Apollon Limassol FC (, Apollon Lemesou) is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Division and has won the championship title four times, the cup nine times and the Super Cup four times.
History At the end of 1953, a team of young men placed as a dream and objective, the foundation of an association with national and athletic aims based on promoting the education and social skills of its young members. On 14 April 1954, the general assembly of these members with leader Mr Christakis Pavlides proposes the foundation of an athletic association called "APOLLON LIMASSOL". The assembly approved the proposal and thus from that date "APOLLON was born". The first administrative council of the team included: Charalambos Lymbourides (Secretary), Andreas Psyllides (Cashier), Antonakis Fourlas (Adviser), Melis Charalampous (Adviser), Andreas Theoharous (Adviser) Andreas Aggelopoulos (Adviser) and Kostas Panayiotou (Adviser).
In its first year, Apollon had eight defeats in eight matches in the second division. Just before the next season (1956–57), Apollon won the regional group in the second division and subsequently the play-offs and then was promoted to the first division.
This took place in 1957 and ever since Apollon has been competing in the first division. Through its history, Apollon won four Championships (1991, 1994, 2006, 2022), nine Cups (1966, 1967, 1986, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2017), three Super Cup (2006, 2016, 2017) and also had some very successful participation in European competitions, winning several important games.
1954–1955: early years In its first year, Apollon suffered eight defeats in eight matches in the second division. Just before the next season (1956–57), Apollon won the regional group in the second division and subsequently the play-offs and then was 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.
1964–1967: the first distinctions In 1965 Apollon reached the Cup Final. However, Omonia won the title with a score of 5–1. A year later, Apollon was in the Final again, and won the Cup by defeating Nea Salamina with the score of 4–2 (Scorers: Panikos Yiolitis, Andros Konstantinou, Panikkos Krystallis, Antonis Panayides), and triumphantly took the trophy to Limassol. Apollon managed to maintain its Cup title in 1967, by beating Alki 1–0 thanks to the goal of Antonis Panayides. After celebrating these titles, Apollon had to wait another 15 years to start making history once again.
1981–1987: back to the Cup final after 20 fallow years In the football season 1981–82 Apollon managed to reach once again the Cup final however in double games Omonia won the Cup. In the 1985–86 season, after 20 years of "drought" Apollon won once again the Cup in Tsirion Stadium, overcoming APOEL with a score of 2–0. Scores were Kenny and Sokratous.
1990–1999: 10 years of glory
The appointment of German coach Diethelm Ferner marked the beginning of one of the most successful periods in Apollon's history. Under his management, the club won its first Cypriot First Division title in the 1990–91 season. Ferner combined experienced players with emerging talent, helping to establish a competitive squad.
Apollon followed its league success by winning the Cypriot Cup in the 1991–92 season, defeating Omonia in the final through a goal by Evgenio Ptak. Although the club failed to retain either domestic title in 1992–93, it regained the league championship in 1993–94 after a closely contested title race with Anorthosis that was decided on the final day of the season.
During the same period, Apollon also reached the Cypriot Cup finals in 1994–95 and 1997–98, losing to APOEL and Anorthosis, respectively.
2000–2010: 1 championship, 2 cups and 1 super cup
In the 2000–01 season Apollon won the cup against Nea Salamis Famagusta in the GSP stadium, with final score 1–0. Scorer was the unforgettable Viktor Zubarev.
In the middle of the football season (2004–05) and after enough failed attempts for glory after the final of 2001, German manager Bernd Stange took the responsibility, accomplishing late but regularly he brought back the lost glamour of the team. In the 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 12 March 2005 (30 games). The next year Apollon won for the first time in his history the Super Cup beating APOEL 1–3 at home.
In 2010 Apollon won the Cup after 9 years (2001 Final Cup), beating APOEL Nicosia in GSZ Stadium. The final score was 2–1.
2010–11: cup finalists The following year (2011), Apollon reached the final of the Cypriot Cup for the second consecutive year, but lost to Omonia on penalties, after a 1–1 draw following extra time
2012–13: Cypriot Cup winners On 22 May 2013, Apollon won the Cup after three years (last Cup won in 2010). Apollon won in the final by beating 1–2 AEL Limassol at Tsirion Stadium in extra time, achieving the club's 7th Cypriot Cup title. Apollon fans are very demanding and loyal to the Club and after 3 years they celebrated the Cup by singing, drinking, celebrating the whole week.
2013–14: gold history and big dreams Apollon Limassol skipper Giorgos Merkis implored his team-mates not to rest on their laurels after securing a famous 2–0 victory against OGC Nice in the first leg of their 2013–14 UEFA Europa League play-off. Christakis Christoforou's men were billed as overwhelming underdogs going into the tie, but a second-half double from Argentinian forward Gaston Sangoy has put them in a commanding position ahead of the 29 August decider at Stade Municipal du Ray. The next week Apollon travelled to Nice and the dream came true. Apollon lost 1–0 from OGC-Nice but qualified at the group stage of Europa League for the first time in the team's history. In the group stage Apollon will play with: Lazio, Trabzonspor and Legia Warsaw. At the debut match at GSP stadium in Nicosia in the group stage of Europa League Apollon Limassol defeated by Trabzonspor 1–2 and the scorer was the team's star Gaston Sangoy. On 26 September Apollon became the first Cypriot side to win a game in Poland on matchday two, ending a seven-game losing streak away from home in Europe to beat Legia Warsaw 1–0. Scorer against Polish side was again Gaston Sangoy. It is the first away victory for a Cypriot side in a UEFA club competition group stage in their last 16 attempts. In the third match on 24 October, Apollon claimed a 0–0 draw against Serie A side Lazio in Nicosia to keep alive their chances of qualifying from UEFA Europa League Group J.
2014–15: Europa league gold dreams After finishing 3rd in the 2013–14 Cypriot First Division, Apollon entered the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League play-off round, where they faced Russian Premier League club Lokomotiv Moscow. The first leg was held in Cyprus and ended with a 1–1 draw. The second leg, held in Moscow, ended with a 4–1 win to the guests and brought Apollon to the group stage of the competition. Apollon became the first team in Cyprus to qualify for a European competition by winning in an away game in the play-off round for two consecutive years as well as joining UEFA Europa League for two consecutive seasons.
Apollon, having three points, were out of the competition after losing to FC Zürich in a replay match.
2015–20: striving for success In the period between 2015 and 2020, the team had some highs and lows, as they fought for supremacy in the Cypriot First Division and tried to make a mark in the UEFA Europa League.
During the 2015–2016 season, the team's league performance was relatively disappointing as Apollon finished in the 5th place. However they were able to make up for this by having a strong run in the Cypriot Cup. The team managed to reach the final. Apollon faced off against Omonia in a closely contested match. The game was tied 1-1 and Apollon was able to score the winning goal in the 72nd minute with a header of Angelis Angeli.
Apollon's next season started poorly after being eliminated from the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round by Grasshopper Club Zürich and a series of bad results in the league. Manager Pedro Emanuel was eventually sacked. Former goalkeeper of the team Sofronis Avgousti was then appointed as the caretaker manager for the remaining of the season. The team then went on to achieve an incredible 10 games winning streak in both league and cup. Albeit the hard-fought efforts to win the championship, the team was faced with the complication of the not so good start to the season, which made their task all the more difficult. Despite the fact that Apollon could not manage to win the title, the team reached the 2016–17 Cypriot Cup final against APOEL and won it for a second year in a row, while also playing with 10 men. This remarkable effort by the team earned Sofronis Avgousti the permanent manager position at the club.
The 2017–18 Cypriot First Division season was spectacular for the team, even though the team could not win any title. Apollon finished in 2nd place, behind only the dominant APOEL, who won the league for the sixth consecutive season. Apollon Limassol had a strong campaign, winning 25 of their 36 matches and earning a record-breaking total (for the team) 82 points. The team's success was largely due to their strong attacking play, as they scored 90 goals throughout the season. The top scorer was Emilio Zelaya, who found the back of the net 17 times in the league. Anton Maglica and Fotis Papoulis also had a great contribution to Apollon's attacking play after scoring 16 and 15 goals respectively. The fact that five players of Apollon (João Pedro, Valentin Roberge, Esteban Sachetti, Alef, Fotis Papoulis) were voted for the Best 11 of the season is a strong statement of the team's overall performance. Manager Sofronis Avgousti was also voted as the Manager of the Season. This particular 2017–2018 team is widely regarded as one of the best of all time in the club's history, as well as Cyprus football in general. In addition to their strong performance in the league, Apollon also had a successful run in the 2017–18 UEFA Europa League. The team started their campaign in the second qualifying round and managed to qualify for the group stage for the 3rd time in the club's history. In the group stage, Apollon Limassol faced off against Olympique Lyonnais, Atalanta B.C. and Everton F.C. but failed to progress to the knockout stage.
In the following seasons, the team continued to fight and compete for silverware while also playing in Europe, but had mixed fortunes.
In 2018–2019 season Apollon qualified once again for the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League group stage after surprisingly knocking out FC Basel in the play-off round. In the group stage, they were drawn in a tough group alongside S.S. Lazio, Eintracht Frankfurt, and Olympique de Marseille. Despite a strong performance, Apollon Limassol ultimately finished in third place in the group, missing out on qualification for the knockout stages of the competition. Nonetheless, their run was widely praised, as they put in a series of impressive performances against some of the top teams in Europe.