Greek Football Cup
The Greek Football Cup, commonly known as the Greek Cup is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation.
Because it involves clubs of all standards playing against each other, there is the possibility for "minnows" from the lower divisions to become "giant-killers" by eliminating top clubs from the tournament and even theoretically win the Cup.
The current holders of the Greek Cup are PAOK, who beat AEK Athens 1–0 in the 2019 final
held on 11 May 2019.
History
The Greek Cup under EPO began in 1931. In its early years, entry was optional. Teams were paired against each other by the football associations, without a draw taking place. Later on, for many years, a proper draw took place and also two-legged matches were added.In 1962, there was no cup winner because the final between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos was abandoned.
Until 1964, if the final score was a draw, the two teams played a replay match, while penalties didn't exist. That year, in the semi-final between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos,fans of both teams stormed the pitch, damaged the football field and virtually stopped the game, believing that it was fixed to end in a draw, in order to be replayed for financial reasons. Both teams were ejected from the competition and therefore, in 1964 AEK won the title but the final match was not held. AEK also won in similar fashion in 1966 when Olympiacos did not show up in the final.
In 1965, a new rule was applied, to determine that, if the game was undecided even after extra time, the winner would be determined by the toss of a coin. Panathinaikos won this way in the 1969 final against Olympiacos. Afterwards the penalty shootout was applied.
Until 1971, teams from all over the country, professional and amateur, had been taking part. Each team first played against clubs from its own association and the winners continued in a nationwide competition. Due to this, strong professional sides met amateur neighbourhood teams, sometimes beating them with high scores; a 23–0 win in an Apollon Athens vs. PAO Neas Melandias match on 23 September 1959 remains a record win for the Greek Cup until today. Since 1971, only teams from professional divisions are allowed to participate, while amateur clubs take part in the Amateur Cup.
In 1991 and 1992 the finals were two-legged matches.
It is widely considered that the most exciting match in the history of the competition was the 2009 final between Olympiacos and AEK.
Cup Winners
11 clubs have won the Greek Cup.- 1931–32 AEK
- 1932–33 Ethnikos
- 1938–39 AEK
- 1939–40 Panathinaikos
- 1946–47 Olympiacos
- 1947–48 Panathinaikos
- 1948–49 AEK
- 1949–50 AEK
- 1950–51 Olympiacos
- 1951–52 Olympiacos
- 1952–53 Olympiacos
- 1953–54 Olympiacos
- 1954–55 Panathinaikos
- 1955–56 AEK
- 1956–57 Olympiacos
- 1957–58 Olympiacos
- 1958–59 Olympiacos
- 1959–60 Olympiacos
- 1960–61 Olympiacos
- 1962–63 Olympiacos
- 1963–64 AEK
- 1964–65 Olympiacos
- 1965–66 AEK
- 1966–67 Panathinaikos
- 1967–68 Olympiacos
- 1968–69 Panathinaikos
- 1969–70 Aris
- 1970–71 Olympiacos
- 1971–72 PAOK
- 1972–73 Olympiacos
- 1973–74 PAOK
- 1974–75 Olympiacos
- 1975–76 Iraklis
- 1976–77 Panathinaikos
- 1977–78 AEK
- 1978–79 Panionios
- 1979–80 Kastoria
- 1980–81 Olympiacos
- 1981–82 Panathinaikos
- 1982–83 AEK
- 1983–84 Panathinaikos
- 1984–85 AEL
- 1985–86 Panathinaikos
- 1986–87 OFI
- 1987–88 Panathinaikos
- 1988–89 Panathinaikos
- 1989–90 Olympiacos
- 1990–91 Panathinaikos
- 1991–92 Olympiacos
- 1992–93 Panathinaikos
- 1993–94 Panathinaikos
- 1994–95 Panathinaikos
- 1995–96 AEK
- 1996–97 AEK
- 1997–98 Panionios
- 1998–99 Olympiacos
- 1999–2000 AEK
- 2000–01 PAOK
- 2001–02 AEK
- 2002–03 PAOK
- 2003–04 Panathinaikos
- 2004–05 Olympiacos
- 2005–06 Olympiacos
- 2006–07 AEL
- 2007–08 Olympiacos
- 2008–09 Olympiacos
- 2009–10 Panathinaikos
- 2010–11 AEK
- 2011–12 Olympiacos
- 2012–13 Olympiacos
- 2013–14 Panathinaikos
- 2014–15 Olympiacos
- 2015–16 AEK
- 2016–17 PAOK
- 2017–18 PAOK
- 2018–19 PAOK
- 2019–20
• In the periods 1933–38 and 1940–46, the competition was not held.
• In 1961–62, final match between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos was abandoned.
• In 1963–64 and 1965–66, final matches were not held.
• Statistical paradox : 77 editions of the competition, 76 concluded with a cup winner, 75 finals.
Performance by club
19 clubs have reached the Greek Cup final.| Club | Winners | Runners-up | Winning years | Runners-up years |
| Olympiacos | 27 | 12 | 1947, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1981, 1990, 1992, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2015 | 1956, 1966, 1969, 1974, 1976, 1986, 1988, 1993, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2016 |
| Panathinaikos | 18 | 10 | 1940, 1948, 1955, 1967, 1969, 1977, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2010, 2014 | 1949, 1960, 1965, 1968, 1972, 1975, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2007 |
| AEK | 15 | 10 | 1932, 1939, 1949, 1950, 1956, 1964, 1966, 1978, 1983, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2002, 2011, 2016 | 1948, 1953, 1979, 1994, 1995, 2006, 2009, 2017, 2018, 2019 |
| PAOK | 7 | 13 | 1972, 1974, 2001, 2003, 2017, 2018, 2019 | 1939, 1951, 1955, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1977, 1978, 1981, 1983, 1985, 1992, 2014 |
| Panionios | 2 | 4 | 1979, 1998 | 1952, 1961, 1967, 1989 |
| AEL | 2 | 2 | 1985, 2007 | 1982, 1984 |
| Aris | 1 | 8 | 1970 | 1932, 1933, 1940, 1950, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2010 |
| Iraklis | 1 | 4 | 1976 | 1947, 1957, 1980, 1987 |
| OFI | 1 | 1 | 1987 | 1990 |
| Ethnikos | 1 | 0 | 1933 | |
| Kastoria | 1 | 0 | 1980 | |
| Doxa Drama | 0 | 3 | 1954, 1958, 1959 | |
| Atromitos | 0 | 2 | 2011, 2012 | |
| Pierikos | 0 | 1 | 1963 | |
| Athinaikos | 0 | 1 | 1991 | |
| Apollon Smyrni | 0 | 1 | 1996 | |
| Ionikos | 0 | 1 | 2000 | |
| Asteras Tripoli | 0 | 1 | 2013 | |
| Xanthi | 0 | 1 | 2015 |