P.O.K. was a coalition, a kind of an athletic trust, of the three main
football teams of the Greater Athens area which lasted until the mid 60's.
The term dates to in 1927, when Olympiacos F.C., Panathinaikos F.C. and
AEK F.C. withdrew from the Greek Championship after disagreements with
the Hellenic Football Federation, mainly over the championship's financial
status. The HFF determined that league's revenues would be equally divided
between all teams that participated. Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and AEK did
not agree with this, and formed a group called P.O.K. During that season, they
played friendly matches with each other. The name P.O.K. is currently used to
allude to the continuing dominance of the three clubs in the National A
Division. Rarely does a team outside these three finish in the top three
spots of the Championship; doing so is called "breaking the P.O.K.". Since
1928, only three other teams - Aris F.C., AE Larissa and PAOK F.C. - have
won the Greek Championship. The last-named is considered the main team
that has "broken the P.O.K.", most recently having finished second in the
2008/09 season, leaving Panathinaikos and AEK in third and fourth places.
Establishment In 1927/28, EEA established the first
football championship in Greece with teams of the three founding football
associations: E.P.S. Athens, E.P.S. Piraeus and E.P.S. Macedonia. Before the
season had begun, EEA ordered other teams not to play against Olympiakos, as
they were punished by the Hellenic Football Federation. Panathinaikos and
AEK did not obey and organized friendly matches. This was reportedly part of a
dispute between these three clubs and the league administration for control of
the league. As a consequence, the EEA dropped all three clubs on October 31,
1927, and organized the league without them. The teams that took their place
were Atromitos FC from Athens, Ethnikos Piraeus from Piraeus, and Aris FC from
Thessaloniki. Activities
The teams that constituted the P.O.K. tried to weaken the EEA, holding their
championship with the participation of some other smaller clubs, although the
majority of clubs continued under the official administration of EEA.
They also organized various tournaments, during which they invited other foreign
football clubs from Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Romania, such as
Ferencváros, OFK Beograd etc. The three clubs shared the costs of hosting as
well as the revenue from tickets sold. The tournaments organized for the
Christmas and Easter holidays were respectively called the Cup and the
Easter Cup. They were financially very successful, as the three clubs were
supported by the majority of fans in the Athens area. These tournaments continued
even after the war when relations with the EEA had again resumed.
The end of conflict In July 1928 the EEA made the decision
to reinstate the three major clubs. However, this decision did not mark the
end of the collaboration since the clubs recognized that they had vested
interests in each other. Essentially, this continued until the establishment
of professional football. Some areas of cooperation were:
The organization of the Easter and Christmas cups by each one of them in
succession with the invitation of foreign clubs until the late 1950s.
Dissuasion of transfers from one club to another and particularly between
Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, even for athletes of other sports, except
football. Mutual help in the elections for the
administration of EEA and the decisions of the Board. The climax occurred in
1976, when the representative of the Olympic committee responsible for the
next to vote saved, from demotion, Panathinaikos through bribery of the
player I. Hercules, which has become known as the "Case of flowers".
Easter Cup The first Easter Cup was organized by
P.O.K. in 1928 with the participation of the Serbian and Romanian Beogradski
benzo corps. It continued, with interruptions, until 1964. Of the 22
total events that took place, one was stopped before completion in 1948. After
Olympiacos, who won the cup 10 times, came AEK and Panathinaikos with four
wins each. Finally, with one win each, were Ethnikos Piraeus, German team
Cologne RT, and Romanian team Progkresoul Bucharest. From 1930 to 1935
there were no events held due to obligations of the top clubs on the
national stage, but the three POK teams continued to play each other in the
stadium of Alexandras Avenue during Easter.
Winners: 1928: Olympiacos
1929: Olympiacos 1930-1933: Not held
1934: Olympiacos 1936: Olympiacos
1937: Ethnikos Piraeus 1938: AEK
1939: Not Held 1940: Panathinaikos
1943: Olympiacos 1944: AEK
1945: Olympiacos 1946: Olympiacos
1947: Panathinaikos 1948: Interrupted
1949: Olympiacos 1950: Not Held
1951: Olympiacos 1952: Panathinaikos
1953: Olympiacos 1954: Panathinaikos
1955: AEK 1956: Cologne RT
1957: Pao 1958: AEK
1959: Olympiacos 1960-1963: Not Held
1964: Olympiacos Christmas Cup
The first Christmas Cup took place in 1943 and lasted for two years. Organized
with the participation of foreign clubs and the three clubs of P.O.K., this
continued with various interruptions until 1962. All in all, there were 17
events held plus one which was stopped before completion. The team with the
most wins was Olympiacos, while AEK emerged victorious three times,
Panathinaikos twice and in the case of two events there was no winner.
Winners: 1943-44 AEK
1945-1946: Not Held 1947: AEK
1948: Olympiacos 1949: Panathinaikos
1950: No Champions 1951: Interrupted
1952: Olympiacos Sources
Athlitiki Echo newspaper Giannis Diakogiannis, "Football", Kaktos
Edition, 1979