Ayia Napa FC

AO Ayia Napa
Full name	Athlitikos Omilos Ayias Napas
Founded	14 July 1990; 34 years ago
Ground	Paralimni Stadium, Paralimni
Capacity	5,800
Chairman	Dr. Sergis Sergiou
Manager	Jason Puncheon
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 14 January 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 19 June 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 29 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	GRE	Ilias Melkas
3	DF	CYP	Christos Evangelou
4	DF	GRE	Charalampos Topal
5	DF	CYP	Demetris Moulazimis (captain)
6	MF	GRE	Antonis Tsiaras
7	MF	CYP	Andreas Papadopoulos
8	MF	CYP	Symeon Solomou
9	FW	CYP	Efstathios Giannara
10	MF	ARG	Yamil Romero
11	FW	CYP	Theodoros Kolokoudias
16	DF	CYP	Sotiris Georgiou
17	MF	CYP	Giorgos Charalampous


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
18	MF	CYP	Daniel Glykis
19	FW	GAB	Jalex Jose
23	FW	CYP	Onisiforos Roushias
27	DF	FRA	Pierre Bardy
28	GK	CYP	Neofytos Stylianou
29	MF	CYP	Toni Alexanter Melas
33	FW	CYP	Eleftherios Isaak
39	FW	CYP	Periklis Perikleous
46	DF	CYP	Modestos Sotiriou
89	FW	CYP	Andreas Christou
99	FW	FRA	Bagaliy Dabo

Managers

Nikos Kolompourdas (16 January 2013 – 25 February 2013)
Costas Loizou (26 February 2013 – 5 April 2013)
Marios Neophytou (5 April 2013 – 21 October 2013)
Zouvanis Zouvani (24 October 2013 – 13 January 2014)
Dušan Mitošević (14 January 2014 – 17 April 2014)
Nikos Andronikou (6 June 2014 – 30 September 2014)
Giorgos Kosma (23 October 2014 – 28 January 2016)
Antonis Mertakkas (28 January 2016 – 14 February 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

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

[1]

v t e 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

v t e Cypriot First Division
2024–25 clubs	AEK Larnaca AEL Limassol Anorthosis APOEL Apollon Aris ENP Ethnikos Karmiotissa Nea Salamina Omonia Omonia 29M Omonia Ar. Pafos
Stadiums	AEK Arena Alphamega Stadium Ammochostos Stadium Antonis Papadopoulos GSP GSZ Makario Tasos Markou Tsirio
Former clubs	AEK Kouklia AEP AEZ Akritas Alki Larnaca Alki Oroklini Anagennisi APEP APOP APOP Kinyras ASIL Atromitos Ayia Napa AYMA Çetinkaya Chalkanoras Digenis Doxa EPA Ethnikos Assia Ermis Evagoras Keravnos Olympiakos Onisilos Orfeas Othellos 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 2024–25