Athlitikos Omilos Ayia Napa ( el, Αθλητικός Όμιλος Αγία Νάπα, Athletic Club Ayia Napa) is a

Cypriot Cypriot (in older sources often "Cypriote") refers to someone or something of, from, or related to the country of Cyprus. * Cypriot people, or of Cypriot descent; this includes: **Armenian Cypriots **Greek Cypriots **Maronite Cypriots **Turkish C ...

football club from the town of

Ayia Napa Ayia Napa ( el, Άγια Νάπα tr, Aya Napa, ), officially romanised Agia Napa, is a tourist resort at the far eastern end of the southern coast of Cyprus. Etymology The name Ayia Napa is derived from a Venetian-era monastery of the same ...

. The club was founded in 1990 after the merger of two clubs: APEAN (''Athlitiki Podosfairiki Enosis Ayias Napas''; "Athletic Football Union of Ayia Napa") and ENAN (''Enosis Neon Ayias Napas''; "Youth Union Ayia Napa").

History

The club started in the Third Division (199091). They were promoted to Second Division in season 200001 after finishing 2nd in Third division. The team once played against

Omonia Nicosia Athletic Club Omonia Nicosia ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Oμόνοιας Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ; ''Athlitikos Sillogos Omonias Lefkosias'', ''ASOL''), commonly known as Omonia Nicosia, or simply Omonia (" Harmony"; also tran ...

Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

tournament. It lost 4–0 in the first match but came 2–2 in the second match.

Promotion to First Division

The biggest achievement of AO Ayia Napa's history was in the 200506 season after the team finished 3rd in Cypriot Second Division and was promoted to the

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and is thus officially ...

. Despite it being their maiden appearance in the First Division, Ayia Napa proved a formidable force for other First Division sides in the 200607 season. In their first match in the division, they achieved a surprise away draw against

Anorthosis Famagusta Anorthosis Famagusta ( el, Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου, translit=Anorthosi Ammochostou), commonly known as Anorthosis in English or Anorthosi in Greek, is a Cypriot football club, part of the Anorthosis Famagusta multi-sport club fou ...

, which were followed by two more draws, including one against First Division Heavyweights

. In their first 12 matches overall they achieved several draws, including another home draw against

APOEL APOEL FC ( el, ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, ''Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias'', literally "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") ...

. However, they had to wait until the 13th matchday for their first victory, when the team beat

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the Tsirion Stadium. ...

4–1. By the midway point of the season, the team had lost just 5 times. On January 14, 2007, in the reverse fixture of their earlier draw, Ayia Napa beat

2–1, arguably the most impressive result in the clubs' history. After that victory there were a few more successful results and the club looked like they may avoid relegation. However, the team lost their last seven First Division matches of the season and ended up relegated.

Cup qualification to the Quarter-finals

Another big achievement of Ayia Napa FC is the qualification to the cup's quarter-finals group stage in the 200708 season while the team was in the

Cypriot Second Division The Cypriot Second Division ( el, Πρωτάθλημα Β΄ Κατηγορίας) is the second highest football division of the Cypriot football league system. Administrated by the Cyprus Football Association, it is contested by 16 teams, with th ...

. That season was the only team from

that qualified to quarter-finals. The club finished third in the group stages with wins against

and

Stadium

The team's stadium is Municipal Stadium of Ayia Napa, which is a multi-use stadium in Ayia Napa. It is currently used mostly for football matches and holds 2,000 people. However the stadium was not suitable for first division matches, so for the season 200607, when Ayia Napa plays in First Division, the team is using for home the Tasos Markou Stadium in

Paralimni Paralimni ( el, Παραλίμνι) is a town within the Famagusta District of Cyprus, situated on the island's east coast. Since the Turkish invasion in 1974, it has increased in size and status, primarily due to the migration of refugees fleei ...

. The

UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

was hosted in Cyprus in 1998 and the

UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain national under ...

in 1992 and the Ayia Napa Stadium was used for two matches of

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

in each competition; on June 19, 1998, their 5–2 victory against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and four days later, their 3–0 Cyprus U-19 national team and qualified to the final where they went on to win the trophy. In 1992, the Irish were beaten by the Netherlands U-16 0–2 and tied by

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

1–1.

Players

Managers

Nikos Kolompourdas Nikos ( el, Νίκος, ''Níkos'') is a Greek given name. It originates from Greek ''Nikolaos'', which means "victory of the people".Liddell & Scott, Abridged Greek Lexicon Although used as a proper first name, Nikos is also a popular nickname of t ...

(Jan 16, 2013 – Feb 25, 2013) * Costas Loizou (Feb 26, 2013 – April 5, 2013) * Marios Neophytou (April 5, 2013 – Oct 21, 2013) * Zouvanis Zouvani (Oct 24, 2013 – Jan 13, 2014) *

Dušan Mitošević Dušan Mitošević (17 December 1949 – 1 January 2018) was a Serbian football player and manager. Playing career Mitošević was a reputable striker during his playing career. He played for FK Radnički Niš in the Yugoslav First League duri ...

(Jan 14, 2014 – Apr 17, 2014) * Nikos Andronikou (June 6, 2014 – Sept 30, 2014) * Giorgos Kosma (Oct 23, 2014 – Jan 28, 2016) * Antonis Mertakkas (Jan 28, 2016 – Feb 14, 2016)

Honours

(2): ** 2011–12, 2013–14

References

External links

Soccerway profile
{{Cypriot First Division Football clubs in Cyprus Association football clubs established in 1990 1990 establishments in Cyprus