Football in Cyprus is the most loved sport there is. It is a popular game for the Cypriots.
I have friends with children that live in Cyprus and they all go to football training clubs. Even girls’ teams are set up with some football clubs in Paphos.
FOOTBALL CLUBS
There is one football club in particular, called the UK Paphos Cheetahs, which has been running for three years and is playing in the league now in Cyprus. There are many English boys under the age of 15 years old who play for the under 15s team. The team have not long been registered in Cyprus, but were just a training team for some time.
Last year, in October 2007, the team went to England for one week and played against a few under 15 teams. One of them was a professional youth team, which they beat.
UK Paphos Cheetahs provided football kits and tracksuits through sponsors of the team to be used when visiting England. These were companies such as well known restaurants, bars and the Paphos local radio station. The success of the trip brought the club publicity and they gained recognition for one of the best clubs so far in Paphos.
Training takes place twice a week for the UK Paphos Cheetahs, which is Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings.
TRAINING
Since their trip to England, more children have joined the club, including girls and Cypriot locals, because they have said that an English club like UK Paphos Cheetahs have the best training and understanding of British football more than other clubs in Paphos.
The one good thing about training in Cyprus is that the weather is reliable. Not much rain or cold snowing winters. Of course, in the height of summer between June to September football training is moved up to late evenings for instance it takes place at 7pm, because it is better and cooler.
TRAINING GROUNDS
The training grounds are great. There are many pitches in Paphos and all over Cyprus. As I said, football in Cyprus is a big thing and the Cypriots take it very seriously. The professional football stadiums are huge too. There is one in Paphos, Peiya, Limassol and Nicosia. Go watch a match there if you are on holiday in Cyprus and you will be shocked by the number of mad football hooligans that are Cypriots. They are the biggest of football fans that I have ever seen. There have also been times when I have seen the news on Cyprus football, when I have been on holiday there and heard about the fighting between the fans. It is worse than any other country.
Camisetas ESLOVAQUIA Noticias de Fútbol – Diario de Noticias de Navarra