- Aris Limassol F.C.
Football club infobox
clubname = Aris Limassol
fullname = "Άρης Λεμεσού"
"Aris Limassol"
nickname = "Ελαφρα Ταξιαρχια" (Light Brigade)
founded = 1930
ground =Tsirion Stadium ,Limassol ,Cyprus
capacity = 13,152
chairman = flagicon|Cyprus Christakis Athanasiou
manager = flagicon|Cyprus Akis Agiomamitis
league =Cypriot Second Division
season = 2007-08
position =Cypriot First Division , 12th (relegated)
pattern_la1=|pattern_b1=|pattern_ra1=
leftarm1=008000|body1=008000|rightarm1=008000|shorts1=008000|socks1=008000
pattern_la2=|pattern_b2=|pattern_ra2=
leftarm2=FFFFFF|body2=FFFFFF|rightarm2=FFFFFF|shorts2=FFFFFF|socks2=FFFFFF
Aris Limassol (Greek: "Άρης Λεμεσού") is a
Cypriot football club based inLimassol . Green and white are the colours of the club and the team's home is theTsirion Stadium .History
One of the founder members of
Cyprus Football Association , and was around between 5th and 7th position in 1930s. During the 1940s, the team didn't compete in theCypriot First Division , however they returned back in the Cypriot Championship in 1954 and they were the first team to be relegated to the Second Division after finishing last in the table. The following season they became Champions in the Second Division and returned back to be relegated again. Returning to the First Division, where after a good appearance in the First Division, they gained the fourth position.Being one of the weakest teams in the First Division during 1960s, they were finally relegated in 1969-70 as 12th and remained for two seasons in the Second Division. The situation changed for Aris between 1975 and 1980 when the team won again the fourth position in 1976-77 and 1978-79. Two years after winning the fourth position, in 1981 the team were relegated again after finishing last (14th) but returned as runners up the following season and finished 5th in 1985-86.
The greatest success of the club was in 1989 when the team qualified to the Cyprus Cup final, where they were beaten by
AEL Limassol 2-3. The following season, in 1989-90, the club signed the UkrainianOleg Blokhin , the 1975European Footballer of the Year , and helped them to win for another time the fourth position, which was the clubs greatest position. After the end of the season, Blokhin ended his career playing for Aris Limassol.After the relegation in 1992/93, the team won the following season for third time the Second Division Championship. Since 1996/97, when the club was in
Cypriot First Division , the team every year was relegated to the Second Division and the following year was promoted to the First one. That situation ended in 2006-07, when the team finished 8th in the championship and achieved to remain in First division.In the 2007-08 season, Aris finished last, in the last group in the table and is therefore relegated to the Second division along with
Olympiakos Nicosia andNea Salamina . Because of this many starting eleven players of Aris have been released to continue their careers in other clubs, notably team-star strikerAdrian Mihalcea ,Hristo Yovov ,Edwin Ouon and others.Although the football team forms the centre of sporting activity for Aris, the club has over the years maintained teams in other sports including basketball, table tennis and chess. The Aris chess team dominated Cypriot chess during the 1980s.
Additionally, the Aris choir was established in 1938 by the famous conductor and composer Solon Michaelides who remained its conductor until 1956 to undertake the direction of the National Orchestra of Salonica, Greece. In 1962, the choir made a new start under the direction of Marinos Mitellas and remains one of the best known Hellenic choirs performing in Cyprus, Greece and internationally.
Current squad
Former Players
*flagicon|Cyprus
Marios Antoniou
*flagicon|CyprusYiasoumis Yiasoumi
*flagicon|CyprusAlekos Alekou
*flagicon|BulgariaHristo Yovov
*flagicon|BulgariaAtanas Bornosuzov
*flagicon|CameroonGilbert Bayiha N'Djema
*flagicon|Czech RepublicJan Vorel
*flagicon|FranceEdwin Ouon
*flagicon|RomaniaCostel Mozacu
*flagicon|RomaniaLaurenţiu Diniţă
*flagicon|RomaniaAdrian Mihalcea
*flagicon|SloveniaMiha Golob
*flagicon|SlovakiaIvan Trabalík
*flagicon|AustraliaAdam Foti
*flagicon|Bosnia-HerzegovinaJovo Miseljic
*flagicon|BulgariaPlamen Petrov
*flagicon|BulgariaRadostin Stanev
*flagicon|CameroonVincent Ongandzi
*flagicon|Cape Verde Puma
*flagicon|Czech RepublicVlastimil Svoboda
*flagicon|FinlandJani Viander
*flagicon|HungaryMiklos Lendvai
*flagicon|PolandWaldemar Adamczyk
*flagicon|Portugal Paulo Costa
*flagicon|SerbiaMirza Golubica
*flagicon|SlovakiaMarian Lalik
*flagicon|UkraineOleg Blokhin Titles
*
Cypriot Cup :
**Runners-up (1):1989*
Cypriot Second Division :
**Winners (3): 1954, 1956, 1994
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