The Zakaki Sports Union or AEZ (read “aez”) is a Cypriot sports club based in Zakaki, Limassol Municipality. It was founded in May 1956 and since then maintains a football team. In 2014 they created a basketball team. The colors of the club are green and white.
Football Perfomance
The biggest success of AEZ is its participation in the championship of category AD 2016-17. In addition, AEZ has twice won the DG championship (1993, 1998) and twice the DD championship, as a champion of the Limassol / Paphos region (1987, 1992). They plays at the Community Stadium of Zakaki.
Early years
AEZ was founded in May 1956. The first (friendly) match of the team was given on July 16, 1956, against Atromitos Geroskipou / APOP, in which they won 12-2. In the same year, the Limassol District Football Federation (EPOL) was founded with AEZ being one of its founding members.
1985-1989
Until 1985, AEZ competed in the competitions of EPOL, of which it is a founding club. In the summer of 1985, the Cyprus Football Federation (KOP) decided to create the DD category. AEZ was among the teams selected by STOK to participate in the first league of the category and thus joined the ranks of the KOP. At that time the 4th category was divided into three groups. AEZ participated in the Limassol-Paphos group. In her first appearance, in the 1985-86 season, she finished in second place, one point behind the first place that led to the DG category. The next season they won the championship of her group and were promoted to the DG category. Two seasons in the DG category followed. In the 1988-89 season, they finished in second place in the league and were promoted for the first time to the B category.
1990-1999
In her first participation in the BD category, in the period 1989-90, they finished in the thirteenth place and were relegated to the DG category. The next period they were relegated to the DG category. The two relegations were followed by two championship wins. In the period 1991-92 they won the championship of the Limassol-Paphos group of the D category and were promoted to the DG category. The next season he won the championship for the first time in the DG category and was promoted to the BD category. Remained in the category for four consecutive seasons.
In the 1996-97 season, AEZ finished in 13th place in the BD category championship and was classified in the DG category. In the period 1997-98 they won the DG category championship for the second time in its history and returned to the B category.
2000-2009
In the period 2001-02, it was again classified in the DG category. Remained for 10 full seasons in DG category,
2010-2019
In the 2011-12 season, they secured the ascent ticket, finishing in third place. At the same time, he had reached the semifinals of the Cyprus Cup DG – DD category. In the 2012-13 season, he finished in tenth place in the B category championship, however, it was pre-decided that from the next season, 2013-2014, the B category would be divided into two groups, with the teams finishing in places 9-12 to participate in group B2. AEZ, in the 2013-14 season, playing in the B2 group, claimed its promotion to the B1 group until the last game. With a victory, they secured her rise, but in the end they brought a draw and were not promoted.
However, the KOP decided to unify the two groups and return the BD category to a single category in the period 2014-15. AEZ finished in fourth place. During this period, the first three teams were promoted to the first division.
The biggest success in the history of the team is its rise in the A category for the period 2016-17 through the B category championship 2015-16, finishing in second place in the standings. The coach of the team at that time was Nikolas Martidis.
In the period 2016-17, because the Community Stadium of Zakaki did not meet the specifications for conducting first-class matches, AEZ declared the headquarters of the National Achnas Stadium in Dasaki Achnas. However, due to a problem with policing, the temporary headquarters of the team was the Famagusta Stadium in Larnaca. In its first match in the first division, it defeated Ethnikos Achnas 3-1 at the Famagusta Stadium. For the rest of the home games, the home of the team was the Paphian Stadium in Paphos. The victory over Ethnikos Achnas was the only one of the team in the first division. The team finished in last place and was relegated.
