APOEL FC (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Nicosia Nicosia, also known as Lefkosia and Lefkoşa, is the capital and largest city of Cyprus. It is the southeasternmost of all EU member states' capital cities. Nicosia has been continuously inhabited for over 5,500 years and has been the capi ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. APOEL is the most successful football team in Cyprus with an overall tally of 29 national championships, 21 cups, and 13 super cups. APOEL's greatest moment in European competition occurred in the 2011–12 season, when they advanced out of the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the UEFA Champions League (winning a group that included

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Zenit St. Petersburg), then eliminated

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

in the last 16, to become the first Cypriot team to reach the

quarter-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the Champions League. APOEL's European competitions highlights also include appearances in the group stages of the 2009–10 and 2014–15

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

and the group stages of the 2013–14, 2015–16, and 2016–17

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. They marked their most successful UEFA Europa League campaign during the 2016–17 season, when they managed to top their group (along with

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, Young Boys, and

Astana Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

) and eliminated

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

in the round of 32, to reach the last 16 of the competition for the first time in their history. APOEL is the only Cypriot club who have reached the group stages (and the knockout stages) of both major UEFA competitions (UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League). In the 2016–17 season, APOEL drew an average home league attendance of 7,126 and their highest league attendance was 15,462. Both were the highest in the league. APOEL FC is part of the APOEL multi-sport club, which was founded in 1926 and maintains departments for several sports including football,

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

, table tennis, bowling, cycling, archery, swimming and water polo. APOEL is one of the founding members of the

Cyprus Football Association The Cyprus Football Association (CFA) (, ) is the governing body of football in Cyprus and is based in Nicosia. It organises Cyprus's football championships, whose top league is the Cypriot First Division. It also organises the Cypriot Cup, the ...

and also an ordinary member of the

European Club Association The European Club Association (ECA) is an organization that is officially recognised by both UEFA and FIFA as the sole, independent body for football clubs within Europe. History Formed on the merge of the G-14 group with the European Club Fo ...

, an organization that replaced the previous G-14 which consists of major football clubs in Europe.

History

1926–1929: The early years

The club was formed as POEL (, ''Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia) on 8 November 1926. The club's formation came about when a group of forty people, with a common vision, met and set the foundations for creating a football club that would represent the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

residents of the capital and express their deep desire for Cyprus' incorporation (

enosis ''Enosis'' (, , "union") is an irredentist ideology held by various Greek communities living outside Greece that calls for them and the regions that they inhabit to be incorporated into the Greek state. The idea is related to the Megali Idea ...

) into Greece. The meeting took place at a traditional confectionery, owned by Charalambos Hadjioannou, downtown in

Ledra Street Ledra Street ( ''Odos Lidras''; ) is a major shopping thoroughfare in central Nicosia, Cyprus, which links North Nicosia, the part of the city under the control of the ''de facto'' Northern Cyprus, and south Nicosia. It is the site of the forme ...

and the first president of the club was Giorgos Poulias. The first clubhouse was the "Athenians Club" () at the end of Ledra Street. After a journey to the football club in

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

, Egypt in 1927 the General Assembly of 1928 decided the players showed that they were not just good footballers but also excellent track and field athletes. Hence it was decided to create a track and field team in addition to the football team. The name APOEL was adopted to reflect this, with the 'A' standing for 'Athletic'. Soon after a volleyball team and a table tennis team were established.

The 1930s : The first league titles

Cyprus did not have any country-wide league until 1932. Football clubs of the time played friendly matches only. In 1932,

Pezoporikos Larnaca Pezoporikos Club Larnaca (, ''Pezoporikos Omilos Larnakas'') was a Cypriot sports club based in Larnaca with football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1927, the football club joined the Cypriot Championship in 1938, winning it twi ...

organised an unofficial league, the first island-wide league, and it was won by APOEL after defeating

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cyprus, Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL Limassol also maintains a AEL Limassol B.C., men's and AEL Limassol B.C. (women), women's basketball teams, a wom ...

in the final by 4–0. In 1934, there was a disagreement between Trust and Anorthosis Famagusta on the organisation of the fourth unofficial league. APOEL and

organised a meeting for the foundation of a country-wide governing body and an official country-wide league. The meeting took place in APOEL's clubhouse on 23 September and the establishment of the

was agreed. Two years later the APOEL football team celebrated its first

championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

title of the official Cyprus football league. APOEL also won the championship for the following four years, making this a very successful period for the club with 5 consecutive championships (1936–1940).

The 1948 conflicts

Politics, however, would soon spark conflict within the team. On 23 May 1948 the board of the club send a telegram to the

Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics The Hellenic Athletics Federation (Greek: ; abbreviated SEGAS) is Greece's governing body for amateur sport. SEGAS SEGAS was created in 1897 and has been the principal organiser of many international sporting competitions held in Greece. The as ...

(), with the opportunity of the annual Panhellenic Track and Field Competition, which included wishes that "the rebellion" is finished. Several leftist club members perceived the telegram as a political comment on the

Greek Civil War The Greek Civil War () took place from 1946 to 1949. The conflict, which erupted shortly after the end of World War II, consisted of a Communism, Communist-led uprising against the established government of the Kingdom of Greece. The rebels decl ...

and they distanced themselves from the club. A few days later, on 4 June 1948, they founded

AC Omonia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia (; ''Athlitikós Sýllogos Omónoia Lefkosías''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (also Romanization of Greek, transliterated as Omonoia), is a Cyprus, Cypriot professional multi-sport club, esta ...

, which until today is the archrival of APOEL and there has been a traditional animosity between the fans of the two teams.

1955–59 period

More conflicts led to further struggles for APOEL. Athletes belonging to the club frequently participated in national clashes. During the 1955–59 national uprising against the British, many of APOEL's athletes and members of the club were active members of

EOKA The Ethniki Organosis Kyprion Agoniston (EOKA ; ) was a Greek Cypriot nationalist guerrilla organization that fought a campaign for the end of Cyprus#Cyprus under the British Empire, British rule in Cyprus, and for enosis, eventual union with K ...

(the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters), the most outstanding example being the club's track and field athlete Michalakis Karaolis who was hanged by the British colonial authorities. During this period the football team had their closest brush with relegation as most football players were actively taking part in the national struggle.

Triumph in the 1963–64 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

The football team were quickly back to full strength and made their debut in European Competitions (the first not only for APOEL but for any Cypriot team) in 1963, when they faced the Norwegian team SK Gjøvik-Lyn in the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

. Two victories for APOEL over both legs (6–0, 1–0) marked APOEL's successful European debut, as they became the first Hellenic team to progress in a European Competition. The next round against the tournament winners

Sporting Clube de Portugal Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

met APOEL with their heaviest defeat ever (16–1) and put an end to APOEL's European debut.

The successful participation in pan-Hellenic Greek Championship

Other triumphs followed in the early 1970s. In 1973 the domestic double was achieved with coach Panos Markovic. The following year APOEL became the only Cypriot team to avoid relegation from the pan-Hellenic Greek Championship. That was also the last season that the Cypriot champion played in the Greek Football League the following year due to the volatile situation in Cyprus during 1974.

The 1980s: European Cup 1986–87 withdrawal

The 1980s were a relatively fruitless period for APOEL. They have only won two championships (1980,1986), one

cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

(1984) and two super cups (1984, 1986). In 1986 APOEL was drawn against Beşiktaş J.K. for the second round of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

. This was the first time that a Cypriot team faced a Turkish team in a European football competition. The Cypriot government prohibited APOEL from playing against the Turkish team, so APOEL was punished with two years disqualification from any

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

competition. This penalty was later reduced to one-year.

The 1990s: The unbeaten "double" in 1995–96

The 1990s were a successful decade for APOEL with 3 championships (1990, 1992, 1996), 5 cups (1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999) and 4 super cups (1992, 1993, 1996, 1999). The most successful season in the 1990s was 1995–96 in which APOEL achieved a celebratory double while remaining undefeated in the league. The

basketball team Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

won a double on the same season, making this the ideal season for a 70th anniversary celebration.

The formation of APOEL FC Company

APOEL Football (Public) Ltd was established in May 1997, after the decision of APOEL committee. This had a significant effect on the club because it separated the activities of the football team from those of the

sports club A sports club or sporting club, sometimes an athletics club or sports society or sports association, is a group of people formed for the purpose of playing sports. Sports clubs range from organisations whose members play together, unpaid, and ...

. The formation of the company was necessitated by the financial difficulties the team faced at the time. The company began its operations with a capital of CY £600,000.

2000s–2010s: Domestic domination

APOEL is the most successful football team in Cyprus since the 2000s. In seventeen years, the club won twelve championships (2002, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), four cups (2006, 2008, 2014, 2015) and seven super cups (2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2019). In the 2013–14 season, APOEL achieved a historical domestic treble by winning all the Cypriot competitions trophies, the league, the cup, and the super cup. The next season (2014–15), the club won their second consecutive

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

. In the 2016–17 season, APOEL managed to win their fifth consecutive league title and equalled the club's record which was set 77 years before (1936–1940).

2020s

The 2020–21 season marked the end of APOEL's dominance in Cyprus as they failed to make the championship playoffs for the first time in the club's history. The following season, APOEL finished third, missing out on Champions League qualification in the last matchday, and instead qualifying for the Europa Conference League. They missed out on the 2022–23 championship, finishing in second place, despite being first at the end of the regular season. APOEL returned to domestic glory in 2024, winning the championship for a record-extending 29th time. It has been revealed that APOEL has debts of 50+ million euros and so far they are trying to find investors in order to save the club from debts, unsuccessfully.

European ambitions

APOEL's first great run in European competitions came in 2002, when the team was knocked out on the third qualifying round of the

, entered the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

and reached the second round of the competition. The following years, APOEL qualified four times for the

group stages ( 2009–10, 2011–12, 2014–15, 2017–18), and managed to reach the

in the 2011–12 season. The team also participated in the group stages of the 2013–14, 2015–16 & 2016–17

, managing to reach the last 16 of the competition in the 2016–17 season.

APOEL FC as a company

The football department of APOEL is legally owned by APOEL Football (Public) Ltd (), a

public limited company A public limited company (legally abbreviated to PLC or plc) is a type of public company under United Kingdom company law, some Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth jurisdictions, and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is a limited liability co ...

, since 1997. The company's main activity is the management, operation and commercial exploitation of APOEL Football club. The company owns all the rights for the football department under an agreement with APOEL sports club and pays the club CY£100,000 annually for the privilege. The agreement between the company and the club is renewed every five years. The company has 1745 shareholders and besides the football club, also maintains a team boutique (Orange Shop), the APOELFC (FC) magazine and th
apoelfc.com.cy
website among others.

Youth Academy

APOEL's youth academy is a separate legal entity from the football club. They are responsible for the under 21 teams for football, basketball and volleyball and they have their own board of directors and budget. The football academy has produced many quality Cypriot players over the years. Players started from the academy and had great contribution APOEL are: Marinos Satsias, Constantinos Charalambides, Nektarios Alexandrou, Michalis Morfis and Marios Antoniades. All of them have also competed at international level with the

Cyprus national football team The Cyprus national football team (, ) represents Cyprus in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Cyprus Football Association. The team's home ground is the AEK Arena – Georgios Karapatakis, AEK Arena in L ...

while Charalambides and Alexandrou have played for teams in the

Greek Super League The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

in the past.

UEFA Youth League participations

APOEL's U19 team participated for the first time in the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

group stage during 2014–15 season, drawn in Group F alongside

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. APOEL managed to collect only one point after drawing 0–0 with

at home and lost their other five Group F matches. They lost twice to

(2–3 at home, 0–3 away), lost twice to

(0–3 at home, 0–6 away) and also lost to

1–4 away, finishing fourth in their group. The next two seasons, APOEL's U19 team participated again in the

. The 2015–16 season they competed in the

first round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of the Domestic Champions Path, being drawn to face Puskás Akadémia from Hungary. After a dramatic 3–3 draw in the first leg in

, APOEL U19 suffered a heavy 6–1 loss in Felcsút and were eventually eliminated. The 2016–17 season they competed in the

of the Domestic Champions Path, being eliminated by Italian side A.S. Roma after losing 0–3 at home and 1–6 in Italy.

Colours and badge

APOEL's colours are blue and yellow. Blue symbolizes

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

and yellow symbolizes

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion () was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' continued to be used as a n ...

. The logo is a blue and yellow shield with the name of the club written diagonally in blue. After the club won their 20th championship ( 2008–09 season), two stars were added above the logo to symbolize the 20 championship titles (one star for every ten championships won). Other than that, the badge has remained the same since the establishment of the club.

Stadium

APOEL's home ground since 23 October 1999, is the 22,859 seater

GSP Stadium The GSP Stadium () is a association football, football stadium in Strovolos, Nicosia District, Cyprus. Although small by international standards, it is the largest stadium in Cyprus, with a capacity of 22,859 and was opened in 1999. It serves as ...

. It is the largest stadium in Cyprus and they share it with local rivals Omonia and

Olympiakos Nicosia Olympiakos Nicosia (, ''Olympiakos Lefkosias'') is a Cypriot football club based in Nicosia and competes in the . The club was founded in 1931, and is a founding member of the Cyprus Football Association. The club colors are black and green. ...

. Before moving to

, APOEL used as home grounds the Makario Stadium (from 1978 until 1999) and the old GSP Stadium (prior to 1978).

Supporters

APOEL is one of the most popular teams in Cyprus. APOEL fans are right-wing in their majority but there are no strong ties between the organised fans and any political party. That wasn't always the case but during the past years they have actively avoided association with any political party. The main supporter group is PAN.SY.FI (). PAN.SY.FI was founded in 1979 and has branches in all major cities in

and also in other countries. The PAN.SY.FI (and most ultras) wear orange jackets (or T-shirts). The first game they sported the orange jackets was during the first-round game of the 1992–93 championship against

in Makario Stadium. APOEL have reserved the shirt number 79 in honour of PAN.SY.FI. (APOEL Ultras), to denote the year the group was founded, 1979. The club record for ticket sales in a single season is 141,268 (15 matches, home league games only) during the 2010–11 season. The club record for average league games attendance in a single season is 9,582 (13 matches, home league games only) during the 2012–13 season. The club's season tickets sales record was set on season 2014–15, in which more than 8,000 season tickets were sold. APOEL holds the record of the highest home attendance for Cyprus First Division in the game against Omonia with 23,043 tickets for 2002–03 season. The match was held at

on 7 December 2002 and ended in a goalless draw. The club holds also the record of the highest attendance of a Cypriot team for a European Competition game with 22,701 tickets in the match against

for the return leg of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League last 16. The match which was held on 7 March 2012 at

ended with a 1–0 win for APOEL after extra time and 4–3 win on penalties. On 8 December 2009, APOEL fans created another impressive record. More than 6,000 fans of the team travelled to London at Stamford Bridge for the last match of the 2009–10 Champions League group D against Chelsea F.C. which ended in a 2–2 draw. This is the biggest number of fans of any Cypriot team that had ever travelled away from

. A similar record created on 14 February 2012, in APOEL's participation to the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League last 16, when more than 5,000 APOEL fans travelled in France to support their team against

. The match was held at Stade de Gerland and

took a slender advantage into the second leg by winning 1–0. Also, on 4 April 2012, about 4,000 APOEL fans travelled to Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid, to support APOEL against

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

for the return leg of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, in a match which Real Madrid won by 5–2. During the 2009–10 season APOEL sold in total 244,977 tickets for its home matches in all competitions (

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...

, Champions League), which is the biggest number of tickets sold by a Cypriot club in a single season.

Rivalries

Nicosia derby

The Nicosia derby (or the Derby of the eternal enemies) refers to the

local derby A sports rivalry is intense competition between athletic teams or athletes, affecting participants, management, and supporters all to varying degrees. One of the first known sports rivalries occurred in the Roman Empire between the Blues and th ...

matches played between APOEL and Omonia. It is the classic rivalry of the Cypriot football, as the two teams are the most successful and most popular football clubs of the island. The rivalry is also indicative of social, cultural and political differences and originates from 1948 when the board of APOEL sent a telegram to the

(Greek: Σ.Ε.Γ.Α.Σ.), with the opportunity of the annual Panhellenic Track and Field Competition stating its wish for the "communist mutiny" to be ended. Club's players considering this action as a political comment on the

distanced themselves or were expelled from APOEL and a month later they formed Omonia. The first derby was played on 12 December 1953 and ended in a goalless draw.

Current squad

Out on loan

Club officials

Board of directors

Source
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/small>

Personnel

Source
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Technical staff

Source
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/small>

Medical staff

Source
apoelfc.com.cy
/small>

Sponsorship

Main sponsors

* Official shirt sponsor – stoiximan * Official sport clothing provider – Macron * Official host broadcaster – Cablenet * Official back of shirt sponsor – 3CX * Official sponsor – Cyprus airways * Official sponsor – Hogar All Day * Official sponsor – Cyta * Official sponsor – Nurofen * Official sponsor – Relia * Official sponsor – Reanda Source
apoelfc.com.cy
/small>

Managerial history

Last Update: 7 October 2022 * 1931–1933 Antone Jean * 1933–1951

József Künsztler József Künsztler (1897 in Budapest – 1977 in Nicosia) was a Hungarian footballer and manager. He served twice as coach of Panathinaikos F.C. (1928 - 1934, 1936 - 1939) and is the longest-serving coach in the club's history. He won one ...

* 1951–1952 Pambos Avraamides * 1952–1953 Béla Guttmann * 1953–1954 Pambos Avraamidis * 1954–1955 Schwartz * 1955–1956 Hanz * 1956–1958 Kostas Talianos * 1958–1959 Takis Tsigkis * 1959–1961 Vaggelis Choumis * 1961–1962 Andreas Lazarides * 1962–1963 Jesse Carver * 1963–1964

Neil Franklin Cornelius "Neil" Franklin (24 January 1922 – 9 February 1996) was an English footballer who played for Crewe Alexandra F.C., Crewe Alexandra, Hull City A.F.C., Hull City, Stockport County F.C., Stockport County and Stoke City F.C., Stok ...

* 1964–1965 Kostas Talianos * 1965–1966 Gyula Zsengellér * 1966–1967 Lajos Szendrödi * 1967 Lykourgos Archontidis * 1967–1969 Pambos Avraamides * 1969–1970 Jesse Carver * 1970–1971 Andreas Lazarides * 1971–1972 Ray Wood * 1972–1974 Panos Markovic * 1974–1975 Andreas Lazarides * 1975 Panos Markovic * 1975–1976 Andreas Lazarides * 1976–1977 Savvas Partakis * 1977–1978 Keith Spurgeon * 1978–1981 Andreas Lazarides * 1981–1983 Mike Ferguson * 1983–1985 Panos Markovic * 1985–1989 Tommy Cassidy * 1989–1990

Giannis Matzourakis Giannis Mantzourakis (; born 6 June 1949) is a Greek professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. Early life Born in Romania to a Greek father and Romanian mother. His father an Greek pe ...

* 1990–1991

Stanko Poklepović Stanko "Špaco" Poklepović (19 April 1938 – 24 December 2018) was a Croatian professional Association football, football Football player, player and Manager (association football), manager. Poklepović managed a number of teams over 46 years, ...

* 1991–1993 Jacek Gmoch * 1993–1994 Takis Antoniou * 1994–1995

* 1995–1996 Hristo Bonev * 1996

Svetozar Šapurić Svetozar Šapurić (; 28 August 1960 – 27 December 2024) was a Serbian football manager and player. Career Šapurić started out at his hometown club Vrbas, spending eight seasons in the senior squad (1977–1985), before securing a move to ...

* 1996–1997 Jacek Gmoch * 1997

Nikos Alefantos Nikos Alefantos (, 3 January 1939 – 23 June 2020) was a Greek professional footballer and football coach. He is regarded as one of the most innovative football managers of the 20th century, known in Greece for his phlegmatic personality, sho ...

* 1997–1998 Kurt Jara * 1998 Andreas Mouskallis * 1998 Costas Georgiou * 1998–1999 Georgios Paraschos * 1999 Slobodan Vučeković * 1999–2000 Andreas Michaelides * 2000

* 2000 Markos Markou * 2000–2001 Mike Walker * 2001–2002 Eugène Gerards * 2002–2003 Takis Lemonis * 2003 Dušan Uhrin * 2003–2005 Ivan Jovanović * 2005 Werner Lorant * 2005 Marios Constantinou * 2005–2006 Jerzy Engel * 2006–2008 Marinos Ouzounidis * 2008–2013 Ivan Jovanović * 2013 Paulo Sérgio * 2013–2015 Giorgos Donis * 2015 Thorsten Fink * 2015 Domingos Paciência * 2015–2016 Temur Ketsbaia * 2016–2017 Thomas Christiansen * 2017

Mario Been Marinus Antonius Been (born 11 December 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. As a footballer, Been played for Feyenoord, Pisa, Roda JC, Heerenveen, Tirol Innsbruck and Excelsior. He played in an attacking midf ...

* 2017–2018 Giorgos Donis * 2018 Bruno Baltazar * 2018–2019 Paolo Tramezzani * 2019

Thomas Doll Thomas Jens Uwe Doll (born 9 April 1966) is a German professional Association football, football manager and a former Association football, football player. As a player, he played as an attacking midfielder for F.C. Hansa Rostock, BFC Dynamo, Ha ...

* 2019 Loukas Hadjiloukas (interim) * 2019–2020 Kåre Ingebrigtsen * 2020 Marinos Ouzounidis * 2020–2021

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. McCarthy b ...

* 2021 Savvas Poursaitidis * 2021–2022 Sofronis Avgousti * 2022–2023 Vladan Milojević * 2023–2024 Ricardo Sá Pinto * 2024 David Gallego * 2024 José Dominguez * 2024– Manuel Jiménez

Presidential history

APOEL has had numerous presidents over the course of their history. Since the establishment of APOEL Football Ltd, the presidents of the board of directors of the company (chairmen) have assumed all presidential duties for the football club. Here are complete lists of both: Presidents: * 1926–1958 – Georgios Poulias * 1958–1967 – Εfthyvoulos Αnthoullis * 1967–1968 – Michalakis Triantafyllides * 1968–1969 – Takis Skarparis * 1969–1971 – Constantinos Loukos * 1971–1974 – Michalakis Zivanaris * 1974–1975 – Kikis Lazarides * 1975–1983 – Iakovos Filippou * 1983–1988 – Michalakis Zivanaris * 1988–1991 – Andreas Papaellinas * 1991–1992 – Kykkos Fotiades * 1992–1994 – Mike Ioannides * 1994–1996 – Christos Triantafyllides * 1996–1999 – Ouranios Ioannides * 1999–2000 – Dinos Palmas * 2002–2004 – Dinos Fisentzides * 2004–2007 – Yiannos Ioannou * 2007–2008 – Costas Schizas * 2008–2009 – Christodoulos Ellinas * 2009–2011 – Prodromos Petrides * 2011–2012 – Aris Vasilopoulos * 2012–2014 – Christoforos Potamitis * 2014–2016 – Marios Charalambous * 2016–present – Christoforos Potamitis Chairmen: * 1997–1998 – Mike Ioannides * 1998–2000 – Christos Triantafyllides * 2000–2001 – Harris Papanastasiou * 2001–2006 – Prodromos Petrides * 2006–2008 – Kyriakos Zivanaris * 2008–2013 – Phivos Erotokritou * 2013–present – Prodromos Petrides

Former players

List of former players with national team appearances or having won multiple titles with the club: ; Cyprus * Marios Agathokleous (2001–2003) * Takis Antoniou (1972–1986) * Aristos Aristokleous (1990–2001) * Constantinos Charalambides (1997–2004, 2008–2016) * Zacharias Charalambous (2001–2005) * Andreas Christodoulou (1966–1970) * Georgios Christodoulou (1995–2002) * Costas Costa (1989–1999) * Costas Fasouliotis (1990–2000) * Demetris Daskalakis (2000–2008) * Marios Elia (1998–2014) * Stavros Georgiou (2002–2007) * Loukas Hadjiloukas (1987–2000) * Yiannos Ioannou (1981–2000) * Nikakis Kantzilieris (1961–1972) * Constantinos Makrides (2004–2008, 2015) * Costas Malekkos (2001–2005) * Markos Markou (1973–1978) * Costas Miamiliotis (1977–1989, 1992–1994) * Chrysis Michael (2003–2011) * Michalis Morfis (1999–2010) * Marios Neophytou (2004–2007) * Stelios Okkarides (1997–1998, 2001–2007) * Nikodimos Papavasiliou (2002–2003) * Giorgos Pantziaras (1971–1978, 1985–1987) * Nicos Pantziaras (1972–1987) * Koullis Pantziaras (1976–1992) * Andros Petrides (1984–2000) * Marinos Satsias (1995–2014) * Georgios Savva (1949–1955, 1956–1961) * Athos Solomou (2009–2014) * Andreas Sotiriou (1986–1998, 2001) * Andreas Stylianou (1963–1978) * Pieros Sotiriou (2013–2017) * Diomidis Symeonidis (1926–1929, 1934–1935) * Nicos Timotheou (1992–1993, 1994–2001) * Yiasoumis Yiasoumi (1998–2001) ; Albania * Altin Haxhi (2008–2010) ; Algeria * Rafik Djebbour (2014–2015) ; Argentina *

Fernando Cavenaghi Fernando Ezequiel Cavenaghi (; born 21 September 1983) is a retired Argentine professional association football, footballer. He played as a striker (association football), striker who was efficient in front of goal with either foot and from any ...

(2015–2016) * Esteban Solari (2005–2007, 2010–2012) * Tomás De Vincenti (2014–2016) ; Armenia * Romik Khachatryan (2002–2003) ; Australia * Paul Okon (2005–2006) ; Austria * Alfred Hörtnagl (1997) * Christoph Westerthaler (1997) ; Belarus * Renan Bressan (2016–2017) ; Bosnia and Herzegovina * Sanel Jahić ; Brazil * Aílton Almeida (2010–2012) * William Boaventura (2010–2012) * Carlão (2014–2017) * Zé Carlos (2007–2008) * João Guilherme (2013–2016) *

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at A.C. Milan, AC Mil ...

(2011–2012, 2014–2015) * Gustavo Manduca (2010–2015) * Veridiano Marcelo (1998–2000) * Marcinho (2010–2012) * Emerson Moisés Costa (2007) * Marcelo Oliveira (2011–2014) * Jean Paulista (2008–2010) * César Santin (2014) * Marcos Tavares (2007) ; Colombia * Hamilton Ricard (2004–2005) ; Costa Rica * Rónald Gómez (2006–2007) ; Croatia * Ardian Kozniku (1997) ; Czech Republic * Tomáš Votava (2003–2004) ; Denmark * Mikkel Beckmann (2013) ; England * Chris Bart-Williams (2004–2005) * Dave Esser (1982–1983) * Terry McDermott (1985–1987) * Ian Moores (1983–1988) * Gary Owen (1988–1989) ; France * Bark Seghiri (2006–2009) ; Germany * Martin Lanig (2015) ; Ghana * Ebenezer Hagan (2005) ; Greece * Georgios Amanatidis (2003–2004) * Dionisis Chiotis (2008–2015) * Giannis Gianniotas (2016–2017) * Alexandros Kaklamanos (2005–2006) * Michalis Kapsis (2007–2008) * Christos Karipidis (2012–2013) * Christos Kontis (2006–2011) * Nikos Machlas (2006–2008) * Spiros Marangos (2000–2002) * Marinos Ouzounidis (2001–2003) * Anastasios Papazoglou (2014–2015) * Savvas Poursaitides (2008–2012) * Miltiadis Sapanis (2007–2008) * Ilias Solakis (2001–2002) * Alexandros Tziolis (2012–2013) * Georgios Vakouftsis (2002–2005) ; Hungary * József Kiprich (1995–1997) * Kálmán Kovács (1995–1996) * István Kozma (1995–1997) * Barnabás Sztipánovics (2002–2003) * Roland Sallai (2017–2018) * Norbert Balogh (2018–2019) ; Ireland * Cillian Sheridan (2013–2015) ; Israel * Dudu Biton (2013) ; Jordan * Musa Al-Taamari (2018–2020) ; North Macedonia * Boban Grnčarov (2009–2011) * Goran Lazarevski (2000–2001) *

Jane Nikolovski Jane Nikoloski (; born 12 December 1973) is a Macedonian football manager and former player. He played as a goalkeeper. Playing career Club Nikoloski returned from Bulgaria for Sloga Jugomagnat in July 2003. In 2005, he left for Iranian club P ...

(2007–2008) * Milan Stojanovski (2004–2005) * Ivan Tričkovski (2010–2012) ; Morocco *

Mohammed Chaouch Mohamed Chaouch (; born December 12, 1966) is a former Morocco, Moroccan footballer. Club career He played a season for FC Metz and for OGC Nice from 1993 to 1997. International career Chaouch played several games for Morocco national football ...

(1999–2000) ; Netherlands * Joost Broerse (2008–2011) * John van Loen (1998) ; Nigeria * Michael Obiku (2000) * Benjamin Onwuachi (2008–2009) ; Northern Ireland * Tommy Cassidy (1983–1985) ; Norway * John Arne Riise (2014–2015) ; Paraguay * Aldo Adorno (2011–2014) ; Peru * Alfonso Dulanto (1997–1998) ; Poland *

Kamil Kosowski Kamil Piotr Kosowski (; born 30 August 1977) is a Polish Association football, football pundit, co-commentator and former Football player, player who played as a midfielder. Club career Born in Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Kosowski started out pl ...

(2008–2010) * Wojciech Kowalczyk (2003–2004) * Marcin Żewłakow (2008–2010) ; Portugal * Paulo Costa (2009) * Ricardo Fernandes (2005–2008) * Tiago Gomes (2013–2015) * Paulo Jorge (2009–2012) *

Daniel Kenedy Daniel Kenedy Pimentel Mateus dos Santos (born 18 February 1974), known as Kenedy, is a Portuguese retired professional association football, footballer. A wide midfielder or full-back (association football), full-back, he played on the left side ...

(2005) * Hélio Pinto (2006–2013) * Mário Sérgio (2012–2016) ; Romania * Daniel Florea (2006–2009) ; Serbia *

Dragiša Binić Dragiša Binić (Serbian Cyrillic: Драгиша Бинић; born 20 October 1961) is a Serbian former footballer who played for Red Star and was part of their European Cup victory in 1991. He had three caps for the Yugoslavia national footb ...

(1993–1994) * Siniša Gogić (1989–1993, 2000–2002) * Saša Jovanović (2005–2006) * Vesko Mihajlović (1993–1994) * Nenad Mirosavljević (2008–2011) *

(1989–1993, 1995–1996) ; Slovakia * Mário Breška (2009–2010) *

Branislav Rzeszoto Branislav Rzeszoto (born 3 November 1975 in Žilina) is a Slovakian former football goalkeeper. Club career Rzeszoto previously played for MŠK Žilina, FC Spartak Trnava and ŠK Slovan Bratislava in the Slovak Corgoň Liga. He also played ...

(2004–2005) ; Slovenia * Alfred Jermaniš (1996–1997) * Miran Pavlin (2004–2005) ; Togo * Jean-Paul Abalo (2006) ; Tunisia * Tijani Belaid (2011–2012) * Selim Benachour (2012–2014)

Honours

:Source: * Cypriot Championship ** Winners (29) (record): 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, 2023–24 *

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup, formally known as the Cypriot Coca-Cola Cup of First and Second Division () for sponsorship purposes, is a Cypriot knockout football club competition, hosted annually by the Cyprus Football Association. First held in 1934, it i ...

** Winners (21) (record): 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 *

Cypriot Super Cup The Cypriot Super Cup is a Cypriot football trophy, contested in an annual match between the previous season's Cypriot First Division champions, and the Cypriot Cup winners. The match is contested at the beginning of the football season, and is ...

** Winners (15): 1963, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2019, 2024

Records

''Last update: 16 March 2017'' * Record League win: 17–1 vs

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a professional Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the A ...

(4 June 1967) — 1966–67 * Record League defeat: 6–1 vs

Nea Salamina Nea Salamis Famagusta or Nea Salamina Famagusta () is a Cypriot sports club based in Ammochostos (also known by its romanized name, Famagusta), Cyprus. The club is named after Salamis, Cyprus, Salamis (or Salamina), an ancient city near present- ...

(2 May 1998) — 1997–98 * Record European competition win: 6–0 vs SK Gjøvik-Lyn (8 September 1963) —

, Preliminary round 1st leg, 1963–64
6–0 vs

HB Tórshavn HB or Hb may refer to: Academia * H-b index, an extension of the h-index used in determining academic impact * H-B Woodlawn, a secondary education program in Arlington, Virginia, US * Hathaway Brown School, an all-girls private school in Shaker ...

(28 August 1997) —

, Qualifying round 2nd leg, 1997–98 * Record European competition defeat: 16–1 vs

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

(13 November 1963) —

, 1st round 1st leg, 1963–64 * Most consecutive League games unbeaten: 34 — From 18 September 1946 to 23 November 1949 * Most consecutive League games won: 16 — From 21 December 2008 to 11 April 2009 * Most League points in a season: : 3 for win: 83, 2015–16 (full season) — 69, 2008–09 (regular season) : 2 for win: 51, 1976–77 * Most League goals in a season: 91, 2015–16 * Record average League home attendance: 9,582 — 2012–13 * Record League home attendance: 23,043 vs Omonia (7 December 2002) — 2002–03 * Record European competition home attendance: 22,701 vs

(7 March 2012) —

, Last-16 2nd leg, 2011–12 * Most League appearances for club: 371 — Yiannos Ioannou * Most League goals for club : 191 — Yiannos Ioannou * Most European competitions appearances for club: 91 —

Nuno Morais Nuno Miguel Barbosa Morais (born 29 January 1984) is a Portuguese former professional Association football, footballer. Mainly a Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder, he could also appear as a Defender (association football)#Ce ...

* Most European competitions goals for club : 9 —

Aílton José Almeida Ailton is a given name. Notable people with the name include: Arts and entertainment * Ailton Krenak Ailton Krenak (born 1953) is an Indigenous peoples in Brazil, Indigenous writer, philosopher, journalist, environmentalist, and activist of the ...

League and Cup history

IFFHS Club world ranking

Last update: 7 July 2024
Source
IFFHS

References

External links

*
APOEL Athletic Football Club official website
* (archived) {{Superleague Greece teamlist APOEL Nicosia Association football clubs established in 1926 1926 establishments in Cyprus Football clubs in Cyprus Multi-sport clubs in Cyprus Football clubs in Nicosia Unrelegated association football clubs