The 'League Marfin Laiki' or Cyprus Championship First Division (in
Greek Πρωτάθλημα Marfin Laiki) is the highest
football league in
Cyprus. As of 2007 it is sponsored by
Laiki Bank.
[1]
Format
At present, 14 clubs compete in the league. Each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents. Making a total of 26 games for each club in a season. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. The rule for three points for a win has been applied since 1992, before then two points were awarded for a win. Teams are ranked by total points, the matches between the teams, then
goal difference and then goals scored. If teams are still equal they are deemed to occupy the same position. If the champions, teams for relegation or qualification for other competitions thus cannot be decided, a series of play-off match(es) are played between the affected teams, although this has yet to occur. Since the establishment of the league and until 2005-
06, goal difference had the biggest ranking after total points. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned as champions. The three lowest placed teams are
relegated into the ''Cypriot 2nd Division'' and the top three teams from the 2nd Division promoted in their place.
The league is entitled to one entrant in the
UEFA Champions League, which is the League champions who enter in the first qualifying round. The winner of the
Cyprus Cup and runner-up in the league automatically enters the
UEFA Cup first qualifying round. If the cup winners are also league champions, then the losing cup finalists are granted a UEFA Cup berth. If the cup winners qualify for
Europe by their league position, then the third-place team in the league qualifies for the
UEFA Cup. The highest placed team that has not qualified for the UEFA Cup is allowed the opportunity to compete in the UEFA
Intertoto Cup, provided they have applied to enter the Cup in the next season.
The First Division has had 14 teams since the 1989-90 season, aprt from the 1994-95 season when the league was reduced temporarily to 13 teams. And for some years there has been discussion about the number of teams in the first division which is currently 14, with support growing for a reduction in the number of clubs. Partly due to some of the mid-table clubs not being involved for much of the season in either the Championship or qualification for Europe, or relegation.
OPAP (Organization of Predictions of Football Matches), a betting company, is the main sponsor of the league, with the OPAP name being incorporated into the official name of the league.
History
Football was introduced to Cyprus early in the
20th century by the founding fathers of the game, the
British. Initially played in the island's schools, it proved hugely popular and a number of clubs were duly formed.
Since 1911, when
Anorthosis Famagusta FC was founded, many clubs were established and in 1932 the Cypriot Championship began annually at first unofficially. Every season, the championship was organized by a different football club which caused some conflicts between some of the teams.
As football became more established, the clubs were united in agreeing that an official body was needed to regulate the sport. And in September
1934, the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) was formed and the Cyprus Championship and Cup began to take place annually. The first Champions of Cyprus were
Trast AC in 1935 but the club folded three years later. The
1930s were dominated by
APOEL FC, who won five championship in a row until 1940. Like other Championships in the World, the Cyprus Championship was interrupted, due to
World War II from
1941 until
1945.
World War II was followed by the
Greek Civil War, which caused a lot of fanatism between
Greeks. Since the majority of the island are
Greek Cypriots, it had a lot of influence in their society too, including sport. In
1948, some clubs were involved in politics and criticized the left-wing as responsible for the War. Several footballers from those clubs criticized their club but that followed the expulsion of those players from their teams. Those players then went on to help establish new clubs with their own Association and their own football competitions. Until 1953 there were two separate football Championships in Cyprus and two different Associations. However, in 1953, the two Associations unified Cypriot football, and the teams which were established in
1948 under the separate association, were allowed to become members of the CFA. Only
AC Omonia were accepted into the First Division. And due to the addition of more clubs that season, relegation and promotion begun in Cypriot football.
The Cypriot Championship unification, lasted for only two seasons. In 1955,
Çetinkaya Türk S.K., who had been the only Turkish Cypriot team playing in the Cypriot First Division since 1934-35, withdrew from the Championship and with other Turkish Cypriot teams, established the
Cyprus Turkish Football Federation, with its own competitions. The reason behind this was political, as the Turkish Cypriot leadership were supporting the partition of the island. However, this Federation was never recognized and no team of that federation could play in international competitions.
The independence of Cyprus in
1960, was followed by full membership for the Cyprus Football Association to
UEFA in 1962. From
1963, the champions of the Cyprus, could compete in the European Champions Cup and the Cup winners in the
European Cup Winners Cup. Since
1971, the runners up in the Cypriot First Division can compete in the
UEFA Cup. From
1967 until
1974, the Cypriot Champions were promoted to the
Greek First National Division and in case of relegation, they were replaced by the Cypriot Champions of the next season. Cypriot teams were though relegated every season from the Alpha Ethniki, apart from
1974, when APOEL managed to remain in the Greek Championship. However, due to the
Turkish invasion of Cyprus that year, APOEL withdrew from the League.
The Cypriot championship was abandoned in the 1963-64 season due to the
bicommunal conflicts between Greek Cypriots and
Turkish Cypriots.
AC Omonia dominated the Cypriot Championship in the 1970s and 1980s, winning 12 championship in 13 seasons. In 1976, Omonia player
Sotiris Kaiafas was the top scorer not only in Cyprus but also in
Europe with 39 goals winning the
European Golden Boot. Anorthosis Famagusta dominated Cyprus football between 1995 and
2000, losing the championship during those years only once in 1996.
Teams
The fourteen teams that participate in the
Cypriot First Division 2007-08 season are:
★
AC Omonia -
Nicosia
★
Apollon Limassol -
Limassol
★
AEL FC -
Limassol
★
Aris Limassol -
Limassol
★
AEK Larnaca -
Larnaca
★
Alki Larnaca FC -
Larnaca
★
Anorthosis Famagusta -
Famagusta
★
APOEL -
Nicosia
★
APOP Kinyras Peyias FC -
Peyia,
Paphos
★
Doxa Katokopia -
Katokopia,
Nicosia
★
Enosis Neon Paralimni -
Paralimni
★
Ethnikos Achna -
Achna,
Famagusta
★
Nea Salamis Famagusta -
Famagusta
★
Olympiakos Nicosia -
Nicosia
Winners
Pancypriot Championship
Performance By Club
| 'Club' | 'Winners' | 'Winning Years' |
|---|
| APOEL Nicosia | 19 | 1936, 1937, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1952, 1965, 1973, 1980, 1986, 1990, 1992, 1996, 2002, 2004, 2007 |
| Omonia Nicosia | 19 | 1961, 1966, 1972, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1993, 2001, 2003 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 12 | 1950, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963,1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005 |
| AEL Limassol | 5 | 1941, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1968 |
| Olympiakos Nicosia | 3 | 1967, 1969, 1971 |
| Apollon Limassol | 3 | 1991, 1994, 2006 |
| EPA Larnaca | 3 | 1945, 1946, 1970 |
| Pezoporikos Larnaca | 2 | 1954, 1988 |
| Trast AC | 1 | 1935 |
| Çetinkaya Türk S.K. | 1 | 1951 |
Top Goalscorers
This is a list of the top goalscorers of Cyprus by year since 1960.
| Season | Top scorer | Club | Goals |
|---|
| '1960/61' | Panikos Krystallis | Apollon Limassol | 26 |
| '1961/62' | Michalis Shialis | Anorthosis Famagusta | 22 |
| '1962/63' | Panikos Papadopoulos | AEL Limassol | 24 |
| '1963/64' | Championship abandoned |
| '1964/65' | Kostakis Pieridis | Olympiakos Nicosia | 21 |
| '1965/66' | Panikos Efthymiades | Olympiakos Nicosia | 20 |
| '1966/67' | Andreas Stylianou | APOEL Nicosia | 29 |
| '1967/68' | Pamboullis Papadopoulos | AEL Limassol | 31 |
| '1968/69' | Panikos Efthymiades | Olympiakos Nicosia | 17 |
| '1969/70' | Tasos Konstantinou | EPA Larnaca | 24 |
| '1970/71' | Andreas Stylianou
Kostas Vasiliades
Panikos Efthymiades | APOEL Nicosia
Apollon Limassol
Olympiakos Nicosia | 11
11
11 |
| '1971/72' | Sotiris Kaiafas | Omonia Nicosia | 24 |
| '1972/73' | Andros Savva | Omonia Nicosia | 21 |
| '1972/73' | Lakis Theodorou | EPA Larnaca | 17 |
| '1973/74' | Sotiris Kaiafas | Omonia Nicosia | 20 |
| '1974/75' | Andros Savva | Omonia Nicosia | 21 |
| '1975/76' | Sotiris Kaiafas | Omonia Nicosia | 39 |
| '1976/77' | Sotiris Kaiafas | Omonia Nicosia | 44 |
| '1977/78' | Andreas Kanaris | Omonia Nicosia | 20 |
| '1978/79' | Sotiris Kaiafas | Omonia Nicosia | 28 |
| '1979/80' | Sotiris Kaiafas | Omonia Nicosia | 23 |
| '1980/81' | Sotiris Kaiafas | Omonia Nicosia | 14 |
| '1981/82' | Sotiris Kaiafas | Omonia Nicosia | 19 |
| '1982/83' | Panikos Hadjiloizou | Aris Limassol | 17 |
| '1983/84' | Sylvester Vernon
Lenos Kittos | Pezoporikos
Ermis Aradippou | 14
14 |
| '1984/85' | Georgios Savvides | Omonia Nicosia | 24 |
| '1985/86' | Yiannos Ioannou | APOEL Nicosia | 22 |
| '1986/87' | Spas Djevizov | Omonia Nicosia | 32 |
| '1987/88' | Tasos Zouvanis | E.N. Paralimni | 23 |
| '1988/89' | Nigel McNeal | Nea Salamis Famagusta | 19 |
| '1989/90' | Siniša Gogić | APOEL Nicosia | 19 |
| '1990/91' | Souad Besirovic
Panikos Xiourouppas | Apollon Limassol
Omonia Nicosia | 19
19 |
| '1991/92' | Josef Djouriak | Omonia Nicosia | 21 |
| '1992/93' | Vladan Cepovic | Apollon Limassol | 25 |
| '1993/94' | Siniša Gogić | Anorthosis Famagusta | 26 |
| '1994/95' | Pambis Andreou | Nea Salamis Famagusta | 25 |
| '1995/96' | József Kiprich | APOEL Nicosia | 25 |
| '1996/97' | Michalis Konstantinou | EN Paralimni | 17 |
| '1997/98' | Rainer Rauffmann | Omonia Nicosia | 42 |
| '1998/99' | Rainer Rauffmann | Omonia Nicosia | 35 |
| '1999/2000' | Rainer Rauffmann | Omonia Nicosia | 34 |
| '2000/01' | Rainer Rauffmann | Omonia Nicosia | 30 |
| '2001/02' | Wojciech Kowalczyk | Anorthosis Famagusta | 22 |
| '2002/03' | Marios Neophytou | Anorthosis Famagusta | 33 |
| '2003/04' | Łukasz Sosin
Jozef Koslej | Apollon Limassol
Omonia Nicosia | 21
21 |
| '2004/05' | Łukasz Sosin | Apollon Limassol | 21 |
| '2005/06' | Łukasz Sosin | Apollon Limassol | 28 |
| '2006/07' | Esteban Solari | APOEL Nicosia | 20 |
References
1. New Cypriot sponsor deal aims to fight problems
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