Nea Salamis Famagusta

Early years

When Nea Salamina Famagusta was founded, Greece was entering a period of civil war between leftists and rightists. The situation in Greece affected Cyprus, both politically and socially; most athletes were also involved in politics. At this time, Famagusta had two sports clubs: the Evagoras Gymnastic Association, or GSE (Greek: Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος Ευαγόρας) and the Anorthosis Famagusta F.C. The GSE had many talented leftist athletes on its rosters. At Anorthosis, many players were also leftists. Under the influence of the contemporary right-wing political climate, the GSE and Anorthosis began to restrict leftist athletes. Additionally, Anorthosis was hosting at their clubhouse the right-wing Cypriot National Party. In early 1947 a group from Famagusta (including leftists, members and non-members of GSE and Anorthosis) concluded there was room for another sports club in the city. Due to the existing restrictions, they envisioned a club which would appeal to everyone in Famagusta regardless of political affiliation.

On 14 February 1948 the decision was made to establish the club, and the Nea Salamina sports club was formed on 7 March 1948 as the first leftist athletic club in Cyprus. After the club's founding, many citizens expressed a desire to join; however, the football side was weak.

GSE Stadium banning and the CAFF

Before the Pancyprian Games in May 1948, the Hellenic Amateur Athletic Association (SEGAS) asked all gymnastics associations in Cyprus, their members and athletes, to sign a public declaration that would express their support to the rightists in Greek Civil War, to declare that they espoused "nationalist beliefs" and to repudiate the leftists. The right-wing athletic clubs and athletes signed the statements; the only club refusing to sign the statement was the Kinyras Paphos gymnastic association, which was excluded from the games. The left-wing athletes were opposed to the declaration, and refused to sign the statement. Among the first athletes who refused were GSE champions Antonis Totsis (Greek: Αντώνης Τότσης) and Nikis Georgiou (Greek: Νικής Γεωργίου). The GSE invited both athletes to apologize, but they insisted on their position that sports should be separate from politics. The left-wing athletes decided to support the Kinyras Paphos association if the decision to exclude it from the Pancyprian Games stood. The GSE was favored to win the competition, but finished third. As a reaction to the fact that athletes of Nea Salamina were not involved in the Pancyprian Games, the GSE president informed the club it was not welcome at the GSE Stadium. Persecution of GSE and Anorthosis athletes who supported their teammates followed. The stadium-use prohibition meant that Nea Salamina had nowhere to play.

Negative attitudes toward left-wing athletes prevailed in other Cypriot cities. In Larnaca, the Alki Larnaca F.C. was founded in April 1948. A month later, the Gymnastics Club Zeno (GSZ) banned Alki from using its GSZ Stadium; a similar proposal to exclude Turks and Catholics was rejected. The GSZ amended its constitution, prohibiting enrollment of new members unless they signed a declaration that "they espouse the Hellenic nationalistic ideals". This excluded left-wing athletes from becoming members or using its stadium. In May, Orfeas Nicosia was founded in Nicosia; that month, APOEL F.C. sent a greeting by telegram to SEGAS ("cordial brotherly greetings to the entire Greek youth athletes"), on the occasion of national games, and wished for the cessation of inner-nation mutiny. APOEL asked all members and athletes of the club to sign a declaration, supporting the content of the telegram. Leftist members and athletes of APOEL considered "inner-nation mutiny" as a challenge and political statement of the club, thus they distanced themselves from that statement. The Cypriot press encouraged a hostile climate with articles and commentary. This was followed by the indefinite suspension of five APOEL athletes (Lympouris, Tsialis, Gogakis, Xatzivasileiou and Christodoulou), who founded AC Omonia in June 1948 with former members of the APOEL. AS Kyrenia was later founded.

Due to their left-wing political beliefs, members of the new clubs were not accepted into the Cyprus Football Association (CFA) and they established a new football federation (the Cyprus Amateur Football Federation, or CAFF) in December 1948. The new federation organized leagues and cups, which attracted thousands of fans. The CAFF matches became more popular than those of the CFA. Six teams belonged to the CAFF: Nea Salamina in Famagusta, Omonia and Orfeas in Nicosia, Alki at Larnaca, AMOL at Limassol (renamed Antaeus in 1951) and Neos Asteras in Morphou.

Unification of Cypriot football

CAFF members favored the unification of football in Cyprus. They tried for three years to persuade the CFA to accept them as members, without success. The existence of two football federations (with two separate championships) in a country such as Cyprus was unprecedented. The situation created economic hardship, and hampered the development and improvement of Cypriot football. The clubs felt that sports should reflect fraternity and friendship rather than discrimination. In December 1952, the first issue of the sports newspaper Athlitiki supported the unification of Cypriot football. Foreign coaches of CFA clubs also supported unification, leading the CFA to respond that "their statements opposed the spirit of the Federation". Coaches of CFA's teams were initially hostile towards consolidation supporters. In summer 1953, the majority of Cypriot sportspeople expressed support for football unification. In August of that year Nea Salamina, Omonia, Alki and Antaeus submitted a joint application to the CFA to join the Cypriot First Division. On 19 September, the CFA accepted Nea Salamina and Omonia for membership. However, the organization's negative attitude towards those clubs continued. First, the league rejected applications from Alki, Orfeas Nicosia and Neos Asteras (although the first two joined a year later), and second, arguing that according to its constitution, only one team must participate in the Cypriot First Division and two teams in the second division. The CAFF clubs accepted these conditions in the interest of unification. In an ad hoc meeting of CAFF, members agreed that Omonia would join the first division and Nea Salamina and Antaeus the second division. Following these decisions, CAFF disbanded. The first game between teams from the two federations (a friendly) was played by Nea Salamina and Anorthosis at GSE Stadium on 27 September 1953. 5,200 fans were present at the game between the two Famagustian clubs. The final result was 3–1 in favor of Anorthosis, and the match was described as an evidence of superior sportsmanship and brotherhood of fans by Athlitiki.

Famagusta municipal stadium

After being denied access to the GSE stadium, the club did not have a venue for training. They initially practiced at the Saint Lukas pitch (Proodou) in Famagusta and began efforts to build a privately owned stadium. In December 1948 Israel made a CYP£3,000 donation to the city of Famagusta, in gratitude for aid by its inhabitants to Jewish refugees, for a community-service project. Gabriel Makris, a Famagusta alderman and Nea Salamina footballer, supported the association's recommendation to build the stadium. The city council recognized the "financial assistance granted to the Jews to create Municipal Sports Stadium, which is available to Famagustans for the promotion and spread of mass popular sport". The stadium was available to Nea Salamina and other sports clubs.

In early 1949, volunteer construction work began on a municipal stadium in Saint John Famagusta parish. The stadium—the first in Cyprus with a roof over the stands—was built by supporters of the club and footballers and completed in 1952. It served as Nea Salamina's headquarters from 1952 to 1953.

In 1953, after the unification of football federations, Nea Salamina used GSE Stadium. The city's Municipal Stadium was used by the team for training. This period lasted until 1974, when Famagusta was occupied by the Turkish Army after the Turkish invasion in Cyprus and the club was forced to move its headquarters.

Ammochostos Stadium

From 1974 to 1991 Nea Salamina used GSZ Stadium in Larnaca, Dasaki Stadium in Dasaki Achnas, Municipal Stadium in Deryneia and Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium in Larnaca. In 1991 the team built its own stadium, Ammochostos Stadium.

Ammochostos Stadium, owned by Nea Salamina in Larnaca, has a 5,000-seat capacity and is primarily used for football. The club offices are in the same area. The stadium is named for the town of Famagusta (Greek: Αμμόχωστος; Ammochostos), the original home of Nea Salamina before the Turkish occupation, and was built in 1991 near the refugee camps. The decision to build the stadium was made in 1989; construction began in December of that year, and thanks to club supporters in Cyprus and abroad, the Cyprus Sports Organisation and volunteer labor, the stadium was completed on schedule. The first Nea Salamina Famagusta game in the new stadium was played on Saturday, 12 October 1991, against Evagoras Paphos. Nea Salamina won, 4–1. The stadium hosted the 1992 UEFA European Under-16 Championship final on 17 May 1992 between Germany and Spain, which Germany won 2–1.

Emblem and colors

Nea Salamina's emblem incorporates the Olympic flame, the color red and the five rings of the Olympic Games. The club's colors during its first two years were yellow and crimson, when it was part of the Cyprus Amateur Football Federation. After 1950, the governing council changed its colors to red and white: red symbolizing power, and white symbolizing peace. Red-and-white striped jerseys were chosen because they resembled those worn by Olympiacos Piraeus.