Even if many Alpha Ethniki teams eliminated from the first round, afterwards there were very interesting matches.
The match was marked by riots between fans of both teams, one of the first expressions of hooliganism that was imported in Greece in the beginning of 1980 decade.
It is still characteristic that the footballers of both teams played wearing black brassards, Olympiacos players mourning the victims of tragedy of gate 7, and PAOK players in memory of their coach Gyula Lóránt, who had died at the bench on 31 May 1981.
If no goals were scored during extra time, the winners were decided by a penalty shoot-out.
In the first two rounds and the final, which were played as a single match, if the score was level at the end of normal time, extra time was played, followed by a penalty shoot-out if the score was still level.The mechanism of the draws for each round is as follows: