The Greek Cup 1979–80 was the 38th edition of The Greek Football Cup, or Greek Cup for short.
Contents
Tournament details
Totally 58 teams participated, 18 from Alpha Ethniki and 40 from Beta Ethniki. It was held in 6 rounds, including the final.
For the first time, a provincial club (not based in Attica and Thessaloniki Prefecture), Kastoria, was awarded the cup. They achieved an unexpected victory over Iraklis in the Final with the impressive score of 5-2, while at the same time ensured (for the first and only time until today) their participation in next season's Cup Winners' Cup.
In their way to the Final, Kastoria eliminated Ethnikos Piraeus (winning during extra time and while Ethnikos had 5 post hits), Kavala, Olympiakos Loutraki, Larissa and Makedonikos.
On the other hand, Iraklis eliminated lower division teams Veria, Niki Volos, Almopos Aridea and Panarkadikos to reach the semifinals, where they faced rivals PAOK. Both matches were held in Iraklis home, Lysandros Kaftanzoglou Stadium and Iraklis progressed to the Final with a 2-1 aggregate victory. Before the second match, there was an alleged bribe attempt of a PAOK footballer by Iraklis. Due to those -unproven- charges, Iraklis were eventually relegated to Beta Ethniki.
Earlier, PAOK had eliminated Olympiacos, AEK Athens and Aris, before they were eliminated by fellow-citizen Iraklis. Panathinaikos made an early exit from the cup, following the defeat by PAS Giannina in the Second Round.
From First Round matches, Panathinaikos, Olympiacos, PAOK and Iraklis won Beta Ethniki teams with big scores. Takis Tsironis of Kastoria was elected first scorer with 9 goals, 3 of them in Final. Kastoria success was decisive for some of their players' careers, as Sarganis, Simeoforidis, Papavasiliou and Dintsikos were later acquired by Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and AEK Athens.
Quarter-finals
First legs were played on March 5, 1980. Second legs on April 26.
Semi-finals
First legs were played on May 7, 1980, while second on the 14th.
Final
The 38th Greek Cup Final was played at the Nikos Goumas Stadium, Athens.