AC Omonia

AC Omonoia

Full name	Athletic Club Omonoia Nicosia Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Ομόνοια Λευκωσίας
Nickname(s)	Τριφύλλι (Shamrock)
Founded	4 June 1948 (1948-06-04)
Ground	GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus
Ground Capacity	22,859
Chairman	Doros Serafeim
Manager	Vladan Milojević
League	Cyprus First Division
2014–15	4th
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Athletic Club Omonoia Nicosia (Greek: Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Ομόνοια Λευκωσίας, ΑΣΟΛ), commonly referred to as Omonoia, is a Cypriot professional football club based in the 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, 14 Cypriot Cups and 16 Super Cups. Omonoia remains the only team to have won the Cypriot Cup 4 times in a row, between the years 1980 and 1983. In the UEFA rankings of the Cypriot clubs Omonoia is currently ranked in third place.

As an athletic club, Omonoia also operates basketball,volleyball, cycling and futsal. The latter one is being particularly successful, having won the league and cup in three consecutive years since 2011.

History

Creation and Early Years (1948-1953)

On 23 May 1948 the board of APOEL FC sent a telegram to the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (Greek: Σ.Ε.Γ.Α.Σ.), with the opportunity of the annual Panhellenic Track and Field Competition stating its wish for the "communist mutiny" to be ended. Club players considering this action as a political comment on the Greek Civil War distanced themselves or were expelled from APOEL.

On 4 June 1948 Dr. Mattheos Papapetrou organized a meeting to form a new club in Nicosia . Many players expelled from APOEL were also invited and on 17 June 1948 Omonia was established. Along with other left-wing teams such as Nea Salamina, Alki Larnaca and Orfeas Nicosia, Omonoia helped create in December 1948 the Cyprus Amateur Football Federation. Omonoia took part in the CAFF league until 1953 having won 4 out of 5 played championships and 5 out of 5 played cups. Omonoia was then accepted by the Cyprus Football Association to participate in the Cypriot First Division.

Beginnings in the Cypriot First Division (1953-1969)

After joining the Cypriot First Division 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.

The team would make its closest push for the title during the 1959–60 season after finishing 2nd, 1 point behind Anorthosis Famagusta. The following year, after 7 seasons in the First Division, the club would win its first title in 1960–61 season. Omonia, in that season would score 91 goals in 24 matches on their way to their first ever Cyprus First Division title. Omonoia won their second title during the 1965–66 season.

Golden Era (1970s-1980s)

Sotiris Kaiafas is not only considered one of Omonoia's all-time greatest, but the best footballer in the history of Cypriot football.

Omonia won its first trophies of the decade in 1972, when the club won both the league and the cup. Led by a young, Sotiris Kaiafas, Omonia won 7 league tittles in the 70s decade, six of them were consecutive in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. By the time the decade would come to an end, Omonia had a total of 9 championship titles and 3 cups. At the end of the 1979 season, Omonia trailed its arch rival APOEL by two championships. In 1976, Sotiris Kaiafas would go on and win the European Golden Shoe 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.

The 1980s was a successful decade for the club as it won an additional seven Cypriot League Championship titles including another 5 consecutive in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and in 1987 and in 1989. As the 1980s came to an end, Omonia had won 14 Cypriot Championship Titles becoming the most successful team on the island at the time.

General Decline (1990s)

The 1990s would prove to be less successful than the previous two decades. During this time, AC Omonia only mustered one Cypriot League title during the 1992–93 season. It would be eight years before Omonia would see its next title. In 1997 Omonia signed a German named Rainer Rauffmann who would later become the second top goal scorer ever for the club. With the help of other Omonia 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 and leading Omonoia to two titles.

Revival (2000s)

After a disappointing eight seasons, the 2000s decade began with a trophy . AC Omonia celebrated its 18th Cypriot League Championship title in 2001. Now captained by Costas Kaiafas, Omonia 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, Omonia’s reigns would be taken over by new chairman and team president, Miltiadis Neophytou in 2008.

Michalis Konstantinou, mostly credited for helping the team reach its 20th championship title

The team would soon be put back on track starting in 2006, beginning with the signing of Cyprus national football team goalie, Antonis Georgallides. Omonia 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, Omonia would also sign another Cypriot star, Konstantinos Makrides. Along the way, Omonia 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 Omonia did just that. During the 2009–10 season, led by new captain, Elias Charalambous, AC Omonia 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, Omonia became the 2009–10 Cypriot League Champions for the 20th time.

Coach Takis Lemonis left the club after disappointing results and Dušan Bajević became the new coach in October 2010 but was fired in April 2011. He was replaced by Neophytos Larkou.Omonia would not be able to repeat as Champion during the 2010–11 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, Omonia defeated Apollon Limassol in the Cyprus Cup Final and won their 13th Coca-Cola Cup.

Omonia spent a difficult year but managed to win their 14th Coca-Cola Cup starring Andre Alves who scored the winning goal against AEL Limassol. Under the guidance of newly appointed Director of Football Nickolas Danskalou AC Omonoia managed to finish 2nd in the Championship and 3rd after the playoff rounds all but assuring they would qualify for the Second round of the 2012–13 UEFA Cup Competition.

Financial Crisis (2012-present)

Coach Neophytos Larkou left the club in September 2012 and Toni Savevski was then appointed as coach. The team begun the season with a great win but found its second success after several games. A disappointing first round proved enough to exclude the club from contesting for the championship or the cup. The team managed better results in the second round finishing the season in 3rd place. Thousands of fans answered the president's call to donate as much as they could and the financial issues of the club improved. Omonoia's final match ended in a 3−1 victory over AEK Larnaca. Omonoia was knocked out in the semifinals of the cup by AEL Limassol.

In 2013 Omonoia begun the new season with Toni Savevski as manager but he was sacked halfway besides positive results. Miguel Ángel Lotina was hired as the replacer but was sacked just 37 days later. Kostas Kaiafas, ex-player was then appointed as the new coach. The club's financial difficulties returned despite the massive fundraiser organized the previous season. Omonoia ended 5th in the league finishing its worst season in 56 years since the 1957-1958 season.

In August 2014 Omonia was knocked out of the Europa League playoff stages by Dynamo Moscow. The club issued a complaint to UEFA regarding the refereeing of the match by Alexandru Tudor. In early September the club stopped supplying the fans' group Gate-9 with tickets resulting in the group's abstention from matches. Two weeks later after a meeting between the president and the coach it was decided that tickets were to be supplied again to Gate-9. Omonia managed to finish 4th in the league. The team was knocked out of the Cypriot Cup semifinals by APOEL FC.

Name

"Omonia" is the greek word for concord, showing the contrast of the club for discord and disruption.

Colours and badge

AC Omonia's colors are green and white. Their current alternate kit is black and red. AC Omonia's badge has a green shamrock in a white circle. Green symbolizing hope.

Stadium

Main article: GSP Stadium

Omonia's current stadium, GSP

Since 23 October 1999, Omonia has been using the 22,859-seat GSP Stadium, the largest stadium in Cyprus. They share the stadium with local rivals APOEL and Olympiakos. Omonia 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.

Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors

Period	Kit manufacturer	Shirt partner
1992–1994	Umbro	Lois
1994–1998	Diadora	KEO
1998–1999	Kappa
1999–2001	Umbro
2001–2004
2004–2007	Lotto	LOEL juices
2007–2008		miVision
2008–2010		Ocean Tankers
2010–2012	Adidas	Cytamobile-Vodafone
2012–	Nike

Supporters

Main article: Gate-9

Omonia fans at an away match against FC Red Bull Salzburg

Omonoia is the most popular club in the country. A poll places the club as the most popular team on the island with 28.6% of asked Cypriot football fans stating they supported Omonoia. The fans are known for their left-leaning, socialist character, with over 60% stating in a survey that they associate themselves with the communist Progressive Party of Working People Omonia is also traditionally regarded as the club of Cyprus's working-class. Many of Omonia's supporters can be seen waving banners bearing Che Guevara's image. Gate 9, the team's ultras group, was established in 1992. The group occupies the North stand at the GSP stadium during home games. Omonia's fans are well known for their passion. The record for most tickets sold in a single season for Omonia stands at 162,061 tickets sold during the 2009–2010 season. The Omonoia fans which are called Gate 9 have friendship with other teams supporters such as Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Standard Liege fans.

Financial Crisis and 2013 Pan-Cypriot Fundraiser

By the end of February 2013 Omonia was struggling to meet the UEFA criteria due to the economic crisis that had engulfed the club. The president then decided to start a fundraiser and called for the supporters of the club to donate as much as they could. Hundreds of events were organised island wide with the motto; "ΕΙΜΑΙ ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ ΔΗΛΩΝΩ ΠΑΡΩΝ" meaning "I'M WITH OMONOIA, I DECLARE MYSELF PRESENT". Current and former players contributed by signing autographs and selling club merchandise. Although the situation at the beginning was described as grim, money poured in from all over the island and from abroad including England and the United States. In about a month and a half €3.5 million was collected from the club's supporters.

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: 14
  • 1965, 1972, 1974, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1988, 1991, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2011, 2012
• Cyprus FA Shield: 16 (record)
  • 1966, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2012

Cyprus Amateur Football Federation

• CAFF Championship: 4 (record)
  • 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952
• CAFF Cup: 5 (record)
  • 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953

European record

European Cup/UEFA Champions League

European Cup/UEFA Champions League
Season	Round	Rival	Home	Away	Agg.
1966-67	First Round	1860 Munich	1–2	8–0	1–10
1972–73	First Round	Waterford United	2–0	2–1	3–2
	Second Round	Bayern Munich	0–4	9–0	0–13
1974–75	First Round	Cork Celtic	–	–	(w/o)
1975–76	First Round	IA Akranes	2–1	4–0	2–5
1976–77	First Round	PAOK	0–2	1–1	1–3
1977–78	First Round	Juventus	0–3	2–0	0–5
1978–79	First Round	Bohemians	2–1	1–0	2–2 (a)
1979–80	First Round	Red Boys Differdange	6–1	2–1	7–3
	Second Round	Ajax	4–0	10–0	4–10
1981–82	First Round	Benfica	0–1	3–0	0–4
1982–83	First Round	HJK Helsinki	2–0	3–0	2–3
1983–84	First Round	CSKA Sofia	4–1	3–0	4–4 (a)
1984–85	First Round	Dinamo Bucharest	2–1	4–1	3–5
1985–86	First Round	Rabat Ajax	5–0	0–5	10–0
	Second Round	Anderlecht	1–3	1–0	1–4
1987–88	First Round	Shamrock Rovers	0–0	0–1	1–0
	Second Round	Steaua Bucureşti	0–2	1–3	1–5
1989–90	First Round	Swarovski Tirol	2–3	6–0	2–9
1993–94	Preliminary Round	FC Aarau	2–1	2–0	2–3
2001–02	Second Qualifying Round	Red Star Belgrade	1–1	2–1	2–3
2003–04	First Qualifying Round	Irtysh	0–0	1–2	2–1
	Second Qualifying Round	Wisła Kraków	2–2	5–2	4–7
2010–11	Second Qualifying Round	Renova	3–0	0–2	5–0
	Third Qualifying Round	Red Bull Salzburg	1–1	4–1	2–5

UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League

UEFA Cup/UEFA Europa League
Season	Round	Rival	Home	Away	Agg.
1986–87	First Round	Sportul Studenţesc	1–1	1–0	1–2
1990–91	First Round	PFC Slavia Sofia	4–2	2–1	5–4
	Second Round	Anderlecht	1–1	3–0	1–4
1995–96	Preliminary Round	Sliema Wanderers	3–0	1–2	5–1
	First Round	Lazio	1–2	5–0	1–7
1998–99	First Qualifying Round	Linfield	5–1	5–3	8–6
	Second Qualifying Round	Rapid Wien	3–1	2–0	3–3 (a)
1999–00	Qualifying Round	Belshina Bobruisk	3–0	1–5	8–1
	First Round	Juventus	2–5	5–0	2–10
2000–01	Qualifying Round	Naftex Burgas	0–0	2–1	1–2
2004–05	First Qualifying Round	Sloga Jugomagnat	4–0	1–4	8–1
	Second Qualifying Round	CSKA Sofia	1–1	3–1	2–4
2005–06	First Qualifying Round	Hibernians	3–0	0–3	6–0
	Second Qualifying Round	Dinamo Bucureşti	2–1	3–1	3–4
2006–07	First Qualifying Round	Rijeka	2–1	2–2	4–3
	Second Qualifying Round	Litex Lovech	0–0	2–1	1–2
2007–08	First Qualifying Round	Rudar Pljevlja	2–0	0–2	4–0
	Second Qualifying Round	CSKA Sofia	1–1	2–1	2–3
2008–09	First Qualifying Round	Milano	2–0	1–2	4–1
	Second Qualifying Round	AEK Athens	2–2	0–1	3–2
	First Round	Manchester City	1–2	2–1	2–4
2009–10	Second Qualifying Round	HB	4–0	1–4	8–1
	Third Qualifying Round	Vaslui	1–1	2–0	1–3
2010–11	Play-off Round	Metalist Kharkiv	0–1	2–2	2–3
2011–12	Third Qualifying Round	ADO Den Haag	3–0	1–0	3–1
	Play-off Round	Red Bull Salzburg	2–1	1–0	2–2 (a)
2012–13	Third Qualifying Round	Red Star Belgrade	0–0	0–0	0–0 (5–6 p)
2013–14	Second Qualifying Round	Astra Giurgiu	1–2	1–1	2–3
2014–15	Second Qualifying Round	Budućnost Podgorica	0–0	0–2	2–0
	Third Qualifying Round	Metalurg Skopje	3–0	0–1	4–0
	Play-off Round	Dynamo Moscow	1–2	2–2	3–4
2015–16	First Qualifying Round	Dinamo Batumi	2–0	1–0	2–1
	Second Qualifying Round	Jagiellonia Białystok	1–0	0–0	1–0
	Third Qualifying Round	Brøndby	2–2	0–0	2–2 (a)

Players

First team squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Constantinos Panagi 4 DF Carlitos 5 DF Romaric 7 MF Marios Demetriou 8 FW Onisiforos Roushias 9 FW Cillian Sheridan 10 MF Luciano Bebê 13 FW Eze Vincent 16 MF Cristóvão Ramos 19 DF Andreas Panayiotou 20 MF Gerasimos Fylaktou 21 MF Nuno Assis (Captain) 23 MF Giorgos Economides

No. Position Player 24 DF Anastasios Kantoutsis 27 FW Andre Schembri 28 MF Renato Margaça (vice-captain) 30 MF Andraž Kirm 31 GK Laurențiu Brănescu (on loan from Juventus) 33 GK Antonis Georgallides 39 MF Ziguy Badibanga 45 DF Karim Hafez (on loan from Lierse) 49 MF Fanos Katelaris 53 DF Hélder Cabral 77 FW Demetris Christofi 88 MF Faysel Kasmi 90 DF Ivan Runje

For recent transfers, see List of Cypriot football transfers winter 2015–16.

On loan

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

No. Position Player DF Demetris Moulazimis (at Ermis Aradippou until 31 May 2016) DF Pantelis Konomis (at Omonia Aradippou until 31 May 2016) MF Constantinos Louvaris (at Olympiakos Nicosia until 31 May 2016) MF Andreas Frangeskou (at PAEEK until 31 May 2016)

No. Position Player MF Andreas Loizou (at Chalkanoras Idaliou until 31 May 2016) MF Giorgos Ivanov (at MEAP Nisou until 31 May 2016) FW Panayiotis Therapontos (at PAEEK until 31 May 2016) FW Apollonas Vasiliou (at MEAP Nisou until 31 May 2016)

Source: omonoia.com.cy

Former players

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

Retired number

Further information: Retired numbers in football

12 – Club supporters (the 12th man)

Club officials

Board of Directors

President	Doros Seraphim
A Vice President	Panikos Neophytou
B Vice President	Lakis Polykarpou
General Secretary	Christos Neophytou
B General Secretary	Andreas Pashiortides
Member	Agis Iakovides
Member	Nikos Charalambous
Member	Photos Ioannou
Member	Costas Constantinou
Member	Andrea Lamprou
Member	Yiannakis Ioannou
Member	Christodoulos Christodoulou
Member	Antonis Zymaras
Member	Antonis Tzionis
Member	Costas Christou

Staff

Chief Executive Manager	Pavlos Nicolaides
Chief Financial Officer	Christodoulos Kyriakides
Media Officer	Andreas Demetriou
Marketing Executive	Panayiotis Kamasia
Administration Officer	Apostolos Mikellidis
Ticketing Officer	Andreas Petrou
Team Manager	Demetris M. Demetriou
Accountant	Yiota Rotou
Commercial Unit Officers	Demetris Demetriou
Academy Director	Andreas Miliotis
Academy Officers	Kostakis Yiannouris, Charalambos Argyrou
Secretary	Christina Christou

Technical staff

Head coach	Vladan Milojević
Assistant coach	Krzysztof Warzycha
Assistant coach	Akis Ioakim
Physical fitness coach	Vladimir Jankovic
Goalkeeping coach	Christoforos Loizou

Source: omonoia.com.cy

Managerial history

• Tikran Misirian (1948–52)
• John Johnson (1952–53)
• Pampos Avraamides (1953–55)
• Hans Hounggehouizen (1955–57)
• Karl Vigler (1957–59)
• Eli Fuchs (1959–60)
• Nako Tsiakmakov (1960–62)
• Tourai (1962–63)
• Stoyan Petrov (1963–64)
• Andreas Keremezos (1964–65)
• Georgi Pachedzhiev (1965–66), (first term)
• Igor Netto (1966–67)
• Georgi Barka (1967–68)
• Georgi Pachedzhiev (1968–70), (second term)
• Tziakarov (1970–71)
• Dobromir Tashkov (1971–72), (first term)
• Vasil Spasov (1972–74), (first term)
• Andreas Constantinou (Esso) (1974–75)
• Iltziev (1975–76)
• Gavriel Stoyanov (1976–77)
• Peter Argirov (1977–79)
• Yoncho Arsov (1979–80), (first term)
• Vasil Spasov (1980–82), (second term)
• Dobromir Tashkov (1982–83), (second term)
• Adanas Dramov (1983–85)
• Georgi Tinkov (1985–86)
• Yoncho Arsov (1986–89), (second term)
• Bozhil Kolev (1989–90)
• Helmut Senekowitsch (1990–91)
• Graziano Zakarel (1991–92)
• Yoncho Arsov (1992–94), (third term)
• Gerhard Prokop (1994–96)
• Walter Skocik (1995–96)
• Angel Kolev (1996–97)
• Andreas Michaelides (1997–99)
• Dušan Galis (1999)
• Yoncho Arsov (1999–00), (fourth term)
• Asparuh Nikodimov (2000)
• Arie Haan (14 Nov 2000 – 30 Nov 2000)
• Henk Houwaart (1 Oct 2000 – 30 Nov 2001), (first term)
• Andreas Mouskallis (2002)
• Toni Savevski (2002–04), (first term)
• Franciszek Smuda (2004)
• Henk Houwaart (1 July 2004 – 31 Dec 2005), (second term)
• Ioan Andone (28 Dec 2005 – 25 May 2007)
• Dragan Okuka (23 May 2007 – 26 Nov 2007)
• Ioannis Matzourakis (2007)
• Giorgos Savvidis (2008)
• Nedim Tutić (2008–09)
• Takis Lemonis (17 March 2009 – 4 Oct 2010)
• Dušan Bajević (13 Oct 2010 – 14 April 2011)
• Neophytos Larkou (15 April 2011–Sept 18, 2012)
• Toni Savevski (Sept 26, 2012–18 Dec 2013), (second term)
• Miguel Ángel Lotina (1 Jan 2014 – 6 Feb 2014)
• Kostas Kaiafas (12 March 2014 – 2 November 2015 )
• Vladan Milojević (11 November 2015 – present )

Source: omonoia.com.cy

External links

• Official website
• Omonoia news website
• Gate9 official website
• Kifines fan page
• national-football-teams
• Players of A. C. Omonia Nicosia on Wikimedia Commons