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Having lived as a UK expat in the Paphos region for several years now, and as a big football fan for as long as I can remember, it is perhaps surprising that I find myself with very little knowledge about the game in Cyprus as a whole, and Paphos in particular.

Reflecting on the likely reasons for this, it occurred to me that the local football clubs in Paphos just don't seem to be a part of everyday life in the same way as is experienced elsewhere. They appear to have a very low profile within the community, to the extent that I found myself resorting to Google just to see what colours they play in!

I decided some further research was in order.

First of all, I turned up some statistics for the two main clubs in our region. AEP Paphos FC averaged crowds of only 1189 last season, while for APOP
Kinyras Peyias their average for season 2005/06, the last time they played in the top division, was only 890. We must remember that these fans are being drawn from a catchment area in the region of only 70,000, but if you take out the percentage of these crowds made up from visiting fans, with the larger teams in particular bringing relatively high numbers, then it seems there are a remarkably low number of live football fans in the Paphos region as a whole.

Why should this be the case?

One issue that has attracted much comment in Cyprus generally is that attendances are being significantly affected by recent problems with hooliganism, both in and around the stadiums. Last season's average attendances island-wide were the lowest since 1999.

Action is being taken as the seriousness of the problem nationwide finally appears to be starting to be addressed on an appropriate scale. For instance, a recently announced sponsorship package for the Cyprus first division championship worth 1.5 million Cyprus pounds for the next five years from Marfin Popular Bank (MPB) has as key components initiatives to combat racism and violence at fixtures. At the announcement of this deal, the MPB vice-chairman Neoklis Lysandrou commented that:

"We intend to project these issues in order to start a public discussion on them"

This is one area where lessons can certainly be learned from experiences in the UK, and likely initiatives include numbered seats, closed-circuit TV systems inside the island's stadiums, and greater numbers of stewards, with proper training in crowd control.

It is however fair to say that the majority of this to date has been restricted to the larger clubs, where more ingrained historical rivalries exist. Paphos, although not escaping completely, has largely avoided the worst excesses of what used to be known as "The English Disease".

Another factor, perhaps more significant here in Paphos, appears to be the issue of glory hunting; those who choose their allegiance not from their area of birth or residence, but on the somewhat less honourable criteria of relative levels of recent success. Growing up in the UK, I first recall witnessing glory hunting as a large-scale phenomenon around the time of the first widespread television coverage in the 1980's, and as by far the most successful team of that time, Liverpool were the first main beneficiaries. Subsequent times have seen success and the glory hunting fan move in varying degrees and numbers to Manchester United, Arsenal, and latterly Chelsea, although the functional style that accompanies the nouveau-riche Londoners' winning streak appears to have kept this to a minimum. It seems even glory hunters have some standards!

Here in Cyprus, the best supported teams are by far the most successful. AC Omonia and APOEL Nicosia have each won 19 league titles since the league's inception in 1934. Next on the leader board are Anorthosis Famagusta with 12 wins, after which no-one else even comes close. This is reflected in the attendance figures; for the 2006/07 season the total attendances of these 3 clubs represent over 55% of the total for the entire Division A League.

We even see glory hunting on an international scale, as many Cypriots choose to follow a Greek side either as well as or instead of a local team. Olympiakos and Panithinaikos are the two most notable entries in this category, as the number of replica shirts in evidence around Paphos on any given day will testify.

This is exacerbated greatly by another major issue specific to the Paphos region, that of the relative youth of their available clubs. AEP Paphos have been in existence in their current form only since 2000, and APOP Kinyras Peyias since 2003.

Football is traditionally a sport with a very strong sense of heredity, so where this is not in evidence your potential supporter base is significantly diminished.

This is further damaging when you consider that Paphos already has a lower population than other regions, and also a higher proportion of expats, who have a tendency to import
their footballing club loyalties with them.

What is the main impact of these factors? In larger countries, with a much wider potential supporter base, falling attendances lead to financial difficulties as the revenue from gate receipts struggles to match up to the wage demands of the modern footballer. In a smaller country like Cyprus, this effect is magnified further, making it almost impossible for the smaller clubs to compete with their wealthier neighbours.

There are of course wider issues here; for many expats Paphos is now home, and for some has been for many years, but do we truly regard ourselves as locals? Also, for the Cypriot locals, when living in such a small country, is national pride a more significant factor than regional? I know many in the UK certainly regard their regional affiliations as more important than their national, but is this a phenomenon that is not reproduced when evidenced on a smaller scale?

Time and space dictates that more in-depth discussion around these weighty topics is impractical, so in lieu of this, what are the prospects for the future of the game in our region?

Given that we're living in a time when the national game in the major European leagues is regarded by many as having sold its soul, where money is by far the prime motivator, many may find it refreshing to have convenient access to a league where the players aren't pampered and overpaid to the extent that the connection between fan and player is irrevocably damaged. It's sobering to consider that the whole annual wage bill for the Paphos clubs wouldn't pay Beckham's wages for a month. While I admit that I do still enjoy watching Premiership football, I increasingly find that it simply isn't possible to identify with the players in the way I once did.

Now, more than ever, we have wall-to-wall television coverage of football from around the globe, creating overnight superstars in many far flung locations. Much has been written about the pros and cons of live football in an age where the likes of Sky Sports have elevated live football coverage almost to an art form, but in my opinion, and I know I'm far from alone, there really is no substitute for a live match day atmosphere. The experience of actually being there, of participating in an event rather than just observing it. I may shout at the television at moments of particular excitement, but cannot deny that such a remote source of feedback carries a certain futility!

It seems to me that the future for the local clubs in our region relies more heavily than most on the community, wherever their origins lie. If more of us were to unite behind our local clubs, and start to attend matches on a regular basis, we could hope to initiate a turnaround. Initially just by being responsible for greater revenues entering the clubs' coffers,which would in turn ultimately serve to adjust their ambitions upwards, and make future success far more likely. Hopefully seasons like the last one, where AEP Paphos were relegated with only 15 points (having secured only 2 wins, and scoring only 19 goals in a top-flight campaign of Sunderland-esque proportions) could be consigned forever to the history books, and we could look forward to both of our region's clubs challenging together in the top division.

A simplistic view I know, but as a wiser man than me once commented (I think he’s talking about Chris Hopkins - see Kafenio Scene - Ed.): "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step". I'm perhaps not entirely convinced that Confucius would have been a big football fan, but if he was I'm sure he would have understood the importance of one very basic principle - Support your local team!

Article by Martin Kerrigan.
 

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