AEL Limassol Basketball Club (Greek: Αθλητική Ένωση Λεμεσού, romanized: Athlitiki Enosi Lemesou, lit.

[1][2][3][4][5][6] Throughout its history, the club has experienced two separate periods of near-total domestic dominance, which are generally referred to as the 'two golden ages'.

The first golden age refers to the period lasting from 1980 until 1989, during which, under the leadership of player–coach Giorgos Thyrotos, the club won 12 domestic trophies.

[1][4][5][6][7][8] During these successful campaigns, AEL also managed to defeat several well-established European sides such as, Fenerbahçe, Virtus Bologna, ASVEL, PAOK BC, Real Betis, Bandırma B.İ.K., BC Spartak Saint Petersburg, PBC Lokomotiv Kuban, Paris Basket Racing, PBC Ural Great, Azovmash Mariupol, G.S.

[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] Certain notable players that once played for the club include Georgios Thyrotos, Duane Woodward, Milutin Aleksić, Frankie King, Giorgos Palalas, Haris Mujezinović, Remon van de Hare, Bruno Šundov, JamesOn Curry, Kenny Gabriel, Karim Souchu, LaVell Blanchard, Goran Nikolić, Michael Antonio "Mike" King, Bryan Bracey, Michael McDonald, Michalis Kounounis, Ilian Evtimov, Goran Jeretin, Vassil Evtimov, Kęstutis Šeštokas, Giannis Giannoulis and Jerai Grant.

teacher, recruited various students (such as Georgios Thyrotos, Panikos Evzonas, Spyros Antoniou, Donis Kounounis, Andros Michaelides, Andreas Katsampis, etc.)

which he considered suitable and formed the first basketball team of AEL, based in the open court "Oasis" located in Gladstonos Street, Limassol.

[19] As a result, the first distinction for AEL came early on (in 1972), when they finished second in the Cyprus Basketball League, behind the most dominant team of that period, PAEEK Kyrenia.

Despite the fact that both opportunities to bring silverware to the club had failed, it was obvious that the foundations had been laid and the team was ready to take its next "great leap".

[19] The following year, in 1974, the team celebrated its first Cypriot Championship, with Dimitris Palalas, Lakis Silvestros, Giorgos Fotas and Michalis Loizidis slowly being added to the roster.

Thyrotos became AEL's primary flag bearer for almost three decades, after having played for the club from 1967 until 1987, and, following his retirement as a player, he carried on as head coach until 1989.

[18][19][2] Throughout this period, Thyrotos managed to secure multiple major trophies[19] for the club in each of these roles, which has led him to be often considered one of the team's greatest ever players.

[19][18] Despite the fact that the vision of the ruling panel was oftentimes restricted by various external factors, the club nevertheless returned to the top-tier of Cypriot basketball the following year undefeated and in 1994 a major reconstruction effort commenced, with a strong focus on developing a robust team infrastructure, from which the talents of the next decade emerged, such as Georgios Palalas, Michalis Kounounis, Rakis Karagiannis, Lauris Hadjivassiliou and George Nikolaou.

[19] Despite the seemingly abysmal start to millennium for AEL, the club nevertheless managed to close the decade with moderate success, by reaching the 1998–99 Cypriot Basketball Cup Final, against Keravnos B.C.

As the season progressed, it was becoming all the more apparent that with Raca's coaching prowess, in combination with the technical abilities possessed by the club's three star players at the time, Konstantinos Perentos, Michalis Kounounis and Duane Woodward, AEL was a force to be reckoned with and a serious title contender at least on a domestic level.

Against all odds, on the 13th February 2003, AEL was crowned with its only European title after winning the newly established 2002–03 FIBA Europe Regional Challenge Cup (South Conference).

The list of winners of FIBA's Conference South include AEL, Aris B.C., PBC Academic, Tuborg Pilsener, Banvit.

[26] AEL participated as Cypriot champions in the newly established FIBA Europe League whereby they qualified from the group phase after eliminating both Peristeri and Paris Basket Racing.

They also came close to repeating their previous achievement during the 2004–05 FIBA Europe League, but, despite being tied in victories with 4th-placed Hapoel Tel Aviv B.C., they were behind on points differential statistics and thus finished 5th (the top four teams qualify to the next round), and were eliminated from the competition in the group phase.

[28] During the 2005–06 FIBA EuroCup (when the competition changed format) AEL passed the first group round by finishing second, eliminating both PAOK BC and Kallev Tallinn.

[29][30] The group that AEL were drawn in the first round of the 2006–07 EuroCup season included former EuroLeague winners Virtus Bologna, French giants ASVEL Lyon-Villeurbanne and Dutch side Astronauts Amsterdam.

[38] However, despite AEL's interest having been warmly received by officials from the Hellenic Basketball Association, the club ultimately opted against the move.

[43] Due to the team's poor domestic performances, AEL decided to sack Raca and his assistant coaches Mike Protics and Thanasis Mastoris.

[49][56] During this period, the club also reached the 2022 Cypriot Cup final but they were ultimately unable to claim the trophy, losing the game to Keravnos B.C.

[74] On 25 March 2024, AEL were defeated by KB Sigal Prishtina by 67–70 in their eighth and final match of the 2023–24 BIBL Regular Season.

[86]"AEL is a historic and very successful team in Cyprus and a very well-known entity in Europe also with great achievements in the past and truly amazing supporters!

[92] During the 2000s, prior to the club's eventual decline, the rivalry between the supporters groups of both AEL and APOEL became particularly heated, leading to a significant rise in incidents of hooliganism during derby games.

[96][97] SYFAEL did not attend any AEL games in the initial seasons since the club's return to the top-flight (2018—19, 2019—20, 2020–21, 2021—22) after choosing to abstain from the matches in protest of the new mandatory fan identification cards imposed by the C.S.O.

[97][98] However, since SYFAEL's return to the arena (from the 2022–23 season onwards), the sport's domestic popularity has gradually increased, as have the incidents of fan violence.

's European matches hosted at the Nicos Solomonides Arena since at least the late 1990s,[104] and usually can be seen standing near the club's organised supporters, often chanting alongside them.