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| Full name | Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Γαλαζοκίτρινοι (The Blue-yellows) Λέοντες (The lions) | ||
| Founded | 4 October 1930; 94 years ago (1930-10-04) | ||
| Ground | Alphamega Stadium | ||
| Capacity | 11,000 | ||
| President | Konstantinos Konstantinou | ||
| Manager | Marios Nicolaou | ||
| League | First Division | ||
| 2023–24 | First Division, 8th | ||
| Website | ael-fc | ||
| Sports departments ofAEL Limassol | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou (Greek:ΑθλητικήΈνωσηΛεμεσού,lit. 'Athletic Union of Limassol') is aCypriotsports club based in the city ofLimassol, most famous for its football team.
AEL Limassol also maintains amen's andwomen'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 isMeridian 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 theCypriot First Division for the1934–35 season, the first official league of the country.[3][4]
AEL Limassol celebrated its first official title success in1941, defeatingAPOEL 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 in1953.[3][4] AEL would twice repeat this success, winning back-to-back league championships in1955 and1956.[5]
The club won its last major trophy in 1989 – before the title success of 2012 –[6] when it defeated city rivalsAris Limassol 3–2 after extra time in final of theCypriot Cup.[7][8]
In 2011, after disappointingly finishing in seventh-place in the previous campaign, AEL hiredPambos 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 managerJosé Mourinho.
AEL received the championship trophy during a spectacular "fiesta" evening at theTsirio 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 theCup Final of 16 May againstOmonia and the chance to be crowneddouble 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 aUEFA tournament for the first time, finishing last and picking up four points in theirUEFA Europa League group.[18]
On 22 October 2013, Angolan managerLito Vidigal was sacked after just over three months in charge.[19] BulgarianIvaylo Petev was appointed as AEL's manager on 25 October, having previously guidedLudogorets Razgrad to promotion to theA Group as well as two A Group titles, aBulgarian Cup win as well as a triumph in theBulgarian Super Cup.[19] Petev signed an initial deal to stay at AEL until the end of the2014–15 season.[19]
At the end of the2013–14 season, AEL finished in first place in theinitial 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 playerKaká.[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 aCillian Sheridan goal.[21][22] On 6 June 2014, theCyprus 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] AELwingerJorge Monteiro finished the season as joint-top scorer in the league with 18 goals, and the formerPorto 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 refereeArtyom Kuchin and the players ofAustria 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 defenderMarco 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-seatTsirio 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 theAlphamega Stadium replaced Tsirio Stadium as the home ground ofAEL 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]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Technical staff | |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Marios Nicolaou |
| Assistant coach | |
| Opponent Analyst | Giorgos Eleftheriou |
| Team Director | Angelos Perikleous |
| Goalkeeping coach |  Vladimir Balić |
| 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 |
UEFA Team Ranking 2025
| Rank | Country | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 255 |  | Mura | 6.000 |
| 256 | | Aris Limassol | 5.507 |
| 257 | | AEL Limassol | 5.507 |
| 258 |  | St. Patrick's | 5.500 |
| 259 |  | Milsami | 5.500 |
Last update: 7 March 2025
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 | |
 |
Dimitris Tsiepis (1930 –1932) Argiris Gavalas (1932 –1946) Costas Vasiliou (1946 –1948) Argiris Gavalas (1948 –1956) Spiros EliaFerdinard Ceplar Christos Christodoulou Ulhen Fitz Georgios Eisaggeleas Costas Pambou "Mavrokolos"
Nicolae Simatoc (1962 –1963)Loizos Pantelidis (1968 –1969)František Havránek (1984 –1986)Valér Švec (1986 –1988)Dušan Uhrin (1988 –1989)Jiri Dunaj (1989 –1990)František Cipro (1990 –1992)
Željko Sanković (1992)Anatoliy Byshovets (1993)Tomislav Kaloperović (1993 –1995)Andreas Kissonergis (1995)Diethelm Ferner (1995 –1996)
Apostol Chachevski (1996 –1997)Kálmán Mészöly (1997 –1998)Panicos Orphanides (1998 – 1999)Loizos Mavroudis (2000)Andreas Michaelides (Jul 2000 –Sept 2002)Giannis Matzourakis (Sep 2002 –Nov 2003)
Henk Houwaart (Nov 2003 –31 Dec 2004)
Oleh Protasov (Dec 2004 –Mar 2005)Andreas Michaelides (Mar 2005 – May 2005)Bojan Prašnikar (1 Jul 2005 – 30 Nov 2005) Loizos Mavroudis (Feb 2006 – May 2006)Panicos Orphanides (July 2006 – Jan 2007)
Eli Guttman (Feb 2007 – Dec 2007)
Mariano Barreto (4 Dec 2007 – 5 Feb 2008)Andreas Michaelides (Feb 2008 – Jan 2009)Mihai Stoichiță (26 Jan 2009 – 20 May 2009)Nir Klinger (1 Aug 2009 – 1 Dec 2009)Dušan Uhrin, Jr. (1 Jan 2010 – 21 Sep 2010)Mihai Stoichiță (22 Sep 2010 – 7 Feb 2011)Raymond Atteveld (7 Feb 2011 – May 2011)Pambos Christodoulou (24 Mar 2011 – 22 Oct 2012)Jorge Costa (24 Oct 2012 – 22 May 2013)
Lito Vidigal (1 Jul 2013 – 22 Oct 2013)Ivaylo Petev (25 Oct 2013 – 17 Nov 2014)Christakis Christoforou (17 Nov 2014 – 19 Oct 2015)Makis Chavos (27 Oct 2015 – 8 Feb 2016)Pambos Christodoulou (8 Feb 2016 – 7 Mar 2017)Bruno Baltazar (22 Mar 2017 – 5 Mar 2018)
Dušan Kerkez (5 Mar 2018 – 6 Dec 2021)Savvas Pantelidis (8 Dec 2021 – 20 May 2022)Silas (21 May 2022 – 17 Sep 2022)
Cedomir Janevski (17 Sep 2022 – 14 Apr 2023)Christos Charalabous (14 Apr 2023 – 10 Oct 2023)
Toni Koskela (15 Oct 2023 – 22 Jan 2024)Alexis Garpozis (22 Jan 2024 – 15 May 2024)
Chris Coleman (25 May 2024 – 27 Nov 2024)Marinos Satsias (27 Nov 2024 – 24 Jan 2025)Marios Nicolaou (26 Jan 2025 –)| # | Name | From | To | Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Stavros Pittas | 1930 | 1932 | 2yrs |
| 2. | Kriton Tornaritis | 1932 | 1934 | 2yrs |
| 3. | Yiangos Limanititis | 1934 | 1953 | 19yrs |
| 4. | Nikos Solomonides | 1953 | 1971 | 18yrs |
| 5. | Nikos Kountas | 1971 | 1976 | 5yrs |
| 6. | Georgios Tornaritis | 1976 | 1982 | 6yrs |
| 7. | Loris Lysiotis | 1982 | 1996 | 14yrs |
| 8. | Dimitris Solomonides | 1996 | 2002 | 6yrs |
| 9. | Giorgos Frantzis | 2002 | 2003 | 1yrs |
| 10. | Akis Ellinas | 2003 | 2005 | 2yrs |
| 11. | Agis Agapiou | 2005 | 2006 | 1yrs |
| 12. | Marios Herodotou | 2006 | 2007 | 1yrs |
| 13. | Zacharias Koundouros | 2007 | 2008 | 1yrs |
| 14. | Andreas Sofocleous | 2008 | 2022 | 14yrs |
| 15. | Costas Christodoulou | 2018 | 2022 | 4yrs |
| 16. | Nicos Christodoulides | 2022 | 2024 | 2yrs |
| 17. | Konstantinos Konstantinou | 2024 | Present |
Since 1966, AEL sports club maintains both men's and women's professionalbasketball teams.
Since the 2022–23 season, both themen's andwomen's teams currently operate under the same administration and are both referred to for sponsorship reasons asPAYABL EKA AEL.The men's team won the2002–03 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").
Thefutsal club was founded in 2009 and the same year became a member of theCyprus 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 firstCypriot Futsal Championship. In the same season, the team also had the chance to win what would be the domestic futsal treble (Championship, Cup andSuper Cup), by reaching the Cypriot Futsal Cup final, however AEL was defeated in the final. The club did however manage to win the2023 Cypriot Futsal Super Cup, defeatingAPOEL 8–2 in the final.
As 2023 Cypriot Futsal Champions, AEL participated in the2023–24 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 defeatingAC Omonia 9–1.[27]
| Futsal Team Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cypriot Futsal Championship | 2 | (2023, 2024) |
| Cypriot Futsal Cup | 2 | (2017, 2024) |
| Cypriot Futsal Super Cup | 2 | (2023, 2024) |
| Fullname | Robomarkets ΑΕΛ |
| Nicknames | Βασίλισσα (Greek) Queen (English) |
| Tranbunker Danoi ΑΕΛ founded | 1976 |
| Team Colors | Yellow With Blue |
| Arena | Nicos Solomonides |
| Arena Nickname | Το κλουβί (Greek) The Cage (English) |
| Arena Capacity | 3,000 |
| Women Volleyball Team Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Championship titles: | 30 | (1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2021) |
| Cup titles: | 28 | (1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2011) |
| Super Cup titles: | 13 | (1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011) |
| Women U21 Volleyball Team Titles | ||
| Championship titles: | 11 | (1987, 1988, 1991, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010) |
| Cup titles: | 5 | (2000, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2010) |
| Women U17 Volleyball Team Titles | ||
| Championship titles: | 11 | (1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009) |
| Cup titles: | 1 | (2000) |
A founding member of the Cyprus Volleyball Federation in 1976, AEL's women team has dominated in the Cypriotvolleyball. 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.
Thebowling 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 |
| Bowling Team Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Limassol Championship: | 5 | (2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2023) |
| Limassol Cup: | 5 | (2003, 2004, 2005, 2007, 2009) |
The idea to create an AELbilliards 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 |
| Billiards club Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cyprus Pro-League | 1 | (2013–14) |
| Cypriot Championship (eight–ball), | 1 | (2019) |
| Cypriot Championship (ten–ball) | 1 | (2019) |
Thecycling 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.
| Cycling Team Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| General – Road cup: | 3 | (2004, 2005, 2006) |
| Men – Road cup: | 3 | (2004, 2005, 2006) |
| Masters 1 – Road cup: | 1 | (2006) |
| Masters 2 – Road cup: | 3 | (2004, 2005, 2006) |
AEL has also anesports department.
Theboxing team was formed in 2023 and trains at the AEL boxing gym atNicos 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 afield 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 inLarnaca. 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 inRegattas 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 awaterpolo team which was unbeaten Cypriot Champions. The team achieved a noted victory against a selected team of theRoyal Navy which were then Mediterranean Champions. Apart from the Cypriot Championships, AEL won the Mediterranean Naval Cup.
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