Ethnikos Achna Football Club (
Greek: Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Εθνικός Άχνας), commonly known as Ethnikos Achna, or simply Ethnikos, is a
Cypriot professional
football club based in the village of
Dasaki Achnas. Founded in 1968, the club currently plays in the
Cypriot First Division. Ethnikos' home ground is the
Dasaki Stadium, which has a capacity of 7000 seats.
History
The club played in the
Cypriot Second Division until 1983 when it was
promoted to the
Cypriot First Division but was immediately relegated. Ethnikos was promoted to the First Division again in 1986 and stayed there for four seasons. Another two years in the Second Division ended with promotion to the First Division in 1992, where Ethnikos have remained until 2018 when they were relegated again.
The team's best overall national ranking is fourth in the 1994–95, 1997–98 and
2006–07 seasons. The club participated in the
Cypriot Cup final twice; once in 2002, where they were beaten by
Anorthosis Famagusta 0–1, as well as in 2022 when they were beaten by
Omonoia in a penalty shootout after a 0–0 score in normal and extra time.
European Competitions
Ethnikos competed in the
UEFA Intertoto Cup six times: In
1998,
2003,
2004,
2006,
2007 and
2008. Five of those times, they were eliminated in the first round. However, in 2006, Ethnikos won the Intertoto Cup and was of the eleven winners of that year's competition. After eliminating Albanian side
Partizani Tirana, they faced
Croatian side
NK Osijek. They tied both matches, but Ethnikos advanced on away goals, and became the first Cypriot team to have reached the third round of the Intertoto Cup. There, they beat
Maccabi Petah Tikva 4–3 on aggregate, and became one of the competition's eleven winners. This meant that Ethnikos had qualified for the
2006–07 UEFA Cup.
In the UEFA Cup, Ethnikos eliminated
Roeselare with a 2–1 loss in
Belgium and a 5–0 victory in Cyprus, qualifying for the first round. They were eliminated by
Lens after drawing the first leg at home (played at
GSP Stadium, Nicosia) 0–0 and losing 3–1 in France. Because of their success in the Intertoto Cup, Ethnikos was named the Sports Team of the Year in 2006, by the Sports Journalists Union of Cyprus.