P.A.O.K. H.C.

PAOK
Full name	Panthessalonikios Athlitikos Omilos Konstantinoupoliton Thessaloniki Handball Club
Nickname(s)	Double-Headed Eagle of the North White-Blacks
Founded	1999 (1999)
Arena	Mikra Indoor Arena III
Capacity	1,380
President	Athanasios Katsaris
Head coach	Stelios Seirekidis
League	Handball Premier
2022–23	3th
Club colours
Home Away
Website Official site

PAOK Handball Club is the handball section of PAOK, the major multi-sports club based in Thessaloniki, Greece. PAOK has both men's and women's team. So far, men's team has won 3 Greek Championships and 4 Greek Cups and women's team has won 6 Greek Championships and 7 Greek Cups. Despite its relatively short history, it is considered amongst the most successful departments of the club.

Thessaloniki

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Location of P.A.O.K. H.C.

History

PAOK Handball Club was founded in 1999 after it merged with another club from Thessaloniki, Triton. Stelios Seirekidis, former club's coach, has connected his name with the whole club's history. PAOK was promoted to A1 Ethniki for first time in 2000–01 season. Three years later, they relegated to A2 Ethniki, but they were promoted back to the top-tier level the following season. As the years passed, the team became stronger and they won two consecutive Greek Handball Championships in 2009 and 2010. PAOK defeated Panellinios at the last game of the 2009 play-offs and Doukas at the last game of the 2010 play-offs. In 2009–10 season, PAOK became the second Greek team after Filippos Veria, who reached the EHF Champions League group stage. In 2011, even though PAOK needed only a draw in the last home game in Thessaloniki to secure their third consecutive title, they lost the championship to AEK. In 2012, PAOK won the Greek Cup by beating AEK 25–24 in Patras. In 2015, PAOK claimed the double for the first time overcoming Diomidis Argous in the Greek Championship play-off finals and beating AEK 29–27 in the Greek Cup final held at the P.A.O.K. Sports Arena in Thessaloniki. In 2017, PAOK prevailed over Panellinios with 25–23 in Kozani, winning the Greek Cup for the third time. In 2024, PAOK won 21–20 against Drama and earned their fourth Greek Cup title.

Crest, colours, supporters

Kits

HOME
2016–17	2021–22	2023–24

AWAY
2016–17	2017–18	2023–24

Team

Current squad

Squad for the 2023–24 season

P.A.O.K. H.C.

Goalkeepers 01 Viktor Gigov 16 Eleftherios Papazoglou 34 Georgios Daios Left Wingers 10 Nikolaos Nikolaidis (c) 13 Konstantinos Koukmisis 14 Nikolaos Chatzilias 20 Nikolaos Marinos Right Wingers 09 Dimitrios Papageorgiou 77 Nikolaos Tzortzinis Line Players 08 Anastasios Tsamouridis 19 Chrysanthos Tsanaxidis 22 Ioannis Batzios 25 Konstantinos Chatzidis Left Backs 04 Emmanouil Ladakis 07 Georgios Eleftheriadis 24 Ioannis Kalomoiros Central Backs 21 Nikolaos Koukmisis 27 Danil Bochkarev Right Backs 11 Athanasios Papazoglou 55 Vasileios Kyriakidis

Technical staff

• Head coach: Stelios Seirekidis
• Assistant coach: Dimitrios Pelekidis
• Assistant coach: Vassilis Skandalis
• Physiotherapist: Panagiotis Papadopoulos

Transfers

Transfers for the 2023–24 season

Joining

• Danil Bochkarev (CB) from Aeropos Edessa
• Ioannis Kalomoiros (LB) from AEK Athens
• Ioannis Batzios (LP) from AESH Pylaia
• Konstantinos Koukmisis (LW) from AESH Pylaia
• Dimitrios Papageorgiou (RW) from AESH Pylaia

Leaving

• Milos Mojsilov (GK) to Fejér B.Á.L. Veszprém

Honours

• Greek Championship:
  • Winners (3): 2009, 2010, 2015
  • Runners-up (2): 2011, 2021
• Greek Cup:
  • Winners (4): 2012, 2015, 2017, 2024
  • Runners-up (2): 2013, 2021
• Double
  • Winners (1): 2015

Recent seasons

Season	Division	Place	Notes
2000–01	A1 Ethniki	9th
2001–02	A1 Ethniki	7th
2002–03	A1 Ethniki	7th
2003–04	A1 Ethniki	11th	Relegated to A2
2004–05	A2 Ethniki	2nd	Promoted to A1
2005–06	A1 Ethniki	5th
2006–07	A1 Ethniki	5th
2007–08	A1 Ethniki	4th
2008–09	A1 Ethniki	1st
2009–10	A1 Ethniki	1st
2010–11	A1 Ethniki	2nd
2011–12	A1 Ethniki	3rd	Greek Cup Winner
2012–13	A1 Ethniki	4th	Greek Cup Finalist
2013–14	A1 Ethniki	5th
2014–15	A1 Ethniki	1st	Greek Cup Winner
2015–16	Handball Premier	3rd
2016–17	Handball Premier	5th	Greek Cup Winner
2017–18	Handball Premier	3rd
2018–19	Handball Premier	4th
2019–20	Handball Premier	5th
2020–21	Handball Premier	2nd	Greek Cup Finalist
2021–22	Handball Premier	3rd
2022–23	Handball Premier	3rd
2023–24	Handball Premier	TBD	Greek Cup Winner

European competition

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate	Advance
2006–07	EHF Challenge Cup	R2	RK Vardar	29–34	29–43	58–77
2007–08	EHF Challenge Cup	R2	RK Kolubara	28–31		3rd place
			Great Dane HC London	32–21
			Burevestnik Lugansk	28–32
2008–09	EHF Challenge Cup	R3	Sungul Snezhinsk	23–23	25–25	48–48
		1/8	Știința Bacău	28–31	29–31	57–62
2009–10	EHF Champions League	QR	SPE Strovolos	32–29		1st place
			ZTR Zaporizhia	30–30
		Group Stage	Chekhovskiye Medvedi	25–37	22–46	6th place
			Montpellier HB	23–34	20–46
			SC Pick Szeged	27–26	24–27
			BM Valladolid	27–37	19–38
			HCM Constanța	26–30	23–34
2010–11	EHF Cup	R2	A1 Bregenz	23–31	24–27	47–58
2011–12	EHF Cup	R2	Tatabánya KC	23–27	25–29	48–56
2012–13	EHF Challenge Cup	1/16	IL Runar	31–32	26–36	57–68
2013–14	EHF Challenge Cup	R3	HC Victoria Regia MINSK	26–27	21–28	47–55
2017–18	EHF Challenge Cup	R2	Aloysians Von Taine	39–15	34–17	73–32
		R3	Göztepe SK	29–28	26–35	55–63
2021–22	EHF European Cup	R3	TENAX Dobele	29–24	28–25	57–49
		1/8	CS Minaur Baia Mare	28–27	21–32	49–59
2022–23	EHF European Cup	R2	Sesvete	21–27	24–29	45–56
2023–24	EHF European Cup	R2	Linz AG	25–25	26–27	51–52

EHF ranking

As of 06/12/2023

Rank	Team	Points
126	Granitas Kaunas	37
127	HV Hurry-Up	37
128	P.A.O.K. H.C.	36
129	HC Tallinn	36
130	BSV Bern	36
131	GC Amicitia Zürich	36
132	Belenenses	36

Former club members

Notable former players

• Alexandros Alvanos (2014–2016)
• Petros Boukovinas (2014–2016)
• Vyron Papadopoulos (2003–2009)
• Grigorios Sanikis (2016–2017)
• Jan Komínek (2009–2011)
• István Székely (2006–2007)
• Marko Pejovic (2017–2018)
• Milan Grubanov (2009–2010)

External links

• Official website
• P.A.O.K. H.C. on Facebook