A.P.S. Zakynthos (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

: Α.Π.Σ. Ζάκυνθος, Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Σύλλογος Ζάκυνθος) is a

professional football club, based in

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Za ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

. It was founded in 1961.

History

The club was officially founded in 1969 after the merger of two other local clubs, one of them founded in 1961, explaining the older foundation date on the team's logo. The team had the chance to win promotion to Beta Ethniki in 1973 and in 1975 when they won the local championship of

Ileia Elis or Ilia ( el, Ηλεία, ''Ileia'') is a historic region in the western part of the Peloponnese peninsula of Greece. It is administered as a regional unit of the modern region of Western Greece. Its capital is Pyrgos. Until 2011 it was ...

, thus taking part to the Promotion Play-Offs against other local unions' champions from southern

. However, they failed to be promoted, finishing in their promotion group's 2nd place both of the times while only the 1st teams of each Play - Off group were to be promoted. From the middle of the 1970s until the early 1980s, the team was participating in a new amateur championship named "Ethniki Erasitechniki", which was the 3rd highest level of football at the time in Greece. It is also the first format of the today's

Gamma Ethniki The Gamma Ethniki ( el, Γ΄ Εθνική Ερασιτεχνική Κατηγορία, C National Amateur Division) is the third highest football league in Greece. History The Gamma Ethniki began in 1965 as an amateur championship, while in 198 ...

Championship. In 1982, the club was relegated to newly created, Greek 4th National Division and in 1987 when they were relegated to local championships. The years that followed the club was constantly promoting and relegating between Delta Ethniki and Zakynthos' Local Championship. Finally in 1997, they were able to avoid being relegated again from Delta Ethniki. In the years that followed they kept performing continuously in the league by regularly finishing in the top-half of the table. In 2006, they were promoted for their first ever time to semi-professional

after winning the championship in Delta Ethniki's 6th Group. However, their debut in the division was not ideal and they were relegated again in the 4th tier of

after finishing last in their group in 2006 - 2007 season. They re-won the title in their group the next season, though, and were instantly repromoted to Gamma Ethniki were they stabilized. In 2011- 2012 season the team achieved its highest ever position finishing 3rd in their group and competing in the promotion Play-Offs without success.

Beta Ethniki

After finishing 7th in the Northern Group of 2013 Gamma Ethniki Zakynthos was promoted to Beta Ethniki, being favoured by HFF's decision to increase the number of teams in the upper division, and the inability of a number of other clubs to support their participation to the upcoming Beta Ethniki season due to financial problems. This led to an increased number of teams from the 3rd division being promoted with Zakynthos being amidst them, as it was made official in July 2013. Zakynthos made their first Beta Ethniki appearance playing in the Northern Group where they finished 9th, managing to avoid relegation with ease. The next season it was the most successful in the team's history as they managed to finish 5th in their group, their highest position ever. In the 2015-16 season, Beta Ethniki merged again in one group of 18 clubs with Zakynthos taking part for 3rd straight season in the division. However, the club experienced financial problems and they faced the deduction of 3 points that proved to be costly in their relegation battle. They ended up finishing 15th, just one point away from safety and they returned to amateur divisions. To this day, the 2nd tier of Greece is the highest level of football that APS Zakynthos has ever competed.

Players

Current squad

Season to season

Honours

APS Zakynthos has traditionally been the strongest football club in the island of

. They are the team with the most wins of the Zakynthos Local Championships' Top Division and domestic cup. The club has also emerged as one of the best teams in the regions of the Ionian Islands and

Western Greece Western Greece Region ( el, Περιφέρεια Δυτικής Ελλάδας, translit=Periféria Dhitikís Elládhas, ) is one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It comprises the western part of continental Greece and the north ...

during the last years, having won the title twice in their regional group in

Delta Ethniki Delta commonly refers to: * Delta (letter) (Δ or δ), a letter of the Greek alphabet * River delta, at a river mouth * D (NATO phonetic alphabet: "Delta") * Delta Air Lines, US * Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 Delta may also ...

. * Fourth Division : Winners (3): 2005-06, 2007-08, 2020-21 * Zakynthos Local Division : Winners (5) – record: 1987-88, 1988-89, 1992-93, 1994-95, 1996-97 * Zakynthos Local Cup : Winners (17) – record: 1987-88, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1991-92, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-00, 2001-02, 2002-03, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2006-07, 2007-08 * Elis Local Division : Winners (3): 1972-73, 1974-75, 1978-79 * Elis Local Cup : Winners (2): 1972-73, 1976-77

Notable players

Stelios Liveris Stelios Liveris ( gr, Στέλιος Λιβέρης) is a Greek footballer currently playing for Zakynthiakos F.C. in the Football League 2 as a midfielder. Career Stelios Livers has played for Paniliakos and Kalamata in Beta Ethniki the 2nd ...

Stathis Karamalikis Stathis Karamalikis ( gr, Στάθης Καραμαλίκης; born 4 December 1981) is a Greek professional football striker currently playing for Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zac ...

Thanasis Dinas Athanasios 'Thanasis' Dinas ( el, Αθανάσιος 'Θανάσης' Ντίνας; born 12 November 1989) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a winger. Career Dinas began his professional career at Xanthi. He was then loan ...

Alexandros Apostolopoulos Alexis Apostolopoulos ( el, Αλέξης Αποστολόπουλος, born 7 November 1991) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Super League 2 club PAOK B. Career Alexis Apostolopoulos made his debut in Football Le ...

Tomasz Moskal Tomasz Moskal (born 8 July 1975) is a Polish former professional footballer who played as a forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (asso ...

* Enes Rujović

External links

*
Team's news at ioniansports.gr

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zakynthos, A.P.S. Association football clubs established in 1961 Zakynthos Football clubs in Zakynthyos Football clubs in the Ionian Islands (region) 1961 establishments in Greece Super League Greece 2 clubs