AEL Football Club (), also known by its full name Athlitiki Enosi Larissas (), simply called AEL or Larissa, is a Greek professional football club based in the city of Larissa, capital of Greece's Thessaly region. Founded in 1964, it is directly associated with the city of Larissa and its representation. The club's emblem, is a rising horse and its colors are crimson and white. It is the only team outside the two major Greek cities (Athens and Thessaloniki) to have won the Greek Championship, which happened in the 1987–88 season. AEL has also won the Greek Cup twice (1984–85 and 2006–07) and came runners-up in the Cup finals of 1982 and 1984. This record places the club among the top teams in the history of Greek football. They play their home games at Alcazar Stadium, the club's initial homeground that was renovated in the summer of 2020, with a capacity of 13,108 seats. The team competed in the Greek Super League, the first tier of the Greek football league system, until its relegation in May 2021. History Athletic Union of Larissa, The "Queen of Thessaly", the "Queen of the lowlands". AEL, is the club that represents one of the greatest Greek football prefectures. One Championship, two cups, four finals and many important successes at European level compose the temporal profile of the top team of the Greek region. Creation and first years (1964–79) AEL was created from a vision of a powerful team that will represent a city like Larissa in the top category. The 17 May 1964, is referred to as the exact date of its establishment, and then—after a barrage of meetings and discussions held at the Municipal Conservatory of Larissa and a catalytic last meeting of the local county clubs—it was decided the merger of Iraklis Larissa, "Aris", "Toxotis" and "Larissaikos". The Athletic Union of Larissa was now a reality, designed on the background of the Second Division, in shades of crimson and white, (not black and white, as initially decided). Typically, the conversion of the statute of Iraklis Larissa just a few days later—on 22 May—and its adoption on 8 June, gave AEL status, while teams "Dimitra", "Doxa Emporoipalilon" (based on "Aris Larissas" and "Doxa"), "Pelasgiotida" (by "Larissaikos" and "Pelasgikos") and "Olympos" (based on "Toxotis" and "Panthessalikos") completed this football family. On 7 June, Alcazar Stadium, the team's first homeground, recorded the initial friendly game,