PAEEK

*PAEEK*
Full name	Podosfairiki Athlitiki Enosis Eparxeias Kerynias
Founded	10 October 1953; 71 years ago
Ground	Keryneia epistrofi, Lakatamia
Capacity	2,500
Manager	Constantinos Charalambides
League	Second Division
2023–24	Second Division, 10th
Website	http://www.paeek.cy/
Home colours	Away colours

PAEEK (Greek: ΠΑΕΕΚ; short for Ποδοσφαιρική Αθλητική Ένωσις Επαρχίας Κερύνειας, Podosfairiki Athlitiki Enosis Eparxeias Kerynias, translated as "Football and Sport Union of Kyrenia District", literally "Footballing Sportive Union of the District of Kyrenia") is a Cypriot sports club founded in Kyrenia in 1953 by graduates of Kyrenia Gymnasium and represented the first force to be reckoned from the small city. It now plays in exile in Nicosia since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus in July 1974. This union has football division competing in the Cypriot First Division. PAEEK used to have also a basketball division, but due to economic difficulties had to suspend it for some years up to date.

Basketball

The PAEEK was a founding member of the Cyprus Basketball Federation in 1966 rising to fame in the early 1970s after its basketball division won the Cyprus top division basketball league in 3 consecutive years.^[1]^[2] In 1974 during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, were killed seven basketball players who played at the last championship. They were Giorgos Moustakas, Christos Karefilidis, Andreas Charalampous, Dinos and Louis Tsangaridis (siblings), Foivos Fieros and Giorgos Trigkis.^[3] After this tragedy the basketball club dissolved and refounded in 1989.

The PAEEK reached the Cyprus Basketball Cup final on 5 occasions, losing them all.^[4] In 1995 was APOEL's year, when they took the basketball double. As finalist of the Cup final, PAEEK automatically qualified to represent Cyprus in Europe in the Saporta Cup.^[5] They were knocked out by PAOK BC Salonika, which in turn went on to reach the final of the competition. The game with PAOK BC was very special for both teams, as they were all refugees and victims of the wars between Greece and Turkey, in 9th of September 1995 it was the fraternization ceremony.

PAEEK Kyrenia was reactivated in 2020 under adverse conditions. In the 2022/2023 season, he succeeded and won the championship and the B1 category cup. In the 2023/2024 season he competed in the Basket League (First Division) successfully, managing to stay in the division, but due to financial difficulties he chose to compete in the B1 division the following year. The head of the Basketball Division of PAEEK Kyrenia is the General Secretary of PAEEK Kyrenia, Mr. Christos Meleounis.

Runners

On November 11, 2023, PAEEK Kyrenia following the initiative of the General Secretary of Mrs. Christou Meleounis created a Division of Runners, who ran for the first time in the 40th Marathon of Athens and continue to this day with their motto "Our destination is Kyrenia".

Football

The football team has not matched the basketball team's success in terms of trophies. They have been a mainstay in the Cyprus Second Division. Paeek is considered to be the team with the most appearances in the Cyprus Second Division, with 41 in total. The club plays its home matches in Keryneia Epistrofi Stadium in Nicosia, Cyprus.

PAEEK has built a reputation for unearthing young talent and moving them on, most notably Alexandros Paschalakis of PAOK and the Greece national team, Giorgos Economides and Giorgos Papadopoulos.

Promotion to Top Division

During the 2020–21 season, PAEEK finished as champions of the second division and were promoted to the top division for the first time in club history.

Current squad

As of 29 September, 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	GRE	Vangelis Kontogiannis
3	DF	CYP	Antonis Arnaoutis
4	DF	GRE	Georgios Gogos
6	MF	CYP	Sotiris Finiris
7	FW	TRI	Nickel Orr
8	MF	CYP	Andreas Sofokleous
9	FW	GRE	Omiros Syrengelas
10	MF	POR	Mike Morais
11	MF	CYP	Thalis Papakyriakou
16	MF	USA	Gabriel Palomares
17	MF	CYP	Neofytos Skottis
19	MF	CYP	Konstantinos Poursaitidis (on loan from APOEL)
21	DF	CYP	Chrysostomos Filippou


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
23	MF	CYP	Giorgos Pavlidis
24	DF	CYP	Christos Pasiardis
26	GK	CYP	Charalampos Papageorgiou
27	FW	GRE	Pavlos Kesidis
29	FW	GRE	Vasilios Baxevanos
31	FW	CYP	Marios Fasouliotis
33	DF	CYP	Panagiotis Charalampous
44	MF	GHA	Kelvin Kyei
46	MF	CYP	Christos Efstathiou
49	DF	GRE	Iasonas Botos
78	FW	CYP	Chrysanthos Charalampidis
79	GK	CYP	Aristidis Kosteas
94	GK	CYP	Ioannis Koupepidis
97	FW	GRE	Spyridon Glynos

Colours

The colours of PAEEK shirt are symbolic, with the black symbolising the sadness from the Turkish invasion in 1974 and the white symbolises the hope that one day they will return to their hometown. When this happens the colours will change back to yellow and black as they were before the Turkish invasion.

Honours

Basketball

Cyprus Basketball Division 1
- Winner (3): 1970, 1971 and 1972.
Cypriot Basketball Cup
- Runner-up (5): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1995, 1999.

Football

Cypriot Second Division
- Winners (1): 2020–21
Cypriot Third Division
- Winners (3): 1991–92, 2002–03, 2007–08

References

^ "Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Καλαθοσφαίρισης".
^ "European Champions". hometown.aol.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
^ Τιμή στα ηρωικά παλικάρια της ΠΑΕΕΚ philinews.com
^ "Αχιλλέας Καϊμακλίου - Achilleas Kaimakliou A.C." achilleas.com.cy. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
^ "PAEEK | European Cup for Men's Clubs (1996) | FIBA Europe".

External links

Official website
The history of PAEEK – The First Ten Years – PDF (in Greek)

[1] "Κυπριακή Ομοσπονδία Καλαθοσφαίρισης".

[2] "European Champions". hometown.aol.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2007. Retrieved 6 June 2022.

[3] Τιμή στα ηρωικά παλικάρια της ΠΑΕΕΚ philinews.com

[4] "Αχιλλέας Καϊμακλίου - Achilleas Kaimakliou A.C." achilleas.com.cy. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 11 January 2022.

[5] "PAEEK | European Cup for Men's Clubs (1996) | FIBA Europe".

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v t e Cypriot Second Division
2024–25 clubs	Achyronas-Onisilos AEZ Akritas Anagennisi ASIL Ayia Napa Chalkanoras Digenis Morphou Doxa Krasava MEAP Olympiakos Othellos PAEEK Peyia Spartakos
Associated competitions	First Division Third Division STOK Elite Division Women's 1st Division Cypriot Women's Cup Cypriot Women's Super Cup Cypriot Cup Cypriot Super Cup
Seasons	1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25

v t e Cypriot First Division
2024–25 clubs	AEK Larnaca AEL Limassol Anorthosis APOEL Apollon Aris ENP Ethnikos Karmiotissa Nea Salamina Omonia Omonia 29M Omonia Ar. Pafos
Stadiums	AEK Arena Alphamega Stadium Ammochostos Stadium Antonis Papadopoulos GSP GSZ Makario Tasos Markou Tsirio
Former clubs	AEK Kouklia AEP AEZ Akritas Alki Larnaca Alki Oroklini Anagennisi APEP APOP APOP Kinyras ASIL Atromitos Ayia Napa AYMA Çetinkaya Chalkanoras Digenis Doxa EPA Ethnikos Assia Ermis Evagoras Keravnos Olympiakos Onisilos Orfeas Othellos PAEEK Pezoporikos THOI Trust
Competition	List of foreign players
Associated competitions	Second Division Third Division STOK Elite Division Cypriot Cup Super Cup Cup for lower divisions Women's 1st Division Women's Cup Women's Super Cup UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League
Seasons	1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25