| Season | 1996–97 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Anorthosis (8th title) |
| Relegated | Aris Olympiakos APEP |
| Champions League | Anorthosis (1st qualifying round) |
| UEFA Cup | Apollon (1st qualifying round) |
| Cup Winners' Cup | APOEL (qualifying round; viaCypriot Cup) |
| Intertoto Cup | Nea Salamis (group stage) |
| Matches | 182 |
| Goals | 564 (3.1 per match) |
| Top goalscorer | Michalis Konstantinou (17 goals)[1] |
1997–98 → | |
The1996–97 Cypriot First Division was the 58th season of the Cypriot top-levelfootball league.Anorthosis won their 8th title.
Fourteen teams participated in the 1996–97 Cypriot First Division. All teams played against each other twice, once at their home and once away. The team with the most points at the end of the season crowned champions. The last three teams were relegated to the1997–98 Cypriot Second Division.
The champions ensured their participation in the1997–98 UEFA Champions League and the runners-up in the1997–98 UEFA Cup.
The teams had to declare their interest to participate in the1997 UEFA Intertoto Cup before the end of the championship. At the end of the championship, the higher placed team among the interested ones participated in the Intertoto Cup (if they had not secured their participation in any other UEFA competition).
Teams received three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a loss.
AEL Limassol,Evagoras Paphos andOmonia Aradippou were relegated from previous season and played in the1996–97 Cypriot Second Division. They were replaced by the first three teams of the1995–96 Cypriot Second Division,APOP Paphos.APEP andAnagennisi Deryneia.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anorthosis(C) | 26 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 58 | 14 | +44 | 65 | Qualification forChampions League first qualifying round |
| 2 | Apollon | 26 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 43 | 22 | +21 | 52 | Qualification forUEFA Cup first qualifying round |
| 3 | Omonia | 26 | 14 | 4 | 8 | 39 | 30 | +9 | 46 | |
| 4 | AEK | 26 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 49 | 37 | +12 | 41 | |
| 5 | APOEL | 26 | 12 | 4 | 10 | 57 | 43 | +14 | 40 | Qualification forCup Winners' Cup qualifying round |
| 6 | Ethnikos | 26 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 48 | 36 | +12 | 37 | |
| 7 | Enosis Neon Paralimni | 26 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 48 | 48 | 0 | 35 | |
| 8 | Nea Salamis | 26 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 34 | Qualification forIntertoto Cup group stage |
| 9 | Anagennisi | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 27 | 42 | −15 | 32 | |
| 10 | APOP | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 29 | 44 | −15 | 31 | |
| 11 | Alki | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 41 | 49 | −8 | 30 | |
| 12 | Aris(R) | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 33 | 41 | −8 | 28 | Relegation toCypriot Second Division |
| 13 | Olympiakos(R) | 26 | 8 | 3 | 15 | 28 | 47 | −19 | 27 | |
| 14 | APEP(R) | 26 | 3 | 2 | 21 | 22 | 75 | −53 | 11 |
| Home \ Away | AEK | ALK | ANG | ANR | APE | APN | APL | APP | ARD | ETH | ENP | NSL | OLY | OMO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AEK | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | |
| Alki | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–5 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 2–4 | |
| Anagennisi | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | |
| Anorthosi | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | |
| APEP | 4–2 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 0–9 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | |
| APOEL | 2–3 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 6–1 | 3–0 | 5–4 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 2–2 | |
| Apollon | 0–0 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 4–0 | 2–0 | |
| APOP | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | |
| Aris | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 1–2 | |
| Ethnikos | 3–1 | 1–5 | 5–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | |
| Enosis | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–5 | 6–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 0–2 | |
| Nea Salamis | 2–3 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | |
| Olympiakos | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 3–4 | 1–1 | 1–2 | |
| Omonia | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 |