pioneers | kopa

KOPA PIONEERS

KOPA became the best Sunday league in London because of great charismatic managers and great players but

certain legends brought football coaching methods that improved standard.The Cyprus lnternational Varnavas Christophi,60s KLN legend Peter Stephanou,Nick Milo and Andreas Paspatas brought methods ahead of everyones time.Varnavas was a player manager coach rolled into one with clubs like Jigsaw and Athletic,Paspatas with AEK,

Stephanou with KLN,Anemos while Milo was the coaches coach who was at Cosmos after being the first Cypriot coach to make Pro at Chelsea,QPR and Millwall.Peter Theodotou was a coach at Arsenal in the 80s joined up Kopa great Angelo Polycarpou at Salamina in the 90s.Gary Karsa was another Cypriot who made it big in the Premier League at Aston Villa and currently at QPR but Varnava,Stephanou.Paspatas and Milo were the pioneer figures,

they didn't win the trophies other Kopa legends did but they were vital for the coaching progress of the league.

VARNAVAS CHRISTOPHI

PETER STEPHANOU

ANDREAS PASPATAS

NICK MILO

KOPA CYPRUS EXPORTS

Kopa in the 70s and 80s had truelly great players and many tried their hand in Cyprus,some were major success stories

but most came back after quick stints,Kopa legends Gregory Savva (Omonia) and Paul Pavlou (Salamina) were the first to succeed with Gregory playing for Cyprus giants Omonia and Olympiakos (Greece) and Pavlou with Salamina (Cyprus),

others followed like KLN legend Willy Mcknamana who spent 10 years playing for Evagoras and Pezoporikos,Stuart Shaw

and Andy Mcgonigle of Olympiakos went to Olympiakos (Cyprus),Charlie Kyriacou had 2 super years at Salamina in 1987

and 1988.Kenny Dyer went to Cyprus in 1988 and was a major success at Salamina along with Kopa Goal King Nigel Mcneil

who played at PAOK in Kopa helped Salamina win the 1990 Cyprus Cup beating Omonia showed great Kopa players could

cut the mustard with the right mentality,Salamina legends Danny Bailey,Trevor Bailey had brief stints but didn't acclimatise,

Kopa Goal supreme Tony Constantinides went to Anorthosis in 1987 as did George Kanaris to EPA but both returned to Kopa

the following season.Kopa legend George Costa had a good stint at EPA but had contract problems before returning,George Georgiou who was all set to sign for Cyprus giants Omonia in 1993 chose elsewhere instead and soon returned back to the

semi Pro scene.Kopa also had lnternational Cyprus imports and Kopa legends like Varnava Christophi and Kyriacos Koureas aswell as KLN legends Mario Athanasiou and Andro Theodosiou.

Kenny Dyer & Nigel Mcneil

Gregory Savva

Cyprus Cup Winners

KOPA GO PRO

KOPA had some of the highest calibre players seen in amateur Sunday football attracted by great clubs like KLN,Salamina,Olympiakos,

Anorthosis,Omonia,AEL,Dherynia,Athletic,PAOK,Anemos to name.The cream would be attracted by great managers like Jimmy Cattle,

Nick Kyprianou,Kyriacos Koureas,Andy Fellahoudi,Andreas Paspatas,Varnava Christophi,Peter Stephanou,Michael Michalakis,Steve Cinotti

to name as some who were professional lit up Kopa and some fantastic players went on from Kopa to become professional.AndyPolycarpou

played in Kopa in the 70s before signing for Southend,Cardiff,Cambridge was the most successful Cypriot Kopa player.Olympiakos had Gary Roberts who signed for Brentford in the 80s,Andy Clarke of AEL signed for Wimbledon,Les Ferdinand played for a year in Kopa at Achna before making it big at QPR and Newcastle aswell as becoming an England International,John Sitton of Leyton Orient helped awesome AEL dominate Kopa,George Barry of Leyton Orient also played for the great AEL,Dherynia and Anorthosis.Kopa legend Danny Bailey who inspired Salamina for years was probably the biggest success story because he played in the Kopa for years enhancing it,he had a long 15 year Pro career first with Bournemouth then Torquay before signing for Salamina and going Pro again at Exeter and Reading.George Costa

who was one of the great talents seen in Kopa played for Blackpool,George Georgiou signed for Fulham for a year,Wade Felana played for

Doncaster and Sheffield Utd before signing for AEL,Salamina great George Spyrou played for Bristol City,West Ham star Frank McAvennie played breifly for Leyton in the 90s aswell as Holland World Cup star Edgar Davids making a guest appearance at Tripimeni.Kopa also had stars who were at Pro clubs at youth level that weren't lucky enough to crack it like great AEL centreback Tony Martin at QPR,Paul Brian was at Spurs before becoming a Kopa legend at KLN and Omonia,Salamina great Akis Eleftheriou was at Spurs,Andy Gordon was at Charlton

and played for Athletic and Omonia,Tony Constantinides was at Spurs before becoming a Kopa goal supreme.Kopa had some all time legends that were more than good enough to make Pro like AEL giant Nick Shakali,Paul Pavlou,Tony Georgiou,Mario Christodoulou,Panny Vrahimi,