from the stands of the guest fans and was taken to the hospital. He claimed that he was unable to continue and the game never finished (The result was 1–1). The team was penalized with −3 points in the league table.. Amateur players and volunteers were called to offer their services.. The course was naturally very poor and the team risked with the relegation to the 4th National.. Halfway through the season appeared on the scene the name of Nikos Sotiroulis, a local businessman who by that time was the club's one and only sponsor. Along with the unforgettable friend, the late Giorgos Katsogiannis and supporting factors of Amateur AEL predominantly Elias Fasoulas and Zissis Helidonis, he fought the first negative judgments and vindicated, when on 8 March 2003 he became the owner of the team with a cost of 116,000 euros in an auction that was held the previous day and in which he was the only candidate! The club a year later, was renamed to AEL 1964 FC (under the special conditions imposed by the law of special clearance) and celebrated its return to the second division. Some months before, on 1 June 2003, the team survived the relegation in the Fourth National and thereby dissolve, in the last game of the championship against Niki Volos, winning 1–0. Although the most crucial and exciting match in the team's history was the one before, that was held in Chania, where the "crimsons" tie 3–3 and stayed alive, condemning the hosts. The new period started then vigorously and with one and only target, the promotion, which was achieved after an exhausting marathon of 38 games...On 30 May 2004, at Alcazar, AEL sealed the second place and the ticket to the higher category (which was virtually and "ironically" ensured by the victory from 1–0 at ILTEX Lykoi just a week before, in the same ground and almost two years after the incident with the Assistant referee), crashing with 5–1 the already "doomed" Pontiakos Nea Santa, while the chant "We are coming back" was rocking the crowded stadium... Coached by Takis Parafestas, with players such as Katsaras, Ziagkas, Kyparissis, Kehagias, Theodosiadis, Kontodimos, Lazorik, Paleologos, and a new upsurge of the fans that followed everywhere, the team persuaded that was really coming back . The one who left, and was the initiator and founder of this effort was Nikos Sotiroulis, who after a