The history
Foundation and golden years: 1920–1950
The club was established as a football club ("Podosferikos Syllogos Aris Thessalonikis") by a group of 22 young friends in a coffee bar in Votsi area on 25 March 1914 and given the name Aris from Ares, the ancient god of war. Its nickname was inspired by the two balkan warof 1912–1913, when Greece fought against the ottoman empire before engaging in a war with Bulgaria. In Greek mythology, Aris was a deity who was in conflict with Heracles, the mythological character after which Aris's rival football team, Iraklis, was named. Aris holds a fierce rivalry with PAOK. At first, the club was based on a near the Arch and tomb of Galerius, but after the accession of two minor football clubs in 1919 and 1921 the club's base was moved near to Flemming Street of eastern Thessaloniki. The first stadium was built on the site where Mars Field Park currently lies on Stratou Avenue. Quickly the club became very popular and soon new teams apart from football were established.
During this early stage of football in Greece no professional league was established. Instead, three minor leagues [in Macedonia (E.P.S.M), (E.P.S.A) and Pireus (E.P.S.P)] were created, with the champions of each league competing in a postseason mini tournament to claim the title of the national champion. The first official game was held in 1923 against Megas Alexandros Thessaloniki (Alexander the Great), another Thessalonician team. That year marked the first title, when Aris was named regional champion of Macedonia, something that was repeated next year.
In 1926 the club was renamed "Athletic Club Aris Thessaloniki" to include also other sports than football.
Aris' first major success was between 1927 and 1928 when they won the first Greek beating finalists Atromitos and Ethnikos Piraeus exploiting the abstention from the championship teams of RECs. In the first race on 24 May, the team of Thessaloniki prevailed 3–1 Atromitos, while three days after losing to Ethnikos Piraeus 3–2. In iterative matches played in June in Thessaloniki, Aris won both of his opponents by 3–1 and thus crowned the first champion of Greece. Coach of the team was the German Thomas Kessler, and prominent players of Aris were, among others, Kostas Vikelidis, Savvas Vogiatzis that emerged and top scorer with six goals, Nikos Aggelakis, scorer of the finals with four goals and Dionysis Caltech.
The following year, it was held the final stage of national championships although Aris won the championship title in Thessaloniki, playing two matches barrage against PAOK. The first took place on 12 May 1929 and ended 1–1, while the second was held on 2 June with Aris to beats 4–3, having Nikos Aggelakis scoring a hat-trick.
On 20 April 1929, the first friendly match took place between Aris and Panathinaikos, the "yellows" to defeat 5–4. The second championship came four years later in 1932, only this time his opponents were Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, AEK, Ethnikos, PAOK and Iraklis. Aris managed to collect 22 points in this mini tournament, four more than the second, Panathinaikos, scoring large wins like 7–0 against Panathinaikos, 7–3 against Iraklis and 3–0 versus AEK and Olympiacos in Athens, also new star players emerged, Kitsios, Aggelakis, Bogdanos, Gigopoulos, while Belgian manager De Valer guided effectively the club.
Four years after winning the first Panhellenic title, the "yellows" won the championship. Aris became champion amassing a total of 22 points, four more than second panathinaikos and scoring big wins like 7–0 against Panathinaikos with four goals Maywood, 6–1 on Apollon Athens with six goals in the Aggelakis' first home appearance with the first group of Kleanthis Vikelidis, 7–3 vs Iraklis with four goals Kitsos and away 0–3 over Olympiacos, PAOK and AEK. Leading scorer of the league emerged Nikos Kitsos with 15 goals and Nikos Aggelakis to 14.
Big stars of that team were Kitsos, Aggelakis, Caltech, and Vogdanou Gkikopoulos while coach De Valera.
That same year, the EPO instituted for the first time the Greek Cup, Mars crashing Panathinaikos 7–2 in the quarterfinal. This was followed by victory over Apollon Athens, to reach the final where they lost 5–3 from AEK Athens, losing the chance to win the first doubles.
Aris won their third title in 1946, playing against two teams, AEK from Athens and Olympiakos from Piraeus, champions of the other two minor domestic leagues. Aris beat Olympiacos twice, scoring two goals and conceding none; came to a draw with AEK in Athens and defeated them in PAOK's stadium in Thessaloniki (score 4–1). Aris has not won a championship since the establishment of the First Division (1959).
Up to 1959, when the united First Division was created, Aris managed to finish first 14 times in the Macedonian division.
Modern times (1950–1981)
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Aris' status remained high during this period, which was marked by the construction of the club's homeground, the Kleantis Vikelidis stadium , named after the legendary homonymus player. Before World War II, Aris' homeground was located in the center of the city, near the Thessaloniki international fair, but was abandoned in 1936 in order for the Pedion tou Areos park (Mars Field) to be created. The club managed to buy some land during 1951 in a quarter of the city named Charilau, where the new Stadium was slowly built.
Also in 1959, the tripartite minor league system was abandoned and a new, unified Championship was created.
The club's accomplishments during these years were significant. It was one of the first teams in Greece to qualify for European tournaments. Under the leadership of Alexandros Alexiades, Giorgos Patziaras and Takis Loukanidis.
1970 Cup Winners
Aris earned high placings in the League during the 1960s and 1970s, with apex the 1970 Hellenic cup title against the club's fierce rival, PAOK, in Kaftanzoglio stadium.
In the 1970s, Aris was reorganized and a vast number of young players from Thessaloniki, including Kouis, Foiros, Dramdis, Zindros and Papafloratos led the club. Its most important achievements during that period included a successful 1980 UEFA campaign when Aris eliminated Benfica and Perugia. Aris was also the first Greek club to score a victory both in Italy and Portugal. At home, the team shared first place with Olympiacos at the end of the 1980 campaign, though it lost the title 2–0 in a tie-breaker against the Piraeus club in Volos National Stadium.
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