AEK Larnaka

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The AEK Larnaka ( Greek ΑΕΚ Λάρνακας , AEK stands for Αθλητική Ενωση Κίτιον Athlitikí Enosi Kítion ) is a Cypriot sports club from Larnaka . The club, formed in 1994 from the merger of EPA and Pezoporikos, is best known for its soccer , volleyball and basketball teams .

history

Club logo

For the basketball team: see main article AEK Larnaka (basketball)

AEK Larnaka was founded in 1930 under the name EPA Larnaka . After the interruption of sports operations due to World War II in 1944, the football team was one of the dominant teams in Cyprus. Already in the opening season after the interruption of the war, she won the double from the state championship and cup, which she defended the following year. Initially, the club remained in the top division, but was ousted from the top of the table by clubs such as APOEL Nicosia , Anorthosis Famagusta or AEL Limassol . In addition, a local rival developed with Pezoporikos Larnaka , who also played for the championship. In 1950, 1953 and 1955, AEK Larnaka added more trophies to the collection of titles when the club won the Cypriot Cup again, while Pezoporikos Larnaka won the championship title in 1954.

For a long time EPA and Pezoporikos played with varying degrees of success in the first Cypriot division without being able to win any more titles. In 1970 the local rivals fought a three-way battle for the championship with Omonia Nicosia . Ultimately, the better goal difference among the tied rivals decided in favor of EPA. In the 1970/71 European Cup , the team met the German representative Borussia Mönchengladbach in the first round and was eliminated after a 6-0 home and a 10-10 away defeat. As champions, the club played in the Greek Alpha Ethniki , from which he was also relegated directly. In the same season, Pezoporikos won the Cypriot Cup competition and qualified for the European Cup Winners' Cup 1970/71 . There the club defied Cardiff City 0-0 in the first leg, but lost the second leg in Cardiff 8-0.

While Alki Larnaka, another local rival, came to the fore in the following years, EPA and Pezoporikos slipped into midfield of the league. As a cup finalist in 1973 against champions APOEL Nicosia, Pezoporikos reached the European Cup again, against the Swedish club Malmö FF , the team remained goalless in both games and conceded eleven goals. At the end of the 1970s, Pezoporikos returned to the European stage as a multiple third in the table, but still had no chance in the UEFA Cup . While EPA continued to place in the middle of the table, Pezoporikos returned to the championship race in the late 1980s. With only one season defeat, the team distanced APOEL Nicosia by one point in 1988 and won the championship title. Against the later quarter-finalists IFK Göteborg , the club failed in the first round of the European Cup in 1988/89 .

In 1994 the EPA and Pezoporikos merged to form the AEK Larnaka. After a mixed first season, the club settled in the front midfield of the league. In 1996, the merger club reached the cup final, which was lost to the champions APOEL Nicosia after extra time. The club was represented in the 1996/97 European Cup Winners' Cup , where it successfully survived the qualifying round against the Armenian club Kotaik Abovian , after a 2-0 away defeat and a 0-0 draw in the second leg against FC Barcelona, but again in the eliminated in the first round. At the beginning of the new millennium, the club slipped a bit in the table, but won the national cup again with a 2-1 final win over AEL Limassol. Later, when he returned to the final, he lost out to APOEL Nicosia.

In 2008 AEK reached the championship finals with fourth place in the table, in which, with two points behind Omonia Nicosia, they took the last place and thus missed the renewed qualification for the European Cup. The success was followed by the crash, the following season the club ended on a relegation zone. The first second division season in the club's history ended the team in second place and then prevailed in the promotion round.

The women's volleyball team has played first class for a long time. In 1995 and 2001 she reached the cup final, but left the hall as a loser. In 2007 she won the championship and national cup double.

Trainer

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