# 2014–15 Cypriot First Division

The 2014–15 Cypriot First Division was the 76th season of the Cypriot top-level football league. It began on 23 August 2014 and ended on 24 May 2015. APOEL were the defending champions.
The league this edition was reduced from 14 to 12 teams: ten teams from the 2013–14 season and two promoted teams from the 2013–14 B1 Division. APOEL won the league for a 24th successive time and a third consecutive season, after 62 points.

## Teams
### Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

Enosis Neon Paralimni and Alki Larnaca were relegated at the end of the first stage of the 2013–14 season after finishing in the bottom two places of the table. They were joined by Aris Limassol and AEK Kouklia, who finished at the bottom of the second-phase relegation group.
The relegated teams were replaced by 2013–14 B1 Division champions Ayia Napa and runners-up Othellos Athienou.

### Stadia and locations

    Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| AEK | Larnaca | GSZ Stadium | 13,032 |
| AEL | Limassol | Tsirion Stadium | 13,331 |
| Anorthosis | Larnaca | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium | 10,230 |
| APOEL | Nicosia | GSP Stadium | 22,859 |
| Apollon | Limassol | Tsirion Stadium | 13,331 |
| Ayia Napa | Ayia Napa | Tasos Markou Stadium | 5,800 |
| Doxa | Peristerona | Makario Stadium | 16,000 |
| Ermis | Aradippou | Ammochostos Stadium | 5,500 |
| Ethnikos | Achna, Famagusta | Dasaki Stadium | 7,000 |
| Nea Salamina | Larnaca | Ammochostos Stadium | 5,500 |
| Omonia | Nicosia | GSP Stadium | 22,859 |
| Othellos | Athienou, Larnaca | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium | 10,230 |
* ↑ Ermis Aradippou was using Dasaki Stadium for his home matches from the beginning of the season until 25 February 2015.

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
| AEK | Thomas Christiansen | Giannis Skopelitis | Umbro | Cytavision |
| AEL | Christakis Christoforou | Marios Nicolaou | Nike | Cytavision |
| Anorthosis | André Paus | Christos Marangos | Macron | Cytamobile-Vodafone |
| APOEL | Gustavo Manduca (Caretaker) | Constantinos Charalambides | Puma | MTN |
| Apollon | Ton Caanen | Giorgos Merkis | Macron | Cyta |
| Ayia Napa | Giorgos Kosma | Bojan Markovski | Sportika | Cyta |
| Doxa | Nikos Andreou | Ricardo Fernandes | Legea | Cytanet |
| Ermis | Michalis Markou (Caretaker) | Andreas Papathanasiou | Legea | Cyta |
| Ethnikos | Borce Gjurev | Christos Poyiatzis | Mitre | Cyta |
| Nea Salamina | Floros Nicolaou (Caretaker) | Diego León | GEMS | Cytamobile-Vodafone |
| Omonia | Kostas Kaiafas | Nuno Assis | Nike | Cytamobile-Vodafone |
| Othellos | Costas Sakkas | Andreas Vasiliou | Joma | Kleima |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Doxa | Demetris Ioannou | Sacked | 1 September 2014 | 10th | Slobodan Krčmarević | 8 September 2014 |
| Ermis | Nicos Panayiotou | Sacked | 7 September 2014 | 6th | Nikodimos Papavasiliou | 8 September 2014 |
| Ayia Napa | Nikos Andronikou | Mutual consent | 30 September 2014 | 12th | Giorgos Kosma | 23 October 2014 |
| Apollon | Christakis Christoforou | Sacked | 8 October 2014 | 2nd | Ioan Andone | 16 October 2014 |
| AEL | Ivaylo Petev | Sacked | 17 November 2014 | 5th | Christakis Christoforou | 17 November 2014 |
| Nea Salamina | Neophytos Larkou | Mutual consent | 16 December 2014 | 9th | Nicos Panayiotou | 16 December 2014 |
| APOEL | Giorgos Donis | Mutual consent | 6 January 2015 | 1st | Thorsten Fink | 10 January 2015 |
| Ermis | Nikodimos Papavasiliou | Sacked | 2 February 2015 | 6th | Mitchell van der Gaag | 5 February 2015 |
| Doxa | Slobodan Krčmarević | Mutual consent | 15 February 2015 | 11th | Nikos Andreou | 4 March 2015 |
| Ermis | Mitchell van der Gaag | Mutual consent | 24 March 2015 | 6th | Ioannis Okkas | 24 March 2015 |
| Ethnikos | Apostolos Makrides | Resigned | 24 March 2015 | 9th | Borce Gjurev | 28 March 2015 |
| Apollon | Ioan Andone | Sacked | 8 April 2015 | 1st | Ton Caanen | 9 April 2015 |
| Nea Salamina | Nicos Panayiotou | Mutual consent | 4 May 2015 | 9th | Floros Nicolaou (Caretaker) | 5 May 2015 |
| APOEL | Thorsten Fink | Mutual consent | 11 May 2015 | 1st | Gustavo Manduca (Caretaker) | 11 May 2015 |
| Ermis | Ioannis Okkas | Sacked | 11 May 2015 | 6th | Michalis Markou (Caretaker) | 14 May 2015 |

## First phase
### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Apollon Limassol | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 49 | 26 | +23 | 48 | Qualification to championship group |
| 2 | APOEL | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 34 | 13 | +21 | 46 | Qualification to championship group |
| 3 | Omonia Nicosia | 22 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 32 | 22 | +10 | 39 | Qualification to championship group |
| 4 | AEK Larnaca | 22 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 41 | 23 | +18 | 39 | Qualification to championship group |
| 5 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 22 | 12 | 2 | 8 | 32 | 22 | +10 | 38 | Qualification to championship group |
| 6 | Ermis Aradippou | 22 | 10 | 5 | 7 | 29 | 28 | +1 | 35 | Qualification to championship group |
| 7 | AEL Limassol | 22 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 33 | 26 | +7 | 30 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 8 | Ethnikos Achna | 22 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 18 | 37 | −19 | 22 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 9 | Nea Salamis Famagusta | 22 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 29 | −13 | 19 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 10 | Ayia Napa | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 21 | 42 | −21 | 16 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 11 | Othellos Athienou | 22 | 3 | 7 | 12 | 13 | 26 | −13 | 16 | Qualification to relegation group |
| 12 | Doxa Katokopias | 22 | 3 | 5 | 14 | 14 | 38 | −24 | 14 | Qualification to relegation group |
* 1 2 OMO 0–1 AEK; AEK 1–3 OMO
* 1 2 AYN 1–0 OTH; OTH 2–1 AYN

### Results

| Home \ Away | AEK | AEL | ANO | APOE | APOL | AYN | DOX | ERM | ETH | NSL | OMO | OTH |
| AEK Larnaca | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 |
| AEL Limassol | 1–0 | | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| APOEL | 4–4 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Apollon Limassol | 2–5 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 |
| Ayia Napa | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–5 | 1–3 | 2–5 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 |
| Doxa Katokopias | 1–4 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Ermis Aradippou | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Ethnikos Achna | 2–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Nea Salamis Famagusta | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 0–1 |
| Omonia Nicosia | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | | 1–0 |
| Othellos Athienou | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | |

## Second phase
### Championship group
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | APOEL (C) | 32 | 17 | 11 | 4 | 52 | 26 | +26 | 62 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | AEK Larnaca | 32 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 56 | 31 | +25 | 59 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Apollon Limassol | 32 | 18 | 5 | 9 | 59 | 41 | +18 | 59 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 4 | Omonia Nicosia | 32 | 17 | 5 | 10 | 52 | 34 | +18 | 56 | Qualification to Europa League first qualifying round |
| 5 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 32 | 16 | 4 | 12 | 50 | 37 | +13 | 52 | |
| 6 | Ermis Aradippou | 32 | 11 | 7 | 14 | 38 | 55 | −17 | 40 | |
* ↑ Since Cypriot cup winners APOEL qualified for the 2015–16 UEFA Champions League, the fourth placed team would also qualify for the first qualifying round of the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League.
* 1 2 APOL: 9 pts; OMO: 3 pts
* ↑ EL3Q

#### Results

| Home \ Away | AEK | ANO | APOE | APOL | ERM | OMO |
| AEK Larnaca | | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 3–0 | | 3–3 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 |
| APOEL | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–2 |
| Apollon Limassol | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | | 2–2 | 2–1 |
| Ermis Aradippou | 0–4 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–0 | | 0–1 |
| Omonia Nicosia | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 7–1 | |

### Relegation group
#### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 7 | Ethnikos Achna | 32 | 11 | 8 | 13 | 36 | 49 | −13 | 41 | |
| 8 | AEL Limassol | 32 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 42 | 42 | 0 | 39 | |
| 9 | Nea Salamis Famagusta | 32 | 9 | 9 | 14 | 31 | 37 | −6 | 36 | |
| 10 | Ayia Napa | 32 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 32 | 54 | −22 | 30 | |
| 11 | Doxa Katokopias | 32 | 7 | 7 | 18 | 29 | 55 | −26 | 28 | |
| 12 | Othellos Athienou (R) | 32 | 5 | 10 | 17 | 26 | 42 | −16 | 25 | Relegation to Cypriot Second Division |

#### Results

| Home \ Away | AEL | AYN | DOX | ETH | NSL | OTH |
| AEL Limassol | | 2–2 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 |
| Ayia Napa | 1–0 | | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Doxa Katokopias | 1–2 | 0–1 | | 1–5 | 3–0 | 3–3 |
| Ethnikos Achna | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–2 | | 2–1 | 3–1 |
| Nea Salamis Famagusta | 1–1 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 |
| Othellos Athienou | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | |

## Season statistics
### Top scorers

    Including matches played on 24 May 2015; Source: Cyprus Football Association
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Mickaël Poté | Omonia | 17 |
| 2 | Ifeanyi Onyilo | Ermis | 15 |
| 3 | Rafik Djebbour | APOEL | 14 |
| 3 | Fotios Papoulis | Apollon | 14 |
| 5 | Andreas Makris | Anorthosis | 13 |
| 6 | Valdo | Ethnikos | 11 |
| 7 | Ricardo Lobo | Doxa | 10 |
| 7 | Abraham Gneki Guié | Apollon | 10 |
| 7 | Nestoras Mitidis | AEK | 10 |
| 7 | Thiago | Othellos | 10 |

### Hat-tricks

| # | Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| 1. | Ricardo Lobo | Doxa | AEL | 0–4 | 26 April 2015 |

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: 54 minutes and 31 seconds – Luis Morán (Ermis) against Doxa (18:09 EET, 23 August 2014)
* Fastest goal of the season: 42 seconds – Juninho (Ethnikos) against AEL (22 March 2015)
* Latest goal of the season: 99 minutes and 6 seconds – Marcos De Azevedo (Ermis) against Doxa (7 December 2014)
* First scored penalty kick of the season: 62 minutes and 20 seconds – Joan Tomàs (AEK) against Apollon (20:17 EET, 24 August 2014)
* First own goal of the season: 5 minutes and 1 seconds – Stavros Stathakis (Ayia Napa) for Anorthosis (20:05 EET, 27 September 2014)
* Most goals scored in a match by one player: 3 goals
** Ricardo Lobo (Doxa) against AEL (26 April 2015)
* Most scored goals in a single fixture – 28 goals (Fixture 31)
** Fixture 31 results: Othellos 3–0 AEL, Ethnikos 3–2 Ayia Napa, Nea Salamina 6–0 Doxa, Anorthosis 3–1 Apollon, APOEL 1–1 AEK, Omonia 7–1 Ermis.
* Highest scoring game: 8 goals
** APOEL 4–4 AEK (15 December 2014)
** Omonia 7–1 Ermis (17 May 2015)
* Largest winning margin: 6 goals
** Nea Salamina 6–0 Doxa (16 May 2015)
** Omonia 7–1 Ermis (17 May 2015)
* Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 7 goals
** Omonia 7–1 Ermis (17 May 2015)
* Most goals scored by a losing team: 2 goals
** Apollon 2–5 AEK (24 August 2014)
** Omonia 3–2 Anorthosis (1 September 2014)
** AEL 2–3 Ermis (2 November 2014)
** Nea Salamina 2–3 Anorthosis (3 November 2014)
** Ethnikos 4–2 AEL (14 December 2014)
** Apollon 3–2 Ermis (15 December 2014)
** Ayia Napa 2–5 Apollon (15 December 2014)
** Omonia 4–2 Doxa (1 February 2015)
** APOEL 3–2 Omonia (2 May 2015)
** Ethnikos 3–2 Ayia Napa (16 May 2015)
** Ermis 2–4 APOEL (24 May 2015)

### Discipline

* First yellow card of the season: 44 minutes – Paulo Pina for Ermis against Doxa (17:44 EET, 23 August 2014)
* First red card of the season: 50 minutes – Milan Stepanov for Omonia against Nea Salamina (21:05 EET, 14 September 2014)
* Most yellow cards in a single match: 14
** Apollon 3–3 AEL – 7 for Apollon (Gastón Sangoy (2), Luka Stojanović (2), Dustley Mulder, Jan Rezek, Giorgos Merkis) and 7 for AEL (Luciano Bebê (2), Valentinos Sielis, Calo, Diallo Guidileye, Georgios Eleftheriou, Andreas Stavrou) (4 January 2015)
* Most red cards in a single match: 3
** Apollon 3–3 AEL – 2 for Apollon (Gastón Sangoy, Luka Stojanović) and 1 for AEL (Luciano Bebê) (4 January 2015)