record time of one year. The inauguration event was scheduled for Sunday 6 September 1959 with a friendly encounter against AEK (PAOK prevailed 1–0 with a goal by Kostas Kiourtzis). Prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis's attendance was cancelled at the last minute. However, several ministers of his government were there for the occasion. As for the ball for the first kick-off, it fell at 17:30 off an airplane of Sedes Military Air Base. On inauguration day, 15,000 PAOK supporters packed Toumba Stadium, as that was the stadium's capacity back then. It would increase to 20,000 seats in the following months until it reached a 45,000-seat capacity in the mid-'70s through extensive expansion work. The attendance record remains at 45,252 tickets and was registered on 19 December 1976 in the goalless draw against AEK. In European football, the highest attendance was a 45,200 crowd in the 1–0 win against Barcelona (UEFA Cup, 16 September 1975). First years in Greek National League (Alpha Ethniki) In 1959 the Alpha Ethniki – the precursor of the current Super League – was set up as a national round-robin tournament and the 1959–60 championship was the first nationwide league competition. In the first decade of Greek Alpha Ethniki (1959–1969), PAOK had a top-half finish in every season except from the 10th-place finish in 1961. The best outcome came out in 1963 and 1967 with a 4th-place finish. Notable players of this period were Leandros Symeonidis, Ioannis Giakoumis, Ignatios Mouratidis, Pavlos Papadopoulos, Anestis Afentoulidis and Giorgos Makris. Koudas debut and his two-year absence that fueled Olympiacos–PAOK rivalry Giorgos Koudas was born on 23 November 1946 in Thessaloniki. At the age of 12, he signed his first contract with PAOK and made his debut with the first team on 21 December 1963 in a 1–0 loss to Ethnikos at Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium. Koudas' talent immediately started to excel and in 1965–66 season he made 29 apps and scored 13 goals . On 14 July 1966, PAOK fans were shocked by the news of Koudas' descent to Piraeus, accompanied by his father (who was enraged with PAOK administration for financial reasons) and determined to sign for Olympiacos, who tempted him by offering a much higher annual salary without going into a negotiation with his club. PAOK president Giorgos Pantelakis never gave his consent for the transfer to be completed and for the next 2 seasons, Koudas participated only in Olympiacos