Apollon Limassol 3605040 225991747 2008-07-16T10:29:43Z 91.184.212.216 [[WP:UNDO|Undid]] revision 225791547 by [[Special:Contributions/83.168.59.38|83.168.59.38]] ([[User talk:83.168.59.38|talk]]) {{nofootnotes|date=July 2008}} {{Infobox Football club | clubname = Apollon Limassol | image = [[Image:Apollon-Limassol.png|150px]] | fullname = ''Απόλλων Λεμεσού'' <br>''Apollon Limassol'' | nickname = Θεός (GOD), Θρύλος (legend) | founded = [[1954]] | ground = [[Tsirion]],<br />[[Limassol]], [[Cyprus]] | capacity = 14,400 | chairman = {{flagicon|Cyprus}} [[Frixos Savvides]] | manager = {{flagicon|Serbia}} [[Svetozar Šapurić]] | league = [[Cypriot First Division]] | season = [[Cypriot First Division 2007-08|2007-08]] | position = 5<sup>th</sup> | pattern_la1=_blueshoulders|pattern_b1=_blueshoulders|pattern_ra1=_blueshoulders| leftarm1=FFFFFF|body1=FFFFFF|rightarm1=FFFFFF|shorts1=FFFFFF|socks1=FFFFFF| pattern_la2=_whiteshoulders|pattern_b2=_whiteshoulders|pattern_ra2=_whiteshoulders| leftarm2=333399|body2=333399|rightarm2=333399|shorts2=333399|socks2=333399| }} '''Apollon Limassol''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: Απόλλων Λεμεσού) is a [[Cypriot]] [[sports club]], based in [[Limassol]]. It has [[soccer|football]], [[basketball]] and [[volleyball]] teams. ==History== ===Football Team=== APOLLON F.C. was founded in Limassol on April 14th, 1954. The Club was accepted into the second division on October 16th, 1955 after its membership application had been approved by the Cyprus Football Assocation (C.F.A). In its first year APOLLON suffered 8 defeats in 8 matches the second division. Just before the next season (1956-57) a crisis erupted in AEL, a first division team based in Limassol, and as a result, most of the players left AEL and joined APOLLON. After this, Apollon won the regional group in the second division and subsequently the play-offs to then be promoted to the first division. This took place in 1957 and ever since APOLLON has been competing in the first division. Things were not easy however for the newly promoted club. APOLLON couldn’t reach a satisfactory position in the rankings and was struggling in the middle of the table for many years. But in the mid-60's things changed. In 1965 APOLLON reached the Cup Final. A year later, APOLLON was in the Final again, won the Cup, and triumphantly took the trophy back to Limassol. APOLLON managed to maintain its Cup title in 1967. After celebrating these titles, APOLLON had to wait another 15 years to start making history once again. In 1982 APOLLON reached the Cup Final once again, and that marked the beginning of a new era. In the last 15 years APOLLON won the league title three times (1991, 1994, 2006), and was the runner-up four times (1984, 1989, 1993, 1996). Since then APOLLON won the Cup another 5 times (1966, 1967, 1986, 1992, 2001), and was the Cup finalist four times (1987, 1993, 1995, 1998). Last season, 2005-06 APOLLON won the league title undefeated and earned a club record of 64 points. APOLLON had 19 wins and 7 draws in 26 matches and this went down in Cypriot Football history due to fact that it was the fourth team in the Cyprus Championship that won the title unbeaten. * * APOLLON was the only undefeated team in Europe, running an unbeaten streak since March 12th, 2005 (30 games). ===Volleyball team=== Founded member of [[Cyprus Volleyball Federation]], the women's team participated in three Championship finals (1999, 2001, 2003) and in five Cup finals (1992, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2003) but lost all of them by AEL Limassol. In 2003, the team lost both Championship and Cup finals by AEL again, however since AEL won the double, they participated in the Super Cup and on [[September 23]], [[2003]] they won their first trophy, the Super Cup in their own Stadium by beating AEL Limassol 3-0. ==Supporters== <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:apollon g1.jpg|top|200px|thumb|Apollon Gate 1 Fans (G.S.P Stadium).|{{deletable image-caption|1=Thursday, 17 July 2008}}]] --> <!-- Image with unknown copyright status removed: [[Image:apollon.jpg|top|200px|thumb|Apollon Gate 1 Fans (Tsirion Stadium).|{{deletable image-caption|1=Thursday, 17 July 2008}}]] --> Apollon is among the most popular football teams in Cyprus. The fans are quite demanding and loyal to the Club and Apollon F.C. is included in the first three top-ticket-selling teams of the league. More than 12.000 Apollon fans traveled from Limassol for the 2001 Cup Final that took place in Nicosia (more than 10.000 tickets were sold). This number also beat the previous top record for a team traveling for an away game to Nicosia.Celebrations for winning the League championship for the 1993/94 season following the victory against Omonoia F.C. More than 15.000 fans overflowed the Stadium to see Apollon clinch the title in the final game of the season.Celebrations following the victory against Omonoia F.C. at the 1992 FA Cup Final in Tsirio stadium. More than 20.000 fans attended the game. == Stadium == {{main article|Tsirion Stadium}} [[Image:tsirion.JPG|top|200px|thumb|Tsirion Stadium (G.S.O) West Stand.]] '''Football''' The team's current stadium is the 14,400 seater, [[Tsirion Stadium]], also known as the Olympia Stadium (G.S.O). Tsirion Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Limassol, Cyprus. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home ground of Apollon Limassol, AEL Limassol and [[Aris Limassol]]. The stadium was built in 1975 with the help of the generous contributor and great philanthropist, Mr. Petros Tsiros, thus the name of the stadium. Apollon Limassol currently uses the West Stand of the stadium but most of the times is overcrowded therefore also use the East Stand of the stadium. '''Basketball''' Apollon has its own Indoor Hall, the Apollon Stadium, with capacity of 2,600 and as it was said it hosted the Southern European Regional Challenge Cup Final Four. In the Cup Final, AEL Limassol beat KK Igokea 82-92 and became the first Cypriot team to win a European Trophy. It is home of Apollon's basketball and volleyball team. == Trophies == ===Football=== *{{sport honours|[[Cypriot First Division|Cypriot Championship]]|3|1991, 1994, [[Cypriot First Division 2005-06|2006]]}} *{{sport honours|[[Cypriot Cup]]|5|1966, 1967, 1986, 1992, 2001}} *{{sport honours|[[Cyprus Super-Cup]]|1|2006}} ===Basketball=== *{{sport honours|Cypriot Basketball Cup|1|2002}} ===Volleyball (women)=== *{{sport honours|Cypriot Super Cup|1|2003}} == Current squad == {{Fs start}} {{Fs player|no=2|nat=Slovenia|name=[[Marko Barun]]|pos=DF}} {{Fs player|no=4|nat=Nigeria|name=[[Waheed Akanni Oseni]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs player|no=5|nat=Hungary|name=[[Gábor Korolovszky]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs player|no=6|nat=Morocco|name=[[Abdelkarim Kissi]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs player|no=8|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Athos Solomou]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs player|no=9|nat=Uruguay|name=[[Ignacio Risso]]|pos=FW}} {{Fs player|no=10|nat=Argentina|name=[[Gastón Sangoy]]|pos=FW}} {{Fs player|no=11|nat=Bulgaria|name=[[Hristo Yovov]]|pos=FW}} {{Fs player|no=14|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Christos Marangos]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs player|no=15|nat=Montenegro|name=[[Duško Đurišić]]|pos=DF}} {{Fs player|no=16|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Giorgos Merkis]]|pos=DF}} {{Fs player|no=17|nat=Czech Republic|name=[[Aleš Chvalovský]]|pos=GK}} {{Fs player|no=19|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Alexandros Garpozis]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs mid}} {{Fs player|no=20|nat=Nigeria|name=[[Haruna Babangida]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs player|no=21|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Christos Theophilou]]|pos=DF|other=[[Captain (football)|captain]]}} {{Fs player|no=22|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Stelios Okkarides]]|pos=DF}} {{Fs player|no=23|nat=Georgia|name=[[Levan Maghradze]]|pos=DF}} {{Fs player|no=25|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Stamatis Pantos]]|pos=FW}} {{Fs player|no=26|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Christos Nicolaou]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs player|no=30|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Andreas Avraam]]|pos=FW}} {{Fs player|no=33|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Sofronis Avgousti]]|pos=GK}} {{Fs player|no=44|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Giorgos Sielis]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs player|no=55|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Michalis Paschali]]|pos=DF}} {{Fs player|no=60|nat=Argentina|name=[[Daniel Quinteros]]|pos=MF}} {{Fs player|no=90|nat=Brazil|name=[[David Pereira da Costa|David]]|pos=FW}} {{Fs player|no=99|nat=Cyprus|name=[[Petros Konnafis]]|pos=DF}} {{Fs end}} === Transfers 2008/09 === '''In''' {{Fs start}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Brazil|pos=FW|name=[[David Pereira da Costa|David]]|other=from [[Doxa Katokopias]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Morocco|pos=MF|name=[[Abdelkarim Kissi]]|other=from [[Enosis Neon Paralimni]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Bulgaria|pos=FW|name=[[Hristo Yovov]]|other=from [[Aris Limassol]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Cyprus|pos=GK|name=[[Sofronis Avgousti]]|other=loan return from [[AEK Larnaca]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Cyprus|pos=MF|name=[[Giorgos Sielis]]|other=from [[Chaidari F.C.]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Montenegro|pos=DF|name=[[Duško Đurišić]]|other=from [[SC Paderborn 07]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Argentina|pos=MF|name=[[Daniel Quinteros]]|other=from [[Club Atlético Banfield]]}} {{Fs end}} '''Out''' {{Fs start}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Romania|pos=MF|name=[[Bogdan Andone]]|other=to [[Alki Larnaca]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Israel|pos=MF|name=[[Lior Asulin]]|other=loan return to [[Hapoel Tel Aviv F.C.|Hapoel Tel Aviv]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Cyprus|pos=GK|name=[[Michalis Fani]]|other=to [[ASIL Lyssi]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Cyprus|pos=MF|name=[[Michalis Demetriou]]|other=on loan to [[APOP Kinyras Peyias]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Cyprus|pos=DF|name=[[Periklis Moustakas]]|other=on loan to [[APOP Kinyras Peyias]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Romania|pos=DF|name=[[Adrian Iencsi]]|other=to [[CS Otopeni]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Argentina|pos=MF|name=[[Mariano Torresi]]|other=loan return to [[Godoy Cruz]]}} {{Fs player|no=|nat=Bulgaria|pos=GK|name=[[Ventsislav Velinov]]|other=to [[PFC CSKA Sofia]]}} {{Fs end}} ==Club officials== ===Board of Directors=== *Chairman and Press Representative: '''Frixos Savvides''' *Honorary Chairman: '''Phivos Vakis''' *Vice president - Head of Football Team and Planning Department: '''Nicos Kirzis''' *Vice President - Head of Financial Department: '''Kyriakos Panagides''' *Vice President - Head of New Stadium Committee: '''Theodoros Antoniou''' *Marketing Department and Public Relations: '''Charis Kimonos''' *Marketing Department and Public Relations: '''Giorgos Pitsillides''' *Administration of Personnel Department: '''Kostas Polidorides''' *Responsible for projects: '''Charalambos Antoniou''' *Responsible of Medical Team: '''Yiannos Ioannou''' *Legal Advisor: '''Yiannis Christodoulou''' *Legal Advisor and assistant to the Press Representative: '''Pavlos Aristodimou''' ===Coaching Staff=== * Technical Manager: '''Christakis Christoforou''' * Manager: '''[[Svetozar Šapurić]]''' {{flagicon|Serbia}} * Assistant Manager: '''Giorgos Iosifides''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} * Assistant Manager: '''Slobodan Pauvić''' {{flagicon|Serbia}} * Goalkeeping Coach: '''Giorgos Nicolaou''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} * Fitness Coach: '''Andreas Nicolaou''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} * Assistant Fitness Coach: '''Constantinos Papaconstantinou''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} * Team Supervisor: '''Christos Iosifides''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} * Team Supervisor: '''Sokratis Sokratous''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} * Safety and Athletic Equipment Officer: '''Kyriakos Vassiliou''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} ===Medical Staff=== * Club Doctor: '''Dr. Yiannos Ioannou''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} * Assistant Club Doctor: '''Dr. Savvas Chronis''' {{flagicon|Greece}} * Orthopedist: '''Dr. Stephen Iosifides''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} * First Team Physiotherapist: '''Panayiotis Georgiades''' {{flagicon|Cyprus}} * Assistant First Team Physiotherapist: '''Tomas Toward''' {{flagicon|England}} ==Sponsorship== *Official Shirt Sponsor - '''Columbia Ship Management Ltd''' *Official Sport Clothing Manufacturer - '''[[Lotto Sport Italia|Lotto]]''' *Official Athletism Sponsor - '''Libra Holidays Group''' *Official Stadium Sponsor - '''Sisamos Group of Companies''' *Official Communication Sponsor - '''[[MiVision]]''' *Official Sport Drink - '''[[Gatorade]]''' ===Other Sponsors=== {{col-begin}} {{col-2}} *'''[[Mitsubishi Motors]]''' *'''Magistrato Gardens LTD''' *'''[[Marfin Popular Bank|Marfin Laiki]]''' *'''Petrolina''' *'''Viofos''' *'''[[CYTA]]''' *'''Makis Tselios''' {{col-2}} *'''Bupa''' *'''[[Pizza Express]]''' *'''Blue Oven''' *'''AYRA''' *'''[[Proton (carmaker)|Proton]]''' *'''CYFAST''' {{col-end}} ==Notable Former Managers== *{{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Gerard van der Lem]] *{{flagicon|Poland}} [[Jerzy Engel]] *{{flagicon|Romania}} [[Ilie Dumitrescu]] *{{flagicon|Finland}} [[Martti Kuusela]] *{{flagicon|Macedonia}} [[Toni Savevski]] *{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Bernd Stange]] *{{flagicon|Montenegro}} [[Momčilo Vukotić]] *{{flagicon|Republic of Ireland}} [[Ronnie Whelan]] *{{flagicon|Bosnia and Herzegovina}} [[Nenad Starovlah]] *{{flagicon|Israel}} [[Yossi Mizrahi]] ==Former Players== {| |- style="vertical-align: top;" | *{{flagicon|Cyprus}} [[Christos Marangos]] *{{flagicon|Cyprus}} [[Nicos Papavasiliou]] *{{flagicon|Cyprus}} [[Constantinos Makrides]] *{{flagicon|Cyprus}} [[Marios Charalambous]] *{{flagicon|Poland}} [[Pawel Sibik]] *{{flagicon|Poland}} [[Stefan Majewski]] *{{flagicon|Poland}} [[Łukasz Sosin]] *{{flagicon|Slovenia}} [[Marinko Galič]] *{{flagicon|Slovenia}} [[Mladen Rudonja]] *{{flagicon|England}} [[Craig Hignett]] *{{flagicon|ENG}} [[James Panayi]] (2003) *{{flagicon|SCO}} [[David Kenny]] (1983-92) *{{flagicon|Russia}} [[Yevgeny Ivanov (footballer)|Yevgeny Ivanov]] *{{flagicon|Kazakhstan}} [[Viktor Zubarev]] (2000-02) *{{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Bernard Schuiteman]] *{{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Humphrey Rudge]] *{{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Stefano Seedorf]] *{{flagicon|Netherlands}} [[Beau Molenaar]] | *{{flagicon|Iran}} [[Ferydoon Zandi]] *{{flagicon|Iraq}} [[Hawar Mulla Mohammed]] *{{flagicon|Iraq}} [[Haider Obeid Jassim|Haidar Obeid Jassim]] *{{flagicon|Iraq}} [[Jassim Swadi Arig]] *{{flagicon|Iraq}} [[Mahdi Karim]] *{{flagicon|Iraq}} [[Mohammad Nasser]] *{{flagicon|Romania}} [[Florin Cârstea]] *{{flagicon|Romania}} [[Ion Sburlea]] *{{flagicon|Senegal}} [[Louis Gomis]] *{{flagicon|Spain}} [[Antonio Soldevilla]] *{{flagicon|Serbia}} [[Amir Teljigovic]] *{{flagicon|Serbia}} [[Dejan Pekovic]] *{{flagicon|Serbia}} [[Zoran Masic]] *{{flagicon|Hungary}} [[Gábor Zavadsky]] *{{flagicon|Albania}} [[Rudi Vata]] *{{flagicon|Albania}} [[Roland Zajmi]] *{{flagicon|Algeria}} [[Karim Mouzaoui]] *{{flagicon|Portugal}} [[Felipe Duarte]] | *{{flagicon|Portugal}} [[Helio José Ribeiro Pinto|Helio Pinto]] *{{flagicon|Argentina}} [[Leandro Miguel Alvarez|Leandro Alvarez]] |} ==External links== *[http://www.apollong1.com. Official Fans Website] *[http://www.apollon.com.cy Official Website] *[http://www.apolloneios.com/ apollon] *[http://www.apollonas.net/ apollon] *[http://www.apollonfans.com/ Apollonfans New Website] *[http://www.fygas.org/ APOLLON FYGAS KAI FTIAGMENOS WEBSITE] {{Cypriot First Division}} {{Apollon Limassol Squad}} [[Category:Apollon Limassol| ]] [[Category:Football (soccer) clubs established in 1954]] [[Category:Basketball teams in Cyprus|Apollon Limassol]] [[Category:Cypriot football clubs|Apollon Limassol]] [[Category:Cypriot volleyball clubs|Apollon Limassol]] [[Category:Indoor arenas in Cyprus]] [[Category:Women's volleyball|Apollon Limassol]] [[de:Apollon Limassol]] [[el:Απόλλων Λεμεσού]] [[es:Apollon Limassol]] [[fr:Apollon Limassol]] [[it:Apollon Limassol]] [[lt:Apóllōn Lemesós]] [[hu:Apollon Limassol]] [[nl:Apollon Limassol]] [[pl:Apollon Limassol]] [[sv:Apollon Limassol]]