APOP Kinyras FC
Cypriot Cup winners and first Paphos club in Europe.
APOP Kinyras FC was a football club based in the village of Peyia, in Cyprus’s Paphos District. It came together in 2003 when two lower-league sides, APOP Peyias FC and Kinyras Empas FC, merged. The APOP part of the name stood for Athletic Football Club Peyia, while Kinyras referred to the mythical king said to have founded Paphos. The club made history in May 2009 by winning the Cypriot Cup, beating heavy favorites AC Omonia, APOEL FC, and AEL Limassol along the way. That victory made them the first team from Paphos to lift a major trophy. A couple of months later, in July 2009, they became the region’s first side to compete in a UEFA competition, taking on Rapid Wien in the Europa League third qualifying round. Financial troubles led to a large bankruptcy, and the club was dissolved in the summer of 2012.
Quick Facts
- Club
- APOP Kinyras
- Full name
- APOP Kinyras FC; Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Ομιλος Πέγειας Κινύρας
- Founded
- 2003
- Dissolved
- 2012
- Ground
- Peyia Municipal Stadium; Peyia, Cyprus
- Capacity
- 3,828
- Chairman
- Cyprus Michalis Mitas
- Manager
- Cyprus Andros Polydorou
Facts from the source article.
History
APOP Kinyras started in the 3rd division in the 2003/04 season, where they were promoted to Second Division as Champions. The following season they won the second division championship and were promoted as Second Division Champions to the Cypriot First Division for the first time. However, the team finished 12th in the 2005–06 season and were relegated back to the second division. In 2007 the team won the Second Division championship and were promoted to First Division for the second time.
They finished 8th in the 2007–08 first division championship and in the 2008–09 season finished seventh. Few gave APOP Kinyras any chance of clinching silverware that season, although under coach Giorgos Polyviou, they managed to create quite a stir when they upset overwhelming favourites and win the Cypriot Cup final against AEL Limassol. After the success, the team became the first club from Paphos to win a major trophy since the foundation of the Cyprus Football Association in 1934.
After overcoming AC Omonia in quarterfinals and APOEL FC in semifinals, the Paphos side withstood some intense AEL pressure before scoring two late goals through Angelos Efthymiou and Fangio Buyse to seal a remarkable triumph in Nicosia's GSP Stadium. In their first European game APOP Kinyras played in Vienna on July 30, 2009, losing against Rapid Wien 2–1 in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Europa League. In the second leg, Rapid needed Trimmel's extra-time goal (2–2) to eliminate the Paphos side, which impressed at the match sending it to overtime, coming from 0–1 down to 2–1 lead with two goals from Edgar Marcelino and Sebastián González.
In 2011, after 4 consecutive seasons in the first division, a record for the club, they were relegated back to the Cypriot Second Division. In 2012, after a lot of scandals the club was relegated by CFA and UEFA from the Second to Fourth Division. The same year, after a large bankruptcy the club was dissolved.
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