APOEL FC (; short for ÃÂøû÷ÃÂùúÃÂààÿôÿÃÂÃÂñùÃÂùúÃÂàÃÂüùûÿàÃÂûûîýÃÂý ÃÂõàúÃÂÃÂïñÃÂ, Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias, "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a Cypriot professional football club based in Nicosia, Cyprus. 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 2011âÂÂ12 season, when they advanced out of the group stage of the UEFA Champions League (winning a group that included FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk, and Zenit St. Petersburg), then eliminated Olympique Lyonnais in the last 16, to become the first Cypriot team to reach the quarter-finals of the Champions League. APOEL's European competitions highlights also include appearances in the group stages of the 2009âÂÂ10 and 2014âÂÂ15 UEFA Champions League and the group stages of the 2013âÂÂ14, 2015âÂÂ16, and 2016âÂÂ17 UEFA Europa League. They marked their most successful UEFA Europa League campaign during the 2016âÂÂ17 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 and UEFA Europa League). In the 2016âÂÂ17 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, volleyball, futsal, table tennis, bowling, cycling, archery, swimming and water polo. APOEL is one of the founding members of the Cyprus Football Association and 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.
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 a volleyball team and a table tennis team were established.
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 4âÂÂ0. 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. APOEL also won the championship for the following four years, making this a very successful period for the club with 5 consecutive championships (1936âÂÂ1940).
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 AC Omonia, which until today is the archrival of APOEL and there has been a traditional animosity between the fans of the two teams.
More conflicts led to further struggles for APOEL. Athletes belonging to the club frequently participated in national clashes. During the 1955âÂÂ59 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 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. Two victories for APOEL over both legs (6âÂÂ0, 1âÂÂ0) 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 met APOEL with their heaviest defeat ever (16âÂÂ1) and put an end to APOEL's European debut.
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 Alpha Ethniki. 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 were a relatively fruitless period for APOEL. They have only won two championships (1980,1986), one cup (1984) and two super cups (1984, 1986). In 1986 APOEL was drawn against Beà Âiktaà  J.K. for the second round of the European Cup. 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 competition. This penalty was later reduced to one-year.
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 1995âÂÂ96 in which APOEL achieved a celebratory double while remaining undefeated in the league. The basketball team won a double on the same season, making this the ideal season for a 70th anniversary celebration.
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 ã600,000.
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 2013âÂÂ14 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 (2014âÂÂ15), the club won their second consecutive double. In the 2016âÂÂ17 season, APOEL managed to win their fifth consecutive league title and equalled the club's record which was set 77 years before (1936âÂÂ1940).
The 2020âÂÂ21 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 2022âÂÂ23 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.
APOEL's first great run in European competitions came in 2002, when the team was knocked out on the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, entered the UEFA Cup and reached the second round of the competition. The following years, APOEL qualified four times for the UEFA Champions League group stages (2009âÂÂ10, 2011âÂÂ12, 2014âÂÂ15, 2017âÂÂ18), and managed to reach the quarter-finals in the 2011âÂÂ12 season. The team also participated in the group stages of the 2013âÂÂ14, 2015âÂÂ16 & 2016âÂÂ17 UEFA Europa League, managing to reach the last 16 of the competition in the 2016âÂÂ17 season.
The football department of APOEL is legally owned by APOEL Football (Public) Ltd (), a public limited company, 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 CYã100,000 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 the apoelfc.com.cy website among others.
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 while Charalambides and Alexandrou have played for teams in the Greek Super League in the past.
APOEL's U19 team participated for the first time in the UEFA Youth League group stage during 2014âÂÂ15 season, drawn in Group F alongside Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Ajax. APOEL managed to collect only one point after drawing 0âÂÂ0 with Ajax at home and lost their other five Group F matches. They lost twice to Barcelona (2âÂÂ3 at home, 0âÂÂ3 away), lost twice to Paris Saint-Germain (0âÂÂ3 at home, 0âÂÂ6 away) and also lost to Ajax 1âÂÂ4 away, finishing fourth in their group.
The next two seasons, APOEL's U19 team participated again in the UEFA Youth League. The 2015âÂÂ16 season they competed in the first round of the Domestic Champions Path, being drawn to face Puskás Akadémia from Hungary. After a dramatic 3âÂÂ3 draw in the first leg in Nicosia, APOEL U19 suffered a heavy 6âÂÂ1 loss in Felcsút and were eventually eliminated. The 2016âÂÂ17 season they competed in the first round of the Domestic Champions Path, being eliminated by Italian side A.S. Roma after losing 0âÂÂ3 at home and 1âÂÂ6 in Italy.
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. After the club won their 20th championship (2008âÂÂ09 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.
APOEL'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).
APOEL is one of the most popular teams in Cyprus. The main supporter group is PAN.SY.FI (), founded in 1979, with branches in major cities in Cyprus and abroad. They are identified by orange jackets or T-shirts, first worn during the 1992âÂÂ93 first-round game against AEL Limassol at Makario Stadium. APOEL reserves shirt number 79 in honour of PAN.SY.FI.
The club's single-season home ticket record is 141,268 (15 league matches) during the 2010âÂÂ11 season, and the highest average league attendance is 9,582 (13 matches) during 2012âÂÂ13. Season ticket sales peaked at over 8,000 in 2014âÂÂ15.
APOEL holds the record for highest home attendance in the Cyprus First Division with 23,043 tickets against AC Omonia during the 2002âÂÂ03 season at GSP Stadium. The highest European competition attendance for a Cypriot team was 22,701 tickets against Olympique Lyonnais in the 2011âÂÂ12 UEFA Champions League last 16 at GSP Stadium.
Large away support has been recorded in UEFA competitions: over 6,000 fans traveled to London for the 2009âÂÂ10 Champions League group stage match against Chelsea F.C. on 8 December 2009, over 5,000 traveled to Olympique Lyonnais on 14 February 2012, and approximately 4,000 traveled to Real Madrid on 4 April 2012 for the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
During the 2009âÂÂ10 season, APOEL sold 244,977 tickets for all home matches in domestic and European competitions, the highest by a Cypriot club in a single season.
APOEL FC supporters are associated with right-wing politics and, at times, the Democratic Rally (DISY) political party, as seen in 2008 when the club publicly supported DISY candidate Ioannis Kasoulides. The clubâÂÂs fan base generally aligns with Greek nationalist and conservative ideologies, emphasising a Hellenic identity and opposing left-wing parties such as AKEL, and clubs aligned with them such as AC Omonia.
In October 2003, APOEL president Dinos Fysentzides publicly condemned a small group of neo-Nazi supporters known as the "Pirates", stating that they were in no way affiliated with the club and were barred from attending matches. The Pirates had displayed swastikas and Nazi insignia, performed the fascist salute, and expressed Holocaust denial on their website. Police confirmed that any members attending games would be arrested, and the club reported their identities to authorities. That same month, former APOEL player Varnavas Stipanovic denied any affiliation with the Pirate group, despite wearing one of their t-shirts during a May cup game against AEK at LarnacaâÂÂs GSZ stadium. A photograph of him in the shirt appeared on the groupâÂÂs website. Stipanovic stated that he wore the shirt as a favour for a neighbour and was unaware of the groupâÂÂs ideology. APOEL president Dinos Fysentzides suggested the photograph had likely been tampered with. Stipanovic expressed regret if his actions caused any upset.
APOEL fans have also displayed political and nationalist banners at matches. In November 2017, during a match against Omonia, a group of Apoel fans hoisted a banner denying the 1973 Athens Polytechnic uprising, which provoked condemnation from Greek media and accusations of links to extremist nationalist groups. In August 2025, another incident involved APOEL fans displaying a banner at a match in Larnaca targeting Fidias Panayiotou with racist and abusive language, prompting a police investigation under Cyprus's Law on the Prevention and Suppression of Violence in Sports Venues.
The Nicosia derby (or the Derby of the eternal enemies) refers to the Nicosia's local derby, football 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 Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (Greek: ã.ÃÂ.ÃÂ.ÃÂ.ã.), 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 Greek Civil War 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.
<small>Source: apoelfc.com.cy</small>
<small>Source: apoelfc.com.cy</small>
<small>Source: apoelfc.com.cy</small>
<small>Source: apoelfc.com.cy</small>
<small>Source: apoelfc.com.cy</small>
Last Update: 7 October 2022
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:
Chairmen:
List of former players with national team appearances or having won multiple titles with the club:
Last update: 16 March 2017
Last update: 7 July 2024 <br /> Source: IFFHS