July 12 – The new owner of Greece’s third biggest club, AEK Athens, has pledged to restore its tarnished reputation following bankruptcy and demotion to the third tier of the country’s football league.
AEK, the biggest supported club after Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, were relegated from last season for the first time since their foundation in 1924.
“This is a day we celebrate a new and difficult start from scratch,” owner Dimitris Melissanidis, who previously served twice as president of AEK between 1992 and 1995, told his first official news conference since taking control of the new set-up.
“It is a new era with AEK starting in the third division so on one hand there is bitterness, but those who will participate the most in this new start are the fans.
“We want to build a club that relies on its supporter base and not any single person or player, this is something that does not exist at any other club in the country. AEK is more than a football club, it is an idea – and that is why we have to succeed.”
The club, which declared bankruptcy and was reported to owe €170 million in taxes, will start next season in the country’s third division, and Melissanidis said promotion would not be a given.
“Of course, although I want to believe that in two years we will be back in the top flight, if it takes six years then what can we do?” he said. “Our aim is to proceed by building a team with young players who can grow with us in our new endeavours and the stadium. The point is to focus on laying a solid foundation for the new team.”
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