«We did ourselves an injustice, but in the end we corrected the situation,» said the players at every opportunity. And if we want to be realistic, what matters in the end is that our young players coped, that we gave playing time to our very young players (Bataoulas and Mythos), and we demonstrated resilience – perhaps even expediency when it was deemed necessary – in what was anyway a senior men’s championship. Of course, extremely important for the philosophy and process followed by the PAOK Academy is that all our players are trained from a young age at PAOK, with the exception of Kanis, Hurtado and Pitsotis.

The recently-completed season was the fourth for the second teams with PAOK and AEK continuing (Asteras AKTOR B was also added), in contrast to Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, who were relegated last season. Now, of course, PAOK are the only one of the Big 4 that did not experience relegation, and therefore dissolution.

The year began with a new – to a large extent – ​​squad and a new technical team, with a stable goal of course and fixed expectations for the education of the youngsters of the PAOK Academy, who are preparing for senior men’s football. The squad was obviously renewed, as a logical continuation of the youngsters who grow up and «move up», and was enriched with Jorge Hurtado, Dimitris Pitsotis and our old acquaintance Giorgos Lagondidis. The coaching duo of Apostolis Papavassiliou and Dimitris Taxidis started the championship with good omens and attractive football, but when a slump and a series of negative and disappointing results occurred, changes were made with Nikos Karageorgiou taking over the team.

In the regular season of the championship, PAOK finished in seventh place with 20 points from 18 matches, while in the Play Outs mini-league that followed (eight games), they took first place with a final total of 23 points. In their total matches, they recorded nine wins, six draws and 11 losses. In particular, in the Play Outs, they had three wins, four draws and one loss.

The top scorer was Hurtado with 10 goals, followed by Kanis with five, Gitersos with three, Kottas and Smyrlis each had two goals and Hatsidis, Bataoulas, Goumas, Grosdis and Lagonidis each scored once. Tsaousis leads in assists with four, Lagonidis, Tsopouroglou and Smyrlis had two each, and Kanis, Filon, Goumas, Grosdis and Rumiantsev all had one each.

The most appearances were recorded by Sinanai (29), second was Tsopouroglou with 26, Grosdis, Lagonidis, and Filon each made 23 appearances, Tsaousis and Kanis had 22, and Hurtado, Balomenos and Smyrlis all made 20 appearances.

The team will continue to train at the Souroti sports center until June 12, with the technical staff testing some players in parallel, while when the U-19’s obligations (cup final) are completed, the younger players will also be integrated into the training.

Preparations for the new season are expected to start on July 28.

Next season: AEL and Kifisia now belong to the Super League, Nestos Chrysoupolis, Anagennisi Karditsa, Hellas Syrou and Markos were promoted from the Third Division to the Super League 2, while Diagoras, Ethnikos Neo Keramidio, AEK B and Panachaiki were all relegated.

The organizers have already announced that the new championship will start on September 14, without, however, having decided whether it will have a unified and pan-Hellenic format or whether it will continue to be held in two groups. Also, in all probability, Olympiacos will create a new B team (we remind you that they were relegated) and will replace AEK B.

The 20 teams, therefore, that have the right to participate in the 2025-26 season championship are: Athens Kallithea, Anagennisi Karditsas, Aigaleo, Asteras AKTOR B, Hellas Syrou, Ilioupoli, Kavala, Kalamata, Kampaniakos, Lamia, Makedonikos, Marko, Nestos Chrysoupolis, Niki Volos, PAOK B, Olympiacos B, Panionios, PAS Giannina, POT Iraklis Fournoi Veneti, Chania.

PAOK B Profile

Goalkeepers: Konstantinos Balomenos, Dimitrios Monastirlis, Vasilios Nikolakoulis, Evangelos Kiatos, Ahmad Nanter

Defenders: Marios Tsaousis, Georgios Lagonidis, Vasilios Pasachidis, Marios Sinaiai, Konstantinos Polykratis, Nikolaos Deligiannis, Vasilios Kitsakis, Konstantinos Kastidis, Dimitrios Kottas, Dimitrios Pitsotis, Taxiarchis Filon, Dimitrios Bataoulas

Midfielders: Vasilios Grosdis, Dimitrios Tsopouroglou, Theodoros Kalogiros, Viktor Rumiantsev, Georgios Koulouris, Konstantinos Goumas, Maximilian Schnautzner

Forwards: Jorge Hurtado, Hisham Kanish, Ioannis Gitersos, Dimitrios Hatsides, Anestis Mythou, Nikolaos Spyrakos, Lambros Smyrlis, Alexandros Adam

* Note that at the beginning of the season the squad also included Ricardo, Bradonijc, Tasiouras and Selimaj.

Technical staff

Technical Director: Ioannis Savvidis

Team Manager: Dimitrios Saraidaris

Head Coach: Georgios Kostikos

Coach: Nikolaos Karageorgiou

Assistant Coach-Video Analysis: Ioannis Vlachos

Fitness coach: Mert Isbilir

Goalkeeper Coach: Dimitrios Kryoanas

Rehabilitation Coach: Dimitrios Petrakis

Doctor: Argyrios Karavelis

Physiotherapists: Stavros Terzanidis, Dimitrios Pagotos

Minders: Vasilios Papadopoulos, Iakovos Galinos