Cypriot First Division

Cypriot First Division

Founded	1934 (1934)
Country	Cyprus
Confederation	UEFA
Number of teams	14
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Cypriot Second Division
Domestic cup(s)	Cypriot Cup Cypriot Super Cup
International cup(s)	UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Current champions	APOEL (26th title) (2016–17)
Most championships	APOEL (26 titles)
TV partners	CytaVision PrimeTel
Website	CFA
2017–18 Cypriot First Division

The Cypriot First Division (Greek: Πρωτάθλημα Α΄ Κατηγορίας) is the top tier football league competition in Cyprus, run by the Cyprus Football Association. Since February 2016, it is sponsored by Cyta and thus officially known as Cyta Championship.^[1] The league is contested by 14 teams and runs from August to May, with the three lowest-placed teams relegated to the Cypriot Second Division and replaced by the top three teams in that division.

History

Football was introduced to Cyprus early in the 20th century by the British. Initially played in the island's schools, it proved hugely popular and a number of clubs were duly formed.

Since 1911, when Anorthosis Famagusta FC was founded, many clubs were established and in 1932 the Cypriot Championship began annually at first unofficially. Every season, the championship was organized by a different football club which caused some conflicts between some of the teams.

As football became more established, the clubs were united in agreeing that an official body was needed to regulate the sport. And in September 1934, the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) was formed and the Cypriot Championship and Cup began to take place annually.^[2] The first Champions of Cyprus were Trust in 1935 but the club folded three years later. The 1930s were dominated by APOEL, who won five championship in a row until 1940. Like other Championships in the World, the Cypriot Championship was interrupted, due to World War II from 1941 until 1945.

World War II was followed by the Greek Civil War, which caused a lot of fanaticism between Greeks. Since the majority of the island are Greek Cypriots, it had a lot of influence in their society too, including sport. In 1948, some clubs were involved in politics and criticized the left-wing as responsible for the War. Several footballers from those clubs criticized their club but that followed the expulsion of those players from their teams. Those players then went on to help establish new clubs with their own Association and their own football competitions. Until 1953 there were two separate football Championships in Cyprus and two different Associations. However, in 1953, the two Associations unified Cypriot football, and the teams which were established in 1948 under the separate association, were allowed to become members of the CFA. Only Omonia was accepted into the First Division. And due to the addition of more clubs that season, relegation and promotion began in Cypriot football.

The Cypriot Championship unification, lasted for only two seasons. In 1955, Çetinkaya Türk S.K., who had been the only Turkish Cypriot team playing in the Cypriot First Division since 1934–35, withdrew from the Championship and with other Turkish Cypriot teams, established the Cyprus Turkish Football Federation, with its own competitions. The reason behind this was political, as the Turkish Cypriot leadership were supporting the partition of the island. However, this Federation was never recognized and no team of that federation could play in international competitions.

The independence of Cyprus in 1960, was followed by full membership for the Cyprus Football Association to UEFA in 1962. From 1963, the champions of the Cyprus, could compete in the European Champions Cup and the Cup winners in the European Cup Winners Cup. Since 1971, the runners up in the Greek Cypriot First Division can compete in the UEFA Cup. From 1967 until 1974, the Greek Cypriot Champions were promoted to the Greek First National Division. Greek Cypriot teams were relegated every season from the Alpha Ethniki, apart from 1974, when APOEL managed to remain in the Greek Championship which meant that Cyprus would have two teams in Alpha Ethniki. However, due to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus that year, APOEL and Omonia (the champion of Cyprus for 1974) withdrew from the League.

The Greek Cypriot championship was abandoned in the 1963–64 season due to the bicommunal conflicts between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots.

Omonia dominated the Greek Cypriot Championship in the 1970s and 1980s, winning 12 championship in 13 seasons. In 1976, Omonia player Sotiris Kaiafas was the top scorer not only in Cyprus but also in Europe with 39 goals winning the European Golden Boot. Anorthosis Famagusta dominated Cyprus football between 1995 and 2000, losing the championship during those years only once in 1996.

The last ten years (2006–present), APOEL had been the most successful club by winning eight championship titles in total.

Format

Current format

At present, 14 clubs compete in the league. Each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, which makes a total of 26 games for each club. The last two teams (of the first round) are relegated directly to the Second Division. Since 2007–08 season the league has a second round play-off system. In the second round the first 12 (out of 14) teams are separated into two groups of six teams according to their position at the end of the first round. The points from the first round are carried to the second round and the teams play each other twice (10 more matches). At the end of the second round, the bottom team of the relegation group is relegated to the Second Division.

Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. No points are awarded for a loss. The rule for three points for a win has been applied since 1992, before then two points were awarded for a win. Teams are ranked by total points, the matches between the teams, then goal difference and then goals scored. If teams are still equal they are deemed to occupy the same position. If the champions, teams for relegation or qualification for other competitions thus cannot be decided, a series of play-off match(es) are played between the affected teams, although this has yet to occur. Since the establishment of the league and until 2005–06, goal difference had the biggest ranking after total points. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned as champions. The three lowest placed teams are relegated into the Cypriot Second Division and the top three teams from the 2nd Division promoted in their place.

The league champions are entitled to entrance in the UEFA Champions League in the second qualifying round. The winner of the Cypriot Cup automatically enters the UEFA Europa League third round. The runner-up and third placed team in the league enters the UEFA Europa League on the first qualifying round. If the cup winners are also league champions, then the fourth placed team of the league are granted a UEFA Europa League berth.

The First Division has had 14 teams from 1989 until today, apart from the 1994–95 season when the league was reduced to 13 teams and the 2014–15 season when the league was reduced to 12 teams. For some years there has been discussion about reducing the number of teams in the first division. This is partly driven by some of the mid-table clubs not being involved for much of the season in either the Championship or qualification for Europe, or relegation. In the 2014–15 season, the Cypriot First Division teams were reduced from 14 to 12, but the next season (2015–16) they were increased again to 14.

Previous formats

From 2007–08 until 2012–13 season, in the second round the first 12 (out of 14) teams were separated into three groups of four teams according to their position at the end of the first round. For the 2013–14 season, in the second round the first 12 (out of 14) teams were separated into two groups of six teams according to their position at the end of the first round. The last two teams of the first round were relegated directly to the B1 Division and the bottom two teams of the relegation group also. The points from the first round were carried to the second round and the teams played each other twice.

In the 2014–15 season, only 12 clubs competed in the league. Each club played the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, which made a total of 22 games for each club. In the second round the 12 teams were separated into two groups of six teams according to their position at the end of the first round. The points from the first round were carried to the second round and the teams played each other twice (10 more matches). At the end of the second round, the bottom team of the relegation group was relegated to the Second Division.

Points system

The points system of the Cypriot First Division changed three times during the years:

1. From 1934–35 until 1959–60 season, teams were awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a defeat.^[3]
2. From 1960–61 until 1969–70 season, teams were awarded three points for a win, two points for a draw and one point for a defeat.^[3]
3. From 1970–71 until 1990–91 season, teams were awarded two points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a defeat.^[4]
4. Since 1991–92 season (until present time), teams are awarded three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points for a defeat.^[5]

2016–17 Clubs

League name history

• 1934–2007 : Pancypriot Championship
• 2007–2012 : Marfin Laiki League
• 2012 00000: Laiki Bank League
• 2012–2013 : First Division Championship
• 2013–2014 : Glafcos Clerides Championship
• 2014–2016 : First Division Championship
• 2016–2019 : Cyta Championship

Champions

Performances

Performance by club

Performance by city

Participations per club

So far, 42 different teams participated in the Cypriot First Division. Neither team has participated in all leagues (79 in total, including the period 2017–18) for various reasons (participation in the Greek league, relegation at the Second Division, teams dissolution and merge or leaving Cyprus Football Association).

The participations per club table indicates the total number of seasons each club participated in the Cypriot First Division:^[8]

• 1963–64 Cypriot First Division, where the championship was abandoned, is not included in the table.

League or status at 2017–18:

All-time Cypriot First Division table (1934–35 until 2016–17)

The All-time Cypriot First Division table is a ranking of all Cypriot football clubs based on their performance in the Cypriot First Division.^[9] The points are the sum of the points of all seasons, despite the point system of the season. The 1963–64 Cypriot First Division season is not included because the championship was abandoned.

Final positions per club (1934–35 until 2016–17)

The final positions table indicates how many times each club finished in every position of the league table from 1934–35 season until 2016–17 season:^[10]

See also

• Cypriot First Division top goalscorers
• List of foreign football players in Cypriot First Division

References

External links

• Champions
• Top Scorers per season
• Cyprus - List of Champions, RSSSF.com

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Cypriot First Division.

Cypriot First Division
2017–18 clubs	AEK AEL Alki Anorthosis APOEL Apollon Aris Doxa Ermis Ethnikos Nea Salamina Olympiakos Omonia Pafos
Stadiums	AEK Arena Ammochostos Antonis Papadopoulos Dasaki GSP GSZ Makario Stelios Kyriakides Tasos Markou Tsirio
Former clubs	AEK Kouklia AEP AEZ Alki Anagennissi APEP APOP APOP Kinyras ASIL Atromitos Ayia Napa AYMA Çetinkaya Chalkanoras Digenis Enosis EPA Ethnikos Assia Evagoras Karmiotissa Keravnos Omonia Ar. Onisilos Orfeas Othellos Pezoporikos THOI Trust
Competition	List of foreign players
Associated competitions	Second Division Third Division STOK Elite Division Cypriot Cup Super Cup Cup for lower divisions Women's 1st Division Women's Cup Women's Super Cup UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Seasons	1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18

Football in Cyprus
League system	First Division Second Division Third Division STOK Elite Division Women's First Division
Cup competitions	Cypriot Cup Super Cup Lower Divisions' Cup Women's Cup Women's Super Cup
Defunct competitions	Fourth Division
National teams	Men U-21 U-19 U-17 Futsal Women
Lists and categories	Clubs Venues Foreign players
Miscellaneous	Cypriot football clubs in European competitions 2016–17 in Cypriot football
Rivalries	Famagusta derby Larnaca derby Limassol derby Nicosia derby
Cyprus Football Association