A generation of Cypriot footballers born mostly in 2008 and 2009 has just delivered its fourth national title in five seasons, after ARIS FC’s U17 squad were confirmed champions of Cyprus for 2025/26.
According to Cyprus Mail, the title caps a run that began with the U13 championship back in 2021/22 and included an unbeaten streak of roughly 50 matches, a stretch few youth sides in the country have matched in recent memory.
What makes the story notable isn’t just the silverware. It’s the pipeline behind it. ARIS Academy currently works with around 2,000 children, organized into a structured pathway meant to carry players from grassroots football all the way to the senior squad. Ten players from this year’s U17 group already saw minutes with the U19 team during the season, a sign the club is actively bridging age groups rather than letting talent stall. Several have also worn Cyprus colors at youth international level.
The academy’s graduates provide the clearest evidence that the system works. Max Enqvist has already moved to Kalmar in Sweden, while both Giorgos Kestas and Alexandros Geroukalis signed with AEK Athens in Greece, three players from the same generation now competing abroad before turning professional at home.
Winning the 2025/26 title wasn’t straightforward. APOEL, Omonia and Ayia Napa all stayed in contention deep into the season, and one match in particular stood out: against APOEL, ARIS fell behind 1-0 at half-time, equalized in the second half, then won it in the dying minutes when 17-year-old defender Artem Fisher headed in the winning goal. The championship wasn’t sealed until the final round, when ARIS drew with AEK and Omonia could only manage a 2-2 draw against Karmiotissa, a combination of results that handed ARIS the title.
Exposure to competition outside Cyprus has been built into the program deliberately. The squad played in Greece’s Elite Neon Cup in 2025, facing academy sides from across Europe, and the newly crowned champions will head to the Netherlands in 2026 for the Heemskerk Cup, another test against international opposition at a similar age level.
Financial and structural backing for this development work comes from Coinspaid Solutions, which holds the title partnership for the ARIS FC Academy. The company’s support extends to training camps, coaching resources and the travel required for international fixtures, and it also lends its name to the Coinspaid Training Centre, the academy’s base in Kato Polemidia. Pavel Kashuba, Strategic Leader at Coinspaid Solutions, described the partnership as part of the company’s broader philanthropic work, noting that watching the players’ effort convert into tangible results made the collaboration particularly worthwhile.
For ARIS, four championships in five years is less about accumulating trophies than about proving a development model. The next test for this generation is the harder one: turning youth titles into sustained careers in senior football, in Cyprus or further afield, the same path a few of their former teammates have already started down.