which even today are difficult to beat. Thanks to the team PAOK put together it managed to strike a blow to the traditional football powers of Athens and took the cup twice in 1972 in 1974 and a championship in 1976 and could have won more trophies if the circumstances were different. PAOK became established as Northern Greece’s greatest team with thousands of fanatical fans. In Europe it performed exceptionally well during the 1973-74 season qualifying for the quarter finals of the Cupholder’s Cup but was knocked out in the end by Italian team Milan. PAOK’s excellent performance continued during the 1980s with very few unsuccessful seasons. The high point came mid-decade when the team won its second Greek Championship in 1985 and its first professional title since Greek football had changed course towards professional games.

Characteristic of the 1980s was the excessive fanaticism of the fans, which reached levels never seen before and which began to move beyond Greece becoming a European-wide phenomenon. However, the obsession shown by fans also had a downside, translating in quite a few cases into episodes which entailed penalties being imposed on the club. At European level, PAOK made a moving appearance against Bayern Munich, where it was knocked out on penalties leaving in the mind of all Greeks one of the best appearances by a Greek team in a European cup.



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The 1990s started well with PAOK firmly among the top three teams in Greece. However, it was stigmatized by an extremely average-to-poor team performance under the chairmanship of T. Voulinos, who came into direct conflict with the fan club following serious episodes during the PAOK – Paris St. Germaine match, which led to PAOK’s exclusion and very nearly to financial ruin. In 1996 the change demanded by PAOK fans came about. Thomas Voulinos handed over the baton to Giorgos Batatoudis and an air of optimism was tangible everywhere in Thessaloniki. Numerous transfers of well-known players such as Zisis Vryzas, Spyros Marangos, Kostas Fratzeskos and others took place from the first season under new management. In 1997 PAOK eventually found a place in the UEFA Cup and team coach Angelos Anastassiadis made his debut on the PAOK bench. The team’s reappearance at European level was accompanied by the resounding exclusion of legendary team Arsenal.

The following year Anastassiadis was dismissed and Oleg Blachin took his place for a few months only since the fans demanded the urgent return of Anastassiadis. He stayed for a season, succeeded by Ari Haan and then in December by Dusan Bajievic who took over the reigns.


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PAOK had firmly established its position among the teams that play in Europe every year but that was no longer enough. A place in the Champions League was the next target. The team’s next steps were taken in 2001 with a win in the Greek Cup after 25 years in an unforgettable final against Olympiakos. Playing at Nea Philadelphia PAOK thrashed the former champions 4-2.


However, financial problems continued to plague the club and acted as a brake on the efforts of the team’s footballers to achieve even greater targets.



Angelos Anastassiadis returned to the PAOK bench as coach in the summer of 2002. The season led to another great triumph with a win in the Cup for a second time in three years at the Toumba Stadium PAOK 1-0 Aris

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However, it was the following season that held much more in store and which rocketed the team skyward. Although key players left over the summer (Georgiadis, Okkas, Kafes) PAOK managed to secure its participation in the qualifying rounds of the Champions League taking third place.