Nikos Goumas Stadium
Nikos Goumas Stadium was a multi-purpose stadium in Nea Filadelfeia, a northwestern suburb of the Athens urban area, Greece. It was used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of AEK Athens. It has since been replaced by Agia Sophia Stadium, that was built on the same location.
Name
The stadium was originally named "AEK Stadium", but was also known as "Nea Filadelfeia Stadium".On 7 September 1991 it was officially named "Nikos Goumas Stadium" after the former club president Nikos Goumas, who contributed to its building and later upgrading.
History
Construction
In 1926 with the actions of the first president of AEK Athens, Konstantinos Spanoudis, a piece of land in the suburb of Nea Filadelfeia, that was originally set aside for refugee housing, was donated as a training ground for the refugees. AEK began using the ground as their training ground and by 1930 the property was signed over to the club.The stadium was finished in 1929 and was officially opened in 1930 in a ceremony with the presence of Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos. The first home game, on 2 November 1930, was an exhibition match against Olympiacos, which ended in a 2–2 draw. The stadium had a horseshoe shape.
Expansion
On 11 March 1955 the first expansion of the stadium began, under the presidency of Nikos Goumas. The expansion included the construction of a large new stand and the installation of turf. The construction works on the stadium lasted about 7 years. The inauguration of the new stand took place on 3 January 1962 with a friendly match against Barcelona. The game, which ended 0–6 for the Catalans, was attended by the heir to the Spanish throne, Juan Carlos and his future wife, Sofia.In 1979 the chairman of the club, Loukas Barlos initiated the constitution of a double-tiered south stand, the addition of which made it the largest stadium in Athens at the time as its capacity was over 35,000 after the construction of this new stand. This stand, and particularly its lower tier known as "Skepasti", became the new home of the AEK ultras who until then resided in the opposite "Gate 21" stand. The stand was inaugurated on October 7 in a league match against Panathinaikos which ended 0–1 for the greens.
On 30 November 1980 the stadium set an attendace record, when AEK sold 36,766 tickets in the league game against Panathinaikos.
From the summer of 1985 until the summer of 1987, the stadium was closed, due to construction works for the renewal of its pitch. During that period AEK moved to the Olympic Stadium.
Renovation
In 1998, AEK Athens decided to install new seats, thereby reducing the stadium's capacity from 35,000 to 24,729.Demolition
Giannis Granitsas, then president of the amateur AEK and temporarily chairman of AEK Athens F.C., decided to demolish the stadium in June 2003. He claimed that the stadium was too old and seriously damaged from the 1999 Athens earthquake. The last match that took place in the stadium was on 3 May 2003 between AEK Athens and Aris. The game ended in a 4–0 win for AEK with Ilija Ivić scoring the last goal at the 77th minute.Plans for new venue
Club's initial plan was to build a modern arena on the same site, including an underground parking and an innovative underground basketball court. These ambitious plans were halted after various objections raised by local residents.After AEK Athens F.C. came under new ownership via Demis Nikolaidis direction, the plan for a stadium in Nea Filadelfeia was abandoned. Nikolaidis started negotiations to build a new football stadium further to the north, on the southern foothills of Mount Parnitha. However, this drew a great deal of controversy with the team's fan club Original 21 who opposed this plan. Nevertheless, the land of the former Nikos Goumas stadium remained under the ownership of AEK and plans for building a new stadium in Nikos Goumas area kept alive.
On October 2, 2013, the AEK Athens board under Dimitris Melissanidis, presented plans for a new stadium to the municipality of Nea Filadelfeia, in order to gain build permission. A new 4 star UEFA rate system stadium was about be built, seating between 32.500 and 35.000 spectators. The cost of the project was initially not published, but AEK had been granted 20 million euros by the Greek government as a contribution for the construction, while the rest of funding would be done privately.
The new stadium is modeled after Hagia Sophia church in Constantinople, since AEK has its roots in the city. The project generated around 1.000–1.500 new jobs and the neighborhood was expected to largely benefit from this endeavor.
Construction of the new Agia Sophia Stadium at the site was completed in October 2022.
Record
| Team | Competition | ||||
| AEK Athens | League | 715 | 570 | 93 | 52 |
| AEK Athens | Cup | 165 | 137 | 17 | 11 |
| AEK Athens | EPSA | 162 | 105 | 29 | 28 |
| AEK Athens | Balkans Cup | 12 | 8 | 2 | 2 |
| AEK Athens | UEFA | 64 | 36 | 17 | 11 |
| AEK Athens | Total | 1,118 | 856 | 158 | 104 |
| Team | Competition | |||||||
| International friendlies | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 17 | 14 | +3 |