Division in 1953, Omonia only placed seventh out of nine teams in the 1953–54 season, barely avoiding relegation. During that decade, the club's best placing came during the 1956–57 season when the club finished in the third position. The team would make its closest push for the title during the 1959–60 season after finishing second, one point behind Anorthosis Famagusta. The following year, after seven seasons in the First Division, the club would win its first title in 1960–61 season. Omonia, in that season, would score 91 goals in 24 matches on their way to their first ever Cyprus First Division title. Omonia won their second title during the 1965–66 season. Golden era (1970s–1980s) Omonia won its first trophies of the decade in 1972, when the club won both the league and the cup. Led by a young Sotiris Kaiafas, Omonia won seven league titles in the 1970s, six of them were consecutive (1974–1979). At the end of the decade, Omonia had a total of nine championship titles and three cups. At the end of the 1979 season, Omonia trailed its arch-rival APOEL by two championships. In 1976, Sotiris Kaiafas would go on and win the European Golden Shoe for his single-season 39-goal performance. In 2003, he was awarded the UEFA Jubilee Awards for the Best Cypriot Footballer of the 20th century. The 1980s was a successful decade for the club as it won an additional seven Cypriot League Championship titles including another five consecutive in 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, and in 1987 and in 1989. As the 1980s came to an end, Omonia had won 14 Cypriot championship titles, becoming the most successful team on the island at the time. General decline (1990s) The 1990s would prove to be less successful than the previous two decades. During this time, Omonia only mustered one Cypriot League title during the 1992–93 season. It would be eight years before Omonia would see its next title. In 1997, Omonia signed the German Rainer Rauffmann, who would later become the second top goalscorer ever for the club. With the help of other Omonia great and then captain, Costas Malekkos, and a young Costas Kaiafas (the son of Sotiris Kaiafas), Rauffmann would become top scorer of the Cypriot First Division in 1997–98, 1998–99, 1999–00 and 2000–01 seasons and led Omonia to two titles. Revival (2000s) After a disappointing eight seasons, the 2000s decade began