of ownership. From there, players leaving and coming, administrations changed without programming, independently on the intentions of everyone.. The fact is that AEL gradually lost its credibility inside and outside stadiums and inevitably led eight years later, in May 1996, to the relegation which was spared in 1991, thanks to the amazing second round course. More generally, although great players such as late Lefter Millos, also unjustly shed, Ştefan Stoica, Paulo Da Silva, David Embé and Vangelis Tsoukalis, wore the shirt and tried to give the team its lost glory, failed nothing more than some effects—flickering, in a prescribed downward spiral that culminated with the painful return to the Second Division after 18 years. Worst of all, however, occurred on 13 September 1997, when the "eagle stopped flying". Giorgos Mitsibonas, the player-symbol of the team, the gifted and talented figure that marked a glorious era, was killed in a car accident, near the village of Giannouli, 2 km outside of Larissa. He was 35 and left behind his wife and two young daughters. Even if he was not by that time an active player of the team, (he was playing in Tirnavos), the whole city said farewell along with him, to a large part of its passion for distinction and victory. The conscientious efforts of local factors to keep the club standing were unsuccessful, the debts piled in between, and no one was able by this time, in the summer of 2001, to save the team... AEL fell for the first time in its history in the Third Division, and even threatened with disintegration, with relegation to the Regional Championship, and had to get to the bottom to lift its head again, taking advantage of the beneficial law of special clearance... Flirting with the 4th national Summer of 2002 : AEL arrives at the worst point in its history. Playing again in the third national, almost without administration and money. The team's preparation for the new season was held in the local Alcazar Park (a place with rustic picnic areas, benches and trails, totally unsuitable for professional football training), near the city of Larissa. The first game was held on 25 August 2002 in Kalochori, Thessaloniki, against the local side ILTEX Lykoi. It was the 84th minute of the match, when the 2nd Assistant referee fell down after he was hit in the back, by an object that was thrown