Wikipedia

The story of Omonia, which is considered the most popular team in the country, began on June 4, 1948, in the then English-occupied Nicosia. The name «OMONIA» symbolizes unity and solidarity and was chosen precisely to show the union’s opposition to the then division and disintegration that plagued Cypriot society. The colors of the team, the green of hope and the white of joy, was combined with the emblem of the clover.

The team was initially not accepted by the Cyprus Football Federation (CFF) and so, together with other teams, they founded the Cyprus Amateur Football Federation (KEPO). The unification of the federations came five years later, in the summer of 1953.

Golden era & Golden Shoe

The club’s golden age began in 1961, when the club won its first league title, and it continued into the ’70s and’ 80s, as the club established itself as the… queen of Cypriot football racking up a total of 14 championships, 7 Cyprus Cups and 7 Super Cups. During this era, one name comes to mind for Omonia supporters – that of Sotiris Kaiafas, one of the top footballers that Cyprus has ever produced. His star shone from 1970 to 1984 with a record of 261 goals in 388 games! Also, in 1976 Kaiafas won the Golden Shoe.

Crisis Management

From the 1990s onwards, Omonia has been immersed in crises on both the competitive and economic fronts. In particular, the six years from 2012-18 proved to be a period of great turmoil with financial problems and administrative reshuffles for the club. In 2018, the club passes into the hands of Cypriot-American businessman Stavros Papastavrou, who restores financial security and brings the vision for recovery.

Facts

• The club’s headquarters are the GSP (Pancypriot Gymnastics Association) Stadium in Nicosia, a ground with a capacity of 23,000 that was inaugurated in 1999 and is generally a «versatile» venue, since it is also used as the home of both APOEL and Olympiakos Nicosia. The majority of matches played by the Cyprus national team are also held at the ground, as well as the European matches of all Cypriot teams!
• At the helm of Omonia’s technical leadership since June 2019 is the 51-year-old Norwegian Henning Berg, a former league and cup winner in England (with Manchester United and Blackburn). In his career as a coach, the Scandinavian won the Polish championship with Legia Warsaw in 2014.
• In the squad of PAOK’s opponents there are a number of experienced players, such as the 35-year-old midfielder and captain Jordi Gomes, a product of Barcelona’s youth academy, veteran former FC Porto goalkeeper Fabiano, but also two players well-known to Greek football. The Greek international midfielder Haris Mavrias and Fotis Papoulis.
• The «clover» of Cyprus, as the team is also known, have been crowned champions 20 times and have also won the cup 14 times.
• In Europe, Omonia has been having a hard time. This year’s presence in the group stage of a European competition is the first in the club’s history, since until this season the team did not manage to progress from the qualifying rounds. Omonia did, however, eliminate AEK in 2008.
• The club’s first meeting with PAOK took place in 1976 in the Champions Cup. PAOK won 2-0 in Cyprus with goals from Koudas and Sarafis, and then progressed to the next round after the second leg at the Toumba ended in a 1-1 draw.

Updates

In Cyprus, last season did not conclude due to the Covid-19 pandemic. At the time of the postponement, Omonia were top of the standings, a fact that gave the club the right to play in the Champions League qualifiers. After progressing from the first round, they were defeated by Olympiakos.

Its European course, however, is so far considered successful, since – as we mentioned – the club is in the group stage for the first time. The Cypriots are currently in last place in the group standings with one point after four games. That point came from the draw their earned at the Toumba. In the Cypriot championship, Omonia is on a nine-game run without a win (4 draws, 5 defeats), which means they are in seventh place in the table, nine points behind leaders Anorthosis Famagusta.

The recent negative results and Sunday’s goalless draw against Hermes Aradippou, has got the fans frustrated. In addition to the negative climate, Henning Berg must also manage the injuries of Éric Bauthéac (he limped out of the match against Granada with a knee injury) and Haris Mavrias, who has been suffering from discomfort in his stomach muscles. Both players are considered doubtful for the match.