The 2011–12

Umaglesi Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა - lit. National League) is the top division of professional football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football ...

was the 23rd season of top-tier football in

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

. It began on 6 August 2011 and ended on 21 May 2012. The league added two teams for this season, increasing its size from ten to twelve teams. The league was won by

Zestafoni Zestafoni or Zestaponi ( ka, ზესტაფონი, tr, ) is the administrative center of Zestafoni District in Western Georgia. Zestafoni is the center of an ancient, historical part of Georgia – Margveti, which is a part of Imereti ...

, who successfully defended their title. Metalurgi Rustavi,

Torpedo Kutaisi FC Torpedo Kutaisi is a Georgian professional football club based in Kutaisi, Georgia's third largest city. 'Torpedo Kutaisi' was founded in 1946 and in just three years the club became the winner of the Football Championship of that time. Torp ...

and

Dila Gori FC Dila Gori is a Georgian football club based in Gori. The club takes part in Erovnuli Liga, the first tier of Georgian football system, and plays their home games at Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium. Dila won the Georgian Cup in 2012 and Georgian C ...

qualified for the

2012–13 UEFA Europa League The 2012–13 UEFA Europa League was the 42nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 4th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Amsterdam Aren ...

, while Spartaki Tskhinvali and

Gagra Gagra ( ka, გაგრა; Abkhaz and Russian: Гагра) is a town in Abkhazia/Georgia, sprawling for 5 km on the northeast coast of the Black Sea, at the foot of the Caucasus Mountains. Its subtropical climate made Gagra a popular he ...

were relegated.

Changes from 2010–11 season

The league expanded from ten to twelve teams for this season. In order to accommodate the additional teams, the competition mode was changed from a single-phase, quadruple round-robin schedule to a double-phase championship. All twelve teams first played a regular double round-robin schedule for a total of 22 matches, once at home and once away against each opponent. The best eight teams were then admitted to a championship round, while the remaining four teams were to compete with the best two teams of each of the two 2011–12

Pirveli Liga The Georgian Erovnuli Liga 2 ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა 2; ), organized since 1990 by GFF, serves as the second division of professional football in Georgia. Under the current name the league was introduced for the 2017 season ...

divisions for a total of four free spots in the 2012–13 season.

Teams

Due to the expansion from ten to twelve teams, no teams were directly relegated at the end of the 2010–11 season. However, the ninth- and tenth-placed teams, Spartaki Tskhinvali and

FC Samtredia FC Samtredia ( ka, სკ სამტრედია), commonly known simply as Samtredia, is a Georgia (country), Georgian association football club based in the city of Samtredia. The club gained promotion to Erovnuli Liga, the first tier of F ...

, had to participate in single-match relegation/promotion play-off matches against third- and fourth-placed 2010–11

sides

and

Chikhura Sachkhere Football Club Chikhura Sachkhere, commonly known as Chikhura Sachkhere or simply Chikhura, is a Georgian football club based in Sachkhere. After the 2022 season they were relegated to Liga 4, the fourth tier of Georgian league system. His ...

. In these matches, Spartaki Tskhinvali retained their Umaglesi Liga berth by beating Chikhura 2–1, while Samtredia were relegated after a 2–0 loss against Dila Gori. Samtredia hence completed a two-year tenure in the league; Dila Gori returned after a three-season absence. The directly promoted teams from the 2010–11 Pirveli Liga were champions

and runners-up Merani Martvili. Gagra returned to the top Georgian football league after only one season at the second tier, while Merani Martvili made their debut at the highest level of the league pyramid. In other changes, Olimpi Rustavi were renamed ''Metalurgi Rustavi'' prior to this season.

Stadiums and locations

Spartaki Tskhinvali and

play their home matches in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Kura River with a population of approximately 1.5 million p ...

due to various inner-Georgian conflicts.

FC WIT Georgia FC WIT Georgia is a Georgian football team from Tbilisi. The team is sponsored by WIT Georgia Ltd (a subsidiary of the United States WIT, Inc.), a pet food, accessories, and human and veterinary pharmaceuticals import company. WIT stands for Worl ...

moved from Tbilisi to the newly constructed

Mtskheta Park Mtskheta Park is a multi-use stadium in Mtskheta, Georgia (country), Georgia. It is used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and is the home stadium of FC WIT Georgia. The stadium is able to hold 2,000 people. See also

*List of ...

in Mtskheta.

First phase

The league began with a regular double-round robin schedule on 6 August 2011 and concluded this phase on 8 March 2012. The best eight teams qualified for the

championship round In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

, which will determine the

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

champions and the participants for the 2012–13 European competitions. The remaining four teams qualified for the promotion/relegation round, where they will have to compete with the best two teams of each of the two 2011–12

divisions for four free places in the 2012–13 competition.

League table

Results

Second phase

This phase began on 12 March 2012 and will end on 21 May 2012.

Championship round

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating FC Carl Zeiss Jena of East Germany 2–1 ...

, Metalurgi Rustavi, Merani Martvili, Baia Zugdidi,

and Kolkheti Poti ended the first phase in the top eight positions of the table and thus entered the championship round. The results of the matches among these teams will be used as a base ranking. Each team will then play another double round-robin schedule against every other team.

Table

Results

Promotion/relegation round

WIT Georgia, Spartaki Tskhinvali,

and

Sioni Bolnisi FC Sioni is a Georgian football club based in Bolnisi. Following the 2022 season, they were relegated to Erovnuli Liga Liga 2, the second tier of Georgian league system. The team has once claimed the national league champion's title. Sioni pla ...

finished ninth through twelfth and thus entered the promotion/relegation round, where they will meet the best two teams from each of the two 2011–12

divisions. These four teams are Dinamo Batumi, Mertskhali Ozurgeti,

and Guria Lanchkhuti. Each team will play another double round-robin schedule against every other team. The best four teams of this round will qualify for the

2012–13 Umaglesi Liga The 2012–13 Umaglesi Liga was the 24th season of top-tier football in Georgia. The season began on 10 August 2012 and ended on 19 May 2013. Teams Stadiums and locations Dinamo Batumi play their home matches in Kobuleti and WIT Georgia in M ...

, with the remaining teams beginning the 2012–13 season in the

Table

Results

Top goalscorers

References

External links

Georgian Football Federation
{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Umaglesi Liga Erovnuli Liga seasons 1