Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou () is a Cypriot sports club based in the city of Limassol, Cyprus, best known for its football team.
AEL Limassol also maintains a men's and women'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.
The sponsor of the club is Meridian Sport.
History
The club was founded on 4 October 1930, with Stavros Pittas serving as the club's first president. The football section of the club competed in its first game on 6 January 1931 against PSC, winning 6–1 in Limassol. The club won the national championship in 1934 though this is not credited as it is an unofficial title. Later that year, AEL became one of the eight founding members of the Cypriot First Division for the 1934–35 season, the first official league of the country.
AEL Limassol celebrated its first official title success in 1941, defeating APOEL 4–3 in a two-legged championship play-off. AEL fans had to wait 12 years until tasting title success again, as the club finally became champions of Cyprus again in 1953. AEL would twice repeat this success, winning back-to-back league championships in 1955 and 1956. Theirs goalscorer Sevim Ebeoğlu who played between 1950–1957 for AEL won the top-scorer award in 1952–53 and 1954–55 seasons.
The club won its last major trophy in 1989 – before the title success of 2012 – when it defeated city rivals Aris Limassol 3–2 after extra time in final of the Cypriot Cup.
In 2011, after disappointingly finishing in seventh-place in the previous campaign, AEL hired Pambos Christodoulou, who had a reputation of steering "modest sides away from relegation", to start the club's rebuilding process. 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.
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, 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, he was nicknamed by fans "Pambourinho", a combination of his name and of esteemed manager José Mourinho.
AEL received the championship trophy during a spectacular "fiesta" evening at the Tsirio 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 the Cup Final of 16 May against Omonia and the chance to be crowned double winners for the first time in club history; the club, however, lost 1–0 in the final. The following year, AEL made it to the group stage of a UEFA tournament for the first time, finishing last and picking up four points in their UEFA Europa League group.
On 22 October 2013, Angolan manager Lito Vidigal was sacked after just over three months in charge. Bulgarian Ivaylo Petev was appointed as AEL's manager on 25 October, having previously guided Ludogorets Razgrad to promotion to the A Group as well as two A Group titles, a Bulgarian Cup win as well as a triumph in the Bulgarian Super Cup. Petev signed an initial deal to stay at AEL until the end of the 2014–15 season.
At the end of the 2013–14 season, AEL finished in first place in the initial 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 player Kaká. 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 a Cillian Sheridan goal. On 6 June 2014, the Cyprus 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. AEL winger Jorge Monteiro finished the season as joint-top scorer in the league with 18 goals, and the former Porto 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 referee Artyom Kuchin and the players of Austria 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 defender Marco 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.
AEL Limassol 1930
The football department of AEL is legally owned by AEL Football (Public) Ltd (), 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. 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.
Stadium
From 1975 to 2022, AEL Limassol played its home matches at the 13,331-seat Tsirio Stadium in Limassol.
After construction, the Alphamega Stadium replaced Tsirio Stadium as the home ground of AEL Limassol. The first match at the new stadium was ΑΕL vs Olympiakos, with a score of 2–0 on 23 December 2022. The capacity of the new stadium is 10,700 seats.
Current squad
Out on loan
Current staff Technical staffGeneral Football Director Ivan TrickovskiTechnical Director Joël DamahouGeneral Manager Efthymios AgathokleousTeam Manager Angelos PerikleousHead Coach Hugo MartinsAssistant Coaches Georgios Eleftheriou Paulo MonteiroGoalkeeping Coach Paulo GriloFitness Coach André GomesMatch Analyst Braz FerreiraRehabilitation Fitness Coach Giannis VasilopoulosHead Scouter Giannis TheodorouScouter Nikos EnglezouVideo Scouter Michalis EleftheriadisMedical staffHead Doctor Dr. Theodoros PhilippouChiropractor Dr. Nikos PoullisNutrionist Kostas NikolaouHead Physiotherapist Polys AchilleosPhysiotherapists Kimonas Papamiltiadous Demos Paliosofitis Savvas KleonikouOther staffKit Assistant Kyriakos KyriakouHost Assistant Zoe Efthymiou Eleni StephanouHead Caregiver Andreas KakoullisCaregivers Marko Vitorović Christian Martínez
Honours
TypeCompetitionTitlesSeasonsDomesticCypriot First Division61940–41, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1955–56, 1967–68, 2011–12 Cypriot Second Division11996–97 Cypriot Cup71938–39, 1939–40, 1947–48, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1988–89, 2018–19Cypriot Super Cup 41953, 1968, 1985, 2015
shared record
UEFA club coefficient ranking UEFA Team Ranking (2025/26)
UEFA Club ranking Rank Country Team Points219Apollon Limassol7.138220Anorthosis Famagusta7.138221AEL Limassol7.138222Levski Sofia7.000223Hibernian7.000
Last update: 12 March 2026 Source:
European record 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 2017–18UEFA Europa League1Q 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 2019–20UEFA Europa League 2Q Aris 0–0 0–1 0–1 2021–22UEFA Europa Conference League2Q Vllaznia 1–0 1–0 2–0 3Q Qarabağ 1–1 0–1 1–2
Historical list of coaches
Dimitris Tsiepis (1930 –1932) Argiris Gavalas (1932 –1946) Costas Vasiliou (1946 –1948) Argiris Gavalas (1948 –1956) Spiros Elia Ferdinard 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 (1 July 2006 – 31 Jan 2007) Eli Guttman (1 Feb 2007 – 1 Dec 2007) Mariano Barreto (4 Dec 2007 – 5 Feb 2008) Andreas Michaelides (6 Feb 2008 – 28 Jan 2009) Mihai Stoichiță (28 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) Čedomir 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 – 26 May 2025) Paolo Tramezzani (2 Jun 2025 – 24 Sep 2025) Hugo Martins (29 Sep 2025 –)
Presidential history
# Name From ToPeriod1. Stavros Pittas 1930 19322yrs2. Kriton Tornaritis 1932 19342yrs3. Yiangos Limanititis 1934 195319yrs4. Nikos Solomonides 1953 197118yrs5. Nikos Kountas 1971 19765yrs6. Georgios Tornaritis 1976 19826yrs7. Loris Lysiotis 1982 199614yrs8. Dimitris Solomonides 1996 20026yrs9. Giorgos Frantzis 2002 20031yrs10. Akis Ellinas 2003 20052yrs11. Agis Agapiou 2005 20061yrs12. Marios Herodotou 2006 20071yrs13. Zacharias Koundouros 2007 20081yrs14. Andreas Sofocleous 2008 202214yrs15.Costas Christodoulou201820224yrs16.Nicos Christodoulides202220242yrs17.Konstantinos Konstantinou2024Present
AEL Football Academies
Cypriot U21 Championships: 13 1940, 1951, 1960, 1973, 1978, 1983, 1984, 1989, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2008
Cyprus U21 Cup: 1 1997
Cypriot U19 Championships: 1 2018
Cypriot U17 Championships: 6 2004, 2005, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2018
Cypriot U16 Championships: 1 2017
Cypriot U15 Championships: 2 2005, 2009
Cypriot U14 Championships: 1 2025
Elite Neon Cup - Silver Cup (U14): 1 2025
Cypriot U13 Championships: 3 2006, 2008, 2017
AEL Limassol departments
AEL Limassol B.C. (TRIA EKA AEL)
Since 1966, AEL sports club maintains both men's and women's professional basketball teams.