Athlitiki Enosi Larissa F.C.
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| Full name | PAE Athlitiki Enosi Larissas 1964 (Athletic Union of Larissa 1964 FC) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Vasilissa tou Kampou (The Queen of Lowland) | ||
| Founded | 1964 | ||
| Ground | Alkazar Stadium, Larissa, Greece | ||
| Capacity | 13,108 | ||
| Chairman |  Konstantinos Piladakis | ||
| Manager | Ioannis Papakostas [1] | ||
| League | Super League Greece | ||
| 2009-10 | Super League Greece, 10th | ||
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AEL 1964 (Greek: Αθλητική Ένωση Λάρισας 1964 - Athlitiki Enosi Larissas 1964), the Athletic Union of Larissa 1964, is a Greek association football club based in the city of Larissa, capital of Greece's Thessaly region. The club is also known, unofficially, as Larissa. It is the only FC outside the Greek capital Athens and co-capital Thessaloniki to have been Greek Champions (1988). They also have won two Greek Cups (1985, 2007) and played in an additional two Cup finals (1982, 1984). This record places AEL amongst the top 5 of Greek Football.
The team currently competes in the Super League Greece.
History
The club was founded as Athlitiki Enosi Larissas in 1964, the result of a merger of four local clubs - Iraklis Larissas, Aris Larissas, Toxotis Larissas and Larissaikos. It was promoted to the first division in season 1972-73, but stayed at that level for only two years. After a second promotion (1977-78) Larissa reached the cup final three times (1982, 1984, 1985) winning the last 4-1 against PAOK. After winning the 1988 championship, the club fell into decline and by 2000 it had been relegated to the third division, going through bankruptcy. In 2003, the club was forced to change its name to AEL 1964 as a result of the bankruptcy. The 2004-2005 season proved to be very fruitful for the club, as it won the second division (achieving double promotion) and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Greek Cup. AEL has had some good seasons in the First Division ever since. They have been particularly successful in the Greek Cup, winning in 2007 for a second time after 23 years. They also played in UEFA Cup 2007-08, reaching the group stage by eliminating Blackburn Rovers. In 2008-2009 season the team finished 5th in SuperLeague and won an UEFA Europa League place, but were eliminated in the 2nd qualifying round by KR Reykjavik (1-1,0-2).
Titles
AEL 1964 is the only countryside based team to win the Greek Alpha Ethniki (now Super League Greece) Championship, when they did so in 1988. The club also won the Greek football Cup twice: in 1985 by beating PAOK FC in the final (4-1) and in 2007 by beating Panathinaikos 2-1. Before that, AEL 1964 made the finals of the Greek Cup twice, losing in both 1982 and 1984 to Panathinaikos.
Greek Cup 2006-07 winners
AEL lifted the 2007 cup for the second time in their history after beating favourites Panathinaikos by a one goal margin[2]. Two goals gave underdog AEL the Cup by stunning their opposition who were in the midst of a disappointing season both nationally and in Europe. The first goal came early in the match as at the third minute AEL won a free kick which was taken by Georgios Fotakis and headed in by striker Jozef Kozlej. Just before the end of the first half Panathinaikos won a penalty and Dimitris Papadopoulos stepped up to make the score even on the 44th minute. As the match was approaching its end Henri Antchouet scored with a strong shot after an excellent long pass from Georgios Fotakis to give AEL the lead. AEL then kept the lead, sealing a glorious day for the unlikely winners. The 10,000 AEL fans deliriously celebrated the goal as the opposing fans felt the disappointment of having to end the season trophyless despite high expectations.
Achievements
Stadium
AEL currently plays at the Alkazar stadium, AEL's home since 1964. However plans have been approved to build a new ground, the AEL Arena at the suburbs of the city(the region is called neapoli). The new stadium's capacity will be 16,000 seats and can be expanded to 20,000. The stadium is currently being constructed at a fast pace and will be the second most modern football stadium in Greece upon completion.
Current squad
- As of 3 February 2010 [3]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Out on loan
Milton Axel Müller (to Ionikos)
Delson (to Olhanense)
Deceased
Antonio de Nigris died of a heart attack on November 15, 2009.[citation needed]
Foreign players
Only five Non-EU Nationals can be registered in the Greek Super league.
Foreign players with an EU passport, such as Argentinian Matías Iglesias who holds an Italian passport, are registered as EU-Nationals.
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EU Nationals |
Non-EU Nationals |
Youth team
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Coaching and medical staff
- Manager: Ioannis Papakostas
- Assistant Manager: Georgios Karagiannis
- Fitness Coach: Christos Mourikis
- Goalkeeping Coach: Christos Michail
- Masseurs: Apostolos Dritsas, Odysseas Pagias
- Chief Scout: Nikolaos Kotsovos
- Youth Team Manager: Konstantinos Katsaras
- Youth Team Assistant Manager: Christos Kapelianis
Managerial history
- Giorgos Donis 2004-2008
- Marinos Ouzounidis 2008-2010
Notable former players
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European competition history
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983–84 | UEFA Cup | 1st Round |  Budapest Honvéd
|
2–0 | 0–3 (a.e.t.) |
| 1984–85 | Cup Winners' Cup | 1st Round | Siófok
|
2–0 | 1–1 |
| 2nd Round |  Servette
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2–1 | 1–0 | ||
| Quarter finals |  Dynamo Moscow
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0–0 | 0–1 | ||
| 1985–86 | Cup Winners' Cup | 1st Round |  Sampdoria
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1–1 | 0–1 |
| 1988–89 | European Cup | 1st Round | Neuchâtel Xamax
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2–1 | 1–2 (0–3 p) |
| 2006–07 | Intertoto Cup | 3rd Round |  Kayserispor
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0–0 | 0–2 |
| 2007–08 | UEFA Cup | 1st Round |  Blackburn Rovers
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2–0 | 1–2 |
| Group Stage (Group A) |
Everton
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1–3 | |||
 Zenit St. Petersburg
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2–3 | ||||
 AZ Alkmaar
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0–1 | ||||
 Nuremberg
|
1–3 | ||||
| 2009–10 | Europa League | 2nd Qual. Round |  KR Reykjavík
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1–1 | 0–2 |
League history
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Sponsors
The main sponsor of Larissa F.C. is On Telecoms, a triple play (telephone, internet and television) telecommunications provider.
References
- ^ Ouzounidis named as new Larissa boss
- ^ Panathinaikos - Larisa : 1-2 Match report from Scorespro.com
- ^ "Current Roster".
- ^ Abbink, Dinant and Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (2003-08-07). "Greece - Final Tables 1959-1999". RSSSF.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Abbink, Dinant and Mastrogiannopoulos, Alexander (2005-05-18). "Greece - List of Second Level Final Tables". RSSSF.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
External links
Official Sites
- Fan clubs
- Monsters Fan Club
- Athens Fan Club
- Alkazar Fan Club
- Vissinokippos Fan Club
- Larissa FC Forum
- AEL FANS
- AEL TV
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