EPA, Penzoporikos and AEK The Tale of Three Clubs

EPA, Penzoporikos and AEK 

The Tale of Three Clubs

By Steve Kountourou 

To celebrate a year of writing blogs for Hellas Football, I thought this week I would go back to my roots and do a much more obscure story from times gone by and to do that I will be taking another dive into the historic Cypriot First Division. From the league’s inception in 1934-35, Three major reigns on the Mediterranean island have dominated the footballing scene. From the capital of Nicosia with its two most successful sides APOEL and Omonia, the southern port city of Limassol home to rivals AEL and Apollon and then eastern side team Anorthosis Famagusta who are now residing in the more southeastern part of Cyprus. In the modern era, people forget that before the new millennium there was competition for the league title that could be found in the coastal reign of Larnaka also. Two sides who at one point could stand toe to toe with some of the islands biggest hitters have long since vanished. But what happened to them? Well, this week I will be taking a look back at the two representatives of Larnaka, EPA and Pezoporikos from their time in the early years of Cypriot football, both clubs golden era's and successes the slow fall into obscurity and the merger of two make one club that is still competing in the top flight to this day.

The Beginning of Football in Larnaka

The first team of the two that was founded was Pezoporikos in 1927 and after eleven years in 1938, they joined the recently established Cypriot championships. Fellow Larnaka side EPA was formed not long afterwards in 1930 but unlike their local rivals, they entered the Cypriot Championship from its official inception in 1934/35. Within the first few years of the league being played both sides had already threatened to upset the early establishment and dominance of APOEL who would go on to win five of the first seven league titles. EPA would come closest first, finishing runners up in 1938/39 and the very next season it was Pezoporikos, who had finished runner up in the Cypriot Cup the previous campaign, to run the Nicosia side close but were unable to prevent APOEL from retaining the title. Just as the two teams were able to properly establish themselves however the league was suspended throughout World War II for three years. Upon its return, however, one Larnaka side would bring football back to Cyprus with a bang.  

The Golden Era for Both Clubs 

The return of Football in Cyprus brought with it a brief golden era throughout the mid to late 1940s as EPA Larnaka won two doubles in 1944/45 and the following season by retaining both the league and cup in 45/46 with APOEL finishing second in both domestic seasons and runners up to them in both cup wins too. The next season the Nicosia side would finally establish themselves as the dominant force in the league, clinching the title at the expense of the defeated champions EPA and going on to win three in a row. EPA would finish the decade strong by winning their third Cypriot Cup and finishing second in the league behind Anorthosis during the 1949/50 season. After finishing runners up once more in 51/52, it was Pezoporikos turn for a bit of success.

 

Upon finishing cup runners up in 51/52, Pezoporikos would also come extremely close to their first-ever league title in 52/53 only narrowly missing out to eventual champions AEL Limassol by two points. They would rectify that the very next campaign by clinching their first domestic title and bringing the league back to Larnaka, even coming close to a double themselves, only to lose out on the Cypriot Cup in the final.  EPA meanwhile would stay strong in the Cypriot Cup, winning their fourth in 51/52 having finished runners up the previous campaign. After that Pezoporikos would become the near men of Cypriot football. First missing out on a second league title and finishing runners up in the cup, where they faced local rivals EPA in an all Larnaka final and losing 2-1 in 1954/55. A further two second places in a row followed towards the end of the 50s, in 56/57 and 57/58.  

 

After the success of the 40s and 50s, the 1960s would be a rather barren time for football in Larnaka overall with neither side challenging for the title or the cup. This would change by the end of the 60s however as EPA reached the Cypriot Cup final for the first time in thirteen years only to be beaten by APOEL. 1969/70 would be a huge year in the league for both teams as EPA clinched their first league title in 24 years as Pezoporikos finished just behind their local rivals on goal difference. Pezoporikos would also finally win their first Cypriot Cup claiming victory over another Larnaka side Alki in the final. 

 

This meant that for the first and only time Cyprus would be represented in European competition by two Larnaka clubs. It is also the only time that Larnaka has been represented in the top two of the league as well as the final of the cup making it a very unique occasion for one of the oldest cities in Europe. This also meant that EPA qualified to compete in the Alpha Ethniki in Greece as the champions of Cyprus would be entered into the Greek top-flight during that period, becoming the only Larnaka side to compete in Greece. They would only last one season however as they finished bottom and were relegated back to the Cypriot First Division. 

 

Both clubs debuts into Europe would be short-lived, however, as EPA was smashed out of the European Cup first round 16-0 on aggregate by Borussia Monchengladbach and Pezoporikos were also knocked out of the Cup Winners Cup by Cardiff City 8-0 on aggregate. 

 

The renascence of the two clubs continued as they both came close on occasions to adding to their trophy cabinet, as EPA finished runners up in the league to Omonia in 1971/72 and Pezoporikos also losing out to the Nicosia side in the Cypriot Cup final the same season. They would do the same in the Cup final the following campaign this time to APOEL and following that up with a second-place finish in the league in 1973/74. Eventually, both Larnaka teams would struggle to compete with their Nicosia rivals in the capital and would not be seen again in competition for a trophy for the rest of the decade. 

Final Years and the Merger 

By the end of the 70s and going into the early 1980s EPA had fallen away since their last few successes and became more of a mid-table side, with Pezoporikos remaining as the only team in Larnaka to occasionally compete for anything domestically for the most part. In 81/82 Pezoporikos finished runners up for the first time in nine years behind Omonia, the last time either side would finish in the top two of Cypriot football. By 1983 both sides moved to the GSZ Stadium in the western part of Larnaka and shared the ground. The same season Pezoporikos would reach their last Cypriot Cup final losing to APOEL with EPA also reaching their last Cup final the following season in 84/85 only to be defeated by AEL. 

 

The very last success for the two teams came towards the end of the 80s as Pezoporikos lifted their second league title in 36 years during the 87/88 season, only losing one game the whole campaign and qualifying for the European Cup where they were beaten in the first round over two legs by Swedish side IFK Goteborg.

 

By 1988/89 the two most successful clubs in Larnaka were dealt their first big blow when EPA was finally relegated to the second tier. They would bounce straight back up to the first division to compete in the 1990/91 season narrowly missing out on a second relegation. They would last a few more years in the first division before finally being relegated again in 93/94. After the season finished, both clubs decided to put all of their resources together and form one club that would compete in the first tier in Pezoporikos place. A team that could be the main representative of Larnaka that would adopt the colours of both former clubs that being green and yellow. So it came to pass that on the 18th of July 1994 AEK Larnaka was born. 

 

Genesis of AEK and the Years Since 

In the 27 years since AEK has competed in Cypriot football with varying success. Within two years of their inception, AEK finished 4th in the league and reached the Cypriot Cup final where they were defeated 2-0 by APOEL but still qualified for the Cup Winners Cup. Despite going out in the first round 2-0 on aggregate, they did hold Barcelona to a 0-0 draw in Cyprus, a respectful result against a giant of the game. It would be another eight years until the Kitrinoprasinoi would claim their first piece of silverware as a new club and it came in the 2003/04 Cypriot Cup final. A double from centre back Markis Papioannou including a 90th-minute goal was enough to claim a 2-1 win over AEL, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Despite winning 3-0 at home in Larnaka against Maccabi Petah Tikva, the defeat was overturned in Israel with a 4-0 defeat, knocking AEK disappointingly out of the competition.   

 

The 2000s steadily continued for AEK never challenging for any trophies but still maintaining a place in the first tier until 2008/09 when AEK saw themselves relegated. They were able to bounce back the next season, gaining promotion back to the first division, even finishing 4th in their first season back and book a place in the Europa League second qualifying round. After progressing through the qualifiers undefeated, AEK reached the group stages for the first time in their history and despite finishing 4th, it was still a fantastic achievement for a relatively young club. 

 

It would not be until the mid-2010s where AEK would start to challenge the big boys of Cypriot football and threaten to win their first league title as a club. between 2014 and 2019 the Larnaka side finished runners up four times on each occasion having to lose out to APOEL who was nearly unstoppable at the time. They would go on to win their second Cypriot Cup in that time, defeating Apollon in the 2018 edition of the final 2-1 and get slight revenge over APOEL by winning the Cypriot Super Cup.

 

AEK continued to be somewhat present in Europe too, coming close to the Europa League group stages once more in 2016/17 and 17/28 only to miss out in the playoffs, both to check sides Slovan Liberec and Viktoria Plzen respectively. They famously knocked out Russian giants Spartak Moscow on route to the 16/17 playoffs, one of the biggest wins in the club’s history with fans gathering in Finigouthes to celebrate their side's incredible achievement. At the third time of asking they would reach the group stages in 18/19 where they finished third.

 

After 33 years of history with Pozoporikos, EPA and then with AEK, in 2016 the Larnaka side left their old home of the GSZ Stadium, moving to their brand new and more modern AEK arena which is still their home to this day.

 

Despite not yet fully replicating the success of its predecessors, AEK Larnaka has been able to give fans and supporters some incredible memories both domestically and in Europe, showing that even though there is only one big club left in the city of Larnaka football in the region is still alive and well.

Hellas Football 

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