Aris Limassol F.C. have been crowned Cypriot football champions for the first time in the club’s 93-year history.
The Limassol outfit beat Omonia on Saturday, while their chasers, Apoel, lost 3-2 in the AlphaMega stadium on Sunday to Apollon, who handed their fellow Limassolians the league title.
After being proclaimed champions, Aris fans stormed Iroon Square in Limassol, celebrating their team’s historic success.
𝙏𝙃𝙄𝙎 𝙄𝙎 𝙃𝙊𝙒 𝙒𝙀 𝙑𝙄𝘽𝙀 🟢
We’re all already at Heroes Square in old centre of Limassol. Omg this atmosphere is unique.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! 🏆#ArisLimassol #WeAreAris pic.twitter.com/g1ArM6gSlJ
— Aris Limassol FC (@ArisLimassol) May 21, 2023
In statements to the media, Aris’ spokesperson Costas Papadopoulos described winning the title as “probably the biggest upset in Cypriot football history.”
Aris, a minnow side until 2021, when investor Vladimir Fedorov bought the team and injected it with cash aiming to catapult it into Cypriot football’s elite, had a record of 21 wins, 11 draws and just three defeats, the best attack in the league and the second best defence.
“Aris is not Leicester. We are here to stay and the best is yet to come,” the club’s president Lysandros Lysandrou added, referring to outsiders Leicester City F.C. winning the Premier League in 2016.
Aris became the eleventh team to win the Cypriot football league, in its 55th appearance in the top flight.
Performance by club
Apoel: 28 titles
Omonia: 21 titles
Anorthosis: 13 titles
Ael: six titles
Apollon: four titles
Epa Larnaca (merged with Pezoporikos to create Aek Larnaca): three titles
Olympiacos Nicosia: three titles
Pezoporikos Larnaca (merged with Epa to create Aek Larnaca): two titles
Trust (dissolved): one title
Çetinkaya Türk S.K.: one title
Aris: one title
As champions, Aris will compete in the 2023–24 Champions League qualifying rounds.
The league ends next with the final matchday next weekend, while on Wednesday, May 24, Omonia and Ael will wrestle for the cup in the final at 7 pm (live on Alpha TV).
