Athletic Union of Constantinople
Encyclopedia
The Athletic Union of Constantinople , more commonly referred to as AEK or in European competitions as AEK Athens, is a sports club
Sports club
A sports club or sport club, sometimes athletics club or sports association is a club for the purpose of playing one or more sports...

 based in the city of Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

.

The club was founded on 13 April 1924 in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

 by Greek refugees
Greek refugees
Greek refugees is a collective term used to refer to the Greeks from Asia Minor who were evacuated or relocated in Greece following the Treaty of Lausanne and the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey...

 from
Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 (now Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

) in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...

 and subsequent population exchange
Population exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...

.
The large Greek population of Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

, not unlike those of the other Ottoman urban
centres, continued its athletic traditions in the form of numerous athletic clubs. Clubs such
as Enosi Tataoulon from the Tatavla
Kurtulus
Kurtuluş, formerly known as Tatavla , is a cosmopolitan neighborhood of Şişli whose population consists of Turks, Greeks , Armenians , Kurds , and Jews...


district, Megas Alexandros of Vathyriakos,
and Hermes ( – Ermis) of Galata
Galata
Galata or Galatae is a neighbourhood in the Beyoğlu district on the European side of Istanbul, the largest city of Turkey. Galata is located at the northern shore of the Golden Horn, the inlet which separates it from the historic peninsula of old Constantinople. The Golden Horn is crossed by...

 existed to promote
Hellenic
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 athletic and cultural ideals; Hermes, one of the more popular clubs, was
formed in 1875 by the Greek community of Pera (Galata). Forced by the Kemalist regime to
change its name to Pera Club in 1921, many of its athletes fled during the population
exchanges at the end of the Greco-Turkish War
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...

, and settled in
Athens and Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki , historically also known as Thessalonica, Salonika or Salonica, is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the region of Central Macedonia as well as the capital of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia and Thrace...

.

The founders of AEK established the club with the intention of providing athletic and cultural diversions for the thousands of predominantly Constantinopolitan and Anatolian refugees who had settled in the new suburbs of Athens (Nea Filadelfeia
Nea Filadelfeia
Nea Filadelfeia is a suburb in the northern part of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filadelfeia-Chalkidona, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit....

, Nea Ionia
Nea Ionia
Nea Ionia is a northern suburb of Athens, Greece, and a municipality of the Attica region. It has a surface train station . The suburb was named after Ionia, the region in Anatolia from which many Greeks migrated in the 1920s following the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey. It is...

, Nea Chalkidona
Nea Chalkidona
Nea Chalkidona is a suburb in the northern part of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Filadelfeia-Chalkidona, of which it is a municipal unit....

, Nea Smyrni
Nea Smyrni
Nea Smyrni is a southern suburb of Athens, Greece. Nea Smyrni is located about 5 km SW of downtown Athens, about 5 km SW of Kifissias Avenue, W of Vouliagmenis Avenue, about 6 km E of Piraeus, and NE of Poseidonos Avenue....

, e.t.c.).

Crest and Colours

Since the club's foundation, AEK have had three main crests, though all underwent minor variations. In 1924, AEK adopted as their first crest the image of a double-headed eagle
Double-headed eagle
The double-headed eagle is a common symbol in heraldry and vexillology. It is most commonly associated with the Byzantine Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. In Byzantine heraldry, the heads represent the dual sovereignty of the Emperor and/or dominance of the Byzantine Emperors over both East and...

 ( – Dikefalos Aetos), which remained for the next half-century, on a golden yellow background. When AEK was created by Greek
Greeks
The Greeks, also known as the Hellenes , are a nation and ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus and neighboring regions. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the world....

 refugees from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

 in the years following the Greco-Turkish War
Greco-Turkish War (1919-1922)
The Greco–Turkish War of 1919–1922, known as the Western Front of the Turkish War of Independence in Turkey and the Asia Minor Campaign or the Asia Minor Catastrophe in Greece, was a series of military events occurring during the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire after World War I between May...

 and subsequent population exchange
Population exchange between Greece and Turkey
The 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey was based upon religious identity, and involved the Greek Orthodox citizens of Turkey and the Muslim citizens of Greece...

, the emblem and colours were chosen as a reminder of lost homelands; they represent the club's historical ties to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...

.
Its usage also survived as a decorative element in the Greek Orthodox Church
Greek Orthodox Church
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of Eastern Orthodox Christianity sharing a common cultural tradition whose liturgy is also traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament...

, which was the inheritor of the Byzantine legacy during the Ottoman Empire, while it remained a popular symbol among Greeks. In modern Greece various variations of the two-headed eagles are used in Church flags (based on Byzantine flag patterns and heraldic emblems
Byzantine heraldry
For most of its history, the Byzantine Empire did not know or use heraldry in the West European sense. Various emblems were used in official occasions and for military purposes, such as banners or shields displaying various motifs such as the cross or the labarum...

) and, officially, by the Greek Army; the bird found its way into the Greek coat of arms for a brief period in 1925–1926.

Departments

The club fields teams in many sports, including athletics, cycling
Cycling
Cycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...

, boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...

,
chess
Chess
Chess is a two-player board game played on a chessboard, a square-checkered board with 64 squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid. It is one of the world's most popular games, played by millions of people worldwide at home, in clubs, online, by correspondence, and in tournaments.Each player...

, fencing
Fencing
Fencing, which is also known as modern fencing to distinguish it from historical fencing, is a family of combat sports using bladed weapons.Fencing is one of four sports which have been featured at every one of the modern Olympic Games...

 and table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...

, but its most popular teams primarily compete
in association football
Football (soccer)
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

, basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...

, volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...

,
handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

 and futsal
Futsal
Futsal is a variant of association football that is played on a smaller pitch and mainly played indoors. Its name is a portmanteau of the Portuguese futebol de salão and the Spanish fútbol de salón , which can be translated as "hall football" or "indoor football"...

.
AEK being an amateur all-round sports club with the mission to create and advance as many
sports as is feasible, its main professional and semiprofessional teams operate independently
albeit in affiliation with it.

AEK Athens Football Club

Established in Athens in 1924 by Greeks from Constantinople (now Istanbul), AEK has grown to become one of the most successful clubs in Greek football, winning 30 national titles (including 11 Championships, 14 Greek Cups, 2 League Cups, 3 Super Cups) , providing the Greek National Football Team with many of
its star players, and continuously appearing in European (UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 and
UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

) competitions, having participated to the semi-final of UEFA Cup
UEFA Cup
The UEFA Europa League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1971 for eligible European football clubs. It is the second most prestigious European club football contest after the UEFA Champions League...

 in 1977.

League

  • Greek Championships
    Super League Greece
    The Superleague Greece is the highest professional football league in Greece. It was formed on July 16, 2006 and replaced Alpha Ethniki at the top of the Greek football league system. The league consists of 16 teams and runs from August to May, with teams playing 30 games each...

Winners (11): 1939, 1940, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1979, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994

  • Athens FCA Championship (local level)
Winners (4): 1940, 1946, 1947, 1950

Cups

  • Greek Cup
    Greek football Cup
    The Greek Football Cup , commonly known as the Greek Cup or for sponsorship reasons the Football Cup OPAP, is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation....

Winners (14): 1932, 1939, 1949, 1950, 1956, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1983, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2011

  • Greek League Cup
    Greek League Cup
    The Greek League Cup, a now defunct football competition, took place only once, in the 1989-90 season. AEK Athens, is the only winner of the League Cup, by beating Panionios , Aris , Levadiakos and Olympiacos .-Final:-External links:*...

Winners (1): 1990

Winners (3): 1971 (unofficial), 1989, 1996

AEK Athens Basketball Club

AEK Athens Basketball is the most successful among A.E.K' athletic departments. The obvious reason is that AEK's basketball team was the first ever Greek team to win an international trophy in any team sports. AEK formed its basketball team in 1924.
League
  • Greek Championships
    A1 Ethniki
    The Greek Basket League , commonly referred to as the Greek Basketball League or Greek Basketball Championship, is the highest professional basketball league in Greece. It is run by HEBA...

Winners (8): 1958, 1963, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1970, 2002

Cups
  • Greek Basketball Cup
    Greek basketball Cup
    The Greek Basketball Cup or Hellenic Basketball Cup is an annual pro basketball national cup competition. It is organized by the Hellenic Basketball Federation .-History and format:...

Winners (3): 1981, 2000, 2001

European
  • Cup Winners' Cup/Saporta Cup
    Saporta Cup
    Saporta Cup was the name of the second-tier level European professional club basketball competition, where the National Cup winners from all over Europe played against each other. The competition was organized by FIBA Europe...

Winners (2): 1968, 2000

AEK Athens V.C.

AEK Athens V.C. is the volleyball team of the Greek sports club AEK. It was founded in 1967 by
Jason Platsi.Over the years AEK have struggled to stay in the top flight of Greek volleyball,
competing in A2(Greece's second division) and A1.AEK had its finest moment with coach Stelios
Prosalika , as has prevailed in the final-4 of the European Cup Winners Cup. The races held
(9–10 March 2000) in the closed Nea Liosia and AEK lost in the semi-final by Cuneo, but
won 3–1 Galatasaray in the small final and won the 3rd place.

Since 1995,, AEK Athens has also a women volley club team, which has been advanced to the
Final of the Greek Cup (2011).

AEK Athens H.C.

AEK Athens H.C. is also another growing department at AEK.The department Handball AEK founded
by a decision of the General Assembly of AEK on July 12, 2005.

On August 5, 2005, the Greek Handball Federation accepted a merger through absorption of the association's Board of handball GA Ilioupolis with section Handball Sports Union of Constantinople.

In 2007 AEK HC was 3rd in A1 and gained the first participation in European Cups.

0n 31st May 2009, AEK HC won the Greek Cup in Serres.

On 26th February 2011, AEK has been advaned to the quarter-final (best 8) of European Challenge Cup,
by defeating Sporting Lisboa.

On 7th May 2011, AEK won the Greek Championship, by defeating PAOK 22-23 in Thessaloniki.

Titles

  • Greek Championship

Winners (1) : 2011
  • Greek Cup

Winners (1) : 2009

Finalist (1): 2011

AEK Athens Futsal

Main Article:AEK Athens Futsal
AEK Athens Futsal
The department of Futsal AEK, established in 2008 by a merger with "Enosi Geraka Futsal team" and participated in B'Ethniki , where finished 1st at the regular season and 2nd after play-off games. However, for the period 2009–10 AEK futsal club is playing again at B'Ethniki, due to a decision taken...



The department of Futsal AEK, established in 2008 by a merger with "Enosi Geraka Futsal team"
and participated in B'Ethniki (second division), where finished 1st at the regular season
and 2nd after play-off games.
However, for the period 2009–10 AEK futsal club is playing again at B'Ethniki, due to a
decision taken by E.P.O. (Greek Football Federation), forbitting all team mergers generally.
AEK Futsal Club terminated at second position of B'Ethniki after play-off games of April 2010
and gained the participation at A'Ethniki (first division) for the period 2010–11 and has now
been advanced to the semi-final of the Greek Cup (2011).

AEK Athens Fencing


The Department of Fencing AEK Founded in 1996, relying on a trunk athletes beginning in the infrastructure of the club, little by little and gradually ascended the steps and assumed a leading role in the game, while our athletes manning the National Teams. Registrar of the Board throughout this time, and Constantine Beverage while coach since 1997 is Thanassis Tsamaldoupis. The sport of Fencing is separated into three events: Sabre, foil and épée.

Honours:
1 time Greek Team Championships (young women) in 2011

AEK Athens Chess


The Chess part of AEK was founded by a decision of the General Assembly of AEK on July 12, 2005. The department staffed directly by September 3, 2005 is a member of the Greek Chess Federation.
In 2006 AEK Chess Club was Greek Cup Finalist and in 2008 Greek Cup Semi Finalist (3rd place).
Also won the Attica Cup in 2006 and the Attica Rapid Championships in 2006,
2009 and 2010. In 2010 participated at A' Ethniki (1st Division) and took the 7th place.

AEK Athens Cycling


One of the first sections of the AEK athletic club was cycling. M. Kaloudis was a winner in the Balkansgmaes (in 1940 in Bucharest when he was 3rd) and was one of the founders of the Chamber. He first appeared in 1929 and was followed by Petoun, Tarsinian and Krisalis. Another cycling ace was Kouvelis who won the gold medal in the Balkan Games of 1940 in the race of 33 kilometers. Both Kaloudis and his Kouvelis participated in the Olympic Games in London in 1948.

The Olympic Games of 1948 in London, led to the new excursion of AEK In Cycling. At the beginning of the'50s, the sport had blossomed and AEK competed with Panionios and Panathinaikos. The department then had a plethora of skilled cyclists as Davouti, Kouyioumtzis (Athens won the race-Loutraki 1952), Chatziargyri, Georgiadis, Arapi, Barda, Alexis, Tzioti, Barla, Trasian.

HONOURS:

9 times Greek Team Championships in 1961, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1967, 1971, 1974, 1979 and 1981.

1 Men's Cross Country Championship in 2009 (Rovakis)

AEK Athens Boxing


The Board of Boxing founded in 1969 by the Lampidi. From the 1970s, had the first success, but the biggest success for the 'kitrinomavra gloves' came in the last decade, with Tigran Ouzlian, Arthur Mikaelian, Mike Arnaoutis
Mike Arnaoutis
Mike Arnaoutis is a professional boxer in the welterweight division. He is a former WBO NABO Lightweight titleholder.-Career:...

(who is now a professional boxer in the USA). Valerio Chartsislava lead the Society teammates at the National Championships. A.E.K. in Greece has emerged as champion in Boxing

8 times Greek Team Championship: 1978, 1980, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2006, 2008.

AEK Athens Athletics

AEK Athletics club, was established in 1924 and is one of the most successful
departments of AEK.
AEK Athletics Club, were

9 titles Greek Cross-Country Championships (men) (1929, 1957, 1958,
1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964).

2 titles Greek Cross-Country Championships (women) for season (2010, 2011).

1 title Greek athletics closed Championships (women) for season (2011).

1 title Greek athletics Championships (women) for season (2011).

AEK Athens Table Tennis

AEK Athens Table Tennis (Ping-Pong) Club, participated in Greek championships during
the decades of 1950, 1960, 1970 and 1980.
AEK Table Tennis Club acquired the third position, both in men and also in young men
championships in 1959.
In addition, AEK acquired the third position in Greek Cups of 1984 and 1985.
The relevant department of AEK was inactive for almost 23 years (1986–2009), but now
(since summer 2009) is active again.

External links

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