AEK H.C.

Greek handball club From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

AEK Handball Club is the handball department of the major Greek multi-sports club A.E.K. It was established in 2005 and it is the most successful Greek club in European handball competitions, as it won the European Challenge Cup in 2021 and was also a runner-up in 2018 and 2025. The club is commonly known in European competitions as AEK Athens HC.

FullnameAEK Handball Club
Nicknames
  • Énosis (Union)
  • Kitrinómavri (Yellow-Blacks)
  • Dikéfalos Aetós (Two-Headed Eagle)
  • "Magkes" (Hotshots)(unofficial nickname only used for AEK's handball team)
Founded2005; 21 years ago (2005)
ArenaG. Kassimatis Indoor Hall
Quick facts Full name, Nicknames ...
AEK
Full nameAEK Handball Club
Nicknames
  • Énosis (Union)
  • Kitrinómavri (Yellow-Blacks)
  • Dikéfalos Aetós (Two-Headed Eagle)
  • "Magkes" (Hotshots)(unofficial nickname only used for AEK's handball team)
Founded2005; 21 years ago (2005)
ArenaG. Kassimatis Indoor Hall
Capacity1,000
PresidentStamatis Papastamatis
Head coachAlexandros Alvanos
LeagueHandball Premier
2024–252nd
Club colours   
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Home
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
Away
Website
Official site
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History

The department Handball of A.E.K. was founded by a decision of the General Assembly of A.E.K. on 12 July 2005.

On 5 August 2005, the Greek Handball Federation accepted a merger through the absorption of the association's Board of Handball GA Ilioupolis with AEK Handball Club.

During the period 2006–07, AEK Handball Club acquired the 3rd position in A1 (Greek Men's handball championship) and gained participation at European Cups for the first time.

During the period 2007–08, AEK participated in EHF Cup (European Handball Federation Cup) and was eliminated by Dinamo Baumit Bucuresti in the second round.

On 31 May 2009, with Nikos Georgantzoglou as president, AEK won the first Greek handball cup winning Filippos by a score of 33–31 in Serres.

For the period 2009–10 AEK participated at EHF Cup Winners' Cup.[1]

For the third round of EHF Cup Winners' Cup, AEK HC played against BSB Izmir on 14 November 2009 in Athens (losing 24–29) and on 21 November 2009 in Smyrni (drawing 22–22). During the period 2009–10, AEK HC terminated at 4th position of A1, gaining its European participation for the 2nd consecutive time and for 3rd in general. In addition, AEK HC participated in the final four of Greek men's handball cup on 29 May 2010 in Lamia, but the semi-final game against PAOK did not take place due to fan "fights".

For the second round of the European Challenge Cup (2010–11), AEK HC won HC Dinamo Minsk 31–25 in Athens and lost 32–27 in Minsk and therefore AEK has been advanced to the top 16 teams. For the third round (phase of 16), AEK defeated Sporting Lisboa at penalties. AEK lost 27–23 in Lisboa but won 27–23 in Athens and so the game went on penalty-kicks, where AEK advanced to the top 8 with the final score of 32–27. For the Quarter-Final (phase 8), AEK played against Partizan of Beograd and was disqualified.[2]

On 7 May 2011, AEK won the Greek handball championship through the playoffs and became champion for the first time in their short history. AEK needed only the win against PAOK at Thessaloniki and was losing by one goal (22–21) 30 seconds before the final whistle but with great will and power scored twice (the final goal at the exact second of the final) and gained the first championship of its history just 6 years after its establishment.[3] AEK participated in the first round of the EHF Champions League for the period 2011–12 and also in the first round of Challenge Cup, losing to Lions (Holland).

On 17 March 2012, AEK participated in the final game of the Greek men's handball cup against PAOK but lost the game 26–24. AEK participated to the EHF Cup for the period 2012–13 but was eliminated by Diomidis Argous in the first round, losing both games at Argos and Athens.

On 3 March 2013, AEK won the second Greek handball cup in its history, winning PAOK by a score of 27–23 in Kerkyra (Corfu).[4] The same year on 1 June 2013 AEK won the second Greek handball championship against Diomidis.[5]

On 19 March 2014, AEK won the third Greek handball championship in its history, winning Diomidis 18–16 in Athens.[6]

On 29 March 2015, AEK participated in the final of the Greek men's handball cup for the fifth time in a row, against PAOK, but lost the game by a score of 27–29. The team finished third in the Greek handball championship.[citation needed]

On 14 and 20 May 2018, AEK HC played the final games of EHF Challenge Cup 2017–18 and became one of the three most successful teams in Greek handball (including Diomidis Argous and Filippos Verias) in European achievements.[7] In 2020, AEK won its third Greek Championship.[8]

On 23 May 2021, AEK HC won the fourth Greek handball cup in its history, winning PAOK by a score of 24–22 in Kozani. On 30 May of the same year, AEK HC won the first EHF European Cup in its history by winning the Swedish club Ystads IF, this way AEK HC became the most successful Greek club in European handball competitions.[9] AEK won its fourth Greek Championship on 6 July 2021 celebrating a historic treble.[10]

At the start of the 2022–23 season, the club made several changes in the first-team squad due to last year's unsuccessful results. The first-team changes of the summer transfer period helped AEK to finish at the top of the league in the regular season. The club was drawn to play against Olympiacos after qualifying for the championship finals through the regular season. In an exciting match series, which ended 3-2 in favor of AEK, the club was crowned champion for the fifth time.[11][12]

In April 2025, AEK handball club lifted its fifth Greek handball cup winning ESN Vrilissia by a score of 43-21 in SUNEL Arena at Athens.[13]

Kits

More information HOME ...
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More information AWAY ...
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Honours

More information Type, Competition ...
AEK H.C. honours aek.gr
Type Competition Titles Winners Runners-up Third place
Continental EHF European Cup 1 2020–21 2017–18, 2024–25 2018–19
Domestic Greek Handball Championship 5 2010–11, 2012–13, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23 2012, 2014, 2018, 2019, 2022, 2024 , 2025
Greek Handball Cup 5 2008–09, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2020–21, 2024–25 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2026
Greek Handball Super Cup 0 2023, 2025
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  •   record
  • S Shared record

Tournaments

  • Official Tournaments
    • 47th International Handball Tournament Struga (1): 2019
    • International Tournament "Andreas Papastamatis" (4): 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023

Unofficial team awards

  • European Treble (HHF League and Cup, and EHF Cup)
    • Winners (1): 2020–21
  • National Double (HHF League and Cup)
    • Winners (2): 2012–13, 2020–21

Performance in international competitions

More information Season, Achievement ...
Season Achievement Notes
EHF Challenge Cup \ European Cup
2010–11 Quarter-finals lost on aggregate by RK Partizan Beograd, 28–22 (L) in Belgrade and 23–24 (L) in Athens
2017–18 Runners-up lost on aggregate by AHC Potaissa Turda, 27–26 (W) in Athens and 33–22 (L) in Cluj-Napoca
2018–19 Semi-finals eliminated on aggregate by Madeira Andebol SAD, 22–30 (L) in Athens and 27–22 (L) in Madeira
2019–20 Quarter-finals drawn against AHC Potaissa Turda but cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Champions defeated Ystads IF on aggregate, 30–26 (W) and 20–24 (W) in the finals at Chalcis
2024–25 Runners-up lost on aggregate by RK Alkaloid, 25–29 (L) in Athens and 10–0 (L) (by forfeit) in Skopje
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The European Cup glory paths

More information Round, Team ...

2017–18 EHF Challenge Cup

Round Team   Home     Away   Aggregate Qual.
R3 United Kingdom London GD 41–21[14] 16–40[15] 81–37
L16 Turkey Göztepe SK 32–23[16] 29–25[17] 57–52
QF Luxembourg Berchem HC 32–25[18] 18–32[19] 64–43
SF Portugal AM Madeira Andebol SAD 23–23[20] 21–29[21] 52–44
F Romania AHC Potaissa Turda 27–26[22] 33–22[23] 49–59

2020–21 EHF European Cup

Round Team   Home     Away   Aggregate Qual.
R3 Kosovo KH Prishtina 37–19[24] 8–41[25] 78–25
L16 Romania CSM București 29–23[26] 28–23[27] 52–51
QF Russia HC Neva SPb 29–27[28] 21–30[29] 59–48
SF Slovenia RK Gorenje 31–29[30] 31–31[31] 62–60
F Sweden Ystads IF 30–26[32] 20–24[33] 54–46

2024–25 EHF European Cup

Round Team   Home     Away   Aggregate Qual.
R2 Italy Junior Fasano 39–26[34] 20–38[35] 77–46
R3 Montenegro RK Lovćen 45–26[36] 31–41[37] 86–57
L16 Slovenia MRK Krka 38–28[38] 25–31[39] 69–53
QF Serbia RK Partizan AdmiralBet 27–22[40] 30–26[41][42] 53–52
SF Bosnia and Herzegovina RK Izviđač 37–28[43] 28–24[44] 61–56
F North Macedonia RK Alkaloid 25–29[45] 10–0[46][47] 25–39
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European competitions record

More information Competitions, Appearances ...
Competitions Appearances Played W D L GF \ GA
1 EHF Champions League 2 4 1 0 3 103–121
2 EHF European League/EHF Cup 6 24 6 0 18 625–703
EHF Cup Winners' Cup 1 2 0 1 1 46–51
3 EHF European Cup/EHF Ch.Cup 8 56 36 3 17 1,656–1,413
Overall 17 86 43 4 39 2,430–2,288
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Last updated: 5 June 2025.
Source: history.eurohandball.com

EHF ranking

As of 7 May 2025
More information Rank, Team ...
RankTeamPoints
33North Macedonia RK Eurofarm Pelister154
34France Fenix Toulouse150
35Greece AEK Athens149
36Norway Kolstad Håndball149
37Slovenia RK Gorenje Velenje148
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Last updated: 3 May 2025.
Source: eurotopteam.com

Season by season

More information Season, Division ...
Season Division Place Cup Super Cup Europe
2005–06A1 Ethniki8th
2006–07A1 Ethniki3rd
2007–08A1 Ethniki8thEHF Cup R2
2008–09A1 Ethniki7thWinner
2009–10A1 Ethniki4thFinal-4EHF Cup R3
2010–11A1 Ethniki1stFinalistEHF Challenge Cup QF
2011–12A1 Ethniki2ndFinalistEHF Champions League QS
EHF Cup R2
2012–13A1 Ethniki1stWinnerEHF Cup R1
2013–14A1 Ethniki2ndWinnerEHF Champions League QS
EHF Cup R3
2014–15A1 Ethniki3rdFinalist
2015–16Handball Premier9thEHF Challenge Cup R3
2016–17Handball Premier3rd
2017–18Handball Premier2ndEHF Challenge Cup Finalist
2018–19 Handball Premier 2nd Finalist EHF Challenge Cup SF
2019–20 Handball Premier 1st Final EHF Challenge Cup QF
2020–21 Handball Premier 1st Winner EHF European Cup Winner
2021–22 Handball Premier 2nd Finalist EHF European League GS
2022–23 Handball Premier 1st Final-4 EHF European Cup
2023–24 Handball Premier 2nd Finalist EHF European League GS
2024–25 Handball Premier 2nd Winner EHF European Cup Finalist
2025–26 Handball Premier TBD Finalist
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  • In the 2019–20 season, the Greek Cup final against Diomidis Argous and the EHF Challenge Cup quarterfinal against Potaissa Turda were canceled due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Players

Squad for the 2025–26 season[48]

Transfer History

More information Transfers for the 2025–26 season ...
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Team officials

Staff for the 2025–26 season[52]
More information Pos., Name ...
Pos.Name
General ManagerGreece Efstathios Papachartofylis
Team ManagerGreece Ioannis Antalis
Head coachGreece Alexandros Alvanos
Assistant coachPortugal Rafa Ribeiro
Goalkeeper coachGreece Evangelos Raspitsos
Personal trainerGreece Georgios Vavetsis
PhysiotherapistGreece Stylianos Lekkas
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Notable former and current coaches

Greece

Rest of Europe

List of former and current players

Greece

Rest of Europe

Africa

Americas

  • Brazil Patrick Andre Toniazzo Lemos (2020–24)[125]
  • Brazil Leonardo Domenech de Almeida (2022–23)[126]
  • Brazil Denys Alessandro Da Silva Barros (2026–)[127]
  • Brazil Guilherme Peixoto (2026–)[128]
  • Brazil Matheus de Souza Albuquerque (2026–)[129]
  • Brazil Vinicius Perin (2026–)[130]
  • Brazil Guilherme Torriani (2026–)[131]

Asia

Presidential history

More information Period, Name ...
Period Name
2005–2006 Greece Costas Stamatiadis
2006–2009 Greece Nikos Georgantzoglou
2009–2011 Greece Dimitris Chatzichristos
2011–2012 Greece Costas Papadimitriou
2012–2014 Greece Dimitris Lazopoulos
2014–2016 Greece Alexis Alexiou
2016– Greece Stamatis Papastamatis
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References

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