The 2011–12 season was APOEL's 72nd season in the Cypriot First Division and 84th year in existence as a football club.
Season review
Pre-season and friendlies
The first training session for the season took place on 8 June 2011 at GSP Stadium. On 19 June 2011, the team flew to Obertraun in Austria to perform the main stage of their pre-season training. APOEL returned to Cyprus on 2 July 2011. During the pre-season training stage in Austria, APOEL participated in Salzburg Airport Cup and played in total four friendly matches.
Domestic Competitions
Laiki Bank League
APOEL completed the regular season of the 2011–12 Cypriot First Division having 17 wins, 5 draws and 4 losses, scoring 39 goals and conceding 13 goals. So, APOEL entered championship play-offs from the third place with 56 points, four points behind leaders AEL Limassol (60 points) and one point behind second placed Omonia (57 points).
In the first championship play-off match, APOEL won Omonia by 2–1, with a last-minute winner from Gustavo Manduca and moved up to the second place, only two points behind leaders AEL Limassol who on the same day drew 1–1 at Anorthosis. In the second play-off match, APOEL suffered a 2–1 home loss from Anorthosis and leaders AEL Limassol (who at the same day won Omonia by 2–0) gained a five-points advantage. In the next play-off match, Ivan Tričkovski's last-minute winner helped APOEL beat AEL Limassol 1–0 at home, to reduce AEL's lead to just two points. Another match between AEL Limassol and APOEL followed one week later, but the two teams drew 0–0 in Limassol and AEL remained two points clear of APOEL, with only two matches remaining. On 5 May 2012, APOEL lost from Omonia at home by 2–1 and at the same day AEL Limassol crowned champions by beating Anorthosis 1–0 at Limassol. In the last match of the season, APOEL won Anorthosis at Larnaca by 2–1 and secured the second place in the league.
LTV Super Cup
On 7 August 2011, APOEL won the 2011 Cypriot Super Cup by beating Omonia 1–0 in the GSP Stadium. The winner came from Christos Kontis in the 81st minute.
Cypriot Cup
In the first round of the 2011–12 Cypriot Cup, APOEL eliminated Akritas Chlorakas by winning 9–1 in a knock-out match which was held at GSP Stadium. In the last 16 of the Cup, APOEL faced up AEL Limassol in a two-legged tie and lost 0–1 on aggregate. In the first match at GSP Stadium, APOEL lost 0–1 from a Patrick Vouho's goal in the 40th minute. On the return leg, APOEL was held to a 0–0 draw, and so eliminated very early from the competition.
UEFA Champions League
The team won the Cypriot championship last season and as such entered the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. A successful campaign saw them through to the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League group stages by eliminating Skënderbeu Korçë (6–0 agg.), Slovan Bratislava (2–0 agg.) and Wisła Kraków (3–2 agg.). APOEL drawn in Group G, alongside F.C. Porto, Shakhtar Donetsk and Zenit St. Petersburg.