AEL Limassol

AEL Limassol

Full name	Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou
Founded	4 October 1930; 94 years ago (1930-10-04)
Ground	Alphamega Stadium
Capacity	11,000
President	Konstantinos Konstantinou
Manager	Chris Coleman
League	First Division
2023–24	First Division, 8th
Website	ael-fc.com
Home colours Away colours

Sports departments of AEL Limassol
Football (Men's) Basketball (Men's) Basketball (Women's) Bowling (Men's) Billiards (Men's) Handball (defunct) Cycling (Men's) Futsal (Men's) e-Sports (Men's) Hockey (defunct) Volleyball (Women's) Boxing (Men's)

Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou (Greek: Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, lit. 'Athletic Union of Limassol') is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, most famous for its football team.

AEL Limassol also maintains a men's and women's basketball teams, a women's volleyball team and a (newly established in 1976) Futsal team, a women's handball team as well as a cricket team. AEL Limassol is one of the oldest and most decorated football clubs on the island and the most successful club in Limassol with 17 official football trophies consisting of 6 first division championships, 7 cups and 4 super cups.^[1] The sponsor of the club is Meridian Sport.^[2]

The club was founded on 4 October 1930, with Stavros Pittas serving as the club's first president.^[3] The football section of the club competed in its first game on 6 January 1931 against PSC, winning 6–1 in Limassol.^[3] The club won the national championship in 1934 though this is not credited as it is an unofficial title.^[4] Later that year, AEL became one of the eight founding members of the Cypriot First Division for the 1934–35 season, the first official league of the country.^[3][4]

AEL Limassol celebrated its first official title success in 1941, defeating APOEL 4–3 in a two-legged championship play-off.^[4] AEL fans had to wait 12 years until tasting title success again, as the club finally became champions of Cyprus again in 1953.^[3][4] AEL would twice repeat this success, winning back-to-back league championships in 1955 and 1956.^[5]

The club won its last major trophy in 1989 – before the title success of 2012 –^[6] when it defeated city rivals Aris Limassol 3–2 after extra time in final of the Cypriot Cup.^[7][8]

In 2011, after disappointingly finishing in seventh-place in the previous campaign, AEL hired Pambos Christodoulou,^[9] who had a reputation of steering "modest sides away from relegation", to start the club's rebuilding process.^[10] AEL Limassol secured the Cypriot league title for the first time since 1968 on 5 May 2012, ending a 44-year drought without a Cypriot first division title.^[11]

Christodoulou had a dream-like first season at the helm AEL, as his side was unbeaten and had not conceded any goals through the first five games. At the end of the second round, AEL finished top of the table,^[12] three points clear of the second placed team and had only conceded seven goals, the best defensive record of all the league teams. In the play-off round, AEL battled with the top four teams for the championship, winning it with one game to spare and conceding only nine goals. As Christodoulou has managed to bring AEL the championship crown,^{[13][14][15][16]} he was nicknamed by fans "Pambourinho", a combination of his name and of esteemed manager José Mourinho.

AEL received the championship trophy during a spectacular "fiesta" evening at the Tsirio Stadium on the evening of Saturday 12 May 2012. They followed this with an open-top bus parade through Limassol. Up to 12,000 AEL fans packed the stadium to watch the fiesta and trophy presentation.

The club then turned their attention to the Cup Final of 16 May against Omonia and the chance to be crowned double winners for the first time in club history; the club, however, lost 1–0 in the final.^[17] The following year, AEL made it to the group stage of a UEFA tournament for the first time, finishing last and picking up four points in their UEFA Europa League group.^[18]

On 22 October 2013, Angolan manager Lito Vidigal was sacked after just over three months in charge.^[19] Bulgarian Ivaylo Petev was appointed as AEL's manager on 25 October, having previously guided Ludogorets Razgrad to promotion to the A Group as well as two A Group titles, a Bulgarian Cup win as well as a triumph in the Bulgarian Super Cup.^[19] Petev signed an initial deal to stay at AEL until the end of the 2014–15 season.^[19]

At the end of the 2013–14 season, AEL finished in first place in the initial phase of the competition. Going into the championship match against APOEL on 17 May 2014, AEL needed only a draw to secure their second league title in three years. The match, however, was abandoned (at 0–0) after 52 minutes when firecrackers thrown by AEL fans struck APOEL player Kaká.^[20] The match was replayed behind closed doors at a neutral stadium on 31 May 2014, and APOEL achieved to win their second consecutive league title after beating AEL 1–0, courtesy of a Cillian Sheridan goal.^[21][22] On 6 June 2014, the Cyprus Football Association's (CFA) disciplinary committee – acting as an appeals board – unanimously cancelled on the CFA council's decision to repeat the 17 May championship final, awarding the match to APOEL with a 0–3 score.^[23] AEL winger Jorge Monteiro finished the season as joint-top scorer in the league with 18 goals, and the former Porto academy product was voted player of the year by the CFA. AEL finished in the 4th place of the championship of 2016–2017 and as a result the team won a place in the first qualifying round of Europa League. Furthermore, AEL achieved to go up to third qualifying round from a not fair play game from the referee Artyom Kuchin and the players of Austria Wien. The referee had shown the white dot of the penalty for a ghost foul outside of the box of AEL and a red card for AEL defender Marco Airosa in the twenty second minute. AEL had fight for the win for the whole game to achieve two goals that send her in the play-offs but the score finished 1–2.^[24]

The football department of AEL is legally owned by AEL Football (Public) Ltd (Greek: ΑΕΛ Ποδόσφαιρο Δημόσια ΛΤΔ), a public limited company, from 2009 until 31 May 2023. The company's main activity is the management, operation and commercial exploitation of AEL Football club.^{[citation needed]} After the vote of confidence by the AEL Board of Directors, from 1 June 2023 the football team will pass into the hands of our association.

AEL Limassol has been playing its home matches at the 13,331-seat Tsirio Stadium until 2022. Tsirio Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Limassol. It is mostly used for football matches and was also the home ground of Apollon Limassol FC and Aris Limassol FC. The stadium was built in 1975.^{[citation needed]}

The construction of the Alphamega Stadium replaced Tsirio Stadium as the home ground of AEL Limassol. The first match on the new Stadium was ΑΕL vs Olympiakos, with a score of 2–0 on 23 December 2022.^[25] The capacity of the new stadium is 10,700 seats.^[26]

As of 9 September 2024

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  BRA Victor Braga 2 DF  CYP Christoforos Frantzis 4 DF  BRA Facundo Costantini 5 DF  BFA Dylan Ouédraogo 6 DF  CRO Marko Stolnik 8 MF  CYP Vasilios Papafotis (captain) 9 FW  CUW Nigel Robertha 10 FW  MKD Ivan Trichkovski 11 FW  CYP Panagiotis Zachariou 12 MF  FRA Franck Bambock 15 MF  ISR Aviv Avraham 17 FW  RSA Luther Singh 21 MF  GHA Emmanuel Toku (on loan from OH Leuven) 22 MF  RUS Daniil Lesovoy (on loan from Dynamo Moscow)

No. Pos. Nation Player 24 DF  RWA Emmanuel Imanishimwe 25 DF  CYP Andreas Panagiotou Filiotis 29 MF  ARG Miguel Mellado 33 FW  CYP Andreas Makris 34 DF  HUN Ákos Kecskés 37 DF  CYP Andreas Ioannou 42 DF  CYP Kypros Neophytou 66 MF  CYP Rafail Mamas 71 MF  CYP Giannis Gerolemou 74 MF  CYP Savvas Christodoulou 77 FW  CYP Themis Themistokleous 90 MF  CYP Panagiotis Panagi 98 GK  CYP Panagiotis Kyriakou 99 GK  ISR Yigal Becker

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — MF  CYP Angelos Andreou (at Enosis Neon Paralimni until 30 June 2025) — FW  CYP Adonis Nikolettidis (at ENY Digenis Ypsona until 30 June 2025)

Technical staff
Head coach	Chris Coleman
Assistant coach	Georgios Korakakis
Opponent Analyst	Georgios Eleftheriou
Team Director	Angelos Perikleous
Goalkeeping coach	Dimitrios Konstantopoulos
Fitness coach	Giannis Dourountos
Trainer/Rehabilitation coach	Giannis Vasilopoulos
Medical staff
Head doctor	Dr. Theodoros Philippou
Physical Therapist	Giorgos Zantis
Physical Therapist	Polys Achilleos
Physical Therapist	Kimonas Papamiltiadous
Chiropractor	Nikos Poullis

• Cypriot First Division
  • Champions (6): 1940–41, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1967–68, 2011–12
  • Runners-up (2): 1947–48, 2013–14
• Cypriot Second Division
  • Champions: 1996–97
• Cypriot Cup
  • Champions (7): 1938–39, 1939–40, 1947–48, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1988–89, 2018–19
  • Runners-up (12): 1937–38, 1940–41, 1958–59, 1978–79, 1987–88, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2008–09, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2022–23
• Cypriot Super Cup
  • Champions (4): 1953, 1968, 1985, 2015
  • Runners-up (5): 1955, 1987, 1989, 2012, 2019

UEFA Team Ranking 2024

Rank	Country	Team	Points
291		Saburtalo	5.000
292		Teuta	4.500
293		AEL Limassol	3.500
294		Debrecen	3.500
295		Kecskemét	1.500

Last update: 14 May 2024
Source: [1]

1R = First round, PR = Preliminary round, Q = Qualifying round, PO = play-off round.

Season	Competition	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
1968–69	European Cup	1R	Real Madrid	0–6	0–6	0–12
1985–86	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Dukla Prague	2–2	0–4	2–6
1987–88	European Cup Winners' Cup	PR	DAC Dunajská Streda	0–1	1–5	1–6
1989–90	European Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Admira Wacker	0–3	1–0	1–3
2002–03	UEFA Cup	QR	Ferencváros	0–4	2–1	2–5
2012–13	UEFA Champions League	2Q	Linfield	3–0	0–0	3–0
		3Q	Partizan	1–0	1–0	2–0
		PO	Anderlecht	2–1	0–2	2–3
	UEFA Europa League	Group C	Marseille	1–5	3–0	4th place
			Fenerbahçe	0–1	0–2
			Borussia Mönchengladbach	0–0	0–2
2014–15	UEFA Champions League	3Q	Zenit	1–0	0–3	1–3
	UEFA Europa League	PO	Tottenham Hotspur	1–2	0–3	1–5
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	1Q	St Joseph's	4–0	6–0	10–0
		2Q	Progrès Niederkorn	1–0	2–1	3–1
		3Q	Austria Wien	0–0	1–2	1–2
2019–20	UEFA Europa League	2Q	Aris	0–0	0–1	0–1
2021–22	UEFA Europa Conference League	2Q	Vllaznia	1–0	1–0	2–0
		3Q	Qarabağ	1–1	0–1	1–2

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (September 2024)

• Cypriot U21 Championships: 13

1940, 1951, 1960, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008

Runners-up: 1

2012

• Cyprus U21 Cup: 1

1997

• Cypriot U19 Championships: 1

2018(Participating 2018–19 UEFA Youth League)

• Cypriot U17 Championships: 6

2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2018

Runners-up: 1

2019

• priot U16 Championships: 1

2017

• Cypriot U15 Championships: 2

2005, 2009

• Cypriot U13 Championships: 3

2006, 2008, 2017

Since 1966, AEL sports club maintains both men's and women's professional basketball teams.

Since the 2022–23 season, both the men's and women's teams currently operate under the same administration and are both referred to for sponsorship reasons as PAYABL EKA AEL. The men's team won the 2002–03 FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup, thereby making AEL the only Cypriot sports club to have won a European title.

Both the men's and women's basketball team are considered to be the most successful teams in Cyprus in terms of trophies won and therefore both teams are referred to by Basketball fans and enthusiasts as "The Queen " (Greek: "Η Βασίλλισα").

The futsal club was founded in 2009 and the same year became a member of the Cyprus Futsal Federation. AEL Futsal won its first trophy during the 2016–17 season, by winning the 2016–17 Cypriot Futsal Cup.

In 2022–23, the team won its first Cypriot Futsal Championship. In the same season, the team also had the chance to win what would be the domestic futsal treble (Championship, Cup and Super Cup), by reaching the Cypriot Futsal Cup final, however AEL was defeated in the final. The club did however manage to win the 2023 Cypriot Futsal Super Cup, defeating APOEL 8–2 in the final.

As 2023 Cypriot Futsal Champions, AEL participated in the 2023–24 UEFA Futsal Champions League, reaching the last 32 stage of the competition, which is a Cypriot first.

In 2023–24 AEL won its second Futsal championship by defeating AC Omonia 9–1.^[27]

A founding member of the Cyprus Volleyball Federation in 1976, AEL's women team has dominated in the Cypriot volleyball. The team's achievements are phenomenal; Out of the 32 seasons played so far in Cyprus since the commencement of the women's volleyball league, the team won the Championship 27 times. Out of the 31 cups they won it 27 times, 24 consecutive times, from 1980 until 2003. Also they have won the Championship 15 consecutive times, from 1977 until 1991. They have also the amazing records of winning the Double 12 times from 1980 until 1991 and 9 times from 1993 until 2001. In the past the club had also a men's team for 10 years which participated in the Cypriot Championship.

The bowling club was founded in 1999 and the same year became a member of the Limassol District Federation. In 2001, the team participated in the Cypriot Championship as one of the two representatives of the Limassol District Federation. In the team won its first trophy by winning the Limassol District Federation Cup and in 2006 its first Championship by winning the Limassol District Federation Championship. The home of the team is the Galaktika Bowling Center.^[28]

Player

Christos Krassas

Michalis Perikleous

Matthaios Armeftis

Niki Schiza

Kyriakos Hadjitofis

Stelios Potamitis

Christos Antoniou

The idea to create an AEL billiards team started in September 2008 with Dimitris Dimitriou as the leader and took "flesh and bones" on September 10, 2010. AEL-Billiards from its first participation showed that it will be the star and that they will be among the great teams of Cyprus.^[29]

The first match took place on October 4, 2010, away from home against the BREAK-TEAM team and AEL won with a score of 4–1. A symbolic date because it coincides with the founding of our beloved club in 1930! With a great start, 6 wins in 6 matches this season, AEL finished in 3rd place, just 1 point from 2nd place leading to the all-Cypriot final-four. A point of reference is that from the first year it had victories over all its rival teams. AEL's HEADQUARTERS were located in the "DYNAMIC PoolHall".^[29] The first roster of AEL billiards club consisted of:

Player

Stelios Avgousti (C)

Sotiris Neophytou

Friksos Gavriel

Marios Constantinou

Giannis Theocharous

The cycling team was founded in 2001 and the same year became a member of the Limassol District Federation. The first men's cycling team consisted of the following : Κωνσταντίνος Ιωάννου, Στέλιος Βασιλάκης, Χριστόφορος Στεφάνου, Αλέξης Κέστας, Mark Williams, Σταύρος Αντωνίου, Χρίστος Παναγιώτου, William de Doncker.

AEL has also an esports department.

The boxing team was formed in 2023 and trains at the AEL boxing gym at Nicos Solomonides Arena.

Apart from the currently active sports departments, AEL had in the past some other sports departments, which today are defunct. Despite this, these currently not active departments had all won titles for AEL when they were active.

In the past AEL Limassol had a field hockey team which is currently not active. The team had plenty of victories led by its star player Renos Antoniadis. In 1931, AEL won the Cup in a match which was played in Larnaca. One year later, the team became Cypriot Champions. The team consisted of the following players: Antoniadis, Pareas, Frangos, Christophides, Michaelides, Kalogirou, Victor Mousteris, Anastasiadis and Williamson. However, there were no further hockey competitions in Cyprus afterwards, as the other hockey teams of the era closed down their hockey departments because of financial problems.

Another AEL sport department that currently does not exist is the handball. The team was active for a small period of time but that did not stop the team from adding another trophy to the hundreds that AEL won in various other sports. On 11 June 1989, a day after the football team of the club won the Cypriot Cup, the handball team won the Cypriot Cup in handball by beating Youth Centre Larnaca 23–19 in the final which was played in Lefkotheo Indoor Hal, Nicosia.

AEL maintains 3 teams for women's volleyball but does not currently have a men's Volleyball team.

AEL was also active in maritime sports, especially those that needed team participation. AEL pioneered in Regattas in 1932, 1933 and 1934 in the Cyprus Regatta Games. The members of the team were Nearchos Pieris, Christakis Dixon, Andreas Araouzos, Sotiris Antoniades and Maximos Morides. The club had also a waterpolo team which was unbeaten Cypriot Champions. The team achieved a noted victory against a selected team of the Royal Navy which were then Mediterranean Champions. Apart from the Cypriot Championships, AEL won the Mediterranean Naval Cup.

• Official website
• AEL Limassol Club official website
• Official SY.F.AEL fans' website
• Lions Radio unofficial fans' website