AC Omonia

AC Omonoia

Full name	Omonoia Nicosia Athletic Club Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Ομόνοια Λευκωσίας
Nickname(s)	Kifines (Male Bees) Trifylli (The Shamrock)
Founded	17 June 1948 (entered First Division in 1953)
Ground	GSP Stadium, Nicosia (Capacity: 22,859)
Chairman	Miltiades Neophytou
Manager	Neophytos Larkou
League	Cyprus First Division
2010–11	2nd
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Athletic Club Omonoia Nicosia (Greek: Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Ομόνοια Λευκωσίας) is a professional football club that plays in the Cyprus capital city Nicosia. The club was established in 1948 and became a member of the Cyprus Football Association in 1953. Omonoia, which means 'Concord' in Greek, has won 20 League Championships, 13 Cypriot Cups and 15 Super Cups and 5 domestic doubles – in 1972, 1974, 1981, 1982 and 1983 all since 1948. Omonoia's history speaks for itself. At this rate, nearly 1 out every 3 Championships have been won by Omonoia since 1948, qualifying them as the most successful team in Cyprus in the last six decades, since the league was expanded. Prior to the 1953 season, no more than 8 teams participated in the Cypriot First Division, and half of which no longer exist. The Cyprus Football Association declared them as the Team of the 20th Century. Omonoia remains the only team to have won the Cypriot Cup 4 times in a row, between the years 1980 and 1983. As an athletic club, Omonoia also has basketball, volleyball, futsal and cycling sections.

History

AC Omonoia was founded in 1948, in the backdrop of the Greek Civil War. During a period of the most hostile political turbulence which spilled over into Cyprus, APOEL board officials sent a telegram the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association (SEGAS) with intention of having its players sign allegiances to Greece’s right-wing, clearly violating the statue prohibiting clubs from being associated with any political groups.

After numerous players criticized the decision made by the board, and ultimately refused to sign any documents professing any political party or philosophy, those players were expelled from the club. Betrayed, but determined to carry on, those players and other club members, would leave the team and establish their own, separate clubs in the Cypriot capital, Nicosia. On 17 June 1948, AC Omonoia was born and by 1953, AC Omonoia it was admitted into the Cypriot First Division. Nea Salamina, ALKI, and Orpheas were also formed in the same year.

1950s

After entering the 1953–54 in 1953, Omonoia only managed to place 7th out of 9 teams in the 1953–54 season, barely avoiding relegation. During that decade, the club’s best placing came during the 1956–57 season when the club finished 3rd.

1960s

After a mediocre decade in the in 1953, AC Omonoia would make its closest push for the title during the 1959–60 season after finishing 2nd only 1 point behind Anorthosis Famagusta. More motivated than ever, the following year, after just 7 seasons in the First Division, AC Omonoia would go on and win its first title in 1960–61 season, sending shockwaves across Cyprus. Omonoia, in that season would score an unheard of 91 goals in 24 matches on their way to their first ever Cyprus First Division title. Omonoia would go on to win their second title during the 1965–66 season.

1970s

During the 1970s, AC Omonoia had established itself as a force to be reckoned with. During the decade, led by a young, Sotiris Kaiafas, Omonoia would accomplish what no team in Cyprus would ever accomplish by winning 7 Cypriot League Championships beginning in 1972, including six consecutive titles in 1974, 1975, 1976, 977, 1978, and 1979. By the time the decade would come to an end, Omonoia had already surpassed the number of titles of Anorthosis Famagusta which was established in 1911 (nearly 40 years prior to the establishment of Omonoia). Omonoia was also well under way to catching its rival, APOEL, who also had a 13 year head-start on Omonoia. At the end of the 1979 season, Omonoia only trailed APOEL by two championships. Sotiris Kaiafas would become top scorer in Cyprus during the 1971–72, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1982–83, and 1983–84 seasons. In 1976, Sotiris Kaiafas would go on and win the European Golden Boot Award for his single-season 36-goal performance. In 2003, he was awarded the UEFA Jubilee Awards for The Best Cypriot Footballer of the 20th Century.

1980s

AC Omonoia won an additional seven Cypriot League Championship titles including another 5 consecutive in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and again in 1987 and in 1989. As the 1980s came to an end, Omonoia had surpassed Anorthosis and APOEL for the most titles in Cypriot history. In the 20 year span between 1970 and 1990, Omonoia had won 14 Cypriot Championship Titles.

1990s

The 1990s would prove to be less fruitful than the previous two decades. During this time, AC Omonoia only mustered one Cypriot League title during the 1992–93 season. It would be eight long years before Omonoia would see its next title. The only ray of hope came in 1997 after the signing a German named Rainer Rauffmann. Rainer Rauffmann would leave his mark in the long line of Omonoia greats. With the help of other Omonoia great and then captain, Costas Malekkos, and a young Costas Kaiafas (son of Sotiris Kaiafas), Rainer Rauffmann would become top scorer of the Cypriot First Division in the 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00 and 2000–01 seasons. Unfortunately, even with Rauffman’s success, Omonoia had no title to show for it.

2000s

After a disappointing eight seasons, the 2000s decade began on the right foot. AC Omonoia would celebrate its 18th Cypriot League Championship title in 2001. Now captained by Costas Kaiafas, Omonoia would win its 19th Cypriot League Championship again in 2003. However, since 2003, the team would stumble and be without a title for the next several years. After numerous seasons of poor signings and underachieving, Omonoia’s reigns would be taken over by new chairman and team president, Miltiades Neofytou in 2008.

2009–2010

The team would soon be put back on track starting in 2006, beginning with the signing of Cyprus national football team goalie, Antonis Georgallides. Omonoia would continue its star-studded signings by acquiring Cypriot stars that had been playing abroad such as, Elias Charalambous and Stathis Aloneftis. Omonoia would then make headlines with the shocking signing of all-time leading scorer of the Cyprus national football team, Michalis Konstantinou. In 2009, Omonoia would also sign another Cypriot star, Konstantinos Makrides. Along the way, Omonoia would also acquire young Cypriot hopefuls, 21 year-old Dimitris Christofi, and 20 year-old Georgios Efrem. Efrem, who had been playing on the youth team of Arsenal FC and later Scottish side, Rangers, would be the final piece to the puzzle needed to win its 20th Cypriot League Championship. After putting the proper pieces in place, AC Omonoia did just that. During the 2009–10 season, led by new captain, Elias Charalambous, AC Omonoia would not lose a single derby, including play-offs matches against either, APOEL, Anorthosis Famagusta, nor Apollon. After defeating its rival APOEL three consecutive times, Omonoia became the 2009–10 Cypriot League Champions for the 20th time.

2010–2011

Omonoia would not be able to repeat as Champion during the 2010–2011 regular season, and instead had to settle with finishing 2nd, despite the addition of yet another young Cypriot rising star, Andreas Avraam. However the team was to end on a positive note. Under interim coach Neophytos Larkou, Omonoia finished its final 4 matches without a loss, including a 1–0 victory over APOEL. In addition, on 18 May 2011, Omonoia defeated Apollon Limasol in the Cyprus Cup Final and won their 13th Coca-Cola Cup.

Colours and badge

AC Omonoia's colours are green and white. AC Omonoia's badge has a green shamrock in a white circle.

Stadium

Since 23 October 1999, Omonoia has been using the 22,859 seat GSP Stadium, the largest stadium in Cyprus. They share the stadium with local rivals APOEL and Olympiakos. Omonoia played in the Makario Stadium from 1978 until 1999 and in old GSP Stadium prior to 1978. When the club was first created, it used the Goal Stadium.

Supporters

Omonoia fans' celebration upon winning their 20th title after the 2009-2010 season

Omonoia is by far, the most popular team in the country. Omonoia is known for the left-leaning, socialist character of its supporters. Omonoia is also traditionally regarded as the club of Cyprus's working-class. Most of Omonoia's supporters have adopted an outspoken stance against both racism and fascism alike. Many of Omonoia's supporters can be seen waving banners bearing Che Guevara's image or, unlike many of Cyprus's right-wing teams, proudly wave the flag of Cyprus during matches. The extreme, more hardcore fans can be seen in Gate-9 and are commonly referred to as "Kifines" (or male bees). Thousands of them occupy the North stand at the GSP stadium during home games.

Omonoia's fans are well known for their loyalty towards their club. Their presence is seen on the fields in Cyprus during Cypriot League matches and throughout Europe. In 2003, Omonoia's fans broke their previous record for attendance in home matches with the improved figure of 140,740. The record was broken again the following year with 143,033 tickets sold in 13 home matches. The record now stands at 162,061 tickets sold during the 2009–2010 season.

Retired number(s)

Main article: Retired numbers in football

12 – Club Supporters (the 12th Man)

Honours

Cyprus Football Association

• Cypriot Championship: 20
  • 1961, 1966, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2010

• Cypriot Cup: 13
  • 1965, 1972, 1974, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2011

• Cyprus FA Shield: 15 (record)
  • 1966, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2010

Cyprus Amateur Football Federation

• Championship: 4
  • 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952
• Cup: 5
  • 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953

Players

First team squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Dragoslav Jevrić 2 DF Rasheed Alabi 3 DF Davidson Morais 5 DF Christos Karipidis (1st Vice-Captain) 6 MF Vero Salatić 7 MF Georgios Efrem 9 MF Alex 10 MF Bruno Aguiar 11 MF Andreas Avraam 13 MF Constantinos Makrides (Captain) 15 GK Giorgos Loizou 16 MF Noel Kaseke 18 DF Christoforos Charalambous 20 DF Sofiane Cherfa

No. Position Player 21 GK Damián Frascarelli 23 FW Hernán Rengifo 24 DF Yuval Spungin 26 FW Ioannis Chadjivasilis 28 DF Margaça 29 DF Iago Bouzón 30 GK Antonis Georgallides 32 GK Makis Giannikoglou 40 MF Charalambos Kyriakou 44 MF Leandro (2nd Vice-Captain) 46 MF Stathis Aloneftis 77 MF Demetris Christofi 99 FW Freddy

On loan

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

No. Position Player FW Theodosis Kyprou (on loan to Chalkanoras Idaliou) MF Antonis Katsis (on loan to Alki Larnaca)

Former players

For details of former players, see Category:AC Omonia players

Personnel

Coaching staff

Technical staff
Head coach	Neophytos Larkou
Assistant coach	Sofoklis Sofokleous
Goalkeeping coach	Christoforos Loizou
Physical fitness coach	Stergios Fotopoulos
Fitness trainer	Onisiforos Onisiforou

Former managers

• Pampos Avraamides (1954)
• Igor Netto (1967)
• Yoncho Arsov (1988)
• Helmut Senekowitsch (1991)
• Andreas Michaelides (1997–99)
• Dušan Galis (1999)
• Yoncho Arsov (1999–00)
• Asparuh Nikodimov (2000)
• Arie Haan (2000)
• Henk Houwaart (2000–01)
• Andreas Mouskallis (2002)
• Toni Savevski (2002–04)
• Franciszek Smuda (2004)
• Henk Houwaart (2004–05)
• Ioan Andone (2005–07)
• Dragomir Okuka (2007)
• Ioannis Matzourakis (2007)
• Giorgos Savvidis (2008)
• Nedim Tutić (2008–09)
• Takis Lemonis (2009–10)
• Dusan Bajevic (2010–11)

• President: Miltiadis Neophytou
• Vice-President : Stelios Milonas
• Vice-President: Nikos Charalambous
• General Secretary: Andreas Leonidou
• B General Secretary: Christos Tsangaris
• Pavlos Chrysanthou: Μember
• Petros Petrou: Μember
• Photos Ioannou: Μember
• Dafnis Aristodemou: Μember
• Constantinos Christou: Μember
• Filipos Demetriou: Μember
• Costas Vasiliou: Μember
• Christoforos Christofi: Μember
• Antonis Zimaras: Μember
• Giorgos Afxendiou: Μember

Administrative Staff

• Pavlos Nicolaides – Chief Executive Manager
• Christakis Georgiou – Team Manager
• Christos Andronikou – Press / Communication Officer
• Andreas Elia – Marketing Officer
• Christos Hadjisoteriou – Administrative / Marketing Officer
• Οdysseas Odysseos – Futsal, Basketball, Volleyball Officer
• Andreas Miliotis – Academy Director
• Charalambos Argyrou, Kostakis Yiannouris – Academy Officers
• George Tziambouris – Facilities Manager
• Stathis Vasiliou- Commercial Division Officer
• Yiota Rotou – Accountant
• Myria Strouthou – Secretary

• Official website
• Gate9 Official website
• Kifines Fan Page
• Omonoia News website
• Omonoia News in English
• national-football-teams
• Players of A. C. Omonia Nicosia