AEL 1964 FC - History

History

The club was founded as Athlitiki Enosi Larissas in 1964, the result of a merger of four local clubs – Iraklis Larissas, Aris Larissas, Toxotis Larissas and Larissaikos. It was promoted to the first division in season 1972–73, but stayed at that level for only two years. After a second promotion (1977–78) Larissa reached the cup final three times (1982, 1984, 1985) winning the last 4–1 against PAOK. After winning the 1988 championship, the club fell into decline and in 1996 was relegated in the second division after 18 successful years.But the worst was yet to come.In 2002 the club was relegated to the third division, going through bankruptcy. In 2003, the club was forced to change its name to AEL 1964 as a result of the bankruptcy. In the same year the club was saved from relegation to Delta Ethniki in the last game of the season. Next year things were much better as the club finished 2nd in Football League 2 (Greece) and was promoted to Football League (Greece) starting a fine period for Larissa. The 2004–2005 season proved to be very fruitful for the club, as it won the second division (achieving double promotion) and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Greek Cup. AEL has had some good seasons in the First Division ever since. It has been particularly successful in the Greek Cup, winning in 2007 for a second time after 23 years. It has also played in UEFA Cup 2007–08, reaching the group stage by eliminating Blackburn Rovers. In 2008–2009 season the team finished 5th in Super League and won an UEFA Europa League place, but was eliminated in the 2nd qualifying round by KR Reykjavik (1–1,0–2). In 2011 Larissa was once again relegated to Football League (Greece) after a disappointing 14th place finish.