Ayia Napa FC

AO Ayia Napa
Full name	Athlitikos Omilos Ayias Napas
Founded	14 July 1990
Ground	Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni
Capacity	5,800
Chairman	Dr. Sergis Sergiou
Manager	Panayiotis Spyrou
League	Second Division
2022–23	Second Division, 13th
Home colours	Away colours

Athlitikos Omilos Ayia Napa (Greek: Αθλητικός Όμιλος Αγία Νάπα, Athletic Club Ayia Napa) is a Cypriot football club from the town of Ayia Napa. 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 (1990–91). They were promoted to Second Division in season 2000–01 after finishing 2nd in Third division. The team once played against Omonia Nicosia in Cup 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 2005–06 season after the team finished 3rd in Cypriot Second Division and was promoted to the Cypriot First Division. Despite it being their maiden appearance in the First Division, Ayia Napa proved a formidable force for other First Division sides in the 2006–07 season. In their first match in the division, they achieved a surprise away draw against Anorthosis Famagusta, which were followed by two more draws, including one against First Division Heavyweights Omonia Nicosia. In their first 12 matches overall they achieved several draws, including another home draw against APOEL. However, they had to wait until the 13th matchday for their first victory, when the team beat Aris Limassol 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 Omonia Nicosia 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 2007–08 season while the team was in the Cypriot Second Division. That season was the only team from Cypriot Second Division that qualified to quarter-finals. The club finished third in the group stages with wins against APOEL and Aris Limassol.

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 2006–07, when Ayia Napa plays in First Division, the team is using for home the Tasos Markou Stadium in Paralimni.

The UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship was hosted in Cyprus in 1998 and the UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship in 1992 and the Ayia Napa Stadium was used for two matches of Republic of Ireland in each competition;[1] on June 19, 1998, their 5–2 victory against Croatia 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 1–1.

Players

As of 16 September 2023

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
2	DF	NED	Julliani Eersteling
3	DF	CGO	Loïs Fauriel
4	DF	ITA	Mattia Cinquini
5	DF	CYP	Demetris Moulazimis (3rd captain)
6	DF	CYP	Kyriacos Anastasi
8	MF	CYP	Symeon Solomou
9	FW	CYP	Efstathios Giannara
10	MF	ARG	Yamil Romero
13	GK	CYP	Dimitrios Stylianidis (on loan from AEK Larnaca)
17	MF	ARG	Lautaro Ezequiel Romano
18	MF	GRE	Antonis Tsiaras
19	FW	GRE	Dimitrios Diamantopoulos
20	FW	CYP	Theodoros Kolokoudias
21	FW	URU	Lautaro Ferreira
22	DF	ARG	Franco Nahuel Riente


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
24	DF	CYP	Giannis Antoniou
26	DF	CYP	Christoforos Christofi
27	FW	TOG	Abdel-Malik Aziz
28	MF	POR	Miguel Pires
29	MF	CYP	Toni Alexanter Melas
30	MF	ESP	Javier Esteban-Silgo
33	MF	CYP	Eleftherios Isaak
34	MF	CYP	Christos Evangelou
38	MF	CYP	Anastasis Motis
44	MF	CYP	Eleftherios Flouris
67	GK	GRE	Ilias Melkas (3rd captain)
74	MF	CYP	Christodoulos Psathas
89	FW	CYP	Andreas Christou
94	FW	CYP	Omiros Markou
96	MF	CMR	Franck Eric Tientcheu

Managers

Nikos Kolompourdas (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 (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

Cypriot Second Division
- Champions (2): 2011–12, 2013–14

References

"European U-18 Championship 1998". Archived from the original on 2012-09-30. Retrieved 2012-07-03.

External links

Soccerway profile

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[1] "European U-18 Championship 1998". Archived from the original on 2012-09-30. Retrieved 2012-07-03.

Cypriot Second Division
2023–24 clubs	Achyronas-Onisilos Akritas ASIL Ayia Napa Digenis Morphou ENAD ENP Ermis Aradippou Krasava MEAP Olympiakos Omonia 29M Omonia Ar. PAEEK Peyia P.O. Xylotymbou
Associated competitions	First Division Third Division STOK Elite Division Women's 1st Division Cypriot Women's Cup Cypriot Women's Super Cup Cypriot Cup Cypriot Super Cup
Seasons	1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24

Cypriot First Division
2023–24 clubs	AEK Larnaca AEL Limassol AEZ Anorthosis APOEL Apollon Aris Doxa Ethnikos Karmiotissa Nea Salamina Omonia Othellos Pafos
Stadiums	AEK Arena Alphamega Stadium Ammochostos Stadium Antonis Papadopoulos GSP GSZ Katokopia Stadium Makario Tasos Markou Tsirio
Former clubs	AEK Kouklia AEP Akritas Alki Larnaca Alki Oroklini Anagennisi APEP APOP APOP Kinyras ASIL Atromitos Ayia Napa AYMA Çetinkaya Chalkanoras Digenis ENP EPA Ethnikos Assia Ermis Evagoras Keravnos Olympiakos Omonia Ar. Onisilos Orfeas PAEEK Pezoporikos THOI Trust
Competition	List of foreign players
Associated competitions	Second Division Third Division STOK Elite Division Cypriot Cup Super Cup Cup for lower divisions Women's 1st Division Women's Cup Women's Super Cup UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Seasons	1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24