P.O.K.

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P.O.K. stands for Podosfairikes Omades Kentrou, which is Greek for Central Football Clubs, meaning the football teams of Athens. The term stems from an event in 1927, when Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens did not participate in the Greek Championship after disagreements with the Hellenic Football Federation. The main reason had to do with the Championship's financial status. HFF decided that the league's revenues would be equally divided between the teams that participated, however Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and AEK denied to do so. Later they decided to form a group called P.O.K. and during that season they played friendly games with each other, since HFF erased them.

Even though P.O.K. does not technically exist anymore, the name is often used due to the dominance of the three "former P.O.K." clubs in the National A Division. It is an extremely rare occurrence for a team outside the former P.O.K. clubs to finish in the top three of the Championship and when that happens it is said that that team "broke the P.O.K.". Since 1928, only Aris, AE Larissa and PAOK have managed to conquere the Greek Championship, apart from the P.O.K. teams. PAOK is the team that has managed to break the P.O.K. the most times, and also the team to last accomplish it, finishing 3rd for the 2003/04 season, leaving AEK in fourth place.