APOEL (Greek: ΑΠΟΕΛ; short for Αθλητικός Ποδοσφαιρικός Όμιλος Ελλήνων Λευκωσίας, Athletikos Podosferikos Omilos Ellinon Lefkosias, "Athletic Football Club of Greeks of Nicosia") is a major Cypriot multi-sport club based in Nicosia.

[4] The club is parent to fourteen different competitive departments including football, basketball, volleyball, futsal, handball, table tennis, bowling, cycling, archery, swimming, water polo and a runners team.

The meeting took place at a traditional confectionery, owned by Charalambos Hadjioannou, downtown in Ledra Street and the first president of the club was Giorgos Poulias.

Soon after more sports departments were established, including volleyball, table tennis, rugby football, boxing, cycling, field hockey and basketball (a few years later).

The meeting took place in APOEL's clubhouse on 23 September and the establishment of the Cyprus Football Association was agreed.

[6] A few days later, on 4 June 1948, they founded Omonia, which until today is the arch rival of APOEL and there has been a traditional animosity between the fans of the two teams.

During the 1955–59 national uprising against the British, many of APOEL's athletes and members of the club were active members of EOKA (the National Organisation of Cypriot Fighters), the most outstanding example being the club's track and field athlete Michalakis Karaolis who was hanged by the British colonial authorities.

The company has 1745 shareholders[9] and besides the football club, also maintains a team boutique (Orange Shop), the APOELFC (Greek: ΑΠΟΕΛFC) magazine and the apoelfc.com.cy website among others.

The club's basketball, volleyball and futsal teams host their matches in the 2,100 seater Lefkotheo Indoor Arena which was built in 1980.

The magazine is named after the founding year of the club and covers all of APOEL's teams (football, basketball, futsal, volleyball, water polo), as well as individual sports (archery, bowling, cycling, running, swimming, table tennis), with feature stories, interviews, retro, and presentations.

[17] APOEL's greatest moment in the European competitions occurred in the season 2011–12, when the club participated in the group stages of the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League (along with FC Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit St. Petersburg) and achieved qualification for the quarter-finals of the competition by topping the group and eliminating Olympique Lyonnais in the last 16, becoming the only Cypriot club to reach the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.

They marked their most successful UEFA Europa League campaign during the 2016–17 season, when they managed to top their group (along with Olympiacos, Young Boys and Astana) and eliminated Athletic Bilbao in the round of 32, to reach the last 16 of the competition for the first time in their history.

The next season (2009–10), the team won their second consecutive Championship title and reached the quarterfinals of the FIBA EuroChallenge, marking their most successful campaign in the European competitions.

In their most successful seasons, APOEL Women's team reached the Championship finals twice (2003–04 & 2004–05) and qualified two times for the semi-finals of the Cup (2004–05 & 2006–07).

The women's team won their only title in 1977, when they managed to win AEL Limassol 3–2 in the season's Cup final.

[35] After winning the double in the 2013–14 season, APOEL qualified for the first time for the European competitions, participating in the 2014–15 UEFA Futsal Cup.

They entered the preliminary round of the competition and they hosted all the Group D matches in Nicosia's Tasos Papadopoulos - Eleftheria Indoor Hall.

APOEL managed to qualify for the main round[36] by winning all their matches, beating FC Anzhi Tallinn 5–3, KF Flamurtari Vlorë 9–1 and NAFI Stuttgart 10–1.

APOEL were eventually eliminated at the main round of the UEFA Futsal Cup, finishing in the third place of Group 6 with 4 points, after losing 1–5 against Slov-Matic Bratislava, beating MVFC Berettjóújfalu 3–2 and drawing 3–3 with Vegakameratene.

APOEL were eventually eliminated at the main round of the UEFA Futsal Cup, finishing in the third place of Group 6 with 4 points, after drawing 3–3 with City'US Târgu Mureș, losing 0–7 against Era-Pack Chrudim and beating 6–5 ŠK Pinerola Bratislava.

Great APOEL's table tennis athletes were Michalakis Zambas who won 6 consecutive titles and Stavros Louras.

[41] The early years, the club's athletes participated in domestic games, as Cypriot federation – in which APOEL was one of the founding members – was established much later in 1978.

The next year, they participated in the ascent of Parnitha, where Spyros Agrotis finished first in adolescents and 4th in the overall score, achieving the first international victory for APOEL.

Also Pancyprian titles have been won by Nicos Demetriou, Michalis Chadjioannou, Alexis Charalambous, Sotiris Stavrou, Giorgos Kallidis and Eftychios Kasapis.

The first track and field athletes were the footballers of the club, as four players of APOEL had taken part at the Panhellenic games in Limassol.

The Open Championships were abolished in 1968 and they were replaced by Diagoreia, in the memory of the old agent and founding member of APOEL Diagoras Nicolaides.

The team's operation lasted a few weeks because the current years the dry pitches did not favor the development of sport in Cyprus.

APOEL's field hockey team was founded before the Second World War and participated in all three Cypriot leagues, which were organized with their greatest rival AYMA.