The PAOK Academy is flourishing and proud, PAOK continues to promote youngsters to higher levels of training in Nea Mesimvria, examines its options for the «little ones» for summer training, is taking care of professional contracts, while several made their professional debuts with PAOK B. Also, our young internationals were plentiful, and with many obligations during the season, they won the Panhellenic school championship, the residents of the Academy House are exemplary, and the scouting department continues to «scour» the country… Right then, time for paokf.gr to take stock of the dream season that was 2023-24.

For PAOK B, the stage was transitional with a change of coach and team, and the season was particularly difficult and demanding, with a lot of anxiety that perhaps did not allow the team to perform at its best levels. The Double-headed Eagle not only avoided relegation (which unfortunately not all the B teams were able to do), but also finished in first place in the play outs with 34 points. What is important for us is that our young players coped, that our young footballers were given time to play, that when we were «liberated», from the threat of relegation, we had the luxury of working on our permanent philosophy, that of training and promoting our players. Alexis Alexiadis and his team dropped the average age of the squad, already preparing the ground for the team’s summer pre-season training, in which other youngsters from the Under-19’s, who are already training at PAOK B until June 8th, will also be promoted during their …holidays.

The Under-19 side coached by Petros Tsiapakidis (with assistant coaches Thanos Hatziathanasiou and Ebe Hagan) lost the Super League championship by a thread, finishing second behind Olympiacos. This season involved three generations of young players from the PAOK Academy, and indeed with a low average age. The «oldies», born in 2004, most of whom are also part of PAOK B (three have the right to participate in matches), the «2005 ones», who as a rule also made up last year’s Under-19’s and the «2006 generation» (the finalists in the thrilling Under-17 final of last season). Most of them are internationals – which obviously applies to all of our age categories – with, among other things, participation in the EURO Under-19 Championships in Malta in the summer, performances from a multitude of European tournaments and youngsters who are effectively trained at the PAOK Academy from a very young age.

The Under-17 squad coached by Dimitris Orfanou and Stelios Bikas (the generation of 2007) won the Super League title by beating Olympiacos 1-0 in the Final Four. Including the two Final Four games, the Under-17’s recorded 24 wins, two draws and two losses, while scoring 90 times and conceding just 22 goals.

The Under-16’s coached by Vassilis Mittas and Panagiotis Dimitriadis (the generation of 2008 and last year’s champions in the Under-15 category) participated in two competitions this season, the MFCA Cup and the MFCA A’ division championship. In the league, they finished in third place, while it is noteworthy that they recorded the second best attack (61 goals) and the second best defence (31 goals) of the league.

The Under-15 (2009) side under the guidance of Savvas Konstantinidis and Kosmas Vakoufaris emerged as champions in the Super League, beating Olympiacos 1-0 in the final and making it back-to-back titles in this age category. It should be noted that they also won the championship undefeated with 20 wins, 69 goals and only seven conceded (including the two games of the Final Four). The same team also participated in the championship of the Greek Federation of Greek Orthodox Churches in the Under-17 category (with opponents two years older than them), which they also won by winning 3-0 in the final against Makedonikos.

The Under-14’s (2010) coached by Antonis Krinitsa and Anthis Savvidou lost on penalties (0-0 regular time) to Aris’ Under-15’s in the final of the MFCA Under-15 championship.

As for the Under-13’s (2011) of Lefteris Kanata, they secured fourth place in the corresponding category of the MCFA championship.

International tournaments

For the PAOK Academy, international tournaments are like oxygen, they are essential for the training of young players, and valuable for the experiences they offer competitively. They are also life journeys and lessons that remain indelible in their memories. Let’s take a quick look back at the … kilometers we traveled during the 2023-24 season.

The Under-16’s won the Istria Cup in Croatia and lost on penalties to Hajduk Split in the final of the Utsikten Elite Cup in Gothenburg, Sweden..

The Under-15’s won the «Panagiotis Katsouris» international tournament and are leaving within days for Malmo, Sweden to play in the Malmo Trophy tournament.

The Under-14’s were ranked 6th in the Epe Tournament in the Netherlands, among 32 teams, and second (among 16 teams) in the Internationales C Junioren Turnier in Germany.

The Under-13’s won the «Panagiotis Katsouris» tournament and the Macedonian Road to Salonica Cup tournament, and they are preparing for a tournament in the Netherlands..

The Under-12’s came 9th in the Seesing Tournament in the Netherlands and within days are leaving again for Serbia and the Dragan tournament.

Professional contracts

The stability of the plan and the process also requires a reward for the effort, obviously also «protection» of our investments, hence PAOK chooses to tie down their youngsters with professional contracts when the time is right. From the beginning of 2023, therefore, PAOK made sure to renew, expand, and also sign contracts with a not inconsiderable number of our young footballers.

Of the «eldest», Dimitris Tsopouroglou (2002) has a contract until 2025, Vasilis Grosdis (2002) renewed until 2025, Argyris Darelas (2003) until 2025, Ahmad Ibrahim Nader (2003) until 2026.

Regarding those born in 2004, Dimitris Monastirlis will belong to PAOK until 2027, Lambros Smyrlis until 2025, as well as Giorgos Koulouris, Marios Sinanai, Victor Rumiantsev, and Thodoris Kalogiros all signed up until 2026.

Also, the generation of 2005 has professional contracts – to be precise contract renewals until 2026 – for Dimitris Kottas, Konstantinos Goumas, Charalambo Georgiadis, who was loaned to Sampdoria, Alexandros Adams, Taxiarchis Filon and Nikos Deligiannis.

From the generation of 2006, among the professionals are now Vassilis Papageorgiou, Konstantinos Polykratis, Stathis Panikidis, Marios Kalaitsidis and Dimitris Hatsidis, who signed contracts until 2026. The same generation also includes Grigoris Politakis, Maximilian Scznauczer, who signed a contract in July 2022 with effect until 2025 and 2026, respectively.

As for those born in 2007, Stathis Beleris (until 2025), Anestis Mythos, Dimitris Bataoulas, Eddie Dunga, Giorgos Kosidis and Konstantinos Vyrsokinos (until 2026) are professionals. Yiannis Karagiannidis (2007), also signed a professional contract until 2026.

Finally, our youngest professionals, born in 2008, are Dimitris Berdos and Traianos Mokris, who signed until 2026. Obviously there will be more to come…

New additions

The foundation is stable, of course, with the players who have been training for a number of years at PAOK and like every year, the «raw materials» were enriched in the 2023-24 season as well. And so, the details:

One addition to the Under-19’s in forward Christoforos Galtsev (2006).

Four youngsters were added to the Under-17’s, born in 2007. Yiannis Karagiannidis (defender) came from Danaos Kozani, Antonis Theodosiadis (midfielder) from Athletici Enos Kozani, Stavros Paschalidis (goalkeeper) from Ethnikos Asteras Pylaias and George Daularis ( defender) from Shooters.

One year younger (2008) are the children who came to the Under-16’s, and six of them have joined. Giorgos Lelekas (defender) from Bembides, Michalis Papadopoulos (midfielder) from Heraklis Zygos, Antonis Aretis (forward) from Ajax Stars, Dimitris Lazaridis (defender) from Pro Soccer Academy, Konstantinos Tolios (defender) from Doxa Petrousa and Konstantin Maligin (goalkeeper) from FC Forte.

There were many new faces also among the Under-15’s (born in 2009). From Asteras Mesolongiou the midfielder Aurelios Sefa from Poseidonas Igoumenitsa the striker Dimitris Mentis from PAOD, the defender Nikos Telidis from the Pro Soccer Academy, the midfielder Christos Demiris from Katerini FC, the striker Giannis Topalidis, and from Ermilius of Chalkidas, midfielder Konstantinos Mishkos.

New blood in the Under-14’s and those born in 2010 came in the shape of Dimitris Karapantazis (midfielder) from the German Academy, Theodoros Vlachopoulos (defender) from Renaissance Panorama, Vangelis Vertkas (attacker) from PAS Florina, Vasilis Xefteris ( goalkeeper) from PAOD and Marvin Gadzi (striker) from Bebides. In the Under-13’s (2011), the new face was Vassilis Giannidakis (attacker) who came from Athlopolis Football Club.

There were nine additions to the Under-12 (2012) side. Alexandros Nisiotis (attacker) came from AMS Marathon Kalamaria, Kyriakos Hatzichidiroglou (defender) from Olympian Katerinis, Aristos Kalliantzas (midfielder) from PAOK Stavros, Polychronis Doumbis (attacker) from Telemachus Alexandria. Athanasios Theodoropoulos ( striker) from Bembides, Petros Angelakis (attacker) from PAOK Serron, Serafim Koukoutzelis (attacker) from Ethnikos Sochos, Eustathios Melissas (midfielder) from PAOD and Marios Tsotas (attacker) from AE Evosmou.

The Under-11 squad welcomed five youngsters, born in 2013. They are Konstantinos Karantalis (midfielder) from IEK DELTA 360, Michalis Salpingidis (attacker) from Ethnikos Evosmos, Nikos Tsarouha (midfielder) from Diaplasis, Vassilis Babaous (defender) from the Babies and Athanasios Argyropoulos (middle) from Atromitos Ptolemaidas. Also, for the Under-10’s (2014) Albion Pepa and Antonis Leontiadis joined from the Dinos Kouis academy. In the Under-9 (2015) category, Christos Tosnaridis (2015), Dimitris Christodoulou joined from Art Soccer School, Christos Kalliantzas from PO Malakopi, Angelos Kalesis from the Mantoulidis schools, and Dimitris Samlidis from Bempides.