AC Omonia

Creation and early years (1948–1953)

On 23 May 1948 the board of APOEL FC sent a telegram to the Hellenic Association of Amateur Athletics (Greek: Σ.Ε.Γ.Α.Σ.), with the opportunity of the annual Panhellenic Track and Field Competition stating its wish for the "communist mutiny" to be ended. Club players considering this action as a political comment on the Greek Civil War distanced themselves or were expelled from APOEL.

On 4 June 1948 Dr. Mattheos Papapetrou organized a meeting to form a new club in Nicosia . Many players expelled from APOEL were also invited and on 17 June 1948 Omonia was established. Along with other left-wing teams such as Nea Salamina, Alki Larnaca and Orfeas Nicosia, Omonoia helped create in December 1948 the Cyprus Amateur Football Federation. Omonoia took part in the CAFF league until 1953 having won 4 out of 5 played championships and 5 out of 5 played cups. Omonoia was then accepted by the Cyprus Football Association to participate in the Cypriot First Division.

Beginnings in the Cypriot First Division (1953–1969)

After joining the Cypriot First Division in 1953, Omonoia only managed to place 7th out of 9 teams in the 1953–54 season, barely avoiding relegation. During that decade, the club's best placing came during the 1956–57 season when the club finished 3rd.

The team would make its closest push for the title during the 1959–60 season after finishing 2nd, 1 point behind Anorthosis Famagusta. The following year, after 7 seasons in the First Division, the club would win its first title in 1960–61 season. Omonia, in that season would score 91 goals in 24 matches on their way to their first ever Cyprus First Division title. Omonoia won their second title during the 1965–66 season.

Golden era (1970s–1980s)

Omonia won its first trophies of the decade in 1972, when the club won both the league and the cup. Led by a young, Sotiris Kaiafas, Omonia won 7 league tittles in the 70s decade, six of them were consecutive in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. By the time the decade would come to an end, Omonia had a total of 9 championship titles and 3 cups. At the end of the 1979 season, Omonia trailed its arch rival APOEL by two championships. In 1976, Sotiris Kaiafas would go on and win the European Golden Shoe for his single-season 39 -goal performance. In 2003, he was awarded the UEFA Jubilee Awards for The Best Cypriot Footballer of the 20th Century.

The 1980s was a successful decade for the club as it won an additional seven Cypriot League Championship titles including another 5 consecutive in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and in 1987 and in 1989. As the 1980s came to an end, Omonia had won 14 Cypriot Championship Titles becoming the most successful team on the island at the time.

General decline (1990s)

The 1990s would prove to be less successful than the previous two decades. During this time, AC Omonia only mustered one Cypriot League title during the 1992–93 season. It would be eight years before Omonia would see its next title. In 1997 Omonia signed a German named Rainer Rauffmann who would later become the second top goal scorer ever for the club. With the help of other Omonia great and then captain, Costas Malekkos, and a young Costas Kaiafas (son of Sotiris Kaiafas), Rainer Rauffmann would become top scorer of the Cypriot First Division in the 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00 and 2000–01 seasons and leading Omonoia to two titles.

Revival (2000s)

After a disappointing eight seasons, the 2000s decade began with a trophy . AC Omonia celebrated its 18th Cypriot League Championship title in 2001. Now captained by Costas Kaiafas, Omonia would win its 19th Cypriot League Championship again in 2003. However, since 2003, the team would stumble and be without a title for the next several years. After numerous seasons of poor signings and underachieving, Omonia's reigns would be taken over by new chairman and team president, Miltiadis Neophytou in 2008.

The team would soon be put back on track starting in 2006, beginning with the signing of Cyprus national football team goalie, Antonis Georgallides. Omonia would continue its star-studded signings by acquiring Cypriot stars that had been playing abroad such as, Elias Charalambous and Stathis Aloneftis. Omonoia would then make headlines with the shocking signing of all-time leading scorer of the Cyprus national football team, Michalis Konstantinou. In 2009, Omonia would also sign another Cypriot star, Konstantinos Makrides. Along the way, Omonia would also acquire young Cypriot hopefuls, 21-year-old Dimitris Christofi, and 20-year-old Georgios Efrem. Efrem, who had been playing on the youth team of Arsenal FC and later Scottish side, Rangers, would be the final piece to the puzzle needed to win its 20th Cypriot League Championship. After putting the proper pieces in place, AC Omonia did just that. During the 2009–10 season, led by new captain, Elias Charalambous, AC Omonia would not lose a single derby, including play-offs matches against either, APOEL, Anorthosis Famagusta, nor Apollon.

Coach Takis Lemonis left the club after disappointing results and Dušan Bajević became the new coach in October 2010 but was fired in April 2011. He was replaced by Neophytos Larkou.Omonia would not be able to repeat as Champion during the 2010–11 regular season, and instead had to settle with finishing 2nd, despite the addition of yet another young Cypriot rising star, Andreas Avraam. However the team was to end on a positive note. Under interim coach Neophytos Larkou, Omonia defeated Apollon Limassol in the Cyprus Cup Final and won their 13th Coca-Cola Cup.

Omonia spent a difficult year but managed to win their 14th Coca-Cola Cup starring Andre Alves who scored the winning goal against AEL Limassol. Under the guidance of newly appointed Director of Football Nickolas Danskalou AC Omonoia managed to finish 2nd in the Championship and 3rd after the playoff rounds all but assuring they would qualify for the Second round of the 2012–13 UEFA Cup Competition.

Financial crisis (2012–present)

Coach Neophytos Larkou left the club in September 2012 and Toni Savevski was then appointed as coach. The team begun the season with a great win but found its second success after several games. A disappointing first round proved enough to exclude the club from contesting for the championship or the cup. The team managed better results in the second round finishing the season in 3rd place. Thousands of fans answered the president's call to donate as much as they could and the financial issues of the club improved. Omonoia's final match ended in a 3–1 victory over AEK Larnaca. Omonoia was knocked out in the semifinals of the cup by AEL Limassol.

In 2013 Omonoia begun the new season with Toni Savevski as manager but he was sacked halfway besides positive results. Miguel Ángel Lotina was hired as the replacer but was sacked just 37 days later. Kostas Kaiafas, ex-player was then appointed as the new coach. The club's financial difficulties returned despite the massive fundraiser organized the previous season. Omonoia ended 5th in the league finishing its worst season in 56 years since the 1957–1958 season.

In August 2014 Omonia was knocked out of the Europa League playoff stages by Dynamo Moscow. The club issued a complaint to UEFA regarding the refereeing of the match by Alexandru Tudor. In early September the club stopped supplying the fans' group Gate-9 with tickets resulting in the group's abstention from matches. Two weeks later after a meeting between the president and the coach it was decided that tickets were to be supplied again to Gate-9. Omonia managed to finish 4th in the league. The team was knocked out of the Cypriot Cup semifinals by APOEL FC.

Name

"Omonia" is the Greek word for concord, showing the contrast of the club for discord and disruption.

Colors and badge

AC Omonia's colors are green and white. Their current alternate kit is black and green. AC Omonia's badge has a green shamrock in a white circle. Green symbolizing hope.

Stadium

Since 23 October 1999, Omonia has been using the 22,859-seat New GSP Stadium, the largest stadium in Cyprus. They share the stadium with local rival APOEL. Omonia played in the Makario Stadium from 1978 until 1999 and in Old GSP Stadium from 1953 to 1978. When the club was first created, it used the Goal Stadium (1948–1953).

Supporters

Omonoia is one of the most popular clubs in the country with polls showing that 27.6% of asked Cypriot football fans stating they supported Omonoia. The fans are known for their left-leaning, socialist character, with over 80% stating in a survey that they associate themselves with the Progressive Party of Working People Omonia is also traditionally regarded as the club of Cyprus's working-class. Many of Omonia's supporters can be seen waving banners bearing Che Guevara's image. Gate 9, the team's ultras group, was established in 1992. The group occupies the North stand at the GSP stadium during home games. Omonia's fans are well known for their passion. The record for most tickets sold in a single season for Omonia stands at 162,061 tickets sold during the 2009–2010 season. The Omonoia fans which are called Gate 9 have friendship with other teams supporters such as Hapoel Tel-Aviv and Standard Liege fans.

Financial crisis and 2013 Pan-Cypriot fundraiser

By the end of February 2013 Omonia was struggling to meet the UEFA criteria due to the economic crisis that had engulfed the club. The president then decided to start a fundraiser and called for the supporters of the club to donate as much as they could. Hundreds of events were organised island wide with the motto; "ΕΙΜΑΙ ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑ ΔΗΛΩΝΩ ΠΑΡΩΝ" meaning "I'M WITH OMONOIA, I DECLARE MYSELF PRESENT". Current and former players contributed by signing autographs and selling club merchandise. Although the situation at the beginning was described as grim, money poured in from all over the island and from abroad including England and the United States. In about a month and a half €3.5 million was collected from the club's supporters.

Honors

Cypriot Championship

Winners (20): 1960–61, 1965–66, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1992–93, 2000–01, 2002–03, 2009–10

Cypriot Cup

Winners (14): 1964–65, 1971–72, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1987–88, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2004–05, 2010–11, 2011–12

Cypriot Super Cup

Winners (16) (record): 1966, 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1994, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2010, 2012

CAFF Championship

Winners (4) (record): 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52

CAFF Cup

Winners (5) (record): 1948–49, 1949–50, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53

Players

Last Update: 2 February 2017

First team squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

For recent transfers, see List of Cypriot football transfers summer 2016
Also, see List of Cypriot football transfers winter 2016–17.

On loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Former players

For details of former players, see Category:AC Omonia players

Retired number

12 – The club supporters (the 12th man)

Technical staff

Source: omonoia.com.cy