TOTTENHAMHOTSPUR.COM(^69)
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR V APOEL FC
s the most successful
team in Cypriot football,
it’s no surprise that
APOEL have represented
their country 16 times
in Europe’s leading
competition.
With 26 domestic
titles to their name – their first coming
back in 1936 – APOEL have long been
at the forefront of the sport in Cyprus,
setting records and milestones at home
and abroad.
Indeed, they became the first
Cypriot side to play in any European
competition when they took part in
the 1963-64 European Cup Winners’
Cup and their wins in both legs of the
first-round tie against SK Gjokiv-Lyn
from Norway marked a first success
as well. They won 6-0 at home and 1-0
in Norway.
The Nicosia-based side achieved
another record in the next round,
although unfortunately very much
an unwanted one as they lost 16-1 to
eventual winners Sporting Lisbon on
November 13, 1963, a scoreline which
remains their heaviest ever defeat.
By the time APOEL won their
10th domestic title in 1965, the three
European trophies were very much up
and running and the Cypriot champions
duly entered the European Cup for the
first time for the 1965-66 tournament.
German side Werder Bremen
were their first opponents for a
preliminary round tie, with both legs
being played in Germany. The ‘home’
game was staged at Hamburg’s
Volksparkstadion and APOEL lost
5-0 before suffering a similar defeat
in Bremen in the return.
In 1973-74, they were back in
European Cup first round action, but
lost 2-0 away to Ukrainian side Zorya
and 1-0 at home, this time at their own
GSP Stadium in Nicosia, before a
seven-year absence until APOEL met
Dynamo Berlin at the same stage of
the competition in September, 1980.
EURO HISTORY
A closer look at APOEL’s performances in
European football’s leading tournament.
CONTINENTAL TRIERSCONTINENTAL TRIERS
A
Above:
APOEL's
players
celebrate at
the end of
the first-ever
Champions
League group
game against
Atletico
Madrid in
2009.