# 2011–12 Cypriot First Division

The 2011–12 Cypriot First Division was the 73rd season of the Cypriot top-level football league. It began on 27 August 2011 and ended on 12 May 2012. APOEL were the defending champions. AEL Limassol won the championship one matchweek before the end of the season.
The league comprise eleven teams from the 2010–11 season and three promoted teams from the 2010–11 Second Division.

## Teams

Doxa Katokopias and APOP Kinyras were relegated at the end of the first stage of the 2010–11 season after finishing in the bottom two places of the table. They were joined by AEP Paphos, who finished at the bottom of the second-phase Group C.
The relegated teams were replaced by 2010–11 Second Division champions Aris Limassol, runners-up Nea Salamis Famagusta and third-placed team Anagennisi Dherynia.
| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| AEK | Larnaca | Neo GSZ Stadium | 13,032 |
| AEL | Limassol | Tsirion Stadium | 13,331 |
| Alki | Larnaca | Neo GSZ Stadium | 13,032 |
| Anagennisi Dherynia | Dherynia | Tasos Marcou Stadium | 5,800 |
| Anorthosis | Larnaca | Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium | 10,230 |
| APOEL | Nicosia | GSP Stadium | 22,859 |
| Apollon | Limassol | Tsirion Stadium | 13,331 |
| Aris | Limassol | Tsirion Stadium | 13,331 |
| Enosis | Paralimni | Tasos Marcou Stadium | 5,800 |
| Ermis | Aradippou, Larnaca | Ammochostos Stadium | 5,500 |
| Ethnikos Achna | Achna, Famagusta | Dasaki Stadium | 7,000 |
| Nea Salamis | Larnaca | Ammochostos Stadium | 5,500 |
| Olympiakos | Nicosia | GSP Stadium | 22,859 |
| Omonia | Nicosia | GSP Stadium | 22,859 |

### Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as 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 | Leon Vlemmings | Gregoor van Dijk | Puma | Cytavision |
| AEL | Pambos Christodoulou | Marios Nicolaou | Puma | Cytavision |
| Alki | Radmilo Ivančević | Siniša Dobrašinović | Legea | |
| Anagennisi | Adamos Adamou | Giorgos Giannakou | Legea | MetLife Alico |
| Anorthosis | Ronny Levy | Ioannis Okkas | Puma | Cytamobile-Vodafone |
| APOEL | Ivan Jovanović | Marinos Satsias | Puma | MTN |
| Apollon | Hagen Reeck | Giorgos Merkis | Lotto | Betfair |
| Aris | Dimitris Ioannou | Giorgos Vasiliou | Puma | Cytanet |
| Enosis | Marios Karas | Chrysis Michael | Puma | Cyta |
| Ermis | Nikos Andronikou | Andreas Papathanasiou | Legea | Cyta |
| Ethnikos | Nikos Papadopoulos | Christos Poyiatzis | Legea | Cyta |
| Nea Salamina | Stephen Constantine | Prodromos Therapontos | Givova | Cytamobile-Vodafone |
| Olympiacos | Niki Papavasiliou | Nikolas Nicolaou | Givova | Cyta |
| Omonia | Neophytos Larkou | Constantinos Makrides | Adidas | Cytamobile-Vodafone |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Replaced by | Date of appointment |
| Olympiakos | Pambos Christodoulou | Resigned | 20 March 2011 | Pre-season | Nikos Papadopoulos | 14 May 2011 |
| Ermis | João Carlos Pereira | Sacked | 4 May 2011 | Pre-season | Loukas Hadjiloukas | 13 May 2011 |
| Alki | Itzhak Shum | Sacked | 10 May 2011 | Pre-season | Radmilo Ivančević | 14 May 2011 |
| AEL | Raymond Atteveld | Sacked | 14 May 2011 | Pre-season | Pambos Christodoulou | 14 May 2011 |
| Apollon | Andreas Michaelides | Sacked | 23 May 2011 | Pre-season | Didier Ollé-Nicolle | 10 July 2011 |
| Ermis | Loukas Hadjiloukas | Resigned | 12 August 2011 | Pre-season | Panayiotis Xiourouppas | 13 August 2011 |
| Anorthosis | Stanimir Stoilov | Sacked | 25 September 2011 | 6th | Ronny Levy | 2 October 2011 |
| Ethnikos | Svetozar Šapurić | Sacked | 5 October 2011 | 12th | Čedomir Janevski | 10 October 2011 |
| Ermis | Panayiotis Xiourouppas | Sacked | 24 October 2011 | 14th | Nikos Andronikou | 24 October 2011 |
| Apollon | Didier Ollé-Nicolle | Sacked | 5 November 2011 | 5th | Mihai Stoichiţă | 14 November 2011 |
| AEK | Ton Caanen | Sacked | 20 November 2011 | 6th | Leon Vlemmings | 2 December 2011 |
| Olympiacos | Nikos Papadopoulos | Resigned | 25 February 2012 | 11th | Niki Papavasiliou | 26 February 2012 |
| Ethnikos | Čedomir Janevski | Sacked | 27 January 2012 | 11th | Niκos Papadopoulos | 28 January 2012 |
| Apollon | Mihai Stoichiţă | Resigned | 4 March 2012 | 7th | Hagen Reeck (caretaker) | 4 March 2012 |
| Aris | Dušan Mitošević | Sacked | 26 March 2012 | 12th | Dimitris Ioannou | 26 March 2012 |
| Enosis | Nir Klinger | Sacked | 8 April 2012 | 12th | Marios Karas | 8 April 2012 |

## First round

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | AEL Limassol | 26 | 18 | 6 | 2 | 33 | 7 | +26 | 60 | Qualification for second round, Group A |
| 2 | Omonia Nicosia | 26 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 47 | 16 | +31 | 57 | Qualification for second round, Group A |
| 3 | APOEL | 26 | 17 | 5 | 4 | 39 | 13 | +26 | 56 | Qualification for second round, Group A |
| 4 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 26 | 15 | 7 | 4 | 30 | 12 | +18 | 52 | Qualification for second round, Group A |
| 5 | AEK Larnaca | 26 | 11 | 9 | 6 | 33 | 21 | +12 | 42 | Qualification for second round, Group B |
| 6 | Nea Salamis Famagusta | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 33 | 41 | −8 | 36 | Qualification for second round, Group B |
| 7 | Apollon Limassol | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 31 | 39 | −8 | 34 | Qualification for second round, Group B |
| 8 | Alki Larnaca | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 34 | Qualification for second round, Group B |
| 9 | Olympiakos Nicosia | 26 | 7 | 9 | 10 | 29 | 34 | −5 | 30 | Qualification for second round, Group C |
| 10 | Enosis Neon Paralimni | 26 | 8 | 5 | 13 | 17 | 24 | −7 | 29 | Qualification for second round, Group C |
| 11 | Ethnikos Achna | 26 | 7 | 8 | 11 | 21 | 23 | −2 | 29 | Qualification for second round, Group C |
| 12 | Aris Limassol | 26 | 7 | 6 | 13 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 27 | Qualification for second round, Group C |
| 13 | Anagennisi Deryneia (R) | 26 | 2 | 5 | 19 | 16 | 45 | −29 | 11 | Relegation to Cypriot Second Division |
| 14 | Ermis Aradippou (R) | 26 | 1 | 4 | 21 | 12 | 50 | −38 | 7 | Relegation to Cypriot Second Division |
* 1 2 APOL 5–1 ALK; ALK 2–1 APOL
* 1 2 ENP 0–0 ETH; ETH 1–1 ENP
| Home \ Away | AEK | AEL | ALK | AND | ANO | APOE | APOL | ARI | ENP | ERM | ETH | NSL | OLY | OMO |
| AEK Larnaca | | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 6–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| AEL Limassol | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–3 |
| Alki Larnaca | 2–2 | 1–2 | | 4–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 0–3 |
| Anagennisi Deryneia | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| APOEL | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 |
| Apollon Limassol | 0–3 | 0–3 | 5–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–5 |
| Aris Limassol | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–4 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Enosis Neon Paralimni | 1–0 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Ermis Aradippou | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–5 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 |
| Ethnikos Achna | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 |
| Nea Salamis Famagusta | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 1–4 |
| Olympiakos Nicosia | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | | 0–2 |
| Omonia Nicosia | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | |

## Second round
### Group A

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | AEL Limassol (C) | 32 | 20 | 8 | 4 | 37 | 10 | +27 | 68 | Qualification for Champions League second qualifying round |
| 2 | APOEL | 32 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 46 | 19 | +27 | 66 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Omonia | 32 | 20 | 6 | 6 | 56 | 23 | +33 | 66 | Qualification for Europa League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Anorthosis Famagusta | 32 | 17 | 8 | 7 | 36 | 21 | +15 | 59 | Qualification for Europa League second qualifying round |
* 1 2 APOE: 7pts; OMO: 4pts
* 1 2 The 2011–12 Cypriot Cup winners, Omonia, qualified for the third qualifying round of UEFA Europa League. Since they finished third, the fourth-placed team of the league also qualified for the Europa League.
| Home \ Away | AEL | ANO | APOE | OMO |
| AEL Limassol | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Anorthosis Famagusta | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 0–4 |
| APOEL | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 1–2 |
| Omonia Nicosia | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | |

### Group B

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 5 | AEK Larnaca | 32 | 13 | 10 | 9 | 40 | 27 | +13 | 49 |
| 6 | Apollon Limassol | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 36 | 43 | −7 | 43 |
| 7 | Nea Salamis Famagusta | 32 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 39 | 47 | −8 | 43 |
| 8 | Alki Larnaca | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 35 | 45 | −10 | 42 |
* 1 2 APOL: 8pts; NSL: 2pts
| Home \ Away | AEK | ALK | APOL | NSL |
| AEK Larnaca | | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Alki Larnaca | 0–2 | | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Apollon Limassol | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 1–1 |
| Nea Salamis Famagusta | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | |

### Group C

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Relegation |
| 9 | Ethnikos Achna | 32 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 30 | 31 | −1 | 40 | |
| 10 | Olympiakos Nicosia | 32 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 36 | 44 | −8 | 39 | |
| 11 | Enosis Neon Paralimni | 32 | 11 | 5 | 16 | 26 | 30 | −4 | 38 | |
| 12 | Aris Limassol (R) | 32 | 8 | 8 | 16 | 32 | 44 | −12 | 32 | Relegation to Cypriot Second Division |
| Home \ Away | ARI | ENP | ETH | OLY |
| Aris Limassol | | 0–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Enosis Neon Paralimni | 1–0 | | 1–2 | 5–0 |
| Ethnikos Achna | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 2–1 |
| Olympiakos Nicosia | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | |

## Season statistics
### Top goalscorers

Source: Cyprus Football Association
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Freddy | Omonia | 17 |
| 2 | Esteban Solari | APOEL | 10 |
| 3 | Arnal Llibert | Alki | 9 |
| 3 | Patrick Vouho | AEL | 9 |
| 5 | Gonzalo García | AEK | 8 |
| 5 | Chris Dickson | Nea Salamina/AEL | 8 |
| 7 | Miljan Mrdaković | AEK | 7 |
| 7 | Constantinos Charalambides | APOEL | 7 |
| 7 | Gelson | Aris | 7 |
| 10 | Mustapha Bangura | Apollon | 6 |
| 10 | Georgios Efrem | Omonia | 6 |
| 10 | Christos Chatzipantelidis | Nea Salamina | 6 |
| 10 | Jan Rezek | Anorthosis | 6 |
| 10 | Hristijan Kirovski | Apollon | 6 |
| 10 | Emmanuel Kenmogne | Olympiakos | 6 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Ivan Tričkovski | APOEL | AEK | 3–0 | 19 December 2011 |
| Patrick Vouho | AEL | Enosis | 0–4 | 7 January 2012 |
| Emmanuel Kenmogne | Olympiakos | Ermis | 3–1 | 24 March 2012 |
| José Semedo $^5$ | Enosis | Olympiakos | 5–0 | 12 May 2012 |
* $^5$ Player scored 5 goals.

### Scoring

* First goal of the season: 10th minute – Edmar for AEL against Nea Salamina (19:10, 28 August 2011)
* Fastest goal of the season: 37 seconds – Mato Šimunović (Anagennisi) against Apollon (11 September 2011)
* Latest goal of the season: 97 minutes and 34 seconds – Christos Karipidis (Omonia) against Ethnikos (4 March 2012)
* First own goal of the season: Bojan Markovski (Enosis) for Anorthosis (17 September 2011)
* First scored penalty kick of the season: Hristijan Kirovski (Apollon) against Anagennisi Dherynia (11 September 2011)
* Most scored goals in a single fixture – 23 goals (Fixture 20)
** Fixture 20 results: AEK 2–1 Omonia, Anorthosis 0–1 AEL, APOEL 2–1 Ethnikos, Apollon 3–2 Nea Salamina, Anagennisi 1–2 Alki, Ermis 1–5 Aris, Olympiakos 2–0 Enosis.

### Discipline

* First yellow card of the season: Danny Invincible for Ermis against Apollon, 7 minutes (28 August 2011)
* First red card of the season: Solomon Grimes for Nea Salamina against AEL, 90 minutes and 44 seconds (28 August 2011)
* Most yellow cards in a single match: 10
** Anorthosis 2–2 Aris – 4 for Anorthosis (Marquinhos, Jurgen Colin, Igor Tomašić and Evandro Roncatto) and 6 for Aris (Andreas Theofanous, Andrés Imperiale, Christos Charalampous, Carl Lombé, Claudiu Ionescu and Zoltán Kovács) (19 September 2011)

## Sources

* "2011/12 Cypriot First Division". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.