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From Cyprus club Pafos FC prepare for their maiden UEFA Champions League entry this Wednesday – merely eleven seasons since the organization’s establishment.

Lately, the organization has generated buzz by playing continental football for the very first occasion last term, advancing to the Europa Conference League last 16 and claiming their first-ever top-flight trophy.

This season, they have reached yet another major accomplishment by navigating three stages of Champions League preliminaries to qualify for the group stage – among just two teams, besides Kazakh outfit Kairat Almaty, to appear for the first time.

Maccabi Tel-Aviv, Ukraine’s Dynamo and Serbian giants Red Star were all overcome by Pafos during the qualifying stages.

Their reward is a series of fixtures in the league phase, with a match at home against German champions Bayern and an away trip to London club Chelsea, but they begin with a game in Hellenic soil against Greek side Olympiakos this Wednesday.

"The whole team celebrated wildly," commented ex- Brazilian and Blues centre-back Luiz, who signed for the squad in the summer, on the instant Pafos qualified.

"All of us was totally happy because we accomplished something incredible. Nobody anticipated us to reach the Champions League this season."

"I'm very happy to be here because I can experience this atmosphere, with everyone’s desire, to do something special."

Established Eleven Years Ago: The Backstory

Pafos were established in 2014 when two entities from the area joined forces – Kouklia FC and AEP – who also had been formed in a year 2000 union of another two clubs in the region.

They started in the second tier and bounced around the second and elite league until the 2017 takeover by Roman Dubov, a investor with UK passport who previously served as Portsmouth FC chairman in over a decade ago.

"Our vision was evident – we set out to establish something fresh, something competitive, something long-lasting – not just a sports team but one that could give back to the community," he stated recently.

"Cyprus is a nation with a profound love of the game and, in Pafos, we believed that we had an opportunity to build something from the ground up."

There was no instant success, though.

"The investment group have completely changed the club, entirely. It was a side that had difficulty to survive in the elite league."

"In Mediterranean countries, the passion is intense. So, if the side goes well, all will attend the arena. If the team fails, few people will go. There is nothing in the middle."

"They have done some errors, investment that didn't give them anything. They have been spending since 2017. It involved trial and error to come to this point."

British Managers Try Their Hand

Scotland's the former defender, now Dark Blues manager, had 19 games in charge in 2018.

From Wales the coach took twenty-one fixtures in 2019-20.

England's the experienced manager took the squad for a brief period in three years ago.

Two ex-Blackburn defenders took charge, as well – one-time Red Devils man the Norwegian and ex-Real Madrid player the Spaniard, who was technical director but also had two caretaker spells.

And as a player, once in the EPL player the Englishman was at Pafos from three seasons.

Success Starts Under One-Time Gunners Staff

Things changed with the coming of Spanish Carcedo in summer of 2023. He had been Emery’s right-hand man at several teams, such as North London club.

He managed UD Ibiza and Zaragoza before transitioning to the island.

The manager’s first season in control ended with the team’s first-ever silverware – the 2023-24 Cypriot Cup, with a comprehensive win over Nicosia-based Omonia, who were hosting the final for the match.

The following campaign Pafos came through multiple qualifiers of Conference League entry, finishing 12th in the main round and then advancing in the play-off round before exiting against Djurgardens in the knockout stage.

They finished the campaign as domestic league winners for the first occasion – winning the league by a comfortable gap and earning a path to the elite competition.

Jaja stoppage-time goal in Pafos' home game against Red Star Belgrade to level it at a draw (three-two) sealed their place in the group stage.

"The head of state of Cyprus Christodoulides is a very big Pafos FC fan who visits the ground."

"He watched the game. He saw it with nerves. At the final whistle he was jubilant like a child. He was uncontained. There was a viral video of him celebrating like a kid."

"It’s equivalent to winning the title in Cyprus, it's such a huge a deal."

"You can compare it to a achievement you put next to your club’s history – one championship, a domestic cup and one elite appearance. It's a very big matter here."

'In My View We Can Make History'

During the off-season, Pafos completed the surprise signing of centre-back the Brazilian, who at the his late thirties had been playing for {Fortaleza|Fort