Boris Paichadze ( ka, ბორის პაიჭაძე, ; russian: Борис Соломонович Пайчадзе; 3 February 1915 – 9 October 1990) was a

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 ...

footballer, who played for

FC Dinamo Tbilisi FC Dinamo Tbilisi ( ka, დინამო თბილისი, ) is a Georgian professional football club based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top flight of Georgian football. Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the mo ...

. The largest stadium in Georgia, the Boris Paichadze Stadium in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), is the Capital city, capital and the List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia (country), Georgia, lying on the ...

, is named after him. In 2001, he was voted the best Georgian football player of the 20th century.

Career

Born in

Chokhatauri Chokhatauri ( ka, ჩოხატაური) is a town in Georgia’s Guria region, 310 km west to the nation's capital of Tbilisi. It is an administrative center of Chokhatauri Municipality, which comprises the town itself and its adjoining ...

, Paichadze's family moved to

Poti Poti ( ka, ფოთი ; Mingrelian: ფუთი; Laz: ჶაში/Faşi or ფაში/Paşi) is a port city in Georgia, located on the eastern Black Sea coast in the region of Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti in the west of the country. Built near t ...

when he was 7 years old. He started playing career in some local youth football clubs there. During these times, football was just making its first steps 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 ...

and there was only a few clubs established. However, every city had its own selection of footballers. Paichadze joined the team of Poti at the age of 16. Paichadze was invited to

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 ...

in 1936 by coach Jules Limbeck. He made his debut in

Soviet Top League The Soviet Top League, known after 1970 as the Higher League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу: Высшая лига), served as the top division of Soviet Union football from 1936 until 1991. The professional top level ...

during that season, being able to score 13 goals in 12 games. Paichadze later declared that it was

Limbeck Limbeck is an American rock band that formed in Laguna Niguel, California in 1999. The group featured Robb MacLean on lead vocals and guitar, Patrick Carrie guitar and backing vocals, Justin Entsminger on bass, and Jon Phillip, who replaced Matth ...

, who pioneered the coaching in

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

via his lectures, attended by various managers across the region. Paichadze became top scorer of

in the

1937 Events January * January 1 – Anastasio Somoza García becomes President of Nicaragua. * January 5 – Water levels begin to rise in the Ohio River in the United States, leading to the Ohio River flood of 1937, which continues into Fe ...

season. However, the most efficient season for him was

1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...

, when he scored total 25 goals for Dinamo. Paichadze was prized by the various sporting media sources, after his performance against

CDKA Moscow Professional Football Club CSKA (russian: link=yes, Профессиональный футбольный клуб – ЦСКА, derived from the historical name 'Центральный спортивный клуб армии', English: ...

in November, when Dinamo was able to win the game 5–4, after losing the first half 1–4. During the 1941 Soviet Top League season, Dinamo was one of the leaders of league table, when the championship was cancelled due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Alongside his teammates, Paichadze joined the army. After three years of cancellation, championship again resumed in 1945. Paichadze returned to Dinamo and again became one of the key figures of the club. However, in 1947, in a game against

Torpedo Moscow Football Club Torpedo Moscow (russian: link=no, ФК "Торпедо" Москва, ''FK Torpedo Moskva''), known as Torpedo Moscow, is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow that was founded in 1924 and returned to the Russian Pre ...

, Paichadze got a serious injury after the collision with

Nikolai Petrovich Morozov Nikolai Petrovich Morozov (Russian: Николай Петрович Морозов; 25 August 1916 – 13 October 1981) was a Russian football coach, who led the USSR national football team to a fourth-place finish in the 1966 FIFA World Cup ...

. It prevented him playing for nearly two years. After recovering, he never regained the old playing form and soon decided to retire from football. In 1953, soon after retiring from football, Paichadze was invited back to Dinamo to become a head coach of the club. He accepted and managed his former club for only two seasons without any success. He resigned in 1954, claiming that ''"being a good player doesn't mean you are a good coach"''.

Personal life

Paichadze later declared that he had a close relationship with famous Soviet politician

Lavrentiy Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ; – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolshevik ...

. Beria, who is considered to be a huge fan of Dinamo, even prevented Paichadze from moving to

Spartak Moscow Spartak Moscow may refer to the following teams based or formerly based in Moscow, Russia: * FC Spartak Moscow, an association football club * HC Spartak Moscow, a professional ice hockey team * Spartak GM Moscow, a semi-professional rugby club * WB ...

, that was very keen to sign Paichadze during his peak years. Paichadze was nicknamed ''" Caruso of football"'' in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

by the local fans and journalists, after his performance in a friendly tournament held in the country in 1945. Paichadze was a close friend to a Georgian Greco-Roman wrestler Givi Kartozia. In 1975, Paichadze made a cameo appearance in film ''Pirveli Mertskhali (The First Swallow)'', directed by

Nana Mchedlidze Nana Mchedlidze ( ka, ნანა მჭედლიძე, russian: Нана Мчедлидзе; 20 March 1926 – 29 March 2016) was a Soviet and Georgian actress, film director and screenwriter. From 1950 to 1954 she was an actress with the ...

, who invited the former footballer as a consultant as well.

Club career statistics

''Source''

References

External links

Profile at KLISF
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paichadze, Boris 1915 births 1990 deaths People from Guria People from Kutais Governorate Soviet footballers Soviet Top League players Footballers from Georgia (country) FC Dinamo Tbilisi players FC Dinamo Tbilisi managers Association football forwards Football managers from Georgia (country) Burials in Georgia (country)