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| Full name | Athlitiki Enosi Kouklion | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 20 October 1968; 57 years ago (1968-10-20) | ||
| Dissolved | 9 June 2014; 11 years ago (2014-06-09) | ||
| Ground | Pafiako Stadium, Pafos, Cyprus | ||
| Capacity | 9,394 | ||
| Chairman | Christakis Kaizer | ||
| Manager | Stavros Fitidis | ||
| Website | aekouklion | ||
AE Kouklion (Greek:Αθλητική Ένωση Κουκλιων) was aCypriotfootball team based inKouklia ofPaphos District. It was founded on 20 October 1968 and was dissolved on 9 June 2014, in order to be merged withAEP Paphos and create a new team,Pafos FC.
AEK was started by young people from Kouklia, Paphos to get young people involved in sports and away fromdrugs and other harmful habits. In Paphos, there wasn't a regional league back then, so the team played friendly games with teams from other areas around Paphos.
In 1971, the Football Federation of Rural Clubs of Paphos (POASP) was founded. AEK participated in the federation's competitions from 1973 to 2006, winning many championships and cups. In 2006, AEK became champions in the 1st division of POASP and subsequently secured the promotion to Cypriot 5th Division (membership championship), enabling its entry into theCyprus Football Federation (CFA) and theCypriot Fourth Division. In its inaugural participation, the team secured a 2nd-place finish and earned promotion to the3rd division. AEK remained in this division for five consecutive seasons, finishing 9th in the2007-08 season, 7th in2008-09, and 6th in2009-10. During this period, AEK reached the final of theCypriot Cup for lower divisions, but was defeated byChalkaronas Idaliou (1–0).
In the2010-11 season, AEK again finished in 6th place. However, in the2011-12 season, AEK won the 3rd division, securing promotion to the2nd division. Despite this success, AEK faced disappointment in thefinal of the Cypriot Cup for lower divisions, losing toDigenis Akritas Morphou with a score of 2–1.
Following this season, AEK rose to theCypriot First Division in2012-13 season by securing 2nd place in the Second division. In the2013-14 season, AEK participated in the First Division. They finished 12th and were relegated back to the Second Division, narrowly missing out on staying in the First Division by just 2 points.
Following the end of the 2013–14 season, talks commenced between the officials of the AEK Kouklion andAEP Paphos regarding the merger of the two clubs. The results of the talks were as following:
a) The dissolution of AEP, which, burdened by debts, faced continual point deductions and had been demoted to the B2 group of the Second Division with the risk of further relegations. No formal merger attempt was made to avoid transferring AEP's debts to the new group, a scenario undesirable to both sides.[1] Assets of AEP, such as pitches and buildings, would be transferred to the new team.
b) The rebranding of AEK Kouklion asPafos FC (incorporating AEP) to establish a team representing the entirety ofPaphos city anddistrict, garnering support from fans and stakeholders of both AEP and Paphos at large.
On June 9, 2014, both groups separately approved the outlined plans, followed by the inaugural gathering of supporters of the new entity at the AEP building on June 10, 2014, attended by political and football figures of Paphos. Christakis Kaiser, the president of AEK Kouklion, assumed the presidency of Paphos FC.
The following table shows the progress of the team in time (for those seasons found data).
| Season | Division | Place |
|---|---|---|
| 2008–09 | C | 7th[2] |
| 2009–10 | C | 6th[3] |
| 2010–11 | C | 6th[4] |
| 2011–12 | C | 1st[5] |
| 2012–13 | B | 2nd[6] |
| 2013–14 | Cypriot First Division |
