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The 2015–16 Cypriot First Division was the 77th season of the Cypriot top-level football league. It began on 22 August 2015 and ended on 15 May 2016. APOEL were the defending champions.

The league expanded from 12 to 14 teams this season, comprised eleven teams from the 2014–15 season and three promoted teams from the 2014–15 Second Division. APOEL were crowned champions for the 25th time and a fourth time in a row, securing the title after beating title rivals AEK Larnaca 2–0 at home on 28 April 2016.

Teams

Promotion and relegation (pre-season)

Othellos Athienou was relegated at the end of the second-phase of the 2014–15 season after finishing in the last place of the relegation group table.

The relegated team was replaced by 2014–15 Second Division champions Enosis Neon Paralimni, runners-up Pafos FC and third-placed team Aris Limassol.

Stadia and locations

Note: Table lists clubs in alphabetical order.

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and Managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Head coach	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
AEK	Demetris Demetriou (Caretaker)	David Català	Puma	Cytavision
AEL	Pambos Christodoulou	Marco Airosa	Nike	Cytavision
Anorthosis	Neophytos Larkou	Christos Marangos	Macron	Cytamobile-Vodafone
APOEL	Georgios Kostis (Caretaker)	Constantinos Charalambides	Puma	Mora Thavmata
Apollon	Pedro Emanuel	Giorgos Vasiliou	Puma	Cyta
Aris	Kostas Kaiafas	Christos Charalabous	Legea	Cytanet
Ayia Napa	Panikos Protopapas (Caretaker)	Michael Felgate	Eldera	Cyta
Doxa	Loukas Hadjiloukas	Edmar	Joma	Cytanet
Enosis	Ronny Van Geneugden	Kostadin Bashov	Nike	Cyta
Ermis	Nicos Panayiotou	Paulo Pina	Legea	Cyta
Ethnikos	Danilo Dončić	Christos Poyiatzis	Nike	Cyta
Nea Salamina	Giorgos Lagkaditis (Caretaker)	Giannis Skopelitis	GEMS	Cytamobile-Vodafone
Omonia	Vladan Milojević	Nuno Assis	Nike	Cytamobile-Vodafone
Pafos	Apostolos Makrides	Giorgos Sielis	Pafos FC	Cyta

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
APOEL	Gustavo Manduca	End of tenure as caretaker	End of 2014–15 season	Pre-season	Domingos Paciência	21 May 2015
Aris	Akis Agiomamitis	End of contract	End of 2014–15 season		Jane Nikolovski	3 June 2015
Doxa	Nikos Andreou	End of contract	End of 2014–15 season		Loukas Hadjiloukas	3 June 2015
Nea Salamina	Floros Nicolaou	End of tenure as caretaker	End of 2014–15 season		Jan de Jonge	9 June 2015
Apollon	Ton Caanen	End of contract	End of 2014–15 season		Pedro Emanuel	9 June 2015
Ermis	Michalis Markou	End of tenure as caretaker	End of 2014–15 season		Pavlos Dermitzakis	12 June 2015
Aris	Jane Nikolovski	Resigned	18 July 2015		Akis Agiomamitis	21 July 2015
APOEL	Domingos Paciência	Sacked	28 August 2015	1st	Temur Ketsbaia	28 August 2015
Ermis	Pavlos Dermitzakis	Sacked	3 September 2015	11th	Apostolos Makrides	3 September 2015
Aris	Akis Agiomamitis	Mutual consent	14 September 2015	13th	Eugen Neagoe	15 September 2015
AEL	Christakis Christoforou	Mutual consent	19 October 2015	10th	Makis Chavos	27 October 2015
Ermis	Apostolos Makrides	Resigned	22 October 2015	12th	Nicos Panayiotou	22 October 2015
Omonia	Kostas Kaiafas	Resigned	2 November 2015	5th	Vladan Milojević	11 November 2015
Enosis	Nikos Karageorgiou	Mutual consent	5 November 2015	9th	Ronny Van Geneugden	10 November 2015
Pafos	Sofoklis Sofokleous	Sacked	9 November 2015	9th	José Manuel Roca	17 November 2015
Ethnikos	Borce Gjurev	Resigned	23 November 2015	13th	Danilo Dončić	24 November 2015
Pafos	José Manuel Roca	Mutual consent	14 December 2015	12th	Apostolos Makrides	16 December 2015
Ayia Napa	Giorgos Kosma	Mutual consent	28 January 2016	14th	Antonis Mertakkas	28 January 2016
Aris	Eugen Neagoe	Mutual consent	4 February 2016	8th	Kostas Kaiafas	8 February 2016
AEL	Makis Chavos	Sacked	7 February 2016	10th	Pambos Christodoulou	8 February 2016
Ayia Napa	Antonis Mertakkas	Resigned	14 February 2016	14th	Panikos Protopapas (Caretaker)	16 February 2016
Anorthosis	André Paus	Sacked	18 February 2016	3rd	Zoran Milinković	18 February 2016
Anorthosis	Zoran Milinković	Sacked	23 March 2016	5th	Neophytos Larkou	23 March 2016
APOEL	Temur Ketsbaia	Mutual consent	21 April 2016	1st	Georgios Kostis (Caretaker)	21 April 2016
Nea Salamina	Jan de Jonge	Mutual consent	22 April 2016	6th	Giorgos Lagkaditis (Caretaker)	22 April 2016
AEK	Thomas Christiansen	Sacked	29 April 2016	2nd	Demetris Demetriou (Caretaker)	30 April 2016

Regular season

League table

1. ^ Head-to-head record: Omonia 0–0 Apollon, Apollon 0–0 Omonia.
2. ^ Head-to-head record: AEL 1–2 Aris, Aris 0–1 AEL.
3. ^ Head-to-head record: Ethnikos 2–2 Ermis, Ermis 1–2 Ethnikos.

Results

Championship round

Table

1. Apollon Limassol qualified for the Europa League third qualifying round by winning the 2015–16 Cypriot Cup.

Results

Relegation round

Table

1. On 8 April 2016, AEL Limassol were deducted two points by Cyprus Football Association after failing to meet the financial criteria of UEFA.
2. ^ Doxa ahead of Aris on head-to-head away goals scored: Doxa–Aris 2–1, Aris–Doxa 1–1, Doxa–Aris 1–1, Aris–Doxa 4–3.

Results

Season statistics

Top scorers

Including matches played on 15 May 2016; Source: Cyprus Football Association

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Fernando Cavenaghi	APOEL	19
	André Alves	AEK
	Dimitar Makriev	Nea Salamina
4	Dino Ndlovu	Anorthosis	17
5	Tomás De Vincenti	APOEL	15
	Cillian Sheridan	Omonia
	André Schembri	Omonia
8	Alhassane Keita	Ermis	13
9	Georgios Efrem	APOEL	11
	Nassir Maachi	Pafos

Hat-tricks

#	Player	For	Against	Result	Date
1.	Dino Ndlovu	Anorthosis	Nea Salamina	1–3	29 August 2015
2.	Fernando Cavenaghi	APOEL	AEL Limassol	6–0	17 October 2015
3.	Anton Maglica	Apollon	Pafos	3–1	20 February 2016

Scoring

• First goal of the season: 2 minutes and 40 seconds – Koullis Pavlou (Nea Salamina) against Omonia (19:02 EET, 22 August 2015)
• Fastest goal of the season: 0 minutes and 34 seconds – Nikos Englezou (AEK) against Enosis (26 September 2015)
• Latest goal of the season: 96 minutes and 20 seconds – Joël Damahou (Pafos) against Nea Salamina (18 January 2016)
• First scored penalty kick of the season: 93 minutes and 38 seconds – Cillian Sheridan (Omonia) against Nea Salamina (20:48 EET, 22 August 2015)
• First own goal of the season: 73 minutes and 8 seconds – Aritz López Garai (Doxa) for Ethnikos (20:28 EET, 23 August 2015)
• Most goals scored in a match by one player: 3 goals
  • Dino Ndlovu (Anorthosis) against Nea Salamina (29 August 2015)
  • Fernando Cavenaghi (APOEL) against AEL (17 October 2015)
  • Anton Maglica (Apollon) against Pafos (20 February 2016)
• Most scored goals in a single fixture – 30 goals (Fixture 8)
  • Fixture 8 results: Ayia Napa 0–3 Apollon, Omonia 6–0 Pafos, Anorthosis 4–0 Ermis, Ethnikos 0–2 AEK, Doxa 2–1 Enosis, AEL 1–2 Aris, Nea Salamina 0–9 APOEL.
• Highest scoring game: 9 goals
  • Nea Salamina 0–9 APOEL (26 October 2015)
• Largest winning margin: 9 goals
  • Nea Salamina 0–9 APOEL (26 October 2015)
• Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 9 goals
  • Nea Salamina 0–9 APOEL (26 October 2015)
• Most goals scored by a losing team: 3 goals
  • Omonia 5–3 Nea Salamina (22 August 2015)
  • Aris 4–3 Doxa (15 May 2016)

Discipline

• First yellow card of the season: 6 minutes – Ivan Ćurjurić for Nea Salamina against Omonia (19:06 EET, 22 August 2015)
• First red card of the season: 70 minutes – Levan Khmaladze for Pafos against AEK (20:25 EET, 22 August 2015)
• Most yellow cards in a single match: 12
  • AEK 1–2 Nea Salamina – 5 for AEK (Toño Ramírez (2), Albert Serrán (2), Jorge Monteiro) and 7 for Nea Salamina (Marko Andić, Aldo Adorno, China (2), Ioannis Kousoulos, Giannis Skopelitis, Dimitar Makriev) (19 October 2015)
  • Omonia 0–2 APOEL – 6 for Omonia (Ivan Runje, Giorgos Economides, Renato Margaça, Nuno Assis, George Florescu, Carlitos) and 6 for APOEL (Iñaki Astiz, Nuno Morais, Tomás De Vincenti (2), Constantinos Charalambides, Giannis Gianniotas) (23 April 2016)
• Most red cards in a single match: 3
  • AEK 1–2 Nea Salamina – 2 for AEK (Albert Serrán, Toño Ramírez) and 1 for Nea Salamina (China) (19 October 2015)

References

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Sources

• "2015/16 Cypriot First Division". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2016.

External links

• uefa.com

v t e Football in Cyprus
League system	First Division Second Division Third Division STOK Elite Division Women's First Division
Cup competitions	Cypriot Cup Super Cup Lower Divisions' Cup Women's Cup Women's Super Cup
Defunct competitions	Fourth Division
National teams	Men U-21 U-19 U-17 Futsal Women
Lists and categories	Clubs By number of titles Venues Foreign players
Miscellaneous	Cypriot football clubs in European competitions 2016–17 in Cypriot football
Rivalries	Famagusta derby Larnaca derby Limassol derby Nicosia derby
Cyprus Football Association

• Cypriot First Division seasons
• 2015–16 in European association football leagues
• 2015–16 in Cypriot football