I think when I was born I was given three things, a cross, a soccer ball and an AEK Athens jersey, that is just how life is in my family. From my grandfather to my father to my younger brother, being a supporter of AEK Athens was a given, a birthright in many ways. I have never tested the theory, but I am pretty sure that somewhere I bleed yellow and black. Maybe it was the fact that I had to wear #4 for Stelios Manolas when I played football growing up, or was it the Ilias Atmatzidis jersey I had as a goalkeeper that led me to become a fanatic of the club.
Every time we went back to Greece, usually during the summers, there were a couple places that were must visits, a Greek island, the grandparents and Nikos Goumas in Nea Filadelfeia, the home stadium for AEK Athens. Usually seated in the marble section of the stadium, classy let me tell you, the entire family tried to catch one or two games during the summer months leading up to the start of the Greek domestic campaign. Both my father and grandfather were part of the AEK Members Club and invested both their time and money into the club. It was widely assumed that as we grew older, my younger brother and I would also be part of the club because at the time AEK Athens was not just a club, but rather a family, build on the traditions of Greek Constantinople and beautiful football.
However, AEK Athens and their fans have changed in the past ten years. The club is broke and the fans, some could say, are impatient. AEK have not won a championship since 1994 and have rarely contested a title in the years following. Greek football has evolved into the overpriced South American, where clubs like Olympiakos and Panathinaikos spend money recklessly and where coaches have a shelf life of approximately three months. In essence, this is not the same Greek football that I grew up with. Maybe I was young and naive in the past, but now there is a general disconnect between the Greek public and the Greek soccer team.
This last week, Dusan Bajevic, AEK Athens manager and club legend, was attacked after AEK lost a friendly to a 2nd division squad. Let me repeat that, he was attacked after a friendly, not a cup tie, not a European match, but a freaking friendly. The video is actually posted below.
Perhaps I do not have the typical Greek mentality because I was born outside Greece and have lived my entire life outside of Greece, but when this type of news makes the backpages of Yahoo! in North America it is a disgrace and a poor reflection of the state of Greek soccer and more importantly Greek culture. At the end of the day, regardless of where your allegiances may lie to attack the manager for your football club after a friendly defeat is an example of a lack of class that has infiltrated Greek football and more importantly the Greek football fan.
So what's next for AEK Athens. If was the president of the club, I would ban all fans from attending the first six matches of the season as a punishment to their poor behavior. Let's just see what happens next, in the meantime here are the highlights for AEK Athens triumph over Glasgow Rangers in 1994.
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