Clubs such as Énosis Tatávlon (Ένωσις Ταταύλων) and Iraklís (Ηρακλής) from the Tatavla district, Mégas Aléxandros (Μέγας Αλέξανδρος) and Ermís (Ερμής) of Galata, and Olympiás (Ολυμπιάς) of Therapia existed to promote Hellenic athletic and cultural ideals.

AEK's first president, Konstantinos Spanoudis (1871–1941),[8] a journalist and associate of the Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos, petitioned the government to set aside land for the establishment of a sports ground.

[9] In 1928, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, and AEK began a dispute with the fledgling Hellenic Football Federation (EPO), decided to break away from the Athens regional league, and formed an alliance called POK.

[11][12] The team boasted a number of star football players like Kostas Negrepontis (a veteran of the original Pera Club of Constantinople), Kleanthis Maropoulos, Tryfon Tzanetis, Michalis Delavinias, Giorgos Mageiras and Spyros Sklavounos.

With the return of Csaknády to the coach's position in 1968 and the addition of some great players like Kostas Nikolaidis, Giorgos Karafeskos, Panagiotis Ventouris, Fotis Balopoulos, Spyros Pomonis, Alekos Iordanou, Nikos Stathopoulos and Andreas Papaemmanouil, AEK easily won the 1967–68 championship.

[17] In the 1968–69 season AEK, under Yugoslav coach Branko Stanković, became the first Greek football club to reach the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup, but were eliminated by the Czechoslovakian Spartak Trnava.

Mavros was an integral part of the team that reached the UEFA Cup semi-final in 1976, but it was his devastating form (top goalscorer in 1978 and 1979 – 22 and 31 goals, respectively) that helped AEK to win the 1977–78 Championship-Cup double.

[22] Under the leadership of Loukas Barlos, the Nikos Goumas Stadium was finally completed with the addition of the iconic covered stand, or Skepasti (Σκεπαστή), which eventually became home to the most fanatic of AEK supporter groups, "Original 21".

[23] The next generation of star players, fresh out of AEK's Academy, made their debut during this period: Stelios Manolas, Spyros Ikonomopoulos, Vangelis Vlachos, and Lysandros Georgamlis.

With new president Michalis Arkadis and Austrian head coach Helmut Senekowitsch, AEK won the 1983 Greek Cup, beating PAOK 2–0 in the newly built Athens Olympic Stadium.

Led by the experienced Katsouranis and Liberopoulos, and featuring Brazilian Júlio César, the club made it to the Greek Cup final for the seventh time in 13 years but finished second in the Championship, and in the process, secured a place in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

On 12 February, AEK parted company with Lorenzo Serra Ferrer after a poor run of form and unsuccessful signings[68] and replaced him with former player Nikos Kostenoglou, on a caretaker basis.

[69] President Demis Nikolaidis and several other managers and chairmen were angered with the court's decision, stating that the Hellenic Football Federation knew about the usage of the illegal player prior to the game and had indeed issued a registration (blue card), but didn't do anything about it.

Nevertheless, Nikolaidis left due to disappointing results and after a controversy with the club's supporters, Original 21,[75] leaving the presidency temporarily to the members of the board of directors, Nikos Koulis, and Takis Kanellopoulos.

[79] Bajević brought some much-needed stability to the club, and performances on the pitch improved vastly towards the end of the season, culminating in AEK's progression to the Greek Cup final against Olympiacos which was played on 2 May 2009, at Athens Olympic Stadium.

[83] To compensate for the departures of Nacho Scocco, Papa Bouba Diop, Sebastián Saja, and Ismael Blanco in the summer of 2011, AEK signed the captain of Iceland Eiður Guðjohnsen, and Colombian international Fabián Vargas.

Manolas managed to guide AEK to a 3rd-place finish in the league qualifying for the playoff round and also to their first piece of silverware since the 2010–11 season by lifting the Greek Cup, defeating Olympiacos in the final 2–1.

The new season started with high expectations by AEK Athens fans as the club signed Dmytro Chyhrynskyi, Hugo Almeida and Joleon Lescott, announcing three of the biggest transfers in their history.

Jiménez also guided the team to a second consecutive Greek Cup final where they faced PAOK in a controversial game marred by pre-match violence between the two sets of fans and a winning goal from an offside position.

[117] The third season back in the top flight began with a tough draw in the Champions League Third qualifying round versus CSKA Moscow, ending in a 3–0 aggregate loss.

[126][127][128] Led by former Panathinaikos' manager, Marinos Ouzounidis, AEK were drawn in Group E against Bayern Munich, Benfica and Ajax but failed to make an impact after losing all six matches.

[129] Key players Jakob Johansson, Lazaros Christodoulopoulos, Sergio Araujo and Ognjen Vranješ, as well as manager Manolo Jiménez, who were essential to the triumphant 2017–18 season, left the club, and most transfers failed to improve the team.

[130] 2017–18 champions, Ognjen Vranješ and Sergio Araujo returned to Athens, and some other notable additions included Portuguese international Nélson Oliveira and Serbian midfielder Nenad Krstičić.

In December, Massimo Carrera was relieved of his duties and replaced by Manolo Jiménez, previous Super League and Greek Cup winner with AEK – his fourth term at the club.

However, his tenure ended early, with AEK Athens being disqualified on penalties by Bosnia and Herzegovina club, Velež Mostar in 2021–22 Europa Conference League second qualifying round.

[142] In the summer transfer window of the 2022–23 season, AEK Athens announced the signing of two famous football players who played as opponents in the 2018 FIFA World Cup final in Russia.

The double-headed eagle is featured in the flag of the various entities of the Greek Orthodox Church, whose headquarters are in Constantinople, and served as Imperial emblem under the Palaiologos dynasty, which was the last one to rule the Byzantine Empire.

In 2004, ex-AEK player Demis Nikolaidis made a plan to progress with the reorganization and financial consolidation, and together with other investors (such as Nicholas X. Notias, Gikas Goumas, Takis Kanellopoulos, a shareholder of Titan Cement, and others) took the majority stake.

These facilities include two lawns with natural turf and one with plastic for the needs of the Academies (which was created in 2013 with a viewing platform for spectators) and all the necessary and well-equipped areas for the preparation of a team with modern instruments.

[187] The rivalry started not only because of both competing for the major titles, but also because of the refugee ancestry of a big part of AEK fans and, by contrast, that Panathinaikos was considered in general the representative of the Athenian high-class society[citation needed].