1987–88 AEK Athens F.C. season explained

The 1987–88 season was the 64th season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 29th consecutive season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Alpha Ethniki and the Greek Cup. The season began on 6 September 1987 and finished on 15 May 1988.

Kits

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Overview

The final year of the presidency of Andreas Zafiropoulos, finally found AEK Athens at the second place of the league, behind AEL. The season was overshadowed by various non-competitive cases, the "Tsingov case", the "Ballis-Papadopoulos case" and the "Vosdos case". In the summer of 1987, AEK returned to the Nea Filadelfeia Stadium and was called to carry on without the club's legend, Thomas Mavros and as well as Håkan Sandberg. On the other hand, some useful players were acquired such as Savvidis, Nielsen and Vasilakos. Led by Todor Veselinović and with Panathinaikos and Olympiacos out of the title race early on, the team had a good presence and were in the claiming of the championship, but eventually lost it to the strong at that time AEL. The best players of the season for AEK were Manolas, Nielsen, Savvidis, Vasilakos, Janjanin and Patikas. Henrik Nielsen with 21 goals finished the season as the league's top scorer. The greatest victory of the season was the 7–1 at home against Veria.^[1]

However, the "Tsingov case" played crucial role in the outcome of the championship. The Bulgarian footballer, Georgi Tsingov of AEL was tested positive in a dropping test after the match against Panathinaikos. The court's decision was as the regulation predicted and punished AEL by zeroing them for that match, 2 points deduction and punishment of the player which brought AEK to the first place of the table. AEL appealed and their fans were revolted by blocking the highway, closing railway lines among other things. Before the appeal was heard the then Minister of Sports, Sifis Valyrakis changed the regulation "overnight", which predicted in cases of doping a footballer, only the footballer would be punished and not the club. So the points were returned back to AEL and finally won the championship. Essentially, AEK was entitled to win the championship on "papers", but AEL was a worthy champion, inside the football pitch and the club's mentality and principles are such that did not allow them to proceed in such actions.^[2]

Another scandal of the season was the "Vosdos case". The president of Panachaiki, Aris Loukopoulos, denounced AEK for an attempt to bribe the defender of the team, Leonidas Vosdos, before the match between the two teams at Patras. The footballer himself stated that no one approached him, the judges concluded that the story was an "invention" of Loukopoulos to create a climate of tension in view of the match and the president of Panachaiki was punished.^[3]

Noteworthy were also the incidents in the last match of the season at Nea Filadelfeia against Iraklis. The ultras stand had enough with Zafiropoulos, who was considered unable to lift the "weight" of handling the club, but the tension that existed did not justify the following events. Riot police, in an incomprehensible decision, entered the ultras stand and beat whoever stood in front of them which resulted in very heated encounters with the ultras. There were many who believe that Zafiropoulos influenced the police officers to act in this way.^[4]

In the cup, AEK after elinating Iraklis in the first round and Kallithea in the round of 32, were drawn against Olympiacos at the round of 16. In the first match at Karaiskakis Stadium, AEK got a significant result with 1–1. On the eve of the rematch, a big scandal broke out as the former AEK footballer, Dinos Ballis visited at the hotel where the team were located with a bouquet for the goalkeeper, Theologis Papadopoulos and created strong suspicions that he was trying to bribe him. The match took place, with Olympiacos winning 1–3 and the story continued in the courts. The Koskotas brothers were accused of trying to bribe Papadopoulos and Vasilakos through Ballis, while many AEK fans believe that AEK was involved in the whole case. Eventually, in a very strange court decision, the only one who was punished for the whole case was Ballis for attempted bribery.^[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 15 May 1988, 23:59 UTC+3.

Player	Nat.	Position(s)	Date of birth (Age)	Signed	Previous club	Transfer fee	Contract until
Goalkeepers
Spyros Ikonomopoulos		GK	June 30, 1988	1978	AEK Athens U20	—	1989
Theologis Papadopoulos		GK	June 30, 1988	1984		₯9,000,000	1989
Fanis Kofinas		GK	June 30, 1988	1982	Pelopas Kiato	Free	1992
Defenders
Makis Chatzis		RB / LB	June 30, 1988	1984	Apollon Athens	₯6,750,000	1989
Takis Karagiozopoulos		CB / DM / ST	June 30, 1988	1981	Veria	Free	1991
Polyvios Chatzopoulos		CB / DM	June 30, 1988	1985	Panionios	₯10,400,000	1990
Stelios Manolas (Captain)		CB / RB	June 30, 1988	1979	AEK Athens U20	—	1988
Giorgos Peppes		CB	June 30, 1988	1986	Ethnikos Piraeus	Free	1992
Sotiris Mavrodimos		CB / RB / LB / DM	June 30, 1988	1986	Kozani	₯5,500,000	1991
Christos Vasilopoulos		RB / LB	June 30, 1988	1986	Panachaiki	₯8,000,000	1991
Georgios Koutoulas		CB / LB	June 30, 1988	1987	AEK Athens U20	—	1999
Dimitris Volonakis		LB / CB	June 30, 1988	1987	AEK Athens U20	—	1990
Midfielders
Rajko Janjanin		CM	June 30, 1988	1986	OFI	Free	1988
Dimitris Pittas		AM / CM	June 30, 1988	1986	PAOK	Free	1988
Pavlos Papaioannou (Vice-captain)		DM / RB / LB / RM	June 30, 1988	1983	Rodos	₯10,000,000	1988
Nikos Pias		CM	June 30, 1988	1984	Rodos	₯1,350,000	1989
Vasilios Vasilakos		AM	June 30, 1988	1987	PAOK	₯10,000,000	1990
Giorgos Savvidis		AM / RM / RW / SS / ST	June 30, 1988	1987	Omonia	₯20,940,600	1992
Lampros Georgiadis		AM / LM / LB	June 30, 1988	1986	Anagennisi Arta	₯12,000,000	1991
Jim Patikas		RM / LM / RW / LW / SS	June 30, 1988	1985	Sydney Croatia	₯5,000,000	1988
Forwards
Giannis Dintsikos		ST / SS / RW / LW / AM	June 30, 1988	1981	Kastoria	₯20,000,000	1991
Henrik Nielsen		ST / SS	June 30, 1988	1987	B93	₯7,000,000	1990
Left during Winter Transfer Window
Panagiotis Stylianopoulos		RB / LB	June 30, 1988	1978	AEK Athens U20	—	1988
Georgios Christodoulou		ST / SS / LW	June 30, 1988	1985	Akratitos	Free	1992

Transfers

In

Summer

	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	From	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Fee	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Date	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Contract Until	Source
		Ionikos	Loan return		30 June 1992
		AEK Athens U20	Promotion		30 June 1992
		AEK Athens U20	Promotion		30 June 1990	[6]
		PAOK	₯10,000,000		30 June 1990	[7]
		Omonia	₯20,940,600[8]		30 June 1992	[9]
		B93	₯7,000,000		30 June 1990	[10]
		Fostiras	Loan return		30 June 1989
		Akratitos	Loan return		30 June 1991

Winter

	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	From	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Fee	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Date	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Contract Until	Source
		Pannafpliakos	Loan return		30 June 1988

Out

Summer

	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	To	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Fee	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Date	Source
		Ionikos	Contract termination		[11]
		Levadiakos	Contract termination		[12]
		Panserraikos	₯3,000,000		[13]
		Panionios	End of contract		[14]
		Olympiacos	Contract termination		[15]
		PAS Giannina	Free transfer		[16]

Winter

	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	To	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Fee	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Date	Source
		Ionikos	Contract termination		[17]
		Free agent	Contract termination

Loan out

Summer

	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	To	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Fee	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Date	width=120 style="background:#FFDE00	Until	Option to buy	Source
		Fostiras	Free		30 June 1988		[18]

Winter

	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	To	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Fee	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Date	width=120 style="background:#FFDE00	Until	Option to buy	Source
		Acharnaikos	Free		30 June 1988		[19]

Contract renewals

	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Date	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Former Exp. Date	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	New Exp. Date	Source
			30 June 1987	30 June 1992	[20]
			30 June 1988	30 June 1992	[21]

Overall transfer activity

Expenditure

Summer: ₯37,940,600

Winter: ₯0

Total: ₯37,940,600

Income

Summer: ₯3,000,000

Winter: ₯0

Total: ₯3,000,000

Net Totals

Summer: ₯34,940,600

Winter: ₯0

Total: ₯34,940,600

Competitions

Alpha Ethniki

See main article: 1987–88 Alpha Ethniki.

Fixtures

Greek Cup

See main article: 1987–88 Greek Football Cup.

Matches

Round of 16

Statistics

Squad statistics

! colspan="9" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers|-! colspan="9" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders|-! colspan="9" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders|-! colspan="9" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards|-! colspan="9" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer Window|-|}

Goalscorers

Rank		width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=120 style="background:#FFDE00	Alpha Ethniki	width=120 style="background:#FFDE00	Greek Cup	width=120 style="background:#FFDE00	Total
1			21	2	23
2			5	1	6
3			5	0	5
			4	1	5
			2	3	5
6			4	0	4
			4	0	4
8			2	0	2
			1	1	2
10			1	0	1
			1	0	1
			1	0	1
			0	1	1
Own goals	0	0	0
Totals	51	9	60

Hat-tricks

Numbers in superscript represent the goals that the player scored.

width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Against	width=70 style="background:#FFDE00	Result	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Date	width=150 style="background:#FFDE00	Competition	Source
Henrik Nielsen4	Veria	7–1 (H)	6 December 1987	Alpha Ethniki	[22]

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.

Rank	width=200 style="background:#FFDE00	Player	width=120 style="background:#FFDE00	Alpha Ethniki	width=120 style="background:#FFDE00	Greek Cup	width=120 style="background:#FFDE00	Total
1		6	1	7
2		3	0	3
3		2	0	2
Totals	11	1	12

Disciplinary record

|-! colspan="14" style="background:#FFDE00; text-align:center" | Goalkeepers|-! colspan="14" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Defenders|-! colspan="14" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Midfielders|-! colspan="14" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Forwards|-! colspan="14" style="background:#FFDE00; color:black; text-align:center;"| Left during Winter Transfer Window|}

External links

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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Περίοδος 1987-1988. 22 May 2015. aekpedia.com. el.
2. Web site: Υπόθεση Τσίγκοφ: Η μέρα που κόπηκε η Ελλάδα στα δύο. 17 March 2021. to10.gr.
3. Web site: Η κατασκευασμένη δωροδοκία της ανίσχυρης στο παρακράτος ΑΕΚ. 7 February 2020.
4. Web site: "Ντου" στη Σκεπαστή και... "Ζήτα" τέλος!. 15 May 2016. aek365.org.
5. Web site: Η δωροδοκία: Ο Θεολόγης, ο Κοσκωτάς και η επιταγή. contra.gr.
6. News: 19 June 1987. «Σαν» - Αρμοδώρος: Τους τελείωσαν. 6. Athetic Echo. Γιώργος Πάστρας. el.
7. News: 16 July 1987. Ο Βασιλάκος στην ΑΕΚ. 1, 4. Athetic Echo. Μίμης Βαζογιάννης. el.
8. News: 24 July 1987. Η ΑΕΚ έδωσε 42εκ. για μεταγραφές. 6. Athetic Echo. Γίαννης Βλαχάκης. el.
9. Web site: Ο Γιώργος Σαββίδης στην AEK. 14 July 2019.
10. Web site: Χένρικ Νίλσεν: "Με είχαν διώξει κακήν-κακώς από την ΑΕΚ". Γιώργος. Κούβαρης. gazzetta.gr.
11. News: 25 July 1987. Πρεμιέρα στο Άργος. 6. Athetic Echo. Γιώργος Πάστρας. el.
12. News: 9 July 1987. Μπάριος - Αρμοδώρος στη Λιβαδειά. 1-4. Athetic Echo. el.
13. News: 16 July 1987. Δημητρίου, Φλέγκας στις Σέρρες. 4, 6. Athetic Echo. Χ. Μπιτανάκης. el.
14. News: 16 July 1987. Ο Άλαν Μπάιλι στον Πανιώνιο. 4. Athetic Echo. Λ. Πατσουράκος. el.
15. News: 3 July 1987. Συμβόλαιο ενός έτους υπέγραψε ο Σάντμπεργκ. 1, 3. Athetic Echo. el.
16. News: 16 July 1987. Βοϊτσίδης, Παπαγγελής στα Γιάννενα. 4. Athetic Echo. Ν. Τσόλης. el.
17. News: 18 December 1987. Ο Ιωνικός πήρε τους Μαγγίνα και Στυλιανόπουλο. 3. Athetic Echo. Διούσης Μαχαίρας. el.
18. News: 7 July 1987. Αρχίζει σήμερα ο Βεσελίνοβιτς. 1. Athetic Echo. Μίμης Βαζογιάννης. el.
19. News: 16 December 1987. Ο Χριστοδούλου στον Αχαρναϊκό. 6. Athetic Echo. Μίμης Βαζογιάννης. el.
20. News: 15 July 1987. Τον Σαββίδη πήρε η ΑΕΚ. 4. Athetic Echo. Μίμης Βαζογιάννης. el.
21. News: 29 June 1987. Μυστήριο με Βαμβακούλα. 1. Athetic Echo. el.
22. Web site: Η μεγάλη μέρα του Χένρικ Νίλσεν. 6 December 2022. aek365.org. Online. el.