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2003 Greek Football Cup final

The 2003 Greek Cup final was the 59th final of the Greek Cup. The match took place on 17 May 2003, at Toumba Stadium. The contesting teams were PAOK and Aris. It was Aris' sixth Greek Cup final in their 89 years of existence and PAOK's sixteenth Greek Cup final in their 77-year history.

During the postgame press conference, the manager of Aris, Georgios Firos made a complaint that the final should have been a two-legged tie because PAOK had the advantage of playing on home ground. Kaftanzoglio Stadium, a neutral ground and Thessaloniki's largest stadium was under renovation for the 2004 Summer Olympic games. On 6 September 2002, the HFF Board decided that should the final be held in Thessaloniki—mandated if a local club qualified—Toumba Stadium would serve as the venue, being the second largest in the city. Nine days prior to the match, Aris submitted a request to the Federation demanding that the final be held at either the Kalamaria or Makedonikos stadium—both neutral venues with significantly lower capacities—or that a draw be held between Toumba Stadium and Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium. Both proposals were rejected, as the HFF Board unanimously reaffirmed its September decision on the matter. The manager of PAOK, Angelos Anastasiadis, became the first in the club's history to win the Cup both as a player (in 1974) and manager.

Venue

This was the first Greek Cup final held at Toumba Stadium (Toumba also hosted the first leg of the 1992 two-legged final between PAOK and Olympiacos).

Toumba Stadium was built in 1959 and was renovated five times, in 1998, 1962, 1965, 1972 and 2000. The stadium is used as a venue for PAOK and was used for Greece on various occasions. Its current capacity is 28,701.

Background

Aris had reached the Greek Cup final five times, winning one of them. The last time that they had played in a final was in 1970, where they had won against PAOK by 1–0.

PAOK had reached the Greek Cup final fifteen times, winning three of them. The last time that they had played in a final was in 2001, where they had won against Olympiacos by 4–2.

The two teams had met each other in a Cup final one time in the 1970 final.

Route to the final

Match

Details

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See also

References