Cyprus Football DIY Part 1

Cyprus Football DIY Part 1

Football Mad but nothing to show for it

By Stephen Kountourou

The Island of Cyprus has always had a rich fan culture when it comes to the beautiful game. The football crazy nations love affair with football is ingrained in the people's lifestyle, from multiple club sides in small villages to the biggest districts with more football clubs then there are saints days. Supporters clubs for each team, in the form of bars, cafes and the like. With all the passion Greek Cypriots have for football, it is fascinating then, that there is a distinct, disinterest in what should be the pride of the Island, the national team.

For years, fans have endured mediocre at best performances on the road to major international competitions, like the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championships, only to see Cyprus never qualify for either. With the occasional exciting result against a far superior opponent, Cyprus, while not seen as a minnow with the likes of San Marino, Liechtenstein, and Andorra, have adopted a kind of ‘best of the rest’ mentality and have been left behind in their football development at all levels.

Having watched Cyprus through multiple qualifying campaigns now and the talented players they have produced recently like Laifis, Sotiriou, Kastanos and Kosti, to name my personal favourites, and enjoy watching the team. But individual talent in the team still has a ceiling and with every step in the right direction, Cyprus have a very familiar habit of taking two big steps back. I truly believe that, while Cyprus will never be world beaters, they have the potential to one day become a stronger footballing nation at club and international level and give their amazing fan base the football they deserve. In this rather different two part blog, I will be looking into the areas that Cyprus can improve on their current football set up, develop their youth and coaching. Taking a look at how other nations have done it right, and progress that into their senior club sides and national team to then give Cyprus a fighting chance to maybe one day, give us Kyprei some joy and pride, at seeing our nation participate in a major international competition.

The Mounting Problems at all Levels

The first place to look when looking to improve the standards of the Cypriot game, is the current state of football in the domestic game and the national team. At a glance, the Cyprus First Division holds many big names when talking about the best of the Cypriot football clubs. The Likes of APOEL, Omonia, AEL Limassol, Apollon Limassol, AEK Larnaka and Anorthosis Famagusta, all compete in the first tier, meaning their potential for a healthy competitive competition where youth should be able to flourish and progress in the first team. Despite these teams taking up nearly half of the league places not much seems to be being done when it comes to youth output from academies to the senior squad. The key phrase that I would coin with a lot of the first tier would be, ‘instant success’.

 

With a lack of interest or intent to make youth and long term thinking the forefront of clubs on the Island, instead foreign players arrive at the tail end of their careers, mostly on free transfers, short term contracts at the very most spanning two years and on higher wages then most domestic players, with some exceptions. When looking at a study undertaken by the International Centre of Sports Studies in April 2019, foreign imported players make up over 2/3 players in the first division. This doubled up with Cyprus being one of the oldest leagues in Europe, averaging 27.41 years old per squad and with Cypriot clubs topping the charts for the most time given to foreign players with the top ten list full of Cypriot teams averaging over 90%. This reinforces the general attitude of only now is important to and the future unfortunately is much of the same. 

 

There is also a huge turn over for Cypriot clubs thanks to the short term contracts given with the league averaging a rather large 55.3% turn over of squads every pre season. While foreign players coming to the Island is by no means a bad thing, as veterans bring experience for younger players both domestic and also from overseas, more emphasis has to be made to slowly change the way of thinking for all clubs. Eventually the norm needs to be the core squad at every level to be home grown, if Cyprus has any chance of progressing at club level and most importantly on the international scene. 

 

Managerial Merry Go Round 

As of the cancellation of the 2019/20 season, only three out of the twelve teams in the first tier have a manager originating from the island. Much Like with players, managers in Cyprus are not given much opportunity at the highest level, with APOEL for example, not having a Cypriot manager for a full season since the 1999/2000 season exactly 20 years ago. There is a glimmer of hope for Cypriot managers however. Upon looking into the Cyprus Second Division, almost every single manager for every team is Cypriot, meaning that there is always a  chance a few could gain recognition and be promoted to the first tier, whether that be with the teams they currently coach or a bigger club picking them up to give them a chance at a higher level. More emphasis however, needs to be put into the development of coaches, with an understanding of what footballing identity and style of play the Cyprus FA want to see at club and international level to further the progression of the game on the Island.

 

The Stage is set but no one is watching

Internationally Cyprus, as said before, are yet to make it to a major international competition. With the closest they have got to qualifying being Euro 2000, where they finished one point short of the playoffs. Generally they have been able to comfortably defeat teams of lower quality to themselves but hit their ceiling when facing off against the above average to elite nations. They have managed to remain in the top 100 nations in the FIFA rankings when, comparing them to countries who dwarf the Mediterranean Island in population sizes, is respectable for a national team that has seen relatively little success. With all that being said, this lack of success on the pitch, as said before, the disinterest in the national team is a huge problem in Cyprus.

Their home ground in Nicosia, the GSP Stadium, struggles to bring in the crowds in comparison to APOEL and Omonia, who share the modern ground. With the lack of opportunity for domestic players in the Cyprus First Division this problem has also filtered into the national team. With the lack of options in key positions, veterans, players not playing for their first team and naturalised players have been called upon to fill the void left by the players who should be at their peak and playing for their country, only to have their potential stunted with no chances given to them to develop properly. On the subject of development, along with the senior squad, Cyprus at every youth level have not qualified for youth tournaments with the exception of the Under 17 sides in 1990 and 1992 who reached the groups stages of the Under 17 Championships. Unlike at club level, Cypriot managers have been given more of an opportunity on the international scene, with two managers taking the reins of Cyprus over the last six years, with current Olympiakos Nicosia manager Pambos Christodoulou with a decent 46% win rate. 

The Question now is, how can Cyprus make the necessary improvements to become more competitive? In part two I will be looking further at how Cyprus can progress as a footballing nation by comparing their current situation with that of a realistic model that has succeeded in propelling the country in question to multiple international tournaments. To put it simply, if Iceland could do it, then why can’t Cyprus?

Hellas Football

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