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AEL Limassol

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AEL Limassol
Full nameΑθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού
Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou
Nickname(s)"Galazo-Kitrinoi"(Yellow-Blues)
"Leontes (Lions)
Short nameAEL
Founded4 October 1930; 94 years ago (1930-10-04)
StadiumTsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus
Capacity13,331
ChairmanAndreas Sophocleous
ManagerCedomir Janevski
LeagueFirst Division
2023–24First Division, 8th
Websitehttp://ael-fc.com
Current season

Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou (Template:Lang-el) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team.

AEL also maintains a men's and women's basketball teams, a women's volleyball team and a (newly established in 1976) Futsal team, a women's handball team as well as a cricket team. AEL is one of the most successful clubs on the island and the most successful in Limassol with 17 official football trophies consisting of 6 first division championships, 7 cups and 4 super cups.[1]

History

The club was founded on 4 October 1930, with Stavros Pittas serving as the club's first president.[2] The football section of the club competed in its first game on 6 January 1931 against PSC, winning 6–1 in Limassol.[2] The club won the national championship in 1934 though this is not credited as it is an unofficial title.[3] Later that year, AEL became one of the eight founding members of the Cypriot First Division for the 1934–35 season, the first official league of the country.[2][3]

AEL Limassol celebrated its first official title success in 1941, defeating APOEL 4–3 in a two-legged championship play-off.[3] AEL fans had to wait 12 years until tasting title success again, as the club finally became champions of Cyprus again in 1953.[2][3] AEL would twice repeat this success, winning back-to-back league championships in 1955 and 1956.[4]

The club won its last major trophy in 1989 – before the title success of 2012 –[5] when it defeated city rivals Aris Limassol 3–2 after extra time in final of the Cypriot Cup.[6][7]

In 2011, after disappointingly finishing in seventh-place in the previous campaign, AEL hired Pambos Christodoulou,[8] who had a reputation of steering "modest sides away from relegation", to start the club's rebuilding process.[9] AEL Limassol secured the Cypriot league title for the first time since 1968 on 5 May 2012, ending a 44-year drought without a Cypriot first division title.[10]

Christodoulou had a dream-like first season at the helm AEL, as his side was unbeaten and had not conceded any goals through the first five games. At the end of the second round, AEL finished top of the table,[11] three points clear of the second placed team and had only conceded seven goals, the best defensive record of all the league teams. In the play-off round, AEL battled with the top four teams for the championship, winning it with one game to spare and conceding only nine goals. As Christodoulou has managed to bring AEL the championship crown,[12][13][14][15] he was nicknamed by fans "Pambourinho", a combination of his name and of esteemed manager José Mourinho.

AEL received the championship trophy during a spectacular "fiesta" evening at the Tsirion Stadium on the evening of Saturday 12 May 2012. They followed this with an open-top bus parade through Limassol. Up to 12,000 AEL fans packed the stadium to watch the fiesta and trophy presentation. The club then turned their attention to the Cup Final of 16 May against Omonia and the chance to be crowned double winners for the first time in club history; the club, however, lost 1–0 in the final.[16] The following year, AEL made it to the group stage of a UEFA tournament for the first time, finishing last and picking up four points in their UEFA Europa League group.[17]

On 22 October 2013, Angolan manager Lito Vidigal was sacked after just over three months in charge.[18] Bulgarian Ivaylo Petev was appointed as AEL's manager on 25 October, having previously guided Ludogorets Razgrad to promotion to the A Group as well as two A Group titles, a Bulgarian Cup win as well as a triumph in the Bulgarian Super Cup.[18] Petev signed an initial deal to stay at AEL until the end of the 2014–15 season.[18]

At the end of the 2013–14 season, AEL finished in first place in the initial phase of the competition. Going into the championship match against APOEL on 17 May 2014, AEL needed only a draw to secure their second league title in three years. The match, however, was abandoned (at 0–0) after 52 minutes when firecrackers thrown by AEL fans struck APOEL player Kaká.[19] The match was replayed behind closed doors at a neutral stadium on 31 May 2014, and APOEL achieved to win their second consecutive league title after beating AEL 1–0, courtesy of a Cillian Sheridan goal.[20][21] On 6 June 2014, the Cyprus Football Association's (CFA) disciplinary committee – acting as an appeals board – unanimously cancelled on the CFA council's decision to repeat the 17 May championship final, awarding the match to APOEL with a 0–3 score.[22] AEL winger Jorge Monteiro finished the season as joint-top scorer in the league with 18 goals, and the former Porto academy product was voted player of the year by the CFA. AEL finished in the 4th place of the championship of 2016–2017 and as a result the team won a place in the first qualifying round of Europa League. Furthermore, AEL achieved to go up to third qualifying round from a not fair play game from the referee Artyom Kuchin and the players of Austria Wien. The referee had show the white dot of the penalty for a ghost faul outside of the box of AEL and a red card for AEL defender Marco Airosa in the twenty second minute. AEL had fight for the win for the whole game to achieve two goals that send her in the play-offs but the score finished 1–2.[23]

AEL LIMASSOL FC as a company

The football department of AEL is legally owned by AEL Football (Public) Ltd (Template:Lang-el), a public limited company, since 2009. The company's main activity is the management, operation and commercial exploitation of AEL Football club.[citation needed]

Stadium

Tsirion Stadium

AEL plays its home matches at the 14,000-seat Tsirion Stadium, also known as the Olympia Stadium (G.S.O). Tsirion Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Limassol. It is mostly used for football matches and is also the home ground of Apollon Limassol and Aris Limassol. The stadium was built in 1975.[citation needed]

The construction of a new stadium in Limassol started and is expected to open until 2022 replacing Tsirion Stadium. The capacity of the new stadium will be approximately 10.500 and will be category UEFA 4-star.[citation needed]

Current squad

As of 10 September 2022

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Brazil BRA Muriel
2 DF Cyprus CYP Christoforos Frantzis
4 DF Portugal POR André Teixeira (captain)
5 DF Portugal POR Hugo Basto
6 MF Serbia SRB Slobodan Medojević (3rd captain)
7 FW France FRA Jared Khasa
8 MF North Macedonia MKD Davor Zdravkovski (5th captain)
9 FW Burundi BDI Saido Berahino
10 MF Cyprus CYP Vasilios Papafotis (4th captain)
11 MF Belgium BEL Kevin Mirallas
12 FW Serbia SRB Stefan Šćepović
13 DF Brazil BRA Bruno Santos (vice captain)
14 FW Cyprus CYP Andreas Makris
15 DF Cyprus CYP Stylianos Panteli
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 GK Portugal POR Miguel Oliveira
20 MF Sweden SWE Alexander Kačaniklić
21 MF Cyprus CYP Evangelos Andreou
22 MF Cyprus CYP Evdoras Silvestros
23 DF Germany GER Petar Filipović
27 MF Democratic Republic of the Congo COD Aaron Tshibola
29 FW Moldova MDA Nicolae Milinceanu
30 MF Serbia SRB Lazar Pavlović
32 GK Cyprus CYP Michalis Kyriakou
40 DF Ukraine UKR Kristian Bilovar (on loan from Dynamo Kyiv)
49 DF Cyprus CYP Kypros Neofytou
66 DF Brazil BRA Djalma Silva
77 FW Cameroon CMR Donaldoni Nguemechieu
80 MF Italy ITA Vittorio Continella
99 MF Senegal SEN Amadou Ciss (on loan from Amiens)

Out On Loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
19 FW Cyprus CYP Panagiotis Louka (at Ypsonas until 30 June 2023)
24 MF Cyprus CYP Dimitris Avraam (at Omonia 29M until 30 June 2023)
28 DF Cyprus CYP Constantinos Soteriou (at Hapoel Haifa until 30 June 2023)
No. Pos. Nation Player
38 DF Cyprus CYP Christos Efstathiou (at Ypsonas until 30 June 2023)
43 FW Cyprus CYP Themistoklis Themistokleous (at Badajoz U19 until 30 June 2023)
89 FW Cyprus CYP Adonis Nikolettidis (at PAEEK until 30 June 2023)

Current staff

Technical staff
Head Coach North Macedonia Cedomir Janevski
Assistant Coach North Macedonia Bojan Markoski
Assistant Coach - Analyst Cyprus Marios Zachariou
Team Director Cyprus Angelos Perikleous
Goalkeeping Coach Cyprus Marios Stavrinides
Fitness Coach Cyprus Charis Falas
Trainer/Rehabilitation coach Bulgaria Dennis Petrov
Medical staff
Head Doctor Cyprus Dr. Theodoros Philippou
Physical Therapist Cyprus Giorgos Zantis
Physical Therapist Cyprus Polys Achilleos
Physical Therapist Cyprus Kimonas Papamiltiadous
Chiropractor Cyprus Nikos Poullis

Honours

Champions (6): 1940–41, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1967–68, 2011–12
Runners-up (2): 1947–48, 2013–14
Champions: 1996–97
Champions (7): 1938–39, 1939–40, 1947–48, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1988–89, 2018–19
Runners-up (11): 1937–38, 1940–41, 1958–59, 1978–79, 1987–88, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15
Champions (4): 1953, 1968, 1985, 2015
Runners-up (5): 1955, 1987, 1989, 2012, 2019

UEFA club coefficient ranking

UEFA Team Ranking 2022

UEFA Club ranking

Rank Country Team Points
249 Turkey Yeni Malatyaspor 5.420
250 Turkey Akhisarspor 5.420
251 Turkey Konyaspor 5.420
252 Cyprus AEL Limassol 5.275
253 Latvia Ventspils 5.250
254 Kosovo Drita 5.000
255 Armenia Ararat-Armenia 5.000

Last update: 1 June 2022
Source: [1]

European record

1R = First round, PR = Preliminary round, Q = Qualifying round, PO = play-off round.

Season Competition Round Club 1st leg 2nd leg Aggregate
1968–69 European Cup 1R Spain Real Madrid 0–6 0–6 0–12
1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup 1R Czechoslovakia Dukla Prague 2–2 0–4 2–6
1987–88 European Cup Winners' Cup PR Czechoslovakia DAC Dunajská Streda 0–1 1–5 1–6
1989–90 European Cup Winners' Cup 1R Austria Admira Wacker 0–3 1–0 1–3
2002–03 UEFA Cup QR Hungary Ferencváros 0–4 2–1 2–5
2012–13 UEFA Champions League 2Q Northern Ireland Linfield 3–0 0–0 3–0
3Q Serbia Partizan 1–0 1–0 2–0
PO Belgium Anderlecht 2–1 0–2 2–3
UEFA Europa League Group C France Marseille 1–5 3–0 4th place
Turkey Fenerbahçe 0–1 0–2
Germany Borussia Mönchengladbach 0–0 0–2
2014–15 UEFA Champions League 3Q Russia Zenit 1–0 0–3 1–3
UEFA Europa League PO England Tottenham Hotspur 1–2 0–3 1–5
2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1Q Gibraltar St Joseph's 4–0 6–0 10–0
2Q Luxembourg Progrès Niederkorn 1–0 2–1 3–1
3Q Austria Austria Wien 0–0 1–2 1–2
2019–20 UEFA Europa League 2Q Greece Aris 0–0 0–1 0–1
2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 2Q Albania Vllaznia 1–0 1–0 2–0
3Q Azerbaijan Qarabağ 1–1 0–1 1–2

Managerial history

Presidential history

Name From To
Stavros Pittas 1930 1932
Kriton Tornaritis 1932 1934
Yiangos Limanititis 1934 1953
Nikos Solomonides 1953 1971
Nikos Kountas 1971 1976
Georgios Tornaritis 1976 1982
Loris Lysiotis 1982 1996
Dimitris Solomonides 1996 2002
Giorgos Frantzis 2002 2003
Akis Ellinas 2003 2005
Agis Agapiou 2005 2006
Marios Herodotou 2006 2007
Zacharias Koundouros 2007 2008
Andreas Sofocleous 2008 Present
Costas Christodoulou 2018 Present

AEL Football Academies

  • Cypriot U21 Championships: 13
1940, 1951, 1960, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008
Runners-up: 1
2012
  • Cyprus U21 Cup: 1
1997
  • Cypriot U19 Championships: 1
2018(Participating 2018–19 UEFA Youth League)
  • Cypriot U17 Championships: 6
2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2018
Runners-up: 1
2019
  • priot U16 Championships: 1
2017
  • Cypriot U15 Championships: 2
2005, 2009
  • Cypriot U13 Championships: 3
2006, 2008, 2017

AEL LIMASSOL Basketball Team

Main article: AEL Limassol B.C.

There is a men's and woman's Basketball team with the woman's team known as ASBIS AEL Limassol.

Women volleyball team (Robomarkets AEL)

Fullname Robomarkets ΑΕΛ
Nicknames Βασίλισσα (Greek)
Queen (English)
Tranbunker Danoi ΑΕΛ founded 1976
Team Colors Yellow With Blue
Arena Nicos Solomonidis
Arena Nickname Το κλουβί (Greek)
The Cage (English)
Arena Capacity 3,000
Women Volleyball Team Titles
Championship titles: 30 (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2021)
Cup titles: 28 (1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2011)
Super Cup titles: 13 (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2012)
Women U21 Volleyball Team Titles
Championship titles: 11 (1987, 1988, 1991, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010)
Cup titles: 5 (2000, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2010)
Women U17 Volleyball Team Titles
Championship titles: 11 (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009)
Cup titles: 1 (2000)

A founding member of the Cyprus Volleyball Federation in 1976, AEL's women team has dominated in the Cypriot volleyball. The team's achievements are phenomenal; Out of the 32 seasons played so far in Cyprus since the commencement of the women's volleyball league, the team won the Championship 27 times. Out of the 31 cups they won it 27 times, 24 consecutive times, from 1980 until 2003. Also they have won the Championship 15 consecutive times, from 1977 until 1991. They have also the amazing records of winning the Double 12 times from 1980 until 1991 and 9 times from 1993 until 2001. In the past the club had also a men's team for 10 years which participated in the Cypriot Championship.

Bowling team

The bowling club was founded in 1999 and the same year became a member of the Limassol District Federation. In 2001, the team participated in the Cypriot Championship as one of the two representatives of the Limassol District Federation. In the team won its first trophy by winning the Limassol District Federation Cup and in 2006 its first Championship by winning the Limassol District Federation Championship. The home of the team is the Galaktika Bowling Center.

Player
Cyprus Christos Krassas
Cyprus Michalis Perikleous
Cyprus Matthaios Armeftis
Cyprus Niki Schiza
Cyprus Kyriakos Hadjitofis
Cyprus Stelios Potamitis
Cyprus Christos Antoniou
Bowling Team Titles
Limassol Championship: 4 (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010)
Limassol Cup: 5 (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009)

Cycling team

The cycling team was founded in 2001 and the same year became a member of the Limassol District Federation. The first men's cycling team consisted of the following : Κωνσταντίνος Ιωάννου, Στέλιος Βασιλάκης, Χριστόφορος Στεφάνου, Αλέξης Κέστας, Mark Williams, Σταύρος Αντωνίου, Χρίστος Παναγιώτου, William de Doncker.

Cycling Team Titles
General – Road cup: 3 (2004, 2005, 2006)
Men – Road cup: 3 (2004, 2005, 2006)
Masters 1 – Road cup: 1 (2006)
Masters 2 – Road cup: 3 (2004, 2005, 2006)

Defunct sports departments

Apart from the currently active sports departments, AEL had in the past some other sports departments, which today are defunct. Despite this, these currently not active departments had all won titles for AEL when they were active.

Field hockey

In the past AEL Limassol had a field hockey team which is currently not active. The team had plenty of victories led by its star player Renos Antoniadis. In 1931, AEL won the Cup in a match which was played in Larnaca. One year later, the team became Cypriot Champions. The team consisted of the following players: Antoniadis, Pareas, Frangos, Christophides, Michaelides, Kalogirou, Victor Mousteris, Anastasiadis and Williamson. However, there were no further hockey competitions in Cyprus afterwards, as the other teams hockey teams of the era closed down their hockey departments because of financial problems.

Handball

Another AEL sport department that currently does not exist is the handball. The team was active for a small period of time but that did not stop the team from adding another trophy to the hundreds that AEL won in various other sports. On 11 June 1989, a day after the football team of the club won the Cypriot Cup, the handball team won the Cypriot Cup in handball by beating Youth Centre Larnaca 23–19 in the final which was played in Lefkotheo Indoor Hal, Nicosia.

Volleyball

AEL maintains 3 teams for women's volleyball but does not currently have a men's Volleyball team.

Waterpolo

AEL was also active in maritime sports, especially those that needed team participation. AEL pioneered in Regattas in 1932, 1933 and 1934 in the Cyprus Regatta Games. The members of the team were Nearchos Pieris, Christakis Dixon, Andreas Araouzos, Sotiris Antoniades and Maximos Morides. The club had also a waterpolo team which was unbeaten Cypriot Champions. The team achieved a noted victory against a selected team of the Royal Navy which were then Mediterranean Champions. Apart from the Cypriot Championships, AEL won the Mediterranean Naval Cup.

References

  1. ^ "96 trophies". Archived from the original on 4 December 2010. Retrieved 22 March 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d Ιστορία Συλλόγου (in Greek). AEL Limassol. Archived from the original on 24 September 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d "Cyprus – List of Final Tables 1931–1998". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011.
  4. ^ "Cyprus – List of Final Tables 1931–1998". RSSSF. 6 January 2005. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  5. ^ "AEL Limassol end 44-year Cypriot title wait". UEFA. 5 May 2012.
  6. ^ "Cyprus Coca Cola Cup".
  7. ^ "Cyprus – Cup History 1934–1996". RSSSF. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Pambos Christodoulou: AEL FC was my dream!" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
  9. ^ "Season review: Cyprus". UEFA. 18 May 2012.
  10. ^ "AEL Limassol end 44-year title wait". FIFA. 5 May 2012. Archived from the original on 9 May 2012.
  11. ^ "AEL Lemesos won the Championship" (in Greek). Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  12. ^ "Pambos Christodoulou: My first Championship Crown" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  13. ^ "AEL Lemesos Cypriot Championship Winners 2011–2012" (in Greek). Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
  14. ^ "AEL Limassol end a long time title wait". Archived from the original on 9 May 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  15. ^ "AEL Limassol end 44-year Cypriot title wait with Pambos Christodoulou". 5 May 2012. Retrieved 6 May 2012.
  16. ^ "Κυπελλούχος η Ομόνοια". Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Ποδοσφαίρου. 16 May 2012.
  17. ^ "AEL – History". UEFA. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  18. ^ a b c "European Football – Coach who was chased out by hooligans named AEL Limassol boss". Eurosport. 25 October 2013. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  19. ^ "Soccer-Cyprus FA wants title decider replayed after violence". Yahoo! News. 23 May 2014. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  20. ^ "Sheridan strike hands APOEL Cypriot title". UEFA. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
  21. ^ "Sheridan strike hands APOEL Cypriot title". UEFA. 31 May 2014. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  22. ^ "APOEL are champions... again!". cyprus-mail.com. 6 June 2014. Retrieved 6 June 2014.
  23. ^ "Season review: Cyprus". UEFA. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
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