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| Full name | Digenis Akritas Morphou | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | (Killer of Giants) | ||
| Founded | 23 April 1931 | ||
| Ground | Morphou Municipal Stadium (original ground), Makario Stadium (using ground in exile), Nicosia | ||
| Capacity | 16,000 | ||
| Manager | Nontas Christinakis | ||
| League | Second Division | ||
| 2022–23 | Third Division, 1st (promoted) | ||
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Digenis Akritas Morphou (Greek: Διγενής Ακρίτας Μόρφου) is a Cypriot sports club from Morphou, founded on 23 April 1931.[1] The club takes its name from the medieval Greek hero Digenis Akritas, who is depicted on the club's emblem. It has a football and a basketball team.
As the club did not have access to a suitable stadium, the football team was not able to play in an official league of the Cyprus Football Federation until 1968, when it joined the second division. The team was promoted to the first division after the 1969–70 season.[1] After finishing second in the Cypriot First Division in 1971, it qualified for the UEFA Cup competition, the first team from Cyprus to do this and was knocked out by AC Milan (lost 4–0 and 3–0) UEFA Cup 1971-72 under the Management of Costas Talianos. The club had a great following and was ranked within the strongest clubs in Cyprus before the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and occupation of the city of Morphou in 1974.
Following the Turkish invasion, the team was displaced to the southern part of the island, where they currently play in exile. This upheaval brought a downturn in fortunes, and the team loitered in the lower divisions until the 1999–2000 season, when they again earned promotion to the top division. 2005 also brought success in the Cypriot Cup, in which they reached the final of the competition only to lose 2–0 to Omonia Nicosia and finishing in 4th place in the Cyprus first division.
Digenis also has an active basketball team. They won the top division championship three times, in 1966, 1967 and 1968. last year the team won the 2nd division championship with an unbeaten record and were promoted back to division 1.
The 2018–19 season, restored some of the club's former glory as it won the 3rd division championship, returning to the 2nd tier of Cypriot football after 8 years, additionally the club did the double by winning the cup competition that the Cyprus Football federation runs for the lower divisions, closing this year with the "double".
The club is also reinstating its historic basketball team which will be competing in the 2nd division for the 2019–2020 season. Digenis Akritas Morphou is this year once again running academies for all age groups, under its new basketball team name, Digenis Akritas Morphou-B.C. The season 2021–2022 proved to be a remarkable, as the team stormed forward winning both the championship and cup of the 2nd division, with an amazing 26 wins out of 27 games, leading the team again to the 1st Division of Cyprus Basketball.
- ^ a b Διγενης Ακριτας Μορφου | Digenis Akritas Morfou Archived 3 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine