Foundation AEK was founded on 18 July 1994. It came from the merger of two historic Larnaca clubs,
EPA Larnaca and
Pezoporikos.
EPA and Pezoporikos Pezoporikos had been established in 1924. In 1926, serving retired members of Pezoporikos founded AMOL (stands for "Athletic Educational Union of Larnaca" in Greek). In 1932, the two clubs were merged, creating EPA Larnaca (EPA stands for "Union of Pezoporikos-AMOL" in Greek). However, in 1937 a group of members and players of EPA left and refounded Pezoporikos. After several decades, in 1994, the two clubs were merged and created AEK Larnaca. The second leg was held at the
New GSZ Stadium on 22 August 1996 with AEK winning 5–0 and progressing to the first round of the tournament. In this round, AEK were drawn to face
Barcelona. The first leg (12 September 1996) was held at the
Barcelona Olympic Stadium, where the Spanish team won 2–0. The second leg took place at the GSZ Stadium (26 September 1996) and ended in a 0–0 draw, meaning Barcelona had qualified. In the
1996–97 season, AEK finished in 4th place and reached the semi-finals of the domestic cup. This was followed by 5th place in
1997–98, before returning to 4th place in the
1998–99 season.
2000s For three seasons in a row,
1999–00,
2000–01 and
2001–02, AEK finished in 7th place. In the 1999–00 season they reached the
Cypriot Cup semi-finals, and in the
2002–03 season they finished in 8th place. The 2003–04 season was very important for the history of the team, as they managed to win their first trophy. Although they finished 9th in the league, they reached the final of the Cup, where they beat
AEL Limassol at the
GSP stadium with a score of 2–1. Winning the cup gave AEK the opportunity to participate European football for the second time, in the
2004–05 UEFA Cup, where they faced
Maccabi Petah Tikva in the second qualifying round of the competition. The first match took place on 12 August 2004 at the
GSP stadium where AEK won 3–0. However, in the rematch in Israel, AEK lost 4–0 and was eliminated from the tournament. In 2004, as cup winners, AEK faced league champions APOEL for the
Cypriot Super Cup. AEK lost 5–4 after extra time.
2010s In the
2009–10 season, AEK finished 2nd in the
Second Division, and were promoted back to the First Division. The following season, AEK finished in 4th place, allowing them to participate in the
2011–12 UEFA Europa League. In the
2011–12 season, the club finished 5th and reached the semi-finals of the
Cypriot Cup. In the
2012–13 season, AEK finished 4th in the league and made it to the semi-finals of the
cup once more. In the
2013–14 season, the team placed 8th after a mediocre campaign.
UEFA Europa League 2011–2012 Group Stages The participation of the team in the
2011–12 Europa League was historic for both the club and for Cypriot football. AEK Larnaca became the first Cypriot team to qualify to the group stage of the
Europa League (
Anorthosis and
APOEL had previously qualified to the
Champions League groups stage). In the second qualifying round, AEK faced Maltese
Floriana who they beat 8–0 away and 1–0 at home. Their away win is the largest winning range of a Cypriot team in any European competition. In the third qualifying round, AEK faced the Czech
Mladá Boleslav. In the first match, AEK won 3–0 at home, while in the second leg the teams were drawn by 2–2 with AEK qualifying to the
play-offs of the Europa League. Their next opponent was the Norwegian
Rosenborg. A goalless draw was the result of the first leg between the two teams. In the second leg (which was held at the
Antonis Papadopoulos Stadium due to the fact that
UEFA deemed the
GSZ Stadium inappropriate for that phase of the tournament), AEK won 2–1 and qualified through to the group stages of the tournament. In the group stage, the team faced
Schalke 04,
Maccabi Haifa and
Steaua Bucharest. The only stadium in Cyprus which could host matches of group stages of European competitions was the
GSP Stadium, where AEK played its home matches in the group stage. AEK finished at the bottom of
Group J and was eliminated. AEK finished the group with one win (2–1 at home against
Maccabi Haifa) and two draws (0–0 away against
Schalke 04 and 1–1 home against
Steaua), gathering five points. During that season, AEK set a new unbeaten record for Cypriot clubs in Europe, at six matches (four wins and two draws during the qualifying phase of the tournament). The same record is also hold by APOEL in the same season, but with three wins and three draws.
Spanish Larnaca In 2014, the arrival of sporting director
Xavi Roca marked the beginning of a Spanish era at AEK Larnaca. Under the coach
Thomas Christiansen, there were six regular starters from Spain in the lineup during the
2014–15 season. That season, the team challenged for the championship trophy until the last matchday. In the penultimate matchday, the team faced APOEL with whom they drew 1–1. If AEK had won, they would go to the top of the table. In the last matchday, AEK beat
Anorthosis and finished 2nd for first time in its history. As in 2014–15, Larnaca finished in 2nd place in the League for the 2015–16 season. As it was the case in the previous season, there were six Spaniards in the starting eleven, but this time just one player from Cyprus. Christiansen then left to League rivals
APOEL Nicosia. He was replaced by a Spaniard,
Imanol Idiakez. Under Idiakez, Larnaca finished second once again in the
2016–17 season. The team's highest scorers in the league were
Ivan Trickovski with 14 goals, followed by the Spaniard
Acorán Barrera who netted 9 goals. Idiakez nominated seven Spaniards as regular starters, but not a single player from Cyprus. The
2017–18 season saw AEK Larnaca finishing in 4th place but winning the Cyprus Cup for the second time. The French striker
Florian Taulemesse scored a staggering 22 goals in the championship and was nominated player of the year and player of the Cyprus Cup Final for the season.
Imanol Idiakez completed 100 games as AEK Larnaca coach, and in his final game he won the Cypriot Cup.
2020s Led by
David Catala, and interim coach
David Badia towards the end of the season, AEK Larnaca finished 2nd in the
2021–22 campaign. Cyprus' ranking in the
UEFA coefficients at the time, meant that AEK had qualified for
Champions League football, for the first time in the club's history. Spaniard
José Luis Oltra was brought in as the new coach for the 2022–23 season. AEK made its Champions League debut in a qualifying round against
Midtjylland on 19 July 2022. They were eliminated on penalties following two consecutive draws, and dropped into the qualifying rounds of the
Europa League where they knocked-out
FK Partizan and
SC Dnipro-1, entering the
Europa League group stage for the third time in the club's history. AEK finished third in Group B of the
2022–23 Europa League, and secured its place in the preliminary knockout round of the
Europa Conference League, where they would go on to eliminate
SC Dnipro-1 to enter the round of 16. This made AEK the second Cypriot club to "survive" a European group stage, and make it to the round of 16 of any European Competition, and the first and only Cypriot club to make the round of 16 of the Europa Conference League. They were eliminated by eventual winners
West Ham United. AEK finished their league campaign in 3rd place. They gained entry into the Europa Conference League qualifying rounds, but failed to make the group stage. ==Stadium==