Anorthosis Famagusta FC

Anorthosis Famagusta FC

Full name	Anorthosis Famagusta FC
Nickname(s)	Megali Kiria (The Great Lady)
Founded	January 30, 1911
Ground	Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, Larnaca, Cyprus (Capacity: 12,000)
Chairman	Kyriacos Kousios
Manager	Guillermo Angel Hoyos
League	Cypriot First Division
2009-2010	3rd
Home colours Away colours

Αnorthosis Famagusta FC (Greek: Ανόρθωση Αμμοχώστου) is a Cypriot football and volleyball club which was originally based in Famagusta, but is now based in Larnaca, due to the Turkish invasion. Anorthosis won 13 championship titles, their last in season 2007-2008. They have won the Cypriot Cup 10 times (1949, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1971, 1975, 1998, 2002, 2003, and 2007). Additionally, they have won the Super Cup trophy 6 times. The current president of the team is Kyriacos Kousios and the coach is Guillermo Angel Hoyos. On August 27, 2008, they became the first Cypriot football club to reach the group stages of the Champions League, defeating Olympiacos of Greece in the third qualifying round.^[1]

History

The club was founded in Famagusta in January 30, 1911. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974, Anorthosis was temporarily based in Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium of Larnaca. Anorthosis Home Stadium in occupied Famagusta is G.S.E. (Gymnastic Club Evagoras) which has been abandoned and in a bad condition since 1974.

Ammochostos, or better Barosi, around 1910 was a small town of about 4.000 inhabitants, farmers, fishermen and a very few shop-keepers. The only place of recreation was the coffee shop. It was in those times, that a very few, spirited and enthusiastic men of that small community of Ammochostos set a goal and managed to create a club of "reading" in hospitable rooms where they could gather and educate nationally and in the spirit of Christianity, everything good they had: the teenagers.

First Period 1911-1928

The period from 1911 until 1928, can be characterised as the first period of Anorthosis History. In this first period Anorthosis is mostly an ethnic battlement and a spiritual "lighthouse" of with blaze not only in Cyprus but also in Greece. Ethnic speeches, national commemoratiums, ethnic gladness and sadness and everything that aimed at the ethnic chasteness of Ammochostos were organised in the building of Anorthosis. But the sector where Anorthosis had created a tradition, unique in the history of clubs of which the reputation and activity was spread all over Cyprus, was in the sector of Music.

Under the control of Demetris Demetriades, started with great success the one and only madolinade and band of Anorthosis. The actions taken at that time were many, some of them were:

(From Anorthosis Practicles) 1913: In a collection that has been done in the building of Anorthosis the extravagant -for that time- amount of 84 pounds was gathered in just one hour, which was given for the needs of the country (which was under British command). 1922: Anorthosis establishes a depository for the relief of the refugees from the Asia Minor destruction. For that action Anorthosis gets congratulations from the whole of Hellinism.

Second Period: 1929-1955

The second period in the history of Anorthosis starts with an important changeover in the aims and actions of the club. The "Anorthosis Reading Club" renames to "Musical Philological and Philanthropical Club" and as an emblem of the club is now the mythical bird Phoenix. During this period the mantolinade and band of Anorthosis are better organised and stipendiary teachers are being appointed for the better presentation of the two groups.

Third Period: 1955-1974

In the philological sector the bright tradition of the past continues. Anorthosis creates a first class library with a lending section. We specifically refer to the fact that in 1936 1,500 volumes of books were lent to Anorthosis members. In the second period a great importance was given to the athletical sector. Under the wise control of the professor of Gymnastics Mr. Anastasis Oikonomides, football and volleyball teams, sea sports and teams of classical athletism, gave Anorthosis many first wins, much renown and filled the rooms of the club with many cups and metals.

Anorthosis, in association with Gymnastic Club Evagoras (GSE), which is its own child, organised district and pancyprian games and athletes got their first wins, not only in PanCyprian games. Of course, for a small time period, there was almost nothing to show. For example, in 1929 with a letter of POEB of which members are in Anorthosis, said that it was ready to break up and its members to be merged into the football team of Anorthosis. Then, it was decided that a second football team should be funded, and the responsibility was on Mr. An. Oikonomidis and S. Mathaiou. In the 11 February 1932, after a command of Ammochostos Commander (we are still under British column) the club of Anorthosis closed for a short time.

On October 29 the president, the general secretary and the boufι manager of Anorthosis were arrested by the police because the Greek flag was hanging on the balcony of the club building.

Fourth Period: 1974-2008

On 26 July 2005, they achieved one of the greatest results in Cypriot football history when they beat the Turkish team Trabzonspor 3-1 in the first leg of their second round Champions League qualifying match. They lost the second leg 1-0 in Turkey, but progressed 3-2 on aggregate. In the third-round qualifying tie against the Scottish team Rangers, Anorthosis lost the first leg 2-1, and the second leg 2-0, so dropped into the first round of the UEFA Cup. They were then defeated 6-1 on aggregate by the Italian team Palermo.

Anorthosis qualifed for the 2007-08 UEFA Cup by way of their Cypriot Cup win. They entered the competition at the First Qualifying round stage. Aggregate victories over FK Vardar and CFR 1907 Cluj saw them move through to the First Round proper. Anorthosis were drawn against English Premier League side Tottenham Hotspur. The first leg was played at White Hart Lane on 20 September 2007 which Tottenham Hotspur won 6-1. On 4 October 2007 the second leg resulted in a 1-1 draw when Robbie Keane equalised for Tottenham Hotspur after Fabinho had put Anorthosis ahead.

Champions League 2008–09

After winning the domestic league 2007-2008 Anorthosis managed to qualify for the 2008-2009 UEFA Champions League Group Stage, over-running Armenian Champions FC Pyunik, Austrian Champions Rapid Wien and Greek Champions Olympiacos in the qualifying rounds.

This allowed the team to qualify for the Group Stage of the Champions League, the first time for a Cypriot team.

In the group stage, they earned their first point following a 0-0 away draw with Werder Bremen, then got their first win beating Panathinaikos FC 3-1 while Hawar Mulla Mohammed became the first Iraqi player to score in the UEFA Champions League, although they lost to Inter Milan 1-0 at San Siro, they drew 3-3 in GSP Stadium. In their 5th Champions League game, Anorthosis had a chance to make it to the knock-out stage if they would have won against Werder Bremen. Anorthosis went up 2-0, but in the second half Diego made the score 2-1, and minutes before the match ended, Hugo Almeida managed to equalise for Bremen, and the match finished 2-2. Anorthosis still had a chance to get into the knock-out stage in the final match against Panathinaikos if they would have won. Unfortunately, during the last game they lost 1-0 away to Panathinaikos. Inter (who had already qualified for the next stage) lost 1-0 to Bremen, meaning that Anorthosis finished fourth - missing out on a consolation UEFA Cup place.

In the week prior to the game against Panathinaikos the club was disrupted when the Directors complained to the police that the President was embezzeling funds. He was remanded in custody and forced to resign, eventually being released by the police without charges.^[2]

Europa League Disappointment 2009-10

After the highs of their admirable exploits in the previous season's Champions League, Anorthosis went crashing out of the 2009-10 UEFA Europa League in the second qualifying round, losing 4-3 on aggregate to OFK Petrovac of Montenegro.

Europa League 2010-2011

Anorthosis started well the Europa League 2010-11 by beating FC Banands of Armenia 3-0 and 0-1 respectively. However in the second round they lost 0-2 to FC Sibenik of Croatia. However they managed to qualify after a 0-3 victory accompanied by great performance. In the 3rd qualifying round Anorthosis had a poor performanced against Cercle Brugge losing 1-0 in Belgium. However they defeated Cercle 3-1 with Cafu scoring all 3 goals.

Stadium

Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium

Anorthosis original home stadium was G.S.E. in Famagusta but now after the Turkish invasion it is in the closed town of Varosha and no one has been there since 1974 when Anorthosis last played there.

Anorthosis, in order to recover from the Turkish invansion, rise from the ashes like its symbol - the mythic bird phoenix - had to build a new stadium. Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium is the home of Anorthosis Famagusta and it was built in 1986 in the city of Larnaca. The ground was given the name of great person who helped Anorthosis in various ways through the years, he was a fighter in EOKA war for Cyprus indepence and unity with Greece and Anorthosis helped the war and he was also a very talented football player of Anorthosis and later a manager. The initial capacity of the ground was about 6,000 but gradually increased during the years to 13,000. With a major reconditioning in 1998, capacity was reduced to 11,000 (all seated).

In 2005 the east stand was named "Quality Stand" after the club's main sponsor. "Quality Stand" is a two story stand which holds the newly-build VIP Boxes (upper story), Press Room, Dressing Rooms, Bar, etc. In 2006 the stadium went through another reconditioning including the building of VIP Boxes in the upper section of west stand, the launching of the automatic ticketing issue and entrance system, the replacing of metal front fence with clear acrylic glass for security reasons and for maximized field view. Also some other facilities are offered in the west stand such as new restrooms, bar, and fan's shop.

The stadium also is approved by UEFA for European games. It has hosted some matches of the Cyprus national football team. In that stadium, Cyprus achieved its greatest success against Spain by a score 3-2. On 16 May 1992, the stadium hosted the 1992 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship Third position final between Italy and Portugal, where Italy won 1-0.

Supporters

MAXHTEC

Ultras group of Anorthosis are known as MAXHTEC (fighters).The idea is that by fighting they'll get to the top and return back to their beloved town of Famagusta .Anorthosis' fans are spread all over the island of Cyprus due to the occupation of the town of Famagusta by the Turkish Army and also as a result of the expulsion of Cypriots from their town. There are PAN.SI.FI MAXHTEC. (supporters associations) all over the island and in other countries as well (Greece, UK etc.).

MAXHTEC 1994

The majority of the fans live in Larnaca, as the temporary stadium based there. Also there is a massive amount of fans in Free Famagusta, Limassol and Nicosia.Capacity of Anorthosis stadium is about 13,500 and they have a great tickets record in the match against Omonia in 1998-1999 when over 17,000 anorthosis fans watched the game.Another great tickets record in Antonis Papadopoulos stadium was the match against Olympiakos FC when over 15,000 fans watched the game,in the 3rd qualifying round in Champions League 2008-2009,and they made a fantastic atmposphere.The biggest tickets record for anorthosis fans is 22,658 against Werder Bremen in GSP stadium . MAXHTEC, the ultras, usually get the North tier of stadium. Anorthosis has rivals competing for the Championship or against other big teams of Cyprus. The main rivals of Anorthosis are APOEL FC, AC Omonia, AEL Limassol and Apollon Limassol.

Current Squad

Argüello Brachi Frontini Medina Leiwakabessy Ramos García Maragkos Laban Okkas Cafu

Anorthosis Famagusta Starting 11 in their 4-1-2-3 formation

Last Update: August 03, 2010 Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Matúš Kozáčik 2 DF Álvaro Brachi 3 DF Marko Vidovic 5 MF Ronald García 6 MF Christos Marangos (captain) 8 MF Giannis Skopelitis 9 FW Giannis Okkas 10 MF Carles Coto 11 FW Andreas Kyprianou 12 DF Jeffrey Leiwakabessy 15 DF Biel Medina 16 MF Ramos 17 FW Cafú 18 DF Pablo Frontini 19 MF Aggelos Tsiaklis 20 MF Vincent Laban

No. Position Player 21 MF Ricardo Laborde 22 DF Janicio Martins 23 DF Valentinos Sielis 24 FW Lucas Concistre 25 MF Christos Soteriou 26 MF Christoforos Christofi 28 DF Georgios Georgiou 31 GK Marcos Argüello 32 GK Gavriel Constantinou 34 MF Mark Fotheringham 35 FW Panagiotis Mikellis 36 FW Marcos Michael 37 FW Adamos Hatzigeorgiou TDB GK Nikolas Asprogenis TDB FW Damián Lizio

Retired number(s)

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 14 MF Timour Ketsbaia

Players

Summer transfers

In

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Matúš Kozáčik (transfer from Sparta Prague for 360.000 €) 2 DF Álvaro Brachi (on loan from RCD Espanyol) 3 DF Marko Vidovic (promoted from Youth Team) 5 MF Ronald García (on loan from Aris FC) 10 MF Carles Coto (on loan from Sevilla Atlético) 18 DF Pablo Frontini (transfer from Instituto Atlético Central Córdoba for 450.000 €) 30 MF Ricardo Laborde (from Atlético Huila for 180.000 €) 31 GK Marcos Argüello (free transfer from Orihuela CF for 220.000 €) 37 FW Adamos Hatzigeorgiou (promoted from Youth Team) 35 FW Panagiotis Mikellis (promoted from Youth Team) 11 FW Andreas Kyprianou (free transfer from Nea Salamis Famagusta) 13 MF Constantinos Mintikkis (loan return from AEK Larnaca) 19 FW Andreas Papathanasiou (free transfer from Apoel FC) 24 FW Lucas Concistre (transfer from Club Olimpo for 270.000 €) MF Aggelos Tsiaklis (free transfer from academies of Manchester City) DF Biel Medina (transfer from Gimnàstic de Tarragona for 360.000 €)

Transfers Expenses: 1.840.000 €

Data from: [transfermarkt]

Out

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 19 FW Andreas Papathanasiou (on loan to Ermis Aradippou) 15 FW Constantinos Mintikkis (on loan to ASIL Lysi) 7 FW Giorgos Tofas (to Queens Park Rangers) 24 MF Andreas Constantinou (Alki Larnaca) 29 DF Loukas Stylianou (Olympiakos Nicosia) 70 MF Miguel Pedro (on loan to Ermis Aradippou) 1 GK Arjan Beqaj (Olympiakos Nicosia) 30 GK Zoltán Nagy (Doxa Katokopia) 22 DF Predrag Ocokoljić (Ethnikos Achna) 33 DF Traianos Dellas (AEK F.C.) 18 FW Evangelos Mantzios (loan returned to Panathinaikos F.C.) 21 MF Bruno Cheyrou (FC Nantes) 27 FW Delron Buckley (released)

Club officials

Board of directors

• President: Kyriacos Kousios
• Cochairman: Christos Geranis
• Vice-President: Adamos Montanios
• Executive Director: Stelios Charalampous
• Commercial Director: Paulos Ioannou
• Financial Director: Michalis Hajipantelas
• Special Duties Advisor: Nicos Athanasiou
• Special Duties Advisor: Christos Theodoulou
• Member: Aigli Hajipaschali-Hajiiosif
• Member: Andreas Constantinou
• Member: Mamas Pateras
• Member: Michalis Pperkis
• Member: Giorgos Pafitis
• Member: Tasos Andreou
• Member: Costas Pieri
• Member: Louis Demetriou

Coaching staff

• Manager: Guillermo Angel Hoyos
• Assistant Manager: Edison Penaranda
• Goalkeeping Coach: Michalis Pamboris
• Fitness Coach: Georgos Georgiou

Medical staff

• Club Doctor: Dr. Sergios Sergiou
• First Team Physiotherapist: Nikos Ioannou
• Masseur: Svetoslav Atanasov
• Masseur: Plamen Panov

Team staff

• Team Manager: Ioulios Konnaris
• Team Nutritionist:
• Team Housekeeper: Antonis Panayiotou
• Press Officer: Stelios Charalampous (temporary)
• Accounting Department: Pantelitsa Markou
• Venue Operator: Nikos Evangelou
• IT Department: Philippos G. Leonidou
• Receptionist: Helen Demetriou

Sponsorship

• Official Shirt Sponsor - cyta
• Official Shirt Sponsor - Betfair
• Official Sport Clothing Manufacturer - Puma
• Official Athletism Sponsor - MTN
• Official Stadium Sponsor - Quality Group
• Official Communication Sponsor - LTV
• Official Sport Drink - Powerade

Other Sponsors

Notable Former Managers

• Temuri Ketsbaia
• Gyula Reiner
• István Turbéky
• Gyula Zsengellér
• Andreas Mouskallis
• Nikos Karoulias
• Georgi Vasilev
• Lakis Petropoulos
• Peter Cormack
• Anghel Iordănescu
• Dusan Mitošević
• Andreas Michaelides
• Ioannis Matzourakis
• Mirsad Fazlagic
• Stanko Poklepovic

Notable former players

For a complete list of Anorthosis players, see Anorthosis Famagusta players

European competitions record

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away
1963–64	European Cup	Q	Partizan	1–3	0–3
1964–65	Cup Winners' Cup	Q	Sparta Prague	0–61	0–10
1971–72	Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Beerschot	0–12	0–7
1975–76	Cup Winners' Cup	1R	Ararat Yerevan	1–1	0–9
1983–84	UEFA Cup	1R	Bayern Munich	0–1	0–10
1991–92	UEFA Cup	1R	Steaua Bucureşti	1–2	2–2
1992–93	UEFA Cup	1R	Juventus	0–4	1–6
1994–95	UEFA Cup	Q	Shumen	2–0	2–1
		1R	Athletic Bilbao	2–0	0–3
1995–96	Champions League	Q	Rangers	0–0	0–1
1996–97	UEFA Cup	1Q	Shirak	4–0	2–2
		2Q	Neuchâtel Xamax	1–2	0–4
1997–98	Champions League	1Q	Kareda Kaunas	3–0	1–1
		2Q	Lierse	2–0	0–3
	UEFA Cup	1R	Karlsruher	1–1	1–2
1998–99	Champions League	1Q	Valletta	6–0	2–0
		2Q	Olympiacos	2–4	1–2
	UEFA Cup	1R	Zürich	2–3	0–4
1999–00	Champions League	1Q	Slovan Bratislava	2–1	1–1
		2Q	Hertha	0–0	0–2
	UEFA Cup	1R	Legia Warszawa	1–0	0–2
2000–01	Champions League	Q	Anderlecht	0–0	2–4
2002–03	UEFA Cup	Q	Grevenmacher	3–0	0–2
		1R	Iraklis	3–1	2–4
		2R	Boavista	0–1	1–2
2003–04	UEFA Cup	Q	Željezničar Sarajevo	1–3	0–1
2005–06	Champions League	1Q	Dinamo Minsk	1–0	1–1
		2Q	Trabzonspor	3–1	0–1
		3Q	Rangers	1–2	0–2
	UEFA Cup	1R	Palermo	0–4	1–2
2007–08	UEFA Cup	1Q	Vardar	1–0	1–0
		2Q	Cluj	0–0	3–1
		1R	Tottenham Hotspur	1–1	1–6
2008–09	Champions League	1Q	Pyunik	1–0	2–0
		2Q	Rapid Wien	3–0	1–3
		3Q	Olympiacos	3–0	0–1
		G	Werder Bremen	2–2	0–0	4th place
			Panathinaikos	3–1	0–1
			Internazionale	3–3	0–1
2009–10	Europa League	1Q	Käerjéng 97	5–0	2–1
		2Q	Petrovac	2–1	1–3 (a.e.t.)
2010–11	Europa League	1Q	Banants F.C.	3–0	1–0
		2Q	HNK Šibenik	0-2	3-0 (a.e.t.)
		3Q	Cercle Brugge	3-1	0-1
		4Q	CSKA Moscow	1-2	0-4

¹: Both matches played in Czechoslovakia.
²: Both matches played in Belgium.

UEFA club competition record

Last Update: 25 August 2010^[3]

UEFA Club Rankings

This is the current UEFA Club Rankings, including season 2009–10.^[4]

Last update: August 6, 2010

Rank	Country	Team	Points
107		Real Zaragoza	15.165
108		Stade Rennais	14.885
109		Anorthosis FC	14.574
110		Borussia Dortmund	14.570
111		S.S.C. Napoli	13.696
112		Partizan Belgrade	13.600
113		Slovan Liberec	13.270
114		Aris Thessaloniki	13.193

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Volleyball team

The volleyball team won their first trophy in 1972-73, and since that time, the Cypriot Championship was organized by Greek Volleyball Federation, as Champions they gained the right to compete in the Greek National First Division. However, they withdrew from the Championship, when five matches before the end of the competition because of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Since then they have dominated Cypriot Volleyball, having been crowned Champions and Cup winners more times than any other team. They have won the Championship 16 times, the Cup 14 times, and the Super Cup 5 times.

Achievements

Football

• Cypriot Championship: 13
  

1950, 1957, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1963,1995, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2005, 2008

• Cypriot Cup: 10
  

1949, 1959, 1962, 1964, 1971, 1975, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2007

• LTV Super Cup: 7
  

1962, 1964, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2007

Men's Volleyball

• Cypriot Championship (19 in total): 1973, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
• Cypriot Cup (14 in total): 1975, 1978, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1998, 2005
• Cypriot Super Cup (7 in total) : 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2005, 2006, 2009

Women's Volleyball

• Cypriot Championship (4 in total): 2002, 2004, 2006, 2010
• Cypriot Cup (10 in total): 2004,2008,2009,2010
• Cyprus FA Shield (6 in total): 1993, 1994, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005.

Handball team

Women's Handball

• Cypriot Championship (3 in total): 1999, 2000, 2001
• Cypriot Cup (3 in total): 1999, 2000, 2001
• Cypriot Super Cup (2 in total): 1999, 2000

References

External links

Official

• Anorthosis Famagusta FC (Official Website) (Greek) (English)
• Anorthosis Famagusta Volleyball (Official Website) (Greek)

Unofficial

• Anorthosis on Shoot2score