PAEEK Kyrenia

PAEEK Kyrenia
Full name	Podosfairiki Athlitiki Enosis Eparxeias Kerynias
Founded	10 October 1953
Ground	Keryneia Epistrofi, Lakatamia
Capacity	2,500
Chairman	Jonathan Betito
Website	http://www.paeek.cy/

PAEEK Kyrenia(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. PAEEK Kyrenia has a Football Divison, a Basketball Division, Runners Division and Women Beach Handball Division

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 Mr. Christos 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 20 February 2025

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
8	MF	CYP	Andreas Sofokleous
9	FW	GRE	Omiros Syrengelas
10	MF	POR	Mike Morais
11	MF	CYP	Thalis Papakyriakou
12	MF	CYP	Andreas Georgiou (on loan from APOEL)
17	MF	CYP	Neofytos Skottis
19	MF	CYP	Konstantinos Poursaitidis (on loan from APOEL)
21	DF	CYP	Chrysostomos Filippou
23	MF	CYP	Giorgos Pavlidis
24	DF	CYP	Christos Pasiardis


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
25	FW	CIV	Philippe Alipui
26	GK	CYP	Charalampos Papageorgiou
27	FW	GRE	Pavlos Kesidis
30	FW	BRA	Vilmar Júnior
31	FW	CYP	Marios Fasouliotis
33	DF	CYP	Panagiotis Charalampous
44	MF	GHA	Kelvin Kyei
46	MF	CYP	Christos Efstathiou
57	MF	CYP	Petros Psychas
70	FW	CYP	Konstantinos Konstantinou
77	FW	CYP	Kyriakos Christodoulou
79	GK	CYP	Aristidis Kosteas
94	MF	CYP	Miltiadis Chatzipanagiotou
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, 1972
Cypriot Basketball Cup
- Runner-up (5): 1969, 1970, 1971, 1995, 1999
Cypriot Basketball Super Cup
- Winner (3): 1969, 1970, 1971
Cyprus Basketball Division B
- Winner (1): 2023
Cypriot Basketball Cup Division B
- Winner (1): 2023
Greek A2 Basket League
- Participation (3): 1970, 1971, 1972
FIBA Saporta Cup
- Participation (1): 1995

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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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

Cypriot First Division
2025–26 clubs	AEK Larnaca AEL Limassol Akritas Anorthosis APOEL Apollon Aris ENP Ethnikos Krasava Olympiakos Omonia Omonia Ar. Pafos
Stadiums	AEK Arena Alphamega Stadium Antonis Papadopoulos GSP GSZ Makario Tasos Markou Tsirio
Former clubs	AEK Kouklia AEP AEZ Alki Larnaca Alki Oroklini Anagennisi APEP APOP APOP Kinyras ASIL Atromitos Ayia Napa AYMA Çetinkaya Chalkanoras Digenis Doxa EPA Ethnikos Assia Ermis Evagoras Karmiotissa Keravnos Nea Salamina Omonia 29M 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 2025–26