- published: 16 Jul 2016
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PAOK F.C. (Greek: ΠΑΕ ΠΑΟΚ), also known as PAOK Thessaloniki or PAOK Salonika, short for Panthessalonikios Athlitikos Omilos Konstantinoupoliton (Greek: Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Όμιλος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, transliterated Pan-Thessaloniki Athletic Club of Constantinopolitans), and commonly known as PAOK (Greek: ΠΑΟΚ, pronounced [ˈPAOK]), is a Greek association football club, a part of A.C. PAOK, based in Thessaloniki, Greece. They play their home games at Toumba Stadium, with a capacity of 28,703 seats.
PAOK was established on 12 April 1926 by Greek Constantinopolitans who fled to Thessaloniki from the city of Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War. Emblem of the team is a Byzantine-style double-headed eagle.
PAOK currently plays in the top-flight Superleague Greece, which they have won twice (1975–76 and 1984–85). They have won also four times the Greek Football Cup (in 1971–72, 1973–74, 2000–01 and 2002–03 seasons). The team has appeared several times in the UEFA Europa League competition. Their best European performance was in the 1973–74 season, when they reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. PAOK is an ordinary member of the European Club Association.