| Event | 2002–03 Greek Football Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 17 May 2003 | ||||||
| Venue | Toumba Stadium,Thessaloniki | ||||||
| Man of the Match | Giorgos Georgiadis(PAOK) | ||||||
| Referee | Giorgos Douros (Corinthia) | ||||||
| Attendance | 18,703 | ||||||
| Weather | Fair 21 °C (70 °F) 73%humidity | ||||||
←2002 2004 → | |||||||
The2003 Greek Cup final was the 59th final of theGreek Cup. The match took place on 17 May 2003, atToumba Stadium. The contesting teams werePAOK andAris.[1][2][3][4] It was Aris' sixth Greek Cup final in their 89 years of existence and PAOK's sixteenth Greek Cup final in their 77-year history. During the postgame press conference, Aris managerGeorgios Firos made a complaint that the final should have been a two-legged tie because PAOK had the advantage of playing on home ground.Kaftanzoglio Stadium, a neutral ground and Thessaloniki's largest stadium was under renovation for the2004 Summer Olympic games. TheHFF's regulation for that season's Cup stated that if the final was to be held at Thessaloniki (that would be the case if at least one of the two finalists was a club from Thessaloniki), it would be hosted at the second largest stadium of the city which was Toumba. About a week before the game, Aris demanded from the federation either the final to be played atKalamaria Stadium orMakedonikos Stadium which were both neutral grounds (with much smaller capacity though) or to be held a draw betweenToumba Stadium andKleanthis Vikelidis Stadium (Aris home ground),[5] but both requests were denied due to the tournament's regulation.[6] PAOK manager,Angelos Anastasiadis became the only one in club's history to win the Cup both as a player, in1974 and as a manager.

This was the first Greek Cup final held atToumba Stadium (Toumba also hosted the first leg of the 1992 two-legged final between PAOK and Olympiacos).
Toumba Stadium was built in 1959 and was renovated five times, in 1998, 1962, 1965, 1972 and 2000. The stadium is used as a venue for PAOK and was used forGreece on various occasions. Its current capacity is 28,701.[7]
Aris had reached the Greek Cup final five times, winning one of them. The last time that they had played in a final was in1970, where they had won against PAOK by 1–0.[8]
PAOK had reached the Greek Cup final fifteen times, winning three of them. The last time that they had played in a final was in2001, where they had won against Olympiacos by 4–2.[9]
The two teams had met each other in a Cup final one time in the 1970 final.[10]
| Aris | Round | PAOK | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |
| AO Chania | 6–0 | 4–0 (A) | 2–0 (H) | First round | Leonidio | 1–0 | 1–0 (A) | 0–0 (H) |
| Patraikos | 4–1 | 1–0 (A) | 3–1 (H) | Second round | Olympiacos Volos | 2–0 | 2–0 (H) | 0–0 (A) |
| PAS Giannina | 4–0 | 3–0 (H) | 1–0 (A) | Round of 16 | OFI | 1–1 (a) | 0–0 (H) | 1–1 (A) |
| Ethnikos Asteras | 3–2 | 3–1 (H) | 0–1 (A) | Quarter-finals | Olympiacos | 5–2 | 3–1 (H) | 2–1 (A) |
| Egaleo | 1–1 (a) | 1–1 (A) | 0–0 (H) | Semi-finals | AEK Athens | 2–1 | 1–0 (A) | 1–1 (H) |
| Aris | 0–1 | PAOK |
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| Report |
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![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Aris | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() PAOK |
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Man of the Match:
| Match rules
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