Mimis Papaioannou, one of the leading Greek footballers with a special place in the history of AEK, passed away on Wednesday morning, according to PAE AEK.

The player, whom AEK itself considers the best in its history, lost at the age of 81 a battle that he had been fighting for some time due to serious health problems.

The great striker of the 1960s and 1970s played 61 times for the national team and scored 21 goals.

In AEK he was a landmark from 1962 to 1979, leading his team to victory in five championships (1963, 1968, 1971, 1978, 1979) and three Greek Cups (1964, 1966, 1978). He was also the league’s leading scorer in 1964 and 1966.

AEK mourns the loss of the greatest of the great!https://t.co/v70YzlGy6f

— FC AEK (@AEK_FC_OFFICIAL) March 15, 2023

He was also linked with the Union’s qualification to the UEFA Cup semi-finals in 1976–77, the greatest moment in AEK’s European history when he scored the decisive third goal against Queens Park Rangers in the second leg and also in the quarter-finals. European Cup Final 1968-69

He is AEK’s all-time leading scorer with 289 goals in 566 matches, of which 236 came in 481 matches for the national A team. According to the International Football Statistics and History Service (IFFHS) in 2000, Papaioannou is the greatest player in the history of Greek football.

Papaioannu was born on August 23, 1942 in Imathia, in the refugee village of Nea Nicomedia. There he took his first steps in football before moving to Veria at the age of 17. From the “Queen of the North” he was brought to Athens by AEK in 1962, where he immediately joined up with another great ace of the “yellow-blacks” of that time, Kostas Nestoridis.

But aside from his football skills and success, the Greek football family also had something to say about Mimi’s morals, who leave only friends behind when he leaves, defeated by Alzheimer’s.