Aris Limassol FC
Aris Limassol (Greek: Άρης Λεμεσού) is a Greek Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green , black and white, home is the Tsirion Stadium. Aris Limassol is one of the most historic football clubs of Limassol dated since 1930.
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| Full name | Aris Limassol Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Ελαφρά Ταξιαρχία (The Light Brigade) | |||
| Founded | 1930 | |||
| Ground | Tsirion Stadium, Limassol, Cyprus | |||
| Capacity | 13,331 | |||
| Chairman | Vladimir Federov | |||
| Manager | Aleksey Shpilevsky | |||
| League | Cypriot First Division | |||
| 2020–21 | Second Division, 2nd of 16 (promoted) | |||
| Website | Club website | |||
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History
One of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association, and was around between 5th and 7th position in the 1930s. During the 1940s, the team didn't compete in the Cypriot First Division, however, they returned in the Cypriot Championship in 1954 and they were the first team to be relegated to the Second Division after finishing last in the table. The following season they became Champions in the Second Division and returned to be relegated again. Returning to the First Division, where after a good appearance in the First Division, they gained the fourth position.
Being one of the weakest teams in the First Division during the 1960s, they were finally relegated in 1969–70 as 12th and remained for two seasons in the Second Division. The situation changed for Aris between 1975 and 1980 when the team won again the fourth position in 1976–77 and 1978–79. Two years after winning the fourth position, in 1981 the team were relegated again after finishing last (14th) but returned as runners up the following season and finished 5th in 1985–86.
The greatest success of the club was in 1989 when the team qualified to the Cyprus Cup final, where they were beaten by AEL Limassol 2–3. The following season, in 1989–90, the club signed the Ukrainian Oleh Blokhin, the 1975 European Footballer of the Year, and helped them to win for another time the fourth position, which was the club's greatest position. After the end of the season, Blokhin ended his career playing for Aris Limassol.
After the relegation in 1992–93, the team won the following season for the third time the Second Division Championship. Since 1996–97, when the club was in Cypriot First Division, the team was then every year relegated to the Cypriot Second Division and the following year was promoted to the Cypriot First Division. That situation ended in 2006–07, when the team finished 8th in the championship and managed to remain in the Cypriot First Division. Aris was relegated to the Cypriot Second Division in 2008–09, the team finished in 2nd place and played in the Cypriot First Division in 2009–10 but was relegated again. In 2009–10 it reached the Cyprus Cup semi-final. In the next season 2010–11 the club was again promoted but finished 3rd from bottom in the 2011–12 season and was yet again relegated. In 2012–13 Aris won the Cypriot Second Division and was again promoted to the Cypriot First Division only to be relegated again after the 2013–14 season. In 2014–15 Aris finished third in the second division and was promoted to the Cypriot First Division.
After 9 years of drought, Aris Limassol managed to remain in the Cypriot First Division in 2015–16 finishing in 10th place. Also, it was the only team that used more than 6 Cypriot players in the pitch in every match.
In 2020-2021 season, Aris was promoted to the Cypriot First Division after 3 consecutive seasons in the Cypriot Second Division. A new era of Aris Limassol started with the Russian investor Vladimir Federov, who wants to transform the club into one of the elite clubs on the island of Cyprus.
Supporters
Aris has a smaller number of fans than other Limassol clubs, but these are very committed to their club. As a result, they are often referred to as "the 300 of Leonidas", in reference to the famous 300 Spartan soldiers that delayed the Persian army at Thermopylae.
The season 1989-1990, the club signed Ukrainian player Oleg Blokhin, who was awarded as the European player of the year in 1975. Oleg propelled the club to secure another fourth position in the First Division, the club’s greatest result until now.
Other Sport Departments
Although the football team forms the centre of sporting activity for Aris, the club has over the years maintained teams in other sports including basketball, table tennis and chess. The Aris chess team dominated Cypriot chess during the 1980s.
Choir
Additionally, the Aris choir was established in 1938 by the famous conductor and composer Solon Michaelides who remained its conductor until 1956 to undertake the direction of the National Orchestra of Salonica, Greece. In 1962, the choir made a new start under the direction of Marinos Mitellas and remains one of the best known Hellenic choirs performing in Cyprus, Greece and internationally.
Players
- As of 19 February 2022
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
For recent transfers, see List of Cypriot football transfers summer 2021
Out on loan
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Active International players
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International Cypriot Players |
International Foreign Players |
International Youth Cypriot Players
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International Youth Foreign Players
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Foreign players
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EU Nationals |
Dual citizenship players |
Non-EU Nationals |
Under-23 Foreign Players
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Under-23 EU Players
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Technical and medical staff
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Team manager |  Kostas Tsironis |
| Head coach |  Aleksey Shpilevsky |
| Assistant coach |  Vitālijs Astafjevs |
| Assistant coach B |  Carles Cuadrat |
| Fitness coach | Mikel Guillén |
| Fitness coach / Rehabilitation |  Andreas Silvestros |
| Assistant fitness coach / Analyst | Nikolas Christoforou |
| Goalkeeper coach | Takis Taki |
| Physiotherapists | Konstantinos Soutzis |
| Alexis Marcou | |
| Nutritionist | Evagoras Christofides |
Titles
- Cypriot Cup
- Runners-up (1): 1988–89
- Cypriot Second Division
Managers
Tadeusz Kraus (1976–80), (1983–85)- Andreas Michaelides (1986–91)
Jerzy Engel (1997)- Milenko Špoljarić (2004–05)
- Andreas Michaelides (2006–07)
Henk Houwaart (1 September 2007 – 30 November 2007)
Mihai Stoichiţă (2007–08)- Akis Agiomamitis (2008–09)
- Marios Constantinou (17 May 2009 – 18 January 2010)
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Stéphane Demol (21 Feb 2010 – 30 June 2010)
Dušan Mitošević (18 July 2011 – 30 June 2012)- Demetris Ioannou (1 July 2012 – 22 June 2013)
- Tasos Kyriacou (1 July 2012 – 22 October 2013)
- Ton Caanen (23 Oct 2013 – 11 May 2014)
- Giorgos Polyviou (16 Jun 2014 – 14 October 2014)
- Akis Agiomamitis (14 Oct 2014 – 14 September 2015)
- Eugen Neagoe (15 September 2015 – 7 February 2016)
- Kostas Kaiafas (8 Feb 2016 – 15 May 2016)
- Thalis Theodoridis (24 Jun 2016 – 24 October 2016)
- Frederik Vanderbiest (1 Nov 2016 – 3 January 2017)
- Nicolas Martides (Jan 2017 – 3 October 2017)
- Giannis Christopoulos (4 Oct 2017 – 22 January 2018)
- Nicos Panayiotou (22 Jan 2018 – 13 March 2018)
- Chrysis Michael (26 Apr 2018 – 13 January 2019)
- Nicolas Martides (13 Jan 2019 – 31 May 2019)
- Liasos Louka (11 Jul 2019 – 26 February 2022)
- Aleksey Shpilevsky (26 Feb 2022 – )