By Panos Bletsos
October 8 – Driven by sheer love for their club and despite its demise to amateur status in the third tier of the domestic league, AEK fans have once again shown their support by buying more season tickets than any other club in the Greek game – including European contenders Olympiakos Pirea and PAOK.
A powerhouse of Greek football with 28 domestic trophies to their name, AEK dropped outside the top flight for the first time ever this summer – relegated to the third division in order to liquidate the club’s professional football branch and work off a massive debt.
One of the Greece’s most powerful men, Dimitris Melissanidis, returned to take over the club and promised a fast track back to the top league, as well as the immediate construction of a new high-tech stadium where AEK’s Nikos Goumas home ground used to stand.
The plan seems to be paying off, as AEK announced on Monday they had sold 12,855 season tickets, more than any other Greek club across the league pyramid.
In comparison, Super League champions and Cup holders Olympiakos have sold 12,000 season tckets and sit third in the list, behind UEFA Europa League participants PAOK with 12,820. Panathinaikos have barely reached the 8,000 mark, despite a return to their traditional Apostolos Nikolaidis home.
With the unemployment rate in Greece officially put at at 27%, Melissanidis offered jobless AEK faithful the chance to watch every home game for a total cost of just €50, while also committing to spend half of the season tickets takings on the construction of the new Ayia Sofia football ground.
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