Ethnikos Achna Football Club ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Εθνικός Άχνας), commonly known as Ethnikos Achna, or simply Ethnikos, is a Cypriot

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 based in the village of

Achna Achna ( el, Άχνα; tr, Düzce) is an abandoned village in the Famagusta District of Cyprus. It is just north of the Buffer Zone and it is under the '' de facto'' control of Northern Cyprus. After the 1974 Turkish invasion, its displaced i ...

. Founded in 1968, the club currently plays 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 ...

. Ethnikos' home ground is the

Dasaki Stadium Dasaki Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Dasaki Achnas, Akrotiri and Dhekelia, Cyprus. It is used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Ethnikos Achna FC Ethnikos Achna Football Club ( el, Αθλητικός Σύλλογ� ...

, which has a capacity of 7000 seats. They are the only Cypriot team to win a

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 ...

competition.

History

The club played in the

until 1983 when it 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 ...

but was immediately relegated. Ethnikos was promoted to the First Division again in 1986 and stayed there for four seasons. Another two years in the Second Division ended with promotion to the First Division in 1992, where Ethnikos have remained until 2018 when they were relegated again. The team's best overall national ranking is fourth in the 1994–95, 1997–98 and 2006–07 seasons. The club participated in 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 twice; once in 2002, where they were beaten by

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 fo ...

0–1, as well as in 2022 when they were beaten by Omonoia in a penalty shootout after a 0-0 score in normal and extra time.

European Competitions

Ethnikos competed in the UEFA Intertoto Cup six times: In 1998, 2003, 2004,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, 2007 and 2008. Five of those times, they were eliminated in the first round. However, in 2006, Ethnikos won the Intertoto Cup and was of the eleven winners of that year's competition. After eliminating Albanian side

Partizani Tirana Futboll Klub Partizani, or FK Partizani for short, is an Albanian professional football club based in Tirana, that competes in the Kategoria Superiore. Founded in 1946, the club was historically affiliated to the Albanian army. Partizani's curren ...

, they faced

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 ...

n side

NK Osijek Nogometni klub Osijek ( en, Osijek Football Club), commonly referred to as NK Osijek or simply Osijek (), is a Croatian professional football club from Osijek. Founded in 1947, it was the club from Slavonia with the most seasons in the Yugoslav ...

. They tied both matches, but Ethnikos advanced on away goals, and became the first Cypriot team to have reached the third round of the Intertoto Cup. There, they beat

Maccabi Petah Tikva Maccabi Petah Tikva F.C. ( he, מכבי פתח תקווה) (Full name: "Maccabi Avshalom Ironi Petah Tikva F.C., ) is an Israeli football club based in the city of Petah Tikva. It is part of the Maccabi World Union for international Jewish spo ...

4–3 on aggregate, and became one of the competition's eleven winners. This meant that Ethnikos had qualified for the

2006–07 UEFA Cup The 2006–07 UEFA Cup was the 36th UEFA Cup, Europe's second-tier club football tournament. On 16 May 2007, at Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Sevilla won their second consecutive UEFA Cup, defeating Espanyol 3–1 on penalties after the match ...

. In the UEFA Cup, Ethnikos eliminated

Roeselare Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The ...

with a 2–1 loss in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

and a 5–0 victory in Cyprus, qualifying for the first round. They were eliminated by

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

after drawing the first leg at home (played at

GSP Stadium Gymnastic Club "The Pancyprians" Stadium (GSP Stadium) ( el, Στάδιο Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος "Τα Παγκύπρια") is a football stadium in Strovolos, Nicosia District, Cyprus. Although small by international standar ...

Nicosia Nicosia ( ; el, Λευκωσία, Lefkosía ; tr, Lefkoşa ; hy, Նիկոսիա, romanized: ''Nikosia''; Cypriot Arabic: Nikusiya) is the largest city, capital, and seat of government of Cyprus. It is located near the centre of the Mesaor ...

) 0–0 and losing 3–1 in France. Because of their success in the Intertoto Cup, Ethnikos was named the Sports Team of the Year in 2006, by the Sports Journalists Union of Cyprus.

Honours

Domestic

League

: ** Winners (2): 1985–86, 1991–92

Cups

: ** Runner-up (2): 2001–02, 2021–22

International

* UEFA Intertoto Cup: ** Joint Winner (1):

Players

On loan

Out

Managers

Stéphane Demol Stéphane Auguste Ernest Demol (born 11 March 1966) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a central defender, and a current manager. He amassed Belgian First Division A totals of 120 games and 11 goals over the course of seve ...

(2008–09) *

Panicos Orphanides Panicos Orphanides (born 27 July 1961) is a Cypriot former football manager and former football player. He played for AEL Limassol from 1977 to 1993, where he celebrated three Cypriot Cups. As a manager, Orphanides started as an assistant to An ...

(2009–10) *

Čedomir Janevski Čedomir "Čede" Janevski ( mk, Чедомир "Чеде" Јаневски, born 3 July 1961) is a Macedonian professional football manager and former player who was the manager of Cypriot club Olympiakos Nicosia. He played internationally for b ...

(2011–12) * Stephen Constantine (2012–13) * Danilo Dončić (2015–2016) *

Valdas Ivanauskas Valdas Ivanauskas (born 31 July 1966) is a Lithuanian football coach and a former striker. He is best known in Europe for his time at Austria Vienna as well as Hamburger SV where he acted between 1993 and 97. Beyond that he stood on the sidel ...

(2016–2017) * Panayiotis Engomitis (2017) *

Giorgi Chikhradze Giorgi Chikhradze ( ka, გიორგი ჩიხრაძე; born 1 October 1967) is a Georgian football manager and former member of the Georgian national football team. Chikhradze played club football for FC Dinamo Sukhumi in the Soviet ...

(2017–2018) * Panayiotis Engomitis (2018–)

History in European competition

Overall

Matches

;Notes * QR: Qualifying round * 1Q: First qualifying round * 2Q: Second qualifying round * 3Q: Third qualifying round * PO: Play-off round

References

External links

Official website
{{Ethnikos Achna squad Football clubs in Cyprus Association football clubs established in 1968 1968 establishments in Cyprus