Cyprus is apparently the only country to have an island depicted on its national flag. The population is about 820,000 of which 25% live in the capital Nicosia, also known as Lefkosa. Due to its strategic location the island has attracted much interest from other countries and the British ruled from 1878 until independence was gained in 1960. The island still retains some British touches today. In 1974 Turkey invaded and 40,000 Greek Cypriots were displaced and forced south. The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, taking up roughly 37% of the land mass, was founded in 1983, although the only country that officially recognises it is……Turkey.

There are no railways on the island and buses are infrequent so we pick up a Z-car, all hire cars on the island having a registration plate with a Z-prefix. A 2-hour drive takes us to our base, Larnaka and the Flamingo Beach Hotel. Located on the south east coast with a view of the sea and an airport, if not flamingos. The nearby ‘To Varelli’ restaurant offers traditional Cypriot fare, served by a waiter from Barnet ! He guides us through the menu and provides complimentary dishes such as cracked wheat and honey bread to go with the leftika (a very tender lamb shank dish). Opposite the restaurant there are 4 ice cream parlours vying for trade next door to each other and it is not a busy area ! This is the Cypriot way apparently.

Stroll along the palm lined promenade into town, see some of the important shrines to Islam and Christianity and have an expensive home brew at the originally named ‘The Brewery’. Decline a visit to the clubbing resort of Ayia Napia about 20 miles away.

Have a leisurely start to the Saturday, watching the fishermen selling squid and octopus on the front before we head off for our first football action. The sport was introduced to Cyprus by British soldiers and sailors in the 1870’s and the Cypriot FA was founded in 1934 with league and cup competitions beginning a year later. Cetinkaya were the only ‘Turkish’ team to have won the league and from 1968 to 1974 the Cypriot champions also competed in the Greek League. After the Turkish invasion many teams moved from north to south and vice-versa, usually retaining their original club names.

Achnas was ravaged in 1974 and became a ghost village. The original inhabitants settled in a new town 8 miles away, Dasaki Achnas. This is within the 55 square kilometre Sovereign Base Area administered by the British Army / M.O.D. It is unusual to see local police in British uniforms.

Prior to the main event watch the under-21 sides of A.S.Ethnikos Achnas and A.E.Paphos play in the premier reserve league, the home side winning 4-2. The game is played on a barely grassed fenced off pitch to the rear of the first team ground. Spectators either stand pressed up to the mesh fence or sit on wooden benches, mounted on a very precarious looking scaffold-type structure.

The same clubs are later in opposition for the ‘Kypros Katigoria A’ (top division) clash, this time the visitors from Pafos gaining a merited 3-1 victory. It’s a decent, modern 3-sided ground with slightly elevated stands, seats along each side and concrete terracing at one end. Only the central third of one side is under cover. 15 euros gains admittance and there is no programme.

A 60 kilometre drive takes us to the capital for our evening game. The Neo G.S.P. is a smart, stylish ground located on the outskirts of Nicosia and is shared by three club sides: A.P.O.E.L., Omonia and Olympiakos, as well as being the national stadium. G.S.P. is the Pan-Cypriot Gymnastic Association. Their original stadium was built in 1902, but fell into disrepair and was replaced as the national ground by the Makariou Stadium in 1977. In the 1990’s the influential G.S.P. agreed a deal to swap its rundown downtown base for a 150-acre site in the district of Strovolos and the Neo G.S.P. was opened in 1999. Capable of holding approximately 23,000 spectators, the futuristic roof over the 2 high tiers of the main stand is the most interesting feature. It sweeps down like a ski-slope over the concourse to the rear of the stand and continues on to provide cover for the seating on one side of National Athletic Stadium behind. The roof supports also act as floodlight pylons for the athletics arena. The football ground has 2 lower tiers of open seating on the remaining three sides. 17 euros is charged for entry and although the programmes are supposed to be for V.I.P.’s only we manage to purloin copies after the game. Translating the players’ names from Cyrillic is a bit more difficult, but Marcin Zewlakov scores one of the home goals as A.P.O.E.L. defeat Alki Larnaka 3-1 watched by 4,500. The away team had probably been hitting the bottle !

Settle for beer and pizza at the ‘Moby Dick’ back in Larnaka. I am suffering a bit after spraining an ankle, but it won’t stop me hopping!

On the Sunday morning its back to Nicosia. Get some daylight photos of the Neo G.S.P. Stadium then venture across the great divide. Until fairly recently the only way to enter the Turkish part of Cyprus was via Turkey, but matters are a little more relaxed now and there are several crossing points. We use the pedestrian route near the Ledra Palace Hotel and beside part of the old town’s sandstone fortress wall. We pass the Greek checkpoint then walk through the 300-yard UN buffer zone that contains a few U.N. buildings among a lot of abandoned decaying structures, before reaching the Turkish frontier where a simple visa form is filled out and stamped to allow entry.

Statues of Kemal Ataturk, dolmuses and mosques announce arrival in a different ‘country’. The flag is the same design as for Turkey but with the colours reversed and both Euros and Turkish lire are accepted as currency. The blue British post boxes remain although all post goes via Turkey. In terms of football northern Cyprus has its own competitions with a three-division league, 14 teams in each. Between 1974 and 1983 northern Cyprus played friendlies against Turkey and other FIFA members, but since then they have been outcasts, still retaining a side, but with no-one to play.  There is supposed to be a match on today at a fairly new 28,000 capacity stadium, but our schedule makes it too awkward to attend.

Back on the south side, we head for what was the national ground from 1977 to 1999, the Makareio Stadio. Somewhat rundown and faded now, it can still hold 16,000, although there are only about 430 spectators for today’s second division game, even though it is between the top two in the table.

Very enjoyable match which could have gone to either side, but Dighenis Morfou edge out Aris Limassol 2-1. The ground is also home to Ethnikos Assia and top division, Doxa Katokopias.

The stadium is mainly a single tier of open seating around an athletics track, with many of the seats damaged or missing. A small raised VIP area has the only cover and 8 euros is charged for entry.

Once again see the under-21 match on an outside pitch as a curtain raiser. The fight involving about half of the 83 spectators, with the players and coaches trying to join in as well, livens up a fairly dull 1-1 draw.

Our final game of the trip takes place in Larnaka, but does not involve the town team of AEK Larnaka, or their ground. Anorthosis Famagusta have played in exile at the Stadio Antonis Papadopoulos in Larnaka since 1974. Very successful in recent years, finishing league champions and going on to reach the group stages of the Champions League where they only narrowly failed to make the last 16. They give a low-tempo performance on our visit, but a thumping volley is sufficient to defeat Enosis Neon Paralimni 1-0, watched by 5,000. The ground is all-seated with cover along most of the sides. Admission is 15 euros and although there is no paperwork available for this match we obtain programmes from their previous European ventures.