AC Omonia: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 10:10, 9 February 2007
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| Full name | Άθλητικός Σύλλογος Ομόνοια Λευκωσία Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Τρυφύλλι (Shamrock) Βασίλισσα (Queen) | ||
| Founded | 1948 | ||
| Ground | Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus | ||
| Capacity | 23,400 | ||
| Chairman |  Doros Seraphim | ||
| Manager |  Ioannis Matzourakis | ||
| League | Cypriot First Division | ||
| 2005-06 | Cypriot First Division, 2nd | ||
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Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( Greek: Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Ομόνοια Λευκωσίας) is a Cypriot football club, which plays in the capital, Nicosia. With 19 league championships and 12 Cypriot Cups and 14 Super Cups they are the country's most-titled club in football. In addition, Omonia have claimed a record five domestic doubles - in 1972, 1974, 1981, 1982 and 1983 and Cyprus Football Association declared them as the Team of the 20th century. Also remains the only side to have won the Cyprus Cup 4 times in a row during the years between 1980 and 1984.
The club was established in 1948 and became member of Cyprus Football Association in 1953. As an athletic club, Omonia has basketball, volleyball, futsal and cycling sections.
History
Cyprus Amateur Football Association
AC Omonia was founded in 1948, just after the Second World War. The establishment of the Club (along with that of a few others), was evoked from the political turbulence of that period and the conflict between left-wings and right-wings due to the Greek Civil War. In May 1948, APOEL Nicosia sent a letter based on political content to SEGAS (Greek Gymnastic-Athletic Clubs Association), violating the club's statute to not be involved in politics. After that letter, several footballers of the club criticized the their club but that followed the expulsion of those players from the team. Those players with some other people established the new club of Nicosia, with the name Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia.
The Greek Civil War affected Cyprus in the political fanaticism and patience and affected the political life of the island, as well as the sports. For that reason several clubs were established and together with Omonia they established the Cyprus Amateur Football Association, since those teams were not accepted as members of the Cyprus Football Association. The new association formed its own competitions, a championship and a cup and lasted until 1953. Omonia won the double of those competitions until 1952 (four consecutive doubles) and won the cup in 1953.
Trophy Haul
In 1953, the Cyprus Amateur Football Association teams were accepted to become members of the Cyprus Football Association, including AC Omonia, who joined as a First Division team. The Club announced its arrival on the Cypriot football scene by winning their first league title in 1960/61. Omonia finished seven points above second-placed Anorthosis Famagusta FC that season - and they have subsequently stayed ahead of their rivals in the first division with an impressive haul of trophies.
The golden decades of 1970s-1980s
Omonia Nicosia's dominance in Cypriot football, however, didn't come until 1974. They were most dominant in the 1970s, winning the league for six consecutive seasons from 1974 to 1979, a record that until today remains unbeaten. It was then that Omonia produced one of Cyprus's greatest footballers in striker Sotiris Kaiafas, as well as the impressive Gregory Savvas. Kaiafas would win the European Golden Boot after finishing as Europe's top domestic scorer in 1976 with 39 goals - an accolade still considered the greatest achievement by any Greek Cypriot player. Allegations of fixing the results were largely circulated. After Kaiafas, the next great striker of the team was Spas Tsevizof.
Despite the gap in quality between Omonia and other European champions, Omonia proved to be worthy opponents in UEFA club competition. In the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1979/80, they recovered from a 10-0 defeat at AFC Ajax to win the return leg 4-0 with a dazzling display in Nicosia.
After the departure of Kaiafas, Omonia continued to produce talented players to keep up their winning ways. They were champions from 1981 to 1985 and again in 1987 and 1989. Stars of the 1980s golden decade were Georgios Savvidis and Spas Dzhevizov.
1990s
But despite claiming the title in 1992/93, Omonia were forced to live in the shadow of Anorthosis in the 1990s. Even so, the fans were able to enjoy the goalscoring exploits of Hungarian Joseph Juriac during the first part of the decade, and later those of Rainer Rauffmann.
A native German, Rauffmann arrived at the club in 1998. He was the island's leading marksman for four years and also played for Cyprus national football team after gaining Cypriot citizenship. He recently retired through injury at the age of 37. Another star of the 1990s was midfield player Kostakis Malekkos, who played after for APOEL Nicosia FC.
Trophies again
However, it was not until the 1999/00 campaign that Omonia ended a six-year wait for silverware by lifting the Cypriot Cup. As well as rewarding the patience of supporters, this success maintained the club's strong cup tradition. The Nicosia side remains the only side to have won the Cyprus Cup 4 times in a row during the years between 1980 and 1984.
The next term, the championship flag was restored to Omonia. Following Henk Houwaart's arrival as coach midway through the season, the team climbed the table to claim the title after beating defending champions Anorthosis 3-1 in what was effectively a championship decider. Further glory followed in 2002/03 when coach Toni Savevski led the club to their 19th league triumph. Omonia won the Cyprus Cup in 2004/05.
Omonia Nicosia's success in Cypriot football also brought the German Sports Magazine Kickers to vote Omonia Nicosia as one of the top 100 clubs in the World.
Colours and badge
The badge of the club is the shamrock. The shamrock represents the strength, της struggle, the insistence of the Omonia founders who were in difficult situation and it is also green which is the colour of the hope. Thus, the colours of the club are the green and the white. The Omonia founders chose the green colour, the "hope's colour", because despite that they were in difficult situation after the political events that took place in Cyprus in 1948 with their expulsion from APOEL, they hoped that better days were coming for the football in Cyprus, and also the new club, Omonia, would have leaded, become poineer and triumph in Cypriot football and also would have been in the conscience of the Cypriot people.
Stadium
Main article(s): GSP Stadium, Eleftheria Indoor Hall
The team's current stadium is the 23,400 seater Neo GSP Stadium, also known as the Pancypria Stadium and it is the biggest stadium in Cyprus. The stadium is shared with APOEL FC, the other major football club in Nicosia, and Olympiakos Nicosia and they have used it since 1999. The team's previous stadium was Makario Stadium, since 1978 and before that it was the Palaio (Old) GSP Stadium since the 1953, when the team joined the Cyprus Football Association. Both stadiums, like the New GSP Stadium, were shared as well by the other Nicosian teams, APOEL and Olympiakos. In the first years of its establishment, as a team of Cyprus Amature Football Association, Omonia was using the "Goal" Stadium. Plans have been drawn for Omonoia to construct its own privately owned stadium near Tseri, a village just outside Nicosia [1]. If this materialises, the new arena will constitute (in terms of spectator capacity) the largest football stadium on the island, with capacity of 32,000 people.
The basketball team uses for home the biggest indoor sport venue in the island, the Eleftheria Indoor Hall with capacity of 6,000 seats and the volleyball team the Lefkotheo Indoor Hall. Both sports venues are shared with APOEL Nicosia.
The Fans
Omonoia's fans are consider to be left-wings in their majority. There are 2 major clubs supporting the team. PA.SY.FI. and Gate 9 which is the most active fan club.
Gate 9 is the biggest club of AC Omonoia Fans. The club took it's name from Kaiafas father, Sotiris Kaiafas a who won the European Golden Boot in 80's and was first organised in 1992. Since then is following the team everywhere in the world. The Main Fan Club Address is on 10, Arxermou Str., Nicosia.
Current Squad
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Noted players
Listed according to when they debuted for AC Omonia (year in parentheses):
Sotiris Kaiafas (1967)
Mihai Mocanu (1972)- Gregory Savva (1973)
- Giorgos Savvidis (1981)
Rainer Rauffmann (1997)- Efstathios Aloneftis (2001)
- Marco Haber (2002)
\ Paulo Rink (2006)- Daniel Bălan (2006)
Players by appearances
List of players who have more than 100 appearances for AC Omonia (order by appearances):
| Player | Position | AC Omonia career | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andreas Kanaris | FW | 1968-85 | 503 | 190 |
| Andreas Kantilos | FW | 1980-1997 | 489 | 152 |
| Sotiris Kaiafas | FW | 1967-1984 | 476 | 321 |
| Evagoras Christophi | DM | 1979-1996 | 463 | 108 |
| Sotiris Tsikkos | MF | 1976-1990 | 427 | 50 |
| Christakis Omirou Mauris | MF | 1974-1988 | 417 | 86 |
| Andreas Charitou | GK | 1981-1999 | 367 | 0 |
| Klitos Erotokritou | DF | 1975-1986 | 331 | 25 |
| Kostakis Petsas | MF | 1978-1994 | 315 | 9 |
| Nikos Charalambous | MF | 1969-78 | 289 | 56 |
| Giorgos Savvidis | MF | 1981-1987, 1992-1996 | 283 | 120 |
| Kostas Malekkos | MF/FW | 1989-2000 | 278 | 79 |
| Gregory Savva | MF | 1973-1985 | 266 | 86 |
| Kostas Panagiotou | DF | 1959-1970 | 244 | 15 |
| Loizos Protopapas | MF | 1984-1990 | 225 | 20 |
| Rainer Rauffmann | FW | 1997-2004 | 209 | 236 |
| Nikos Eleftheriadis | GK | 1956-1968 | 207 | 0 |
| Giorgos Antoniou | MF | 1966-1978 | 178 | 11 |
| Giorgos Christophorou | FW | 1958-1967 | 143 | 84 |
| Giorgos Antoniou | MF | 1966-1978 | 178 | 11 |
| Takis Antoniou | MF | 1954-1964 | 142 | 3 |
| Giorgos Giorkatzis | MF | 1949-1958 | 134 | 21 |
| Spas Dzhevizov | FW | 1984-1988 | 129 | 82 |
| Giorgos Antoniou | MF | 1966-1978 | 178 | 11 |
| Stauros Psillos | DF | 1949-1959 | 128 | 0 |
| Andreas Christodoulou (Pakkos) |
MF | 1956-1964 | 108 | 45 |
| Constantinos Skannavias | FW | 1956-1964 | 100 | 34 |
Noted Managers
Igor Netto (1967)
Helmut Senekowitsch (1991)
Dušan Galis (1999)
Asparuh Nikodimov (2000)
Arie Haan (2000)- Henk Houwaart (2000)
Toni Savevski (2002)- Ioan Andone (2006)
Trophies
Football
- Cypriot Championship:
- Champion (19): 1961, 1966, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1993, 2001, 2003
- Cyprus Cup:
- Winner (12): 1965, 1972, 1974, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2005.
- Cyprus FA Shield:
- Winner (14): 1966, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2005
Volleyball
- Cyprus Cup:
- Winner (2): 1999, 2006
Records
- Biggest Victory: 11-0 v Doxa Katokopia, Championship, January 17, 2004
- Biggest European Victory: 6-1 v FA Red Boys Differdange, Champions Cup, Round 1,October 3, 1979
- Worst Defeat: 0-10 v Ajax Amsterdam, Champions Cup, Round 1, October 24, 1979
- Worst League Defeat: 1-7 v AEL FC, 1953-54
- Most League Points (2 for a win): 54, 1976-77
- Most League Points (3 for a win): 67, 1998-99
- Most League Goals: 91, 1960-61
- Most consecutive league matches unbeaten: 46, January 29, 1984 - December 14, 1985
- Most Appearances : 503 Andreas Kanaris
- Most Goals scored : 321 Sotiris Kaiafas
- Most Goals scored in a Match: 8 Rainer Rauffmann v Anagennisis Deryneia, 1998
- Most Goals scored in League season:: 44 Sotiris Kaiafas, 1976-77