APOEL (; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias, "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a major Cypriot multi-sport club based in Nicosia.
APOEL, which was founded in 1926, is the most popular sports club in Cyprus and the most successful, achieving to win 165 official senior titles in several sports.
The club is parent to fourteen different competitive departments including football, basketball, volleyball, futsal, handball, table tennis, bowling, cycling, archery, swimming, water polo and a runners team.
History
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 residents of the capital and express their deep desire for Cyprus' incorporation (enosis) into Greece. The meeting took place at a traditional confectionery, owned by Charalambos Hadjioannou, downtown in Ledra Street 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, 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 more sports departments were established, including volleyball, table tennis, rugby football, boxing, cycling, field hockey and basketball (a few years later). Also the club issued a sports newspaper, the "Athlitiki Echo", the first Cypriot sport newspaper.
The foundation of CFA and the club's first ever official title Cyprus did not have any country-wide league until 1932. Football clubs of the time played friendly matches only. In 1932, Pezoporikos Larnaca organised an unofficial league, the first island-wide league, and it was won by APOEL after defeating AEL Limassol 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 AEL Limassol 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 Cyprus Football Association was agreed. Two years later the APOEL football team celebrated its first championship title of the official Cyprus football league.
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 (), 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 and they distanced themselves from the club. A few days later, on 4 June 1948, they founded Omonia, which until today is the arch rival 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 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.
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. 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. 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 () magazine and the apoelfc.com.cy website among others.
Colours and badge
APOEL's colours are blue and yellow. Blue symbolizes Greece and yellow symbolizes Byzantium. The logo is a blue and yellow shield with the name of the club written diagonally in blue.
The football club badge has a small difference on it. The badge has remained the same since the establishment of the club, but after the football team of APOEL won their 20th championship (2008–09 season), two stars were added above the football club's logo to symbolize the 20 championship titles (one star for every ten championships won).
Supporters
APOEL fans are right-wing in their majority and there are strong ties for several organised fans and right-wing political parties.
The main supporter group is PAN.SY.FI (). PAN.SY.FI was founded in 1979 and has branches in all major cities in Cyprus 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 AEL Limassol 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.
Stadiums
APOEL football club's home ground since 23 October 1999, is the 22,859 seater GSP Stadium. It is the largest stadium in Cyprus and they share it with local rivals Omonia and Olympiakos Nicosia. Before moving to GSP Stadium, APOEL used as home grounds the Makario Stadium (from 1978 until 1999) and the old GSP Stadium (prior to 1978).
The club's basketball, volleyball and futsal teams host their matches in the 2,100 seater Lefkotheo Indoor Arena which was built in 1980. For many years the basketball team used as home venue the 6,000 capacity Eleftheria Indoor Hall.
1926 - APOEL's official magazine
1926 is the official magazine of the multi-sports club APOEL.Μπιτόν, Μπέκμαν, Λέιλα Πίντο και Χρύσης Μιχαήλ στο νέο περιοδικό του ΑΠΟΕΛ A Cyprus monthly sports magazine published in Nicosia, it was founded in 2013 with its first edition appearing on 7 March 2013. The magazine is named after the founding year of the club and covers all of APOEL's teams (football, basketball, futsal, volleyball, water polo), as well as individual sports (archery, bowling, cycling, running, swimming, table tennis), with feature stories, interviews, retro, and presentations. The main focus is on football, since that sport is the most popular in Cyprus.
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
APOEL Football
APOEL Football Club is a professional football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus. They are one of the founding members of the Cyprus Football Association. APOEL are the most successful football team in Cyprus with an overall tally of 26 championships, 21 cups and 13 super cups. APOEL's greatest moment in the European competitions occurred in the season 2011–12, when the club participated in the group stages of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League (along with FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit St. Petersburg) and achieved qualification for the quarter-finals of the competition by topping the group and eliminating Olympique Lyonnais in the last 16, becoming the only Cypriot club to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals. APOEL's European competitions highlights include also appearances in the group stages of the 2009–10 & 2014–15 UEFA Champions League and the group stages of the 2013–14 & 2015–16 UEFA Europa League. They marked their most successful UEFA Europa League campaign during the 2016–17 season, when they managed to top their group (along with Olympiacos, Young Boys and Astana) and eliminated Athletic Bilbao 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 & UEFA Europa League). APOEL FC is also an ordinary member of the European Club Association, an organization that replaced the previous G-14 which consists of major football clubs in Europe.
Honours Cypriot Championship Winners (28) (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
Cypriot Cup 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 Winners (13): 1963, 1984, 1986, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013
APOEL FC Football Academies
Cypriot U21 Championships: Cyprus U21 Cup: Cypriot U19 Championships: Cypriot U17 Championships: Cypriot U16 Championships: Cypriot U15 Championships: Cypriot U13 Championships:
APOEL Basketball
APOEL Basketball Club is a professional basketball team based in the city of Nicosia, Cyprus. APOEL's basketball team was formed in 1947 and is one of the most successful basketball clubs in Cyprus by winning 11 Championships, 12 Cups and 11 Super Cups.
The team's first ever basketball title was the Cypriot Super Cup that won in 1972. At the end of the same season (1972–73), APOEL won their second title, the Cypriot Cup. The team achieved to win their first ever Championship title three years later, in season 1975–76. The 90's decade was the most successful for APOEL. The team won 4 Championships, 5 Cups and 4 Super Cups during that period, including one double on the 1995–96 season.