In the Arsenal FC Museum, London, as well as in the Archive of the Press and Information Office, there is a photo taken at the Presidential Palace of Cyprus, on June 1, 1967. In it, the President, Archbishop Makarios III, shakes hands and talks with players and officials of the London team. Arsenal was, then, in Cyprus, as a guest of APOEL and faced, in a friendly manner, APOEL, Omonia, Meikti Limassol (Apollo and AEL) and Salamina.
APOEL in London: one win, one loss and one draw
It was preceded, from April 24 to May 6, by his presence APOEL in London, for friendly matches with Mixed Family, Charlton and Arsenal. The specific matches were held under the auspices of the Greek Cypriot Brotherhood of London and the high protection of the High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus in London, Costa Assiotis.
Thousands of Cypriot expatriates, named and anonymous, flocked, along with a large number of Britons and 120 visiting APOEL members, to Hendon Football Ground, Valley Floyd Road and Highbury Stadium for the games.
The team from Nicosia beat Meiktis Parikiaki 8-1, were defeated by Charlton 9-0 and drew 1-1 with Arsenal. The tie was also celebrated by the Cypriot press, which, under triumphant headlines, wrote about an unexpected and highly honorable result against the “Gunners of the legendary Arsenal”. At the same time, APOEL’s excellent defense and the combativeness, dynamism and methodicality of its players were praised.
Describing the match in detail, the correspondent of “Philathlos” A.D. Drakos pointed out: “The APOEL yacht filled the atmosphere of Highbury and rose high in the sky of London. Hundreds of Cypriot immigrants and Anglo-Polish people flooded the pitch of the Arsenal stadium and surrounded the children in the blue and yellow jerseys. The cup was given as a trophy of achievement to the Cypriot team and lifted triumphantly in the hands of Pandelas. The players were lost in the hugs of the immigrants, Varnavas was on the shoulders of his fans and everyone, from the High Commissioner to the last Cypriot and the English, applauded the team that achieved the unthinkable, APOEL!!!”.
The president of APOEL, Takis Skarparis, after expressing his pride for the performance of the players and the result, explained the importance of the experience for the whole and for each football player individually.
Team and escorts returned to Cyprus on May 6. Representatives of the Cyprus Football Association (CFA), members of APOEL and a large number of its fans gave a rapturous welcome to the “football heroes”.
Waiting for Arsenal
In the afternoon of the same day, a press conference was held at the union building. In it, Markos Spanos, general secretary of KOP and APOEL, underlined the creation of prospects for closer contacts between Cypriots in England and the unions of Cyprus as well as for exchange visits between Cypriot and British teams. Finally, he mentioned the imminent arrival of Arsenal in Cyprus – after an invitation from APOEL and securing a license from KOP – for friendly games and recreation.
The importance of the event was highlighted in London by the organizational secretary of Arsenal, Jack Kelsey, who emphasized: “The visit of APOEL to London and the descent of Arsenal to Cyprus are equivalent to a thousand political visits between the two countries”.
Besides, the Board of Directors of APOEL received the common journalistic praise both for the descent of Arsenal in Cyprus and for the affordable ticket prices.
Arsenal in Cyprus – the reception
The Arsenal team – seventh, in the completed English Championship – landed at Nicosia Airport on the evening of May 18. Present at the warm reception were sports figures and a large number of fans.
The accommodation of the guests was the “Famagusta Palace” hotel, in Famagusta. The football squad consisted of 18 players: C. Addison, G. Armstrong, T. Coackley, D. Court, J. Furnell, G. Graham, D. Howe, D. Jenkins, G. Johnston, J. McGill, B. McNab, F. McLintock, T. Neill, J. Radford, J. Sammels, Simpson, P. Storey and B. Wilson. They were accompanied by team chairman D. Hill-Wood, organizing secretary J. Kelsey, manager, coach D. Sexton and his assistant. The president of the Greek Cypriot Brotherhood Sophronios Mantis also arrived.
Three British wins and a draw
The first match was held on May 20 at GSP, with Omonia as an opponent, in the presence of the ministers Polykarpou Yorkatzis (Interior & Defence), Tassos Papadopoulos (Labor) and Andreas Arauzou (Trade), officials of the British High Commission and thousands of fans. Succumbing “to the superiority of the legendary Arsenal”, Omonia was defeated with a score of 4-1.
This was followed, on May 24, by the match against Meikti Limassol at GSO, which ended with a result of 7-0 in favor of Arsenal. “Meikti played with enthusiasm and combativeness; however, she naturally succumbed to the superiority of her opponent”, pointed out, characteristically, “Eleftheria”.
The long-awaited match against APOEL took place at GSP, on May 27, Saturday, 4:30 in the afternoon, in the presence of officials and approximately 8,000 spectators. For APOEL, K. Alonevtis, S. Andreou, A. Assiotis, A. Efstathiou, L. Leonidou, L. Loukas, Nikakis, Nikaros, A. Pakkos, Pantelas, M. Papallos, L. Poulias (APOEL’s first Hellenic footballer, on his debut with the team), S. Charitakis and D. Chiotis played for APOEL.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw. Arsenal opened the scoring in the 36th minute through Radford. The answer arrived 10 minutes later, with a well-placed shot by Nikaros. The trophy of the match, a valuable shield – sponsored by the representative of Littlewoods in Cyprus A. Giles – was awarded, with honor, to Arsenal by the Minister P. Giorkatzis.
In a lengthy tribute, “O Phileleftheros” wrote: “Unbelievable in enthusiasm, combativeness and football merit, APOEL interrupted Arsenal’s winning streak yesterday with a 1-1 draw. Exactly one month later, he once again forced the great Arsenal to admit it as a worthy opponent. The London 1-1 has a little brother since yesterday. Nicosia’s 1-1. Both together are written very honorably in the history of Cypriot football.”
Clearly describing and evaluating the match, the sportswriter of “Filatholos” M. Avraamidis emphasized, in a multi-page, laudatory tribute: “It spread unimaginable joy, emotion and pride in the ranks of the great world of APOEL and in our entire pure sports fan faction, the very amazing, impressive but fair 1-1 brought by the popular Proteusian team, playing against the English legend Arsenal. Admittedly, this 1-1 includes moments of incalculable beauty, celebration and explosive pulse for the football of our country. Often in football technical superiority is practically defeated by competitive enthusiasm, iron faith, fiery spontaneity, combativeness and constant effort throughout the match. No eleven loses on the pitch when they go down to avoid losing.”
In the evening the High Commissioner of Great Britain in Cyprus Sir Norman Costar hosted a reception in honor of APOEL and Arsenal. It was also attended by ministers, KOP officials and other officials.
Arsenal also played on May 31, at the GSE, against Nea Salamina, in the presence of around 6,000 fans. The final whistle found the Londoners victorious, with a score of 0-2. As it was written, the London team had to work hard for the victory against their opponent, who had under the posts the “feline international goalkeeper” Varnavas. In the evening, New Salamina hosted Arsenal at “Faliro”.
The importance of Arsenal’s relegation to Cyprus is also reflected in the meeting of footballers and officials with the President, Archbishop Makarios III, at the Presidential Palace, on June 1. The next day, the expedition left for London, with four cups and excellent impressions of the island.
Hyg.: On June 3, 1967, APOEL, which, after 21 games for the Pan-Cypriot Championship, was in second place with 52 points – as many as Olympiacos, which had a better goal ratio – played its last game against Aris. Despite the biggest win in its history (17-1), Olympiakos’ victory (6-1) over Pezoporikos deprived them of the championship.
*Dr. History A.P.Th.
