AEK entered the decade, essentially closing one of their most successful historical periods, since this season was the last year of Loukas Barlos at the management of the club. That was the second championship since the establishment of the professional football in Greece. AEK did not compete in any UEFA competitions this year, thus they played in the Balkans Cup instead.
AEK with their veteran player and 1963 champion with the yellow-black jersey, Miltos Papapostolou on the bench started ideally the league achieving a 6 wins in a row. Among others, they beat PAOK away and Olympiacos at home, as a result they were named by many as favorite for the title early on. It was noteworthy that AEK set an all time ticket record at home, after 36,766 tickets were sold in the league game against Panathinaikos.[1] However, the continuation was not proportionate. AEK, although they finished the championship having by far the best attack with 63 goals and Dušan Bajević as their top scorer with 12, were betrayed by their mediocre defensive performance.
The second round of the championship was not good for the team, culminating in the derby with Olympiacos at Karaiskakis Stadium. AEK went down in the match having 2 points less than the first Olympiacos and were looking for the victory that would bring them on the top of the table. Nevertheless, they play a terrible game and a disastrous second half, where they conceded 5 goals in 27 minutes and experienced one of the worst defeats in their history by 6–0. However, the defeat and the match was overshadowed by the tragic events at gate 7 of the stadium, where the fans, trying to leave the field, were trapped and many were trampled, resulting in the death of 21 people and the injury of more than 50 people.[2] At the end of the season AEK finished at the second place five points behind Olympiacos, but were not qualified for any European competition, carrying a ban from the previous season.[3]
In the Cup, AEK eliminated Egaleo in the first round and the title-holder, Kastoria in the second round. Afterwards, they eliminated Panathinaikos at the round of 16 and Aris in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals they were drawn against PAOK and were eliminated with 2 defeats without scoring a single goal.[4]
"I do not want to take from AEK, I just wanted to give. I am not an investor and I probably do not have a place in modern football. I thank God for the moments he gave me at AEK. This club is the most important thing I've had in my life"[5]
Statements of Loukas Barlos on leaving AEK
In the Balkans Cup, AEK were placed in the group with Velež Mostar and Flamurtari. Since all three teams finished on par with 2 wins and 2 defeats, Velež Mostar were qualified to the final of the institution, since they had a better goal.[6]
At the end of the season, after seven years of owneship, Barlos left AEK Athens as a result of the dire financial situation that came from his involvement with the club, but also due to his inability to adapt to the new model of professional football, fearing alienation through the professionalism that was entering into the field of football. Moreover, Dušan Bajević, one of the stars of the team, left with him as well.[7]
NOTE: The players are the ones that have been announced by the AEK Athens' press release. No edits should be made unless a player arrival or exit is announced. Updated 14 June 1981, 23:59 UTC+3.
Note: The biggest football tragedy in Greece occurred at the end of the game when 20 fans of Olympiacos and 1 of AEK died in their effort to get out of the gate 7 of the Stadium where they found the door closed and were trampled by passing fans.[2]
Note: Match held at Karaiskakis Stadium due to the inappropriateness of the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium which had damages caused by a strong earthquake at 24 February.
The list is sorted by competition order when total clean sheets are equal and then alphabetically by surname. Clean sheets in games where both goalkeepers participated are awarded to the goalkeeper who started the game. Goalkeepers with no appearances are not included.
