AEL Limassol (basketball)

Pallaris Developers AEL
Pallaris Developers AEL
Nickname	Vasilissa (The Queen); (Greek: Βασίλισσα)
Leagues	Cyprus Basketball Division 2
Founded	1966; 58 years ago
Arena	Nicos Solomonides; (capacity: 2,500)
Location	Limassol, Cyprus
Team colors	Yellow and Blue;
President	Andreas Sofokleous; Kostas Christodoulou
Head coach
Championships	Cypriot Championships (13); Cypriot Cups (9); Cypriot Super Cups (8); FIBA Regional Challenge Cup (1)
Uniforms
Home	Away

Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou (Greek: Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού), often abbreviated as AEL (Greek: ΑΕΛ), is a Cypriot professional basketball club based in Limassol. It is part of the multisport club Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou and competed in the Cyprus Basketball Division 1. AEL competes in the second division since the 2015-16 season.

AEL is the most successful basketball club in Cyprus and holds the record for the number of national championships and Super Cups won. It is the only basketball club in Cyprus to have ever clinched a European title (FIBA Regional Challenge Cup, 2003).

History

The club was founded in 1966 and it is one of the founding members of the Cyprus Basketball Federation.^[1] AEL took part in the first official championship in 1967 with Michalaki Nikolaidi as coach and it managed early on to establish itself as the "Queen" of Cyprus basketball.^[2]

AEL became the dominant team in Cyprus in the 1980s, a decade in which it won 13 titles in total (6 national championships, 5 Cups, and 2 Super Cups).^[3]

The 1990s did not bring about much success as the club ended up winning only one title (in 1999), which however was to signal the beginning of another golden era.^[4]

By winning 14 domestic competitions in the 2000s (5 national championships, 3 Cups, and 6 Super Cups), as well as a European crown (Regional Challenge Cup, South Conference 2003), AEL enjoyed the most successful period in its history and retained its title as the "Queen" of Cyprus basketball.^[5]

To this day, no other basketball club from Cyprus can claim to have ever been crowned with a European title or to have won five consecutive national championships in a row.

In October 2014, the club announced the basketball section would be dissolved due to its economical trouble. In August 2015 AEL Limassol announced it would form a basketball team for the following season.^[6]

European record

In 2003, the club was crowned with its first European title after winning the newly established Regional Challenge Cup (South Conference). AEL clinched the title with the astonishing record of 10 victories in 10 games. The victory signalled the beginning of the team's European success.

After winning the Regional Challenge Cup, AEL participated as Cypriot champions the following year in the new FIBA EuroCup and qualified from the group phase to the best of 16. In the group phase, AEL eliminated Peristeri and Paris Basket Racing. The club was eliminated in the round of 16 by Hapoel Tel Aviv.

AEL came close to repeat their achievement in the same competition in 2004-05.

In 2005-06 (when the competition changed format) AEL passed the first group round by finishing second, eliminating PAOK BC and Kallev Tallinn and reaching the second round (round of 16). The team finished last in the group.

The effort to reach the quarter finals was achieved in 2006-07 even though during this time AEL faced tougher opponents than the previous years. Being in a group (in the first round) with former European Champions Virtus Bologna, ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne and Astronauts Amsterdam, very few believed that AEL had a chance to qualify. However, the club achieved the unexpected and after the surprise victory against Virtus Bologna with a score 88-83 and the home win against the French giants Villeurbanne 84-58, AEL finished second in Group 2 and qualified to the second round with four wins and two losses.

Unlike the previous year when AEL finished with 0 points in the second round, being in the same group with CB Estudiantes, Liege Basket and BC Šiauliai, they finished second with 5 victories and 1 defeat - tied with the Estudiantes because of the matches between them. AEL beat Estudiantes 63-62 in order to reach the quarter finals. The club reached the quarter finals but the dream to reach the Final Four didn't become true after they were eliminated by the Ukrainian team Azovmash 2-1 in victories. AEL won at home 85-79 but was beaten away 88 - 63 and 97 - 69.

European victories

Date	Competition	Match	Place	Score	Attendance
19 November 1997	Korac Cup 1998 Preliminary Round	AEL Limassol - Hapoel Galil Elyon	Limassol (CYP)	88 - 83	500
17 October 2001	Korac Cup 2002 Elimination Round II	AEL Limassol - Roseto Basket	Limassol (CYP)	20 - 0	-
24 October 2001	Korac Cup 2002 Elimination Round II	Roseto Basket - AEL Limassol	Roseto Degli Abruzzi (ITA)	0 - 20	-
29 October 2002	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - Nikol Fert-G	Limassol (CYP)	84 - 75	350
6 November 2002	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Qualifying Round	HKK Brotnjo - EKA AEL	Citluk (BIH)	74 - 75	500
13 November 2002	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - BC Zrinjevac	Limassol (CYP)	82 - 70	800
4 December 2002	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Qualifying Round	Nikol Fert - EKA AEL	Gostivar (MKD)	67 - 87	300
11 December 2002	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - HKK Brotnjo	Limassol (CYP)	94 - 83	1500
18 December 2002	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Qualifying Round	BC Zrinjevac - EKA AEL	Zagreb (CRO)	72 - 77	900
7 January 2003	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Quarter Final	EKA AEL - HKK Brotnjo	Limassol (CYP)	97 - 74	1500
9 January 2003	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Quarter Final	EKA AEL - HKK Brotnjo	Limassol (CYP)	95 - 78	1500
12 January 2003	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Semi Final	Apollonas - EKA AEL	Limassol (CYP)	52 - 73	2000
13 January 2003	Regional Challenge Cup 2003 Final	EKA AEL - KK Igokea	Limassol (CYP)	92 - 82	3500
18 November 2003	EuroCup 2004 Qualifying Round	KK Hemofarm - EKA AEL	Vrsac (SCG)	68 - 75	1500
25 November 2003	EuroCup 2004 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - Dexia Mons-Hainaut	Limassol (CYP)	69 - 68	1200
2 December 2003	EuroCup 2004 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - BC Khimki	Limassol (CYP)	87 - 68	2000
16 December 2003	EuroCup 2004 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - Paris Basket Racing	Limassol (CYP)	72 - 67	2000
13 January 2004	EuroCup 2004 Qualifying Round	ANWIL Wloclawek - EKA AEL	Wloclawek (POL)	54 - 68	2500
20 January 2004	EuroCup 2004 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - GS Peristeri	Limassol (CYP)	63 - 57	2500
3 February 2004	EuroCup 2004 Qualifying Round	Dexia Mons-Hainaut - EKA AEL	Mons (BEL)	76 - 81	1700
2 November 2004	EuroCup 2005 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - KK Belgrade	Limassol (CYP)	81 - 79	1000
30 November 2004	EuroCup 2005 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - Hraklis Thessalonikis	Limassol (CYP)	88 - 77	1200
7 December 2004	EuroCup 2005 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - Olympia Larissas	Limassol (CYP)	89 - 80	1200
23 December 2005	EuroCup 2005 Qualifying Round	KK Belgrade - EKA AEL	Belgrade (SRB)	0 - 20	-
12 January 2005	EuroCup 2005 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - Khimik Yuzhny	Limassol (CYP)	83 - 64	1800
18 January 2005	EuroCup 2005 Qualifying Round	EKA AEL - Paris Basket Racing	Limassol (CYP)	64 - 58	1800
1 February 2005	EuroCup 2005 Qualifying Round	Hraklis Thessalonikis - EKA AEL	Thessaloniki (GRE)	87 - 89	500
8 February 2005	EuroCup 2005 Qualifying Round	Olympia Larissas - EKA AEL	Larissa (GRE)	69 - 73	100
26 October 2005	EuroCup 2006 Round 1	Privatbank EKA AEL - BC Kalev	Limassol (CYP)	67 - 49	1500
2 November 2005	EuroCup 2006 Round 1	PAOK - Privatbank EKA AEL	Thessaloniki (GRE)	74 - 75	500
9 November 2005	EuroCup 2006 Round 1	Privatbank EKA AEL - Fenerbahçe	Limassol (CYP)	82 - 81	3000
15 November 2005	EuroCup 2006 Round 1	BC Kalev - Privatbank EKA AEL	Tallinn (EST)	65 - 71	1500
23 November 2005	EuroCup 2006 Round 1	Privatbank EKA AEL - PAOK	Limassol (CYP)	84 - 67	1500
14 November 2006	EuroCup 2007 Round 1	DTL EKA AEL - Amsterdam Astronauts	Limassol (CYP)	82 - 49	1200
21 November 2006	EuroCup 2007 Round 1	DTL EKA AEL - Virtus Europonteggi Bologna	Limassol (CYP)	88 - 83	3100
29 November 2006	EuroCup 2007 Round 1	DTL EKA AEL - Adecco ASVEL Villeurbanne	Limassol (CYP)	84 - 58	3500
4 December 2006	EuroCup 2007 Round 1	Amsterdam Astronauts - DTL EKA AEL	Amsterdam (NED)	79 - 95	350
16 January 2007	EuroCup 2007 Round 2	DTL EKA AEL - Liege Basket	Limassol (CYP)	70 - 64	2500
23 January 2007	EuroCup 2007 Round 2	BC Siauliai - DTL EKA AEL	Siauliai (LTU)	79 - 85	850
30 January 2007	EuroCup 2007 Round 2	DTL EKA AEL - Club Estudiantes	Limassol (CYP)	63 - 62	3500
13 February 2007	EuroCup 2007 Round 2	Liege Basket - DTL EKA AEL	Liege (BEL)	58 - 77	1000
20 February 2007	EuroCup 2007 Round 2	DTL EKA AEL - BC Siauliai	Limassol (CYP)	94 - 85	2100
9 March 2007	EuroCup 2007 Quarter-Final	DTL EKA AEL - Azovmash Mariupol	Limassol (CYP)	85 - 79	3450
20 November 2007	EuroCup 2008 Elimination Round 2	BC Dnipro - Proteas EKA AEL	Dnepropetrovsk (UKR)	53 - 64	5000
27 November 2007	EuroCup 2008 Elimination Round 2	Proteas EKA AEL – BC Dnipro	Limassol (CYP)	104 - 69	600
19 December 2007	EuroCup 2008 Qualifying Round	Proteas EKA AEL – KK Zagreb	Limassol (CYP)	103 - 80	1100
15 January 2008	EuroCup 2008 Qualifying Round	Proteas EKA AEL – Olympia Larissas	Limassol (CYP)	91 - 71	800
22 January 2008	EuroCup 2008 Qualifying Round	Spartak St. Petersburg - Proteas EKA AEL	St. Petersburg (RUS)	77 - 81	800
29 January 2008	EuroCup 2008 Qualifying Round	Proteas EKA AEL – Spartak St. Petersburg	Limassol (CYP)	72 - 71	2500
19 February 2008	EuroCup 2008 Quarter Final Round	Proteas EKA AEL – Khimik	Limassol (CYP)	70 - 65	2000
26 February 2008	EuroCup 2008 Quarter Final Round	Khimik - Proteas EKA AEL	Yuzhny (UKR)	76 - 87	1700

Home arena

Nicolos Solomonides

Outside

AEL plays its home games at the Nicos Solomonides indoor arena which was built in 2005 and which has a capacity of 2,500 seats.^[7]

It features the club's offices, official club shop, a cafe-restaurant, workout area and 12 VIP boxes.

The name was given after a former president of the club.^[8]

Supporters

Gate 3 at a basketball game, Nicos Solomonides

The SY.F.AEL (Greek: ΣΥ.Φ.ΑΕΛ – Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων ΑΕΛ), οtherwise known as Gate 3, are the supporters of AEL basketball club.

They also support other clubs within the AEL sports association, particularly the football and volleyball clubs.

Gate 3 are well known for their amazing atmosphere in the Nicos Solomonides arena, particularly against arch-rivals Apollon Limassol.

Honours

Honour	No.	Years
Cyprus Basketball DIVISION A:	13	1974, 1978, 1980, 1982, 1983, 1985, 1987, 1988, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Cyprus Basketball DIVISION B:	1	2016
Cyprus Cups:	9	1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 2004, 2008, 2009
Super Cups:	9	1978, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1985, 2004, 2008, 2009
European Titles: Regional Challenge Cup	1	2003

Milestones

Year	Milestone
1966:	The Cyprus Basketball Association is formed with AEL among its founding members.
1974:	AEL wins its first national championship.
1977:	AEL becomes the first Cypriot basketball club to participate in a European competition.
1983:	AEL beat Ethnikos with 177-39 and set a new Cyprus league record of best offense and biggest difference in a game. The record remains to this day.
1994:	AEL are relegated to the 2nd division for the first time in its history.
2003:	The basketball team of AEL writes a golden page in the history of Cypriot sport after it conquers the European Regional Challenge Cup, undefeatable.
2007:	AEL becomes the only team in Cyprus to win five consecutive championships in a row.

Team records

Record	For	From - Until
Most Championships in Row	5 Years	2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007
Most Cups in Row	4 Years	1980, 1981, 1982, 1983
Most Super Cups in Row	5 Years	2005, 2006, 2007,2008, 2009
Most Wins in a Row (European League)	10 Games	30.10.2002 - 13.02.2003
Most Home Wins in a Row at Nikos Solomonides (European league)	15 Games	01.02.2006–present

Accumulated historical results

Season	Competition	Place	Games	Won/Lost
2009	FIBA EuroChallenge
2008	FIBA EuroCup	3rd	12	9/3
2007	FIBA EuroCup	5th	15	10/5
2006	FIBA EuroCup		12	5/7
2005	FIBA Europe League Men		14	8/6
2004	FIBA Europe League		14	7/7
2003	FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup (South Conference)	Champion	10	10/0
2002	Korac Cup		8	2/6
2001	Korac Cup		2	0/2
2000	Korac Cup		2	0/2
1999	Korac Cup		2	0/2
1998	Korac Cup		6	1/5
1995	Korac Cup
1992	European Cup Radivoj Korac		2	0/2

Current roster

As of 4 November 2012. ^[9]^[10]

Players

Coaches

Pos.	Νο.	Name	Ht.
G	4	Marios, Moniatis	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
G	8	Antoniou, Simeon	1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)
	9	Migkos, Vaitelis
F	11	Mantovani, Roberto Alexander	1.99 m (6 ft 6 in)
F	13	Georgiou, Marios (Basketball player)	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
F	14	Loizidis, Christos	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)
C	15	Markou, Panayiotis	2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)

Head coach

Marcos Asonitis
Aristos Aristou

Assistant coach(es)

Team Manager

Legend

(C) Team captain

Former players

Women's basketball club

AEL also maintains a women's basketball club. It competes in the Cyprus Women's Basketball Division 1 and is one of the most successful clubs in Cyprus. The club holds the record for the most national championships (14) and most Cypriot Cups won (13).^[11]

It participates regularly in European competitions such as the Eurocup Women.

Honours (Women's basketball club)


Honour	No.	Years
Championship titles:	15	1993, 1997, 1998, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016
Cup titles:	14	1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016
Super Cup titles:	9	1998, 2006, 2007,2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015

References

External links

Fans and supporters:

Lions Radio (Greek)
Yellow City 3 (Greek)

[1] ttp://www.lions-radio.com/baskethistory/

[2] ttp://www.lions-radio.com/baskethistory/

[3] ttp://www.lions-radio.com/titloibasket/

[4] ttp://www.lions-radio.com/titloibasket/

[5] ttp://www.lions-radio.com/titloibasket/

[6] Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

[7] ttp://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_hVe7XloZHmQvcBxvZ-gFw0.coid_jcGmKDiSJasdtNi-1,CV00.articleMode_on.html

[8] ttp://www.fibaeurope.com/cid_hVe7XloZHmQvcBxvZ-gFw0.coid_jcGmKDiSJasdtNi-1,CV00.articleMode_on.html

[9] ttp://www.basketball.org.cy/kok/el/common/PreviewDocument.ashx?itemId=10001110&refItemId=T449BASKETGAMES&refTableId=449&language=EL

[10] ttp://www.all4basketball.com/team-detail.php?tm=14

[11] ttp://www.lions-radio.com/titloibasket/

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v t e EuroCup 2007–08
Champions	Barons LMT
Runners-up	Dexia Mons-Hainaut
Third place	Proteas EKA AEL
Four place	Tartu Ülikool/Rock
Eliminated in quarter-finals	CSK VSS Samara Khimik KK Zagreb Ural Great
Eliminated in Group Stage	Banvit BC Cherkasky Cholet Basket Lappeenrannan Lokomotiv Rostov Olympia Larissa PAOK BC Spartak Saint Petersburg
Eliminated in Round 2	AEK Athens APOEL BC Dnipro BC Strumica BCM Gravelines BK Prostejov Iscar Nahariya K.R. Basket Keravnos KK Igokea Partizan Maroussi My Guide Amsterdam Olympiada Patras Plannja Basket U Mobitelco Cluj Zlatorog Lasko
Eliminated in Round 1	Bakken Bears BC Odessa Cedevita Zagreb Elba Timisoara Energy Invest Rustavi Spartak-Pleven
Group A Group B Group C Group D

v t e FIBA EuroChallenge seasons
Seasons	2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15
Final Fours	2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

v t e 2007–08 European international basketball competitions
« 2006–07 2008–09 »
Men	Euroleague ULEB Cup EuroCup
Women	EuroLeague

AEL Limassol (basketball)

Contents

History

European record

European victories

Home arena

Supporters

Honours

Milestones

Team records

Accumulated historical results

Current roster

See also

Former players

Women's basketball club

Honours (Women's basketball club)

References

External links

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