AEK used to changing residence
With AEK set to leave the OAKA, AGONAsport looks back at the different stadiums which the club has used since 2003.
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The 16-year stay at the OAKA appears to be rapidly approaching its climax. In the coming weeks, AEK are aiming to complete their move to the Georgios Kamaras Stadium in Rizoupoli, where they will compete in the 2020/2021 season until their Agia Sofia Stadium is ready next summer. Rizoupoli is a small neighborhood located directly next to Nea Filadelfeia.
AEK have lived without their own arena since the summer of 2003 when the historic Nikos Goumas Stadium was demolished. For the vast majority of those years, the Kitrinomavri have played their football at the Olympic Stadium in Marousi, but the club couldn’t use the venue in the 2003/2004 campaign as it underwent a renovation for the Olympic Games.
Let’s take a look at the stadiums which AEK have used as their home since 2003, with the exception of the OAKA:
NEA SMYRNI, ANO LIOSIA, TAVROS AND LEOFOROS ALEXANDRAS
AEK initially began the 2003/2004 domestic campaign in Nea Smyrni. Nevertheless, they didn’t stay there for long, switching to Ano Liosia after a bitter 1-0 defeat to Olympiacos at Panionios’ ground in October. As a result of major incidents between fans against Olympiacos, the Kitrinomavri were hit with a three-game stadium ban, subsequently beginning their stint in Ano Liosia with a 3-0 triumph over Proodeftiki behind closed doors.
However, due to their next two home games coinciding with Akratitos’ matches, AEK had to temporarily use different arenas away from Ano Liosia. AEK comfortably defeated Xanthi 3-0 at an empty Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium before playing to a dour 1-1 draw against Kallithea at a rather unsuitable stadium in Tavros:
The Alpha Ethniki game against Xanthi wasn’t the only time when AEK used the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium as their home stadium during that particular season.
AEK took the decision to play all of their European games at Panathinaikos’ stadium, defeating Grasshoppers 3-1 at Leoforos Alexandras in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League before hosting Deportivo, Monaco and PSV in the group stage. Sadly for AEK, they failed to win a single match in the group phase of Europe’s premier competition, drawing against Monaco and Deportivo at home while conceding one defeat to PSV:
EXPERIENCE OF PLAYING IN RIZOUPOLI
The Kitrinomavri would then begin the 2004/2005 season at the Georgios Kamaras Stadium before moving into the OAKA.
Since transferring to the OAKA, AEK have still played a handful of games in Rizoupoli, most recently beating Volos NFC 3-2 in the Super League in October 2019:
The match against Volos was played at the Georgios Kamaras Stadium due to the OAKA pitch being replaced.
HOME GAME IN PIRAEUS
Interestingly, in the qualification playoff round of the 2010/2011 UEFA Europa League, AEK even held a home match at Olympiacos’ Karaiskakis Stadium. Leading 1-0 from the first leg, the Greeks managed to hold off the challenge of Dundee United in Piraeus, playing to a 1-1 draw without the support of their fans:
The situation surrounding the usage of the Karaiskakis Stadium was certainly a messy one. After the OAKA was deemed unplayable for the return match against Dundee, AEK planned to host the game in Nea Smyrni, but fan protests prevented that from happening. Amid reports of the match being moved to Volos instead, AEK eventually struck a deal with Olympiacos to use the Karaiskakis, but only Dundee supporters were granted entry to the arena. AEK had feared that fights would have taken place between AEK and Olympiacos hooligans.
In addition, AEK played in Kallithea once in the 2018/2019 season, beating Lamia 2-1 in the group stage of the Greek Cup:
