APOEL (football club)

APOEL was founded in 1926 by a group of young people who wanted to create a football team where Greek residents would play. Then a group of forty people met in a candy store to create a football club where the Greeks from Nicosia would play. The first president of the club was Giorgos Pulias . The original name of the club was POEL, which is translated as “Nicosian Greek Football Club”, but in 1928 it was decided to expand the scope of its activities to include all sports, as a result of which the name was changed to APOEL (Athletikos Podosfairikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias, Greek Athletic Football Club Nicosia).

In 1934, the Cyprus Football Federation was formed, in the creation of which APOEL played a key role. Two years later, APOEL won its first Cyprus title.

In 1948, the club members were divided into two camps, as their positions with respect to the civil war in Greece were opposite. As a result, supporters of communism separated from the club and created their own team, calling it Omonia . Since then, Omonia has become the principal rival of APOEL, and the fans of both clubs have become their worst enemies. ^[2]

In 2009, he became the champion of Cyprus , gaining a point in the match against Anorthosis (1: 1), APOEL won the 20th gold of the Cyprus Championship. ^[3]

The club successfully played in the Champions League 2011-2012. Being in the same group with such teams as Zenit , Porto and Shakhtar , and being a recognized outsider of the group, he secured a 1/8 Champions League exit for the tour before the finish. On its way, APOEL defeated Zenit with a score of 2: 1 ^[4] , and also tied 1: 1 away from Porto ^[5] , Shakhtar ^[6] . In the fourth match of the group stage, the Cypriots managed to snatch the victory from the Portuguese “Port” with a score of 2: 1 and lead the standings of the group “G”. In the fifth round of the Champions League, APOEL played a 0-0 draw with Zenit and secured access to the playoffs (for the first time in history for the team from the fourth basket). In the sixth round, in the already meaningless match, APOEL lost 0-2 to Donetsk Shakhtar in their field and left the group from first place with 9 points.

In the playoff stage of the Champions League 2011/12, the club got the French “Lyon” by the results of the draw. In the first match, Lyon won 1-0. ^[7] In the second leg, the Cypriot club also beat Lyon 1-0, and won 4-3 in the penalty shootout. The goalkeeper of the Cypriots Dionysios Chiotis repelled the blows of Alexander Lacazette and Michel Bastos, which decided the outcome of the match. ^[eight]

However, in the quarter finals, APOEL lost to Real Madrid 0-3 at home and 2-5 away.

The main rival is Omonia (Nicosia) , the match with which they call the Eternal Derby .

• Champion of Cyprus (28):

1935/36 , 1936/37 , 1937/38 , 1938/39 , 1939/40 , 1946/47 , 1947/48 , 1948/49 , 1951/52 , 1964/65 , 1972/73 , 1979/80 , 1985 / 86 , 1989/90 , 1991/92 , 1995/96 , 2001/02 , 2003/04 , 2006/07 , 2008/09 , 2010/11 , 2012/13 , 2013/14 , 2014/15 , 2015/16 , 2016/17 , 2017/18 , 2018/19

• Cyprus Cup Winner (21):

1936/37 , 1940/41 , 1946/47 , 1950/51 , 1962/63 , 1967/68 , 1968/69 , 1972/73 , 1975/76 , 1977/78 , 1978/79 , 1983/84 , 1992 / 93 , 1994/95 , 1995/96 , 1996/97 , 1998/99 , 2005/06 , 2007/08 , 2013/14 , 2014/15

• Super Bowl of Cyprus (13):

1963, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013

As of September 10, 2018 ^[9]

Rental Players

Note: Flags are indicated as a player may have more than one citizenship according to FIFA rules.

Rent until the end of the season 2018/19

For a complete list of APOEL club players (Nicosia) about which there are Wikipedia articles, see here

• Club official website (Greek )
• Club page on UEFA website