Sotiris Kaiafas

Kaiafas played for a local club in Mia Milia, called Prodoos. He joined Omonia in 1965, and in 1967 he debuted for Omonia's senior team, joining the youth team at the age of 16. Soon he established himself as one of the most prolific strikers Omonia had ever employed, but it was not until the early 1970s that he served notice of his talent. In the 1971–72 season, Kaiafas became for first time leading scorer in Cyprus with 12 goals, a tally that helped Omonia to their third domestic title. It was the start of a successful partnership. Kaiafas, like other Cypriot stars such as Andreas Stylianou, Panicos Efthymiades, and Leonidas Leonidou, became a cult hero to the fans during a period where there was a close connection between players and fans; during this time, football was played on gravel and footballers were paid only a pittance by clubs. During the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, the Turks captured the northern part of Cyprus, including Kaiafas' home village Mia Milia. He, along with 200,000 other Greek Cypriots, had to leave his house and become a refugee in the rest of Cyprus. He moved to South Africa with his family, but came back to Cyprus one year later and has lived with his family in Nicosia since then. He continued playing football while in South Africa. Kaiafas was the top scorer of the Cypriot First Division in another seven seasons (1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, and 1981–82) and scored a total of nearly 300 league goals, having the record of…

Omonia

Cypriot First Division (11): 1971–72, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1983–84 Cypriot Cup (6): 1971–72, 1973–74, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83 Cypriot Super Cup: 1979, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983 Individual

European Golden Shoe: 1975–76 World Top Scorer: 1975–76 Cypriot First Division Top Scorer (8): 1971–72, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1978–79, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82 Cypriot Sportsman of the Year: 1976, 1978 UEFA Jubilee Awards Best Cypriot Footballer of the 20th Century Cyprus Sports Association Best Cypriot Sportsman of the 20th Century (shared with athlete Stavros Tziortzis)