Olympiakos Nicosia
- Not to be confused with Olympiacos CFP
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| Full name | Ολυμπιακός Λευκωσίας Olympiakos Lefkosias | ||
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| Nickname(s) | Μαυροπράσινοι (The Green Blacks) | ||
| Founded | 1931 | ||
| Ground | Neo GSP Stadium, Nicosia, Cyprus | ||
| Capacity | 22,859 | ||
| Chairman |  Omiros Nisiotis | ||
| Manager |  Jorge Walter Barrios | ||
| League | Cypriot Second Division | ||
| 2007-08 | Cypriot First Division, 14th (relegated) | ||
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Olympiakos Nicosia is a football club in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia. The Club was founded in 1931. It is a founding member of the Cyprus Football Federation. The jersey colors are black and green. Olympiakos's home ground is the New GSP Stadium of 23,400 seat capacity.
Olympiakos Nicosia has won three Cypriot First Division Championships one Cypriot Cup and one Cyprus Super Cup.
In the past the club also had basketball, volleyball, cycling and futsal teams.
The Golden Decade
The 1962-1972 decade is rightly known as the "Golden decade" of Olympiakos. The club was champion of the Cypriot First Division three times another three times it was runner-up, while it became the only Cyprus football club that participated three times in the Greek National 1st Division Championship.
It all started in the 1961-62 season, when Olympiakos reached the cup final for the first time. Despite this, the team did not manage to win the cup trophy. (As it lost from Anorthosis Famagusta FC with a score of 5-2)
The foundations had been laid however, in the 1964-65 season, Giorgos Paletsios an old Olympiakos football player for 18 years (who had also served as team captain)agreed to manage the team, without being paid a salary for his services. Paletsios proceeded to restructure the team's squad promoting to the first team the young and talented Kettenis, Limbouris, Argyrou amongst other players. Bolstered with young enthusiasm the team finished in second place in the championship, while in the same year the top scorer of the championship was Olympiakos player Costakis Pieridis, scoring 21 goals.
In the 1965-66 season Olympiakos was once again runner-up, with 49 points, one point less than the then champion Omonoia. Top scorer of the championship is again an Olympiakos player, Panikos Efthymiadis scoring 23 goals.
In the 1966-67 season Olympiakos dominated the Cypriot Championship, with Pambos Avraamidis as their manager, the team triumphantly finished in first place and won the championship with 55 points as many as APOEL Nicosia, who in the last game of the season beat Aris Limassol with the huge score of 17-1. The title is judged on goal difference and despite APOEL's huge score in the last game of the season, Olympiakos still had a superior goal difference so that the club was deservingly crowned champion.
In 1967, the champion Olympiakos played against the Cup-winner Apollon Limassol, beating them with 1-0 therefore winning the Pakkos Shield (as the Super Cup/Shield was then known.)
In the 1968-69 season, Olympiakos with Eric Brookes as manager won the championship for a second time, collecting 52 points the same number as AC Omonoia. Olympiakos is champion however because of the better goal difference. Top scorer of the championship is once again Panikos Efthymiadis scoring 17 goals.
The third Olympiakos championship came in the 1970-71 season with Rod Bradley as the manager the team finished in the first place with 31 points compared to the 27 of runner up Digenis Morfou. The title of top scorer was shared by 3 footballers who all scored 11 goals amongst them once again Panikos Efthymiadis.
In the 1972-73 season Olympiakos finished runner-up, while in the 1974-75 season the team finished third.
In 1971 Olympiakos wins the Paligenesias cup that was organised by the Cyprus Football Association(KOP), defeating Nea Salamis Famagusta with 1-0. In this golden period Olympiakos' managers were the following: Pambos Avraamidis, Giorgos Paletsios, Takis Papaxeniou, Eric Brookes and Rod Bradley.
Andreas Filotas, Varnavas Christofi, Nikos Theocharidis, Demos Flourentzou, Giorgos Hadjikonstantis, Dimitrakis Argyrou, Yiannis Xipolitas, Savvakis Constantinou, Michalakis Argyrou, Sotirakis Georgiou, Lakis Avraamidis, Markos Markou, Andreas Nicolaou (Lympoyris), Vasilis Fragkiskou (Katsis), Dimitriadis, Tasos Louka, Andreas Assiotis, Giorgos Kettenis, Panikos Efthymiadis, Costakis Pieridis, Charalambos Partasidis, Giannos Pavlou, Takis Papettas, Kokos Michael, Nikos Mailos, Michalis Stavrou, Giorgos Aristeidou, Koullis Iliadis, Lakis Mitsidis, Panagiotis Prodromou, Giannis Serafeim were the footballers of the great successes of this period. The team's current nickname is Taktakalas from the area in Nicosia where the club hails.
Greek Experience
Olympiakos became the first Cypriot football team that participated in the Pan-Hellenic Championship, in the 1967-68 season, something which recurred twice more, in 1969-70, and in 1971-72, rendering the club the only Cypriot team that participated three times in the Greek National 1st Division Championship. Olympiakos has also taken part in all three European competitions.
European Experience
In the European Champions Cup in 1967 the club faced FK Sarajevo Yugoslavia. In the first game the teams drew 2-2, while in second game Olympiakos lost with 3-1.
Also in the European Champions Cup, Olympiakos Nicosia played against Real Madrid in 1969, losing both matches with 8-0 and 6-1. Olympiakos later played in the same competition in 1971 and met Feyenoord of the Netherlands and lost 8-0 and 9-0.
In the Cup Winners' Cup, Olympiakos took part once in 1977 playing against FC Universitatea Craiova Romania while in 1973 Olympiakos played against the German team VfB Stuttgart for the UEFA Cup.
Cup Glory
In 1977, Olympiakos Nicosia scored 2-0 over Alki Larnaca to win the Cypriot Cup. In 1991, Olympiakos Nicosia lost the Cypriot Cup in the finals losing 1-0 to AC Omonia. That was their last appearance in the Cypriot Cup finals.
Glory Days Revisited
Olympiakos Nicosia also played in the UEFA Cup (after finishing runner up in the Cypriot championship) in the 2001-02 season against the Hungarian team Dunaferr FC (drawing 2-2 in Nicosia and scoring an amazing 2-4 away win, the first for the club in Europe) and proceeded to the next round of the Uefa Cup to play against Club Brugge of Belgium and was eventually eliminated.
Recent Decline
After a disastrous 2007-2008 season, where economic problems hindered the building of a strong squad, Olympiakos Nicosia finished bottom of the Cypriot First Division. (The first time the club has finished bottom.) The historic club has been relegated for the third time in its history. In both the 1983-1984 and 1997-1998 seasons the club had spent just one season in the second tier of Cypriot football, only to win the Cypriot Second Division title each time and return to the Cypriot First Division. The club is looking to re-organise itself and to return to the top flight as quickly as possible.
Current squad
| Olympiakos Nicosia Possible Lineup. |
Last Update: 18 September 2008 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Transfers 2008/09
In Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Out Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Technical Team
- Head Coach :
Jorge Walter Barrios - Assistant Coach : Roberto Morgade
Former Players
Selected Former Managers
Trophies
Football
Volleyball
External links
