APOP Kinyras FC ( el, ΑΠΟΠ, Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Ομιλος Πέγειας Κινύρας, ''Athlitikos Podosfairikos Omilos Pegeias Kinyras'', "Athletic Football Club Peyia Kinyras") was 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 Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club from the village of Peyia of

Paphos District Paphos District ( el, Επαρχία Πάφου, tr, Baf kazası) is one of the six districts of Cyprus and it is situated in the western part of Cyprus. Its main town and capital is Paphos. The entire district is controlled by the internati ...

. The club formed in 2003 following the merger of lower division outfits APOP Peyias FC and Kinyras Empas FC. The club's name APOP means Athlitikos Podosferikos Omilos Pegeias (Athletic Football Club Peyia) and Kinyras' name coming from the mythical king Kinyras who was the founder of

Paphos Paphos ( el, Πάφος ; tr, Baf) is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and New Paphos. The current city of Pap ...

. In the summer of 2012, after a large bankruptcy the club was dissolved. In May 2009, APOP Kinyras caused a major stir by winning the Cypriot Cup final, upsetting overwhelming favourites AC Omonia, APOEL FC and AEL Limassol, becoming the first club from Paphos to win a major trophy. In July 2009, APOP Kinyras become the first team from the Paphos region to play in a UEFA competition, visiting Rapid Wien in the first leg of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

third qualifying round.

History

The club's started their history in the 3rd division on the 2003/04 season where they promoted to Second Division as Champions. The following season they won the second division championship and they were promoted as Second Division Champion

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 ...

for the first time in their history. However, the team finished 12th in the 2005–06 season and they were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

back to the second divisio

In 2007 the team won the Second Division championship and they were promoted to First Division for the second time. They finished 8th in the Cypriot First Division 2007-08, 2007–08 first division championship and in the 2008–09 season finished seventh. Few gave APOP Kinyras any chance of clinching silverware that season, although under coach Giorgos Polyviou, manage to create quite a stir when they upset overwhelming favourites and win the

Cypriot Cup The Cypriot Cup () is the main cup competition in Cypriot football, run by the Cyprus Football Association (CFA). It began in 1934, the same season with the Cypriot Championship. It is the second most important competition for Cypriot club team ...

final against

AEL Limassol Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou ( el, Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, translation=Athletic Union of Limassol) commonly known as AEL, is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team. AEL also maintai ...

. After the success, the team became the first club from Paphos to win a major trophy since the foundation of the Cyprus Football Association in 1934. After overcoming

AC Omonia 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 ...

in quarterfinals and

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

in semifinals, the Paphos side withstood some intense AEL pressure before scoring two late goals through

Angelos Efthymiou Angelos Efthymiou ( el, Αγγελος Ευθυμιου; born 18 January 1984) is a former Cypriot footballer who currently works as assistant manager for Pafos FC alongside Sofoklis Sofokleous. Career Efthymiou previously played for APOP Kin ...

and Fangio Buyse to seal a remarkable triumph in Nicosia's GSP Stadium. In their first European game APOP Kinyras played in Vienna on July 30, 2009; losing against

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

2–1 in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. In the second leg, Rapid needed Trimmel's exta-time goal (2–2) to eliminate the Paphos side, which impressed at the match sending it to overtime, coming from 0–1 down to 2–1 lead with two goals from

Edgar Marcelino Edgar Carvalho Figueira Marcelino (born 10 September 1984) is a Portuguese footballer who plays for Amora F.C. as a right winger. Club career Born in Coimbra, Marcelino started his career at Sporting CP, but never represented the main squad, ...

and

Sebastián González Sebastián Ignacio González Valdés (; born 14 December 1978), also known as Chamagol, is a Chilean former footballer who played as striker. Club career He began his football career at Colo-Colo of the first tier of his country, in which ...

. In 2011, after 4 consecutive seasons in the first division, a record for the club, they were relegated back to the Cypriot Second Division. In 2012, in after a lot of scandals the club was relegated by CFA and UEFA from the Second to Fourth Division. The same year, after a large bankruptcy the club was dissolved.

Colours and badge

The club's colours were yellow and blue.

Stadium

The club's home was

Peyia Municipal Stadium Peyia Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Peyia, Cyprus. It is currently used mostly for football matches and was the home ground of APOP Kinyras Peyias FC. Since 2014 the stadium is the home ground of Peyia 2014. The stadium holds 3,828 peo ...

which has capacity of 3,828 spectators. In 2005/06, when the team participated in the First Division, they were not allowed to use Pegeia Stadium, for the reason that the stadium does not satisfy the criteria of First Division and the team used for home the Pafiako Stadium. In 2007 expansions have been made in Pegeia stadium and APOP/Kinyras was allowed to use the Peyia Municipal Stadium.

Notable former players

''For a complete list of APOP Kinyras Peyias players, see

APOP Kinyras FC players Apop may refer to: *APOP (Email Protocol) *APOP Kinyras Peyias FC, a Cypriot football club *Apoptygma Berzerk Apoptygma Berzerk (; commonly abbreviated to APB or APOP) is a Norwegian musical group. They have achieved success with a brand of sy ...

Honours

** Winner (1): 2008–09 *

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 ...

** Champions (2): 2004–05, 2006–07 * Cypriot Third Division: ** Champions (1): 2003–04

APOP Kinyras in European competitions

References

External links

Official Website

APOP/KINYRAS News on 24sports
{{DEFAULTSORT:Apop Kinyras Fc Football clubs in Cyprus Association football clubs established in 2003 2003 establishments in Cyprus Association football clubs disestablished in 2012 Defunct football clubs in Cyprus