title, the Macedonia championship () and participated in the Panhellenic Championship, finishing 2nd. The 1937 team included: Sotiriadis, Vatikis, Goulios, Kontopoulos, Bostantzoglou, Panidis, Glaros, Kritas, Ioannidis, Kalogiannis, Koukoulas, Kosmidis, Apostolou, Vafiadis, Vasiliadis, Anastasiadis, Moschidis, Tzakatzoglou, Zakapidas. On 28 May 1939, PAOK competed for first time in a Greek Cup final against AEK Athens and were defeated 2–1 at Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium. The following season, PAOK won the Northern Greece Championship and reached the two-legged final of the Panhellenic Championship, but they lost 5–3 on aggregate to AEK. The declaration of the Greco-Italian War caused mobilization in Greece and ended every sport activity. PAOK football players recruited to Hellenic Army and two of them died on duty. Goalkeeper Nikolaos Sotiriadis and left defender Georgios Vatikis. They are both among the four Greek footballers who took their last breath on the front. The others were Spyridon Kontoulis of AEK and Mimis Pierrakos of Panathinaikos. Georgios Vatikis, who was the first Greek athlete to fall on the Greek-Italian front, served as a warrant officer. He was 22 years old when he died in Battle of Morava–Ivan. After his death, Vatikis was honorarily promoted to lieutenant and awarded the Silver Cross of Valour and the Homeland of Gratitude. Nikolaos Sotiriadis, who played from 1932 until 1940 for PAOK, died on 28 January 1941 in Kleisura, fighting with the rank of Sergeant for the 5th Infantry Regiment. He was 33 years old. Macedonia Football Clubs Association Championships (1946–1959) After the Second World War, in the early 1950s, PAOK Academy was created by the Austrian coach, Wilhelm (Willi) Sefzik, and was known as the "chicos of Willi". From the newly founded academy sprang some great football players of the period, such as Leandros Symeonidis, Giannelos Margaritis and Giorgos Havanidis. In 1948, PAOK won the Macedonia Championship for second time in history, and then participated in the final phase of the Panhellenic Championship where they were ranked 3rd. PAOK footballers dedicated the title to the memory of team captain, Thrasyvoulos Panidis, who had lost his life (18 February 1948) in the civil war few days before. Panidis played for PAOK since 1930 and had 122 appearances. In 1950, they emerged once again champions of Macedonia, and the following year (1950–51), the team reached for second time the final of the Greek Cup, but lost 4–0 to Olympiacos at Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium. During the summer transfer period of