Cypriot football clubs in European competitions
Cypriot clubs have competed in UEFA competitions since 1963.
Cypriot men's football clubs have competed in UEFA competitions since the 1963–64 season, following the Cyprus Football Association's admission to UEFA in 1962. Sixteen different Cypriot clubs have taken part across five European tournaments. The country's highest UEFA coefficient ranking was 14th at the end of the 2012–13 season, and the best performance by a Cypriot side came when APOEL FC reached the quarter-finals of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League.
Quick Facts
- First season of participation
- 1963–64
- Highest uefa coefficient ranking
- 14th (end of 2012–13 season)
Facts from the source article.
European Cup/UEFA Champions League
Cypriot champions have taken part in this competition every season since 1963, except for 1964–65 (abandoned championship), 1974–75 (withdrawal due to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus), and the 1994–95 and 1996–97 seasons (low country coefficient). Eight different Cypriot teams have participated. Anorthosis Famagusta FC became the first Cypriot side to reach the group stage, in the 2008–09 season. APOEL FC has done so on four occasions, the most notable being the 2011–12 campaign when they advanced to the quarter-finals. In the 2014–15 season, Cyprus had two participants due to the country's UEFA coefficient ranking.
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Cypriot teams took part in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup from its 1963–64 edition until the competition was abolished after 1998–99. The first match ever played by a Cypriot club in European competition was APOEL's 1963–64 Cup Winners' Cup tie against SK Gjøvik-Lyn at the GSP Stadium. Ten different Cypriot clubs participated. The best result came in the final season, when Apollon Limassol eliminated two opponents and reached the second round. No Cypriot team entered in 1974–75 because of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus; Enosis Neon Paralimni had qualified but withdrew. In some seasons, Cypriot home matches were played in the opponent's country, either at a neutral venue or at the opponent's own ground.
UEFA Intertoto Cup
Cypriot clubs began competing in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1995, the year UEFA took over the competition, and participated in 13 of its 14 seasons until it was abolished in 2008. Only in 1999 did no Cypriot team enter. Usually one club took part per season, except in 2003 when two entered. From 1995 to 1997 the competition began with a group stage of five teams; from 1998 onward it used a knockout format. The most successful Cypriot side was Ethnikos Achna in 2006, which UEFA lists as a joint winner of that year's Intertoto Cup, as the 11 teams that qualified for the UEFA Cup were all considered winners. Ethnikos Achna subsequently continued into the 2006–07 UEFA Cup.
Statistics 1963–2017
The overall statistics for Cypriot clubs in European competitions, updated to April 14, 2018, cover all matches from 1963 to 2017. Points are calculated using three points for a win, one for a draw, and none for a defeat. Several clubs have played in two competitions in the same season: Anorthosis Famagusta FC and APOEL FC each did so in four seasons, AEL Limassol in two, and AC Omonia and Ethnikos Achna FC in one each. Cypriot teams have faced opponents from 49 different UEFA member associations; they have not yet met clubs from Andorra, Kosovo, Latvia, or Liechtenstein. Clubs from former nations (Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, East Germany) are allocated to their present-day federations. Group-stage matches are included in the overall totals but not counted as knockout qualification or exclusion rounds.
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