A Brief History of Cyprus BXL FC
Cyprus BXL FC 2010-11
Early days
It’s November 2004. A bunch of freshly arrived Cypriots sit in the gloom of Brussels
The first email went out.
Saturday, December 4, and the first get-together of the group takes place at Rond-Point Schuman, from where they would try to find their way to exotic Overjise, and join the “Eurocommission 8” team.
Zenon Severis, Giorgos Rossides, Akis Kyriacou and Christophoros Ioannou were there for that first game, which sowed the seeds of the superb idea that was about to take shape.
June 2005, first appearance
The early months of 2005 pass uneventfully. The trips to Overjise continue every Saturday, and a few more Cypriots join that first core group, making the idea of a ‘sovereign’ Cyprus
The opportunity first presented itself later in 2005, when the European Parliament football tournament was announced for June.
Alexandros Karides and Antonis Markoullides, working at the EP from those early days, suggested joining the tourney. Despite the initial doubts as to whether a competitive side could be fielded from the few Cypriots in Brussels at the time, a Cyprus
A desperate scramble ensued to find a kit. 24 hours before the first game, a dozen shirts were found, with a choice of three colours: blue, yellow and red. The yellow shirts with blue imprints for the numbers were chosen. "Cyprus
To date, the yellow colour is maintained in the away kit.
In the tournament itself, the squad turned out not only to be competitive, it actually made it all the way to the final, where it dramatically lost the trophy in a penalty shoot-out to Italy
Despite the defeat, the great effort of the miniscule new–kid-on-the-block did not go unnoticed, winning the supportof the non-partisan spectators, who, stirred by the Cypriot enthusiasm and passion on the pitch, were chanting “Kypros PAME, Kypros PAME”!
Cyprus team - EP Tournament June 2005
2006-2007
Following on from the stunning success of the first tournament, the team stayed together through the next two years, despite not being entered in regular competitions. Weekly training sessions were instituted, and some friendlies were played.
The next big milestone for the team was the 2006 European Parliament tournament, where theCyprus
Cyprus team - EP Tournament June 2006
April 2007, founding of the BXL Euroleague
Early 2007 saw the creation of the BXL Euroleague. Taking the pulse of the football community at the European institutions, which hungered for regular games throughout the year, eight national teams got together to play in a championship format from April to June.
The first game of the BXL Euroleague was to be the game between Cyprus and France
2007-2008
The first regular, full-length season started in September 2007, with 11 participating teams.Cyprus
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2008-2009
The lead-up to the beginning of the 2008-2009 saw an influx of new talent for the Cyprus
Yiannakis Constantinou took over as team coach, and regular training sessions were established.
The results of the hard work became quickly apparent on the pitch, where despite some unlucky results and a string of injuries of key players, Cyprus
In the Play-offs, the team pulls off the surprise of the season by eliminating Romania Portugal
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2009-2010
Frangiskos Nikolian takes over as team coach in September 2009, and Cyprus
Meanwhile, in the Presidency Cup, the team puts in another great performance, stunning once again the big European nations by sailing through to the semi-finals where it got knocked out byPoland
At the end of the season, the team is renamed to Cyprus BXL FC.
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2010-2011
Nikolian stays on the bench, and in combination with the return of some players from injury and a successful recruitment drive, Cyprus BXL FC fields its most competitive side to date.
It finishes the season seventh (of 19), ahead of much ‘bigger’ names, with seven wins, three draws and eight losses.
The season tally could have been even better had it not been for some unlucky, last-minute point dropping during the regular season.
In the playoffs the Cyprus BXL FC is eventually knocked out by Portugal (2-3, 2-2), while the team’s contention for the Presidency Cup ends unceremoniously in the first round single-elimination game against France (2-2, France
2011-2012
Cyprus BXL FC started the 2011-12 with one goal in mind: to push the existing level of commitment, effort and achievement a notch higher than the previous years. Helped by the influx of Cypriots to Brussels for the upcoming Council Presidency, Cyprus BXL FC put a strong squad together that started training together from late August in preparation for the beginning of the new season.
A week of training in football strategy given by
Cypriot football legend Yiannakis Giangoudakis in early September paid clear
dividend in the course of the year, particularly in terms of team spirit,
organisation and the way that the Cypriot team defended on the pitch.
When the
season started in earnest, the points kept coming in at a rate that was quite
unprecedented for a side of the size of Cyprus. Half way through the season,
the team was eyeing a top-4 position with remarkable moments, such as the win
over Sweden that was unbeaten for more than two years.
The team finished fifth
in the regular season, and faced Finland in the first playoff tie. Seeing off
Finland with some ease, Cyprus had a much more difficult task against Italy in
the quarter-finals. Displaying admirable qualities in the games against the
Italians, Cyprus BXL FC went through to the semis, where it had to face the
league favourites, Spain. Two dramatic games of football and an epic penalty shootout
later, the Cypriots had secured their first ever BXL Euroleague final
participation!
The Cinderella
story came to an end somewhere there however, as Cyprus lost 4-2 to a superior
Romanian side, having missed two penalties and heaps more chances to capitalize
on in the final.
Be that as
it may, the 2011-12 season stays in the history of the club as a year of remarkable
achievement, and a bright beacon setting targets for the years to come.
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| The squad for the 2011-12 BXL Euroleague Final |
