FC Magaroeli is a

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 ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club from

Chiatura Chiatura () is a city in the Imereti region of Western Georgia. In 1989, it had a population of about 30,000. The city is known for its system of cable cars connecting the city's center to the mining settlements on the surrounding hills. The city ...

. Following the 2022 season they were relegated to

Regionuli Liga Regionuli Liga (Georgian: რეგიონული ლიგა), run by Georgian Football Federation since 1990, is the fifth and lowest division of the Georgian league system after Erovnuli Liga, Erovnuli Liga 2, Liga 3 and Liga 4. Its parti ...

, the fifth tier of Georgian football system. The team has twice participated in the top tier.

History

Formed in 1923, Chiatura won the Georgian championship in 1975, and also clinched the domestic Cup title in 1978 and 1979. The club spent four seasons in the

Soviet Second league The Soviet Second League (russian: Чемпионат СССР по футболу (вторая лига), Soviet football championship (Second League)) was the third highest division of Soviet football, below the Soviet First League. The leagu ...

. In 1992/93 season the club finished second in Pirveli Liga which paved the way for

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 F ...

in 1993/94. Magaroeli participated in the top flight also in 1997/98. Between 2004 and 2017 the club spent 13 successive seasons in Liga 2. At one point the club came close to another promotion. After winning the 2007-08 season with a 23-point margin, they beat

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 hea ...

on penalties in champions

play-offs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

, although Chiatura eventually had to give up their Umaglesi Liga place after their failure to meet the criteria existing for top-flight clubs. While the team stayed in top half of the table for four consecutive seasons, they were involved in survival battles in 2016. In this season Magaroeli were deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player. In play-offs they failed to overcome Meshakhte Tkibuli and left the league. The next year they won the regular season in Liga 3, although displayed a poor performance in the promotion tournament. In 2018, Chiatura finished in 12th place in a 20-team league and along with all other bottom-half clubs were relegated to the newly formed Liga 4. The team came 2nd in 2020. Even though this result fell short of the promotion, some changes of the league format announced in January 2021 by GFF awarded Magaroeli a Liga 3 place for the upcoming season. The club was struggling in the next two years. In both cases they finished in the drop zone and suffered a double relegation.

Seasons

Players

As of April 2022 (C)

Honours

* Georgian Soviet Championship ** Champion: 1975 * Georgian Soviet Cup ** Champion: 1978, 1979 *

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 ...

: ** Champion: 1997, 2008 ** Bronze prize winner: 1992, 1996, 2012 *

Meore Liga Liga 3, organized by Georgian Football Federation since 1990, is the third division of professional football in Georgia. Until 2017, when the current name was introduced, it was known as Meore Liga (the Second league). Structure and league syste ...

**Winner: 2017 (Red Group) * Liga 4 **Runners-up: 2020

Stadium

The club hosts their league games on Temur Maghradze stadium, which has a capacity of 11,650.

Name

The club several times changed the name from ''Chiatura'' to ''Magaroeli'' and back. The latter literally means ''a miner'' implying the existing

Chiatura mine The Chiatura mine is a large mine complex located near the town of Chiatura in central-western Georgia in the Imereti region west of the national capital Tbilisi. Chiatura represents the largest manganese reserve in Georgia and one of the largest ...

complex in this town.

References

External links

Page on FacebookProfile on Soccerway
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chiatura, FC Association football clubs established in 1923 Football clubs in Georgia (country)