Anorthosis Famagusta FC
Αnorthosis Famagusta (), often referred to as simply Anorthosis, is a Cypriot multi-sport club best known for its football team. Originally located in Famagusta, the club has been based in Larnaca since 1974 due to the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. Anorthosis was founded in 1911 in Famagusta and in 1934 became one of the founder clubs of the Cyprus Football Association. Their home ground is the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca, and the president of the club is Evgenios Chamboullas. One of the most successful clubs in Cypriot football, Anorthosis have won the Cypriot First Division 13  times, the Cypriot Cup 11 times and the Super Cup 6 times. Anorthosis is one of three Cypriot clubs never to have been relegated to the second division, was the first Cypriot club to participate in the Champions League group stage, and the first Cypriot club to qualify for the Europa Conference League group stage. History. The club was founded in Varosha, Famagusta on 30 January 1911. After the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in 1974 and the occupation of Famagusta by the Turkish army, Anorthosis were relocated to Larnaca. As a result, Anorthosis has become a refugee club with supporters  throughout Cyprus. Anorthosis' original home in Famagusta, GSE Stadium, has been abandoned since 1974 and is in poor condition. 1911–1920s: Anorthosis Reading Room. In 1911, Varosha was a small town with around 4,000 inhabitants - farmers, fishermen and a few shopkeepers, and the only place of recreation was the coffee shop. A few men in the community decided to create a club where they could gather and educate the local youth in cultural, social and national matters and managed to create "Anorthosis Reading Room" (). Anorthosis comes from the Greek word for 'rectification'. In the early years, Anorthosis was mostly a nationalist  and spiritual group. Patriotic speeches and national commemorations were organised in the reading room. But the sector for which Anorthosis had the most fame early on was music. Under the control of Demetris Demetriades, the mandolinade and band of Anorthosis began with great success. The club was also involved in philanthropy and many charitable actions were taken. In 1913 a collection was made in the reading room and resulted in a gathering of £84 (worth over £10,000 in 2022) in just one hour, which was donated for the political needs of the country (then under British rule). In  1922 Anorthosis established a depository for the relief of the refugees from the Asia Minor campaign. 1920s–1930s: The transition into sports. As sports teams began to become more popular, an Anorthosis volleyball team was formed on 11 June 1928. On 13 January 1929, the club was renamed to "Anorthosis Musical, Philological and Philanthropical Athletic Club" (). Under the control of Anastasis Oikonomides, a professor of gymnastics, the football and volleyball teams along with departments of water sports and athletics earned the club many first wins, renown and trophies. Anorthosis, together with Evagoras Gymnastic Club (GSE, ), organized both local and pan-Cypriot  sporting events in which the club had some success. On 25 July 1929, the members of local football team "POEB" (Greek Varosha Football Club, ) decided they wished to be merged with the football department of Anorthosis, and in 1930, Anorthosis won their first football competition, the Varosha Football Championship, wearing Byzantine inspired yellow and black kits. They participated in the first pan-Cypriot football tournament in 1932. On 11 February 1932, at the command of the British governor of Famagusta, the club was closed for a short time. On 29 October that year, some important members of Anorthosis including the  club president were arrested by the police because the Greek flag was hanging on the balcony of the club building. In November 1933 the club replaced the Byzantine kits of the football team with their now famous blue and white colours used today. On 23 September 1934, Anorthosis attended a meeting with seven other clubs which led to the establishment of the Cyprus Football Association. In the philological sector the traditions of the past continued. Anorthosis created a state-of-the-art library with a lending section. In 1936, over 1,500 books were lent to Anorthosis members. 2005–2008. On 26  July 2005, 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 qualified 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 2007–08, Anorthosis qualified for the 2008–09 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 fifth 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. However, during the last game they lost 1–0 away to Panathinaikos. Inter (who had already qualified for the next stage) lost 2–1 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 embezzling funds. He was remanded in custody and forced to resign, eventually being released by the police without charges. Europa League disappointment 2009–10. After the highs of their 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 2010–11. Anorthosis started well the Europa League  2010–11 by beating FC Banants of Armenia 3–0 and 0–1 respectively. In the second round they lost the first match 0–2 to HNK Šibenik of Croatia, but still managed to qualify after a 3–0 victory in the second leg fixture accompanied by great performance. In the third qualifying round Anorthosis had a poor performance against Cercle Brugge, losing 0–1 in Belgium. Whenever they came back in Cyprus for the rematch they defeated Cercle 3–1 with Cafu scoring all 3 goals. Anorthosis's adventure ended with a 0–4 loss in Moscow and a 1–2 home loss against CSKA Moscow. Europa League  2011–12. Anorthosis in 2011–12 started from the second qualifying round, in which Anorthosis met Fc Garga Georgia. The Cypriot club defeated the Georgian Club 3–0 at the Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium, but then lost to the Georgian Club 2–0 in Zestafoni. In the third qualifying round Anorthosis encountered FK Rabotnički Skopje. The first match at Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium was not the ideal for the Cypriot club, after the first 70 minutes the result was still 0–0. The Skopje Club scored in their first real opportunity in the game, after another 10 minutes the Skopje club scored a second goal with after  an incredible mistake by the Anorthosis' goalkeeper Dimitar Ivankov. In the second match at the Philip II Arena Anorthosis won 1–2 FK Rabotnički. The score 0–2 until 87 minute, which would send the game to extra-time. After that match Dimitar Ivankov was released from his contract and removed from the Anorthosis Squad. Europa League 2012–13. Anorthosis Famagusta began the season in Second qualifying round of Europa League. Anorthosis faced the cup winner of Estonian for the season 2011–12, Levadia Tallinn, On the first match Anorthosis Famagusta defeat the Estonian club 3–1 (Spadacio, Toni Calvo, Ricardo Laborde) in Kadrioru Stadium , with mvp the best player of the clube Ricardo Laborde. Financial rescue. In July 2013, following the teams elimination from UEFA Europa League Second qualifying round (on 4-3 agg vs Swedish club Gefle), the club entered a financial crisis and forced Club President Mr Savvas Kakos to step down of his duties on July 27. A general assembly of the club followed and on August 13 Mr Achilleas Nicolaou was elected as the new president. His first actions was to find solution on the financial problems and with the contribution of the fans and Mr. Christos Poullaides, debuty president  at the time, succeeded to keep the club alive. On October 3 he stepped down as well with Mr. Christos Poullaides as his successor. Crest. Since the club's foundation, Anorthosis have had four main crests, though all underwent minor variations. In 1970, Anorthosis adopted as their first crest the image of a phoenix and the letters ΑΝΟΡΘΩΣΙΣ, and remained for the next 15 years, though it never appeared on the shirts. From 1985 Anorthosis change as a first time his crest and remained for the next 5 years, though it never appeared on the shirts. In 1990 Anorthosis announced  their first official crest as a part of an attempt to modernise, that used on the shirts the image of a burned phoenix with the laters of ΑΝΟΡΘΩΣΙΣ, the year of the founding, 1911 and under the banner of ΑΜΜΟΧΩΣΤΟΣ. In 2000 with Presidential Kikis Konstantinou, Anorthosis crest was changed again as a part of the attempt to modernise and to capitalise on new marketing opportunities. The new badge featured a more naturalistic blue phoenix, standing over the fire. It lasted for the next 11 years, with some modifications such as the use of different colours, birds and including some  stars for the celebrations of the titles. For the centenary season the new Presidential Savvas Kakos, Anorthosis announced tender for the emblem in 100 years this was accompanied by the words '1911–2011' on the top and bottom of the crest respectively. In 2012 Anorthosis with some changes on 100 years crest announce their final official crest that shows the phoenix over the fire by using the design of 100 years logo. In 2020 the football department came up with a new logo that is going to be used for marketing purposes but not appeared in the team's kit. This  logo includes the blue phoenix rising from the flames while is freed from the traditional shield and its wings shape the Greek flag stripes. Above the phoenix, the year '1911' is featured as well as a gold star representing 10 championships of Cyprus First Division. Kit and colours. Anorthosis have always worn white and blue shirts, although they originally used the paler blue, which was taken from the Greek flag colours and was worn with white or blue shorts and blue, black or white socks. The black and yellow color was the color of the inaugural football team and was  intended to extol Byzantium, the colors of which were the same as the shirt of 2011–12. Anorthosis have also use the black color for their second and third shirts like 2009–10 and 2012–13 as previously, representing their lost homeland Famagusta. In the recent European match Anorthosis used a t-shirt with Famagusta in the background (white). Also, for the ceremonial jersey (only 110 exist) of the 110th birthday of the club, for the first time a gold shirt was introduced with the original first crest. The gold represents the colour of the sand of Famagusta's coast. The map of  the restricted town of Famagusta is also printed on the kit. Stadium. Anorthosis, in order to recover from their relocation, 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 a person who helped Anorthosis in various ways through the years, he was a fighter in EOKA war for Cyprus independence 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 10,230 (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 built VIP boxes (upper story), press room, dressing rooms, and bar. 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 the  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 fans' 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. On 23 November 2011, D. Ellinas group  signed a contract with Anorthosis to built new offices for Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium. The old offices of the stadium will be a joint area outside the locker room, journalistic theory, clinics and other. The cost is €400,000 but the D. Ellinas group will build the offices for free in exchange for advertisements on the Anorthosis side. Supporters. The fans of Anorthosis are spread throughout Cyprus due to the occupation of Famagusta by the Turkish military, however the majority live in Larnaca where the current stadium is located. There are supporters associations all over the island and in other countries  as well including Greece, the UK and the USA. In 2014, Anorthosis had a support of around 15% of football fans in Cyprus and was the third most popular team behind Omonoia and APOEL. The main ultras group of Anorthosis was formed in 1994 and is known as 'Maxhtec', meaning 'Fighters' (, stylised as MAXHTEC). The idea is to never stop fighting until the return to their beloved town of Famagusta. The emblem of Maxhtec is an ancient warrior helmet, similar to those worn by the Spartans. The Anorthosis ultras have a special friendship with their counterparts from Russian club Dynamo  Moscow and Serbian club OFK Beograd. The Anorthosis fans are known for being very passionate about their team, their lost hometown Famagusta and their Greek Cypriot heritage. In the stands there can often be seen many Greek flags, Greek Orthodox flags and tributes to former EOKA members, many of whom were also members of Anorthosis, such as Grigoris Afxentiou. Managerial history. Last Update: 1 June 2019 Presidential history. Anorthosis have had numerous presidents over the course of their history, some of which have been honorary presidents. Here is a complete list of them. Anorthosis Football Club Company Presidents Anorthosis Famagusta