Full name | Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως (Athletic Union of Constantinople) |
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Nickname(s) |
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Founded | 13 April 1924 |
Ground |
Olympic Stadium Athens, Greece |
Capacity | 69,618 |
Owner | Union Friends of AEK |
President | Evangelos Aslanidis |
Head Coach | Manolo Jiménez |
League | Superleague Greece |
2015–16 | Superleague Greece, 4th |
Website | Club home page |
AEK F.C. (Greek: ΠΑΕ ΑΕΚ) abbreviated as AEK, known in European competitions as AEK Athens F.C., is a Greek association football club based in Nea Filadelfeia suburb of Athens.
Established in Athens, in 1924, by Greek refugees from Constantinople, in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922), its name is a direct reference to the origins of the founders. The club's emblem is the double-headed eagle, used by the Palaiologos dynasty and traditionally by the Byzantine Empire, as a remembrance of the Byzantine legacy and the historical ties of the club. AEK is one of the three most successful teams in Greek football (including Olympiakos and Panathinaikos), winning 30 national titles and the only to have won all the competitions organised by the Hellenic Football Federation (including 11 Championships, 15 Greek Cups, 1 League Cup and 3 Super Cups).
They are one of the most popular Greek clubs with millions of fans in Greece and Cyprus, and in Greek communities worldwide, mainly in Australia, United Kingdom, and North America.
The club has appeared several times in European competitions (UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League and the defunct UEFA Cup Winners' Cup), in which they are the second most successful Greek football club in terms of achievements. They were the first Greek team to compete in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League in the early '90s, while they are until today the only Greek team which reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup (1976–77). They have also reached once the quarter-finals of the European Cup (1968–69) and twice the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1996–97, 1997–98). AEK is a member of the European Club Association.