The 2015–16 season was the 92nd season in the existence of AEK Athens F.C. and the 55th season in the top flight of Greek football. They competed in the Super League and the Greek Cup. The season began on 22 August 2015 and finished on 31 May 2016.

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AEK Athens

2015–16 season
Chairman	Evangelos Aslanidis
Manager	Traianos Dellas (until 20 October) Gus Poyet (until 19 April) Stelios Manolas
Stadium	Athens Olympic Stadium
Super League	4th (After play-offs) 3rd (Regular season)
Greek Cup	Winners
Top goalscorer	League: Ronald Vargas Christos Aravidis (9 each) All: Ronald Vargas Diego Buonanotte Christos Aravidis (11 each)
Highest home attendance	31,121 (vs Olympiacos) (13 February 2016)
Lowest home attendance	2,160 (vs Panelefsiniakos) (2 December 2015)
Average home league attendance	10,650
Biggest win	AEK Athens 6–0 Panelefsiniakos
Biggest defeat	Olympiacos 4–0 AEK Athens
Home colours Away colours Third colours
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AEK Athens finally returned in Super League after 2 years of absence. The team experienced radical changes over the summer. The major signings were André Simões from Moreirense, Rodrigo Galo, Venezuela internationals, Ronald Vargas and Alain Baroja as a loan from Caracas, Dídac Vilà from Milan and Diego Buonanotte, who hundreds of AEK fans welcomed at the airport. The transfers also included the return of Rafik Djebbour after 4 years.

AEK started the championship well, but after a 4–0 defeat from Olympiacos on 20 October, Traianos Dellas resigned as coach after 2 and a half years at the team's bench, with the U20 coach, Stelios Manolas taking over as an interim coach, until a new coach was found.^[1] On 29 October,^[2] the Uruguayan Gus Poyet reached an agreement with the club and on 30 October signed a contract^[3] until the summer with renewal option for two years, a discussion that would take place towards the end of the period. Poyet managed to change the atmosphere within the team and lead the club to an unbeaten streak spanning from the start of 2016 until February. The team picked up 3 important derby wins against PAOK, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos at home all by 1–0 win, with Vargas being the scorer. After a defeat against Atromitos at Peristeri Stadium incidents occurred between the fans.^[4] That resulted in the team to be punished with a 3-point deduction and combined with the defeats that AEK suffered in the away games of the final matchdays, resulted in losing the second place and eventually finishing 3rd in the league. Even though the team's well performance, on 19 April Poyet was sacked, due to conflicts with Dimitris Melissanidis, mainly focusing the club's ambitions and budget.

In the cup, AEK easily passed through their respective group finishng first and eliminated Levadiakos for the round of 16 and Iraklis for the quarter-finals, winning all their games. In the semi-finals they faced Atromitos and with Manolas who had replaced Poyet and was appointed as interim coach until the end of the season, they qualifyed for the cup final, with a 1–0 at home and 1–1 away from home. On 17 May at the Olympic Stadium, AEK made clear of their strong comeback, as they beat the champion Olympiacos by 2–1 for the second time within 3 months and lifted the trophy for 15th time in their history. The same night, celebrations were organised at Nea Filadelfeia by fans, who celebrated with the players and staff.

After the conquest of the cup, Manolas did not sit on the bench of the team again due to overwork, with his assistant, Nikos Panagiotaras sitting in his place. In the play-offs the team did not capitalise on their form in the cup and facing the fatigue that was built up, achieved a 3rd-place finish, thus qualifying for the 3rd qualifying round in the next season's UEFA Europa League.^[5]

• 30 January 2015 Before the campaign was over, André Simões agreed to a two-year contract with AEK Athens which was made effective on 1 July.
• 13 May 2015 Rodrigo Galo signed a two-year contract with AEK Athens.
• 10 June 2015 AEK Athens gets promoted to the Super League.
• 11 June 2015 Stavros Vasilantonopoulos joins AEK Athens from Apollon Smyrnis for 2+1 years.
• 17 June 2015 Rafik Djebbour joins AEK Athens from APOEL for 1+1 year.
• 16 July 2015 Alain Baroja joins AEK Athens from Caracas on a 1-year loan.
• 7 August 2015 Dídac Vilà joins AEK Athens for 2+1 years.
• 20 October 2015 Traianos Dellas quits as AEK Athens coach after 2+1⁄2 years.
• 21 October 2015 Stelios Manolas AEK Athens' under-20 coach will take up the post on an interim basis until a new coach is found.
• 29 October 2015 Gus Poyet reached an agreement with AEK Athens.
• 30 October 2015 Gus Poyet sign contract with AEK Athens The agreement is until the summer of 2016 with a two-year renewal option, a discussion that will take place towards the end of the period.