Holy Wednesday of 1984 was holy indeed for PAOK. In a packed Alexandrion, PAOK beat Aris 74-70 for the Greek Cup final, winning the trophy for the first time in his history. Coached by Faithon Mathaiou and with Nikos Stavropoulos being the MVP for the black and white, PAOK showed to mean business very early in the game and got a solid victory that awarded the team the valuable trophy, bringing joy and pride to thousands of fans.
The final of April 18, 1984, will always remain in the fans’ collective memory both for the performance of the PAOK team as well as in regard to how they prepared for the big game. Urged by Faithon Mathaiou, the whole team went to watch the military hit drama “Under fire”, while all the players took very short haircuts, as a testament to their courage and faith in winning the Cup, but also just like they said it at the time… “so that can’t go out in the city should we fail to win the title”.
PAOK was ahead 45-29 at half-time, and won the game 74-70, with the following roster: Polites (8), Manthos Katsoulis (12), Agnelides, Bakopoulos (8), Zacharias Katsoulis (2), Fassoulas (12), Alexandris 96), Stavropoulos (26), Konstantinidis and Polychronakos.
THE ROAD TO THE FINAL
PAOK participated the Greek Cup final for the first time during the 1981-82 season. Despite the fact that the game was held in Alexandrion, PAOK did not make it and lost 63-65 to the defending holder of the title, Panathinaikos. Two years later, PAOK returned stronger and more ready for the trophy.
PAOK entered the fourth round of the competition. His first opponent had been AEK, who he beat rather easily as shown by the final 81-55 score, in a game held in Alexandrion on March 14, 1984. Next it was the quarter-finals and PAOK once again in Alexandrion beat Apollon Patras with an impressive 113-72, on Thursday, March 22, 1984.
Panathinaikos was the last obstacle for PAOK to win his participation in the big final. On April 3, 1984 in Athens, PAOK won 74-67 and qualified for the competition final.
See HERE pics from the final
Watch HERE the video of the final
