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Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupoleos

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A.E.K
Full Name Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupoleos
Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως
Official Emblem
Founded April 13, 1924
Nicknames Enosis (Union)
Dikefalos Aetos (Double-Headed Eagle)
Kitrinomavri (Yellow-Blacks)
Anthem AEK Club Anthem
Club colours Yellow and Black
Ground Athens Olympic Stadium
Chairman Demis Nikolaidis
Dimitris Drosos
Websites AEK Official Club Website
AEK F.C Official Website
AEK B.C. Official Website

Athlitiki Enosis Konstantinoupoleos (Greek: Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως), more commonly referred to as AEK or in European competitions as AEK Athens, the Athletic Union of Constantinople, is a sports club based in the city of Athens, Greece.

The club was founded on 13th April 1924 in Athens by Greek refugees from Constantinople (now Istanbul) in the wake of the Greco- Turkish War and subsequent population exchange. The large Greek population of Constantinople , 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 (Ένωση Ταταούλων) from the Tatavla district, Megas Alexandros (Μέγας Αλέξανδρος) of Vathyriakos, and Hermes (Ερμής - Ermis) of Galata existed to promote Hellenic 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, and settled in Athens and Thessaloniki.

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 Ionia, Nea Chalkidona, Nea Smyrni, e.t.c.).

Crest and Colours

AEK’s crest bears the double-headed eagle (Greek: Δικέφαλος Αετός - Dikefalos Aetos) on a yellow background. When AEK was created , the emblem and colours were chosen as a reminder of lost homelands; they represent the club's historical ties to Constantinople.

Departments

The club fields teams in many sports, including athletics, cycling, boxing, chess and fencing, but its most popular teams primarily compete in association football, basketball, volleyball and handball. 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. For the professional and semi-pro teams, see separate entries:

External links



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Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 13:03:10 PDT (GMT -0700)
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