FC Guria is 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 ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club from

Lanchkhuti Lanchkhuti ( ka, ლანჩხუთი) is a city in western Georgian region of Guria. It has a population of about 8,000. Lanchkhuti received city status in 1961. Under the USSR, it was the centre of the Georgian SSR Lanchkhuti area and today ...

, which competes in Liga 3, the third tier of the national league. Being one of the strongest Georgian teams in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Guria have taken part in the Soviet Top league, also won the

national Cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League. For most of the competition's history, the draw has ...

and played fifteen seasons in

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 ...

, twice claiming silver medals.

History

Early period

Formed in 1924 as FC Kimi, the team ceased to exist after the start of

World War 2 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 opposing ...

and resumed functioning in 1952 under the name "Kolmeurne". In 1960 the club was renamed as Guria. The next year they gained a first title by becoming champions of the republican league. During the subsequent decade the team won the Georgian Cup three times and the domestic league two more times, in 1966 and 1971, which enabled them to advance to the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

Association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

1972–1979: in the Soviet second league

Starting from 1972 Guria played in the Second League, the third tier of the Soviet football league, for seven years. *''Note: Lost promotion play-offs to Uralmash Sverdlovsk'' Overall results shown by Guria in II League are the following: Guria's remarkable progress was largely attributed to Shalva Kakabadze, who worked as head coach for record twenty years continuously from 1959 until 1980, and local government chairman Evgrapi Shevardnadze, brother of the

Soviet Communist Party "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first)Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

leader 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 ...

Eduard Shevardnadze Eduard Ambrosis dze Shevardnadze ( ka, ედუარდ ამბროსის ძე შევარდნაძე}, romanized: ; 25 January 1928 – 7 July 2014) was a Soviet and Georgian politician and diplomat who governed Georgia for ...

1980-1986: Road to the top flight

After the winning season in 1979 Guria were promoted to the First League, where they played for another seven consecutive years. Source
/small> The very fact of promotion to the

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 ...

for the team representing a provincial town seemed amazing. Football fervour around Guria grew so high that in most cases not a single seat was available during their matches and some youngsters would climb up trees around the stadium to watch their favourite team. The pitch invasion during the 2–1 win over fierce rivals

FC Daugava Riga FC Daugava Riga is a former Soviet and Latvian football club from Riga. It participated in the Soviet championships. In different years the club represented various Riga factories VEF, railcar building, electro-mechanical. Name * 1946–47 Daug ...

resulted in disqualification of the stadium for three matches. For this reason the final home game of the season against Yuri Semin's Lokomotive Moscow (1-0) was held in

Batumi Batumi (; ka, ბათუმი ) is the second largest city of Georgia and the capital of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, located on the coast of the Black Sea in Georgia's southwest. It is situated in a subtropical zone at the foot of th ...

in front of 20,000 spectators. Under head coach Begi Sikharulidze some players especially contributed to this huge achievement: Besik Pridonashvili with all 46 games played and 27 goals scored; Teimuraz Chkhaidze - 44 (8); Murman Akopian - 43 (7); Badri Danelia - 43 (1); Levan Melikia - 41;

Vakhtang Kopaleishvili Vakhtang Kopaleishvili ( ka, ვახტანგ კოპალეიშვილი) (born 26 December 1954 in Samtredia - died 13 February 2015 in Tbilisi) was a Georgian and Soviet football player and manager. Kopaleishvili played for Dina ...

- 40 (16); Sergey Shvetsov - 40 (1); Enuki Tevzadze - 39 (5); Tariel Ebanoidze - 37 (1); Gigla Imnadze - 36; Alexander Kondratiev - 36; Merab Tevzadze - 30 (1); Gia Giligashvili - 26; Karlo Mchedlidze - 12; Davit Ugrelidze - 11 (5).

1987: the Top league

Straight away after the promotion the football ground underwent a significant reconstruction and eventually the capacity of stadium in a town with 9,021 residents as of 1987 reached 22,000. Between 1983/84 and 1987/88 seasons the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

occupied a second place after

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

ranking, therefore, the

was a tough challenge for Guria. Being regarded as a decent home team, Guria beat

Kairat Alma-Ata Football Club Kairat ( kk, Qaırat Fýtbol Klýby) is a professional football club based in Almaty, which plays in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. Founded in 1954 as Lokomotiv Alma-Ata, they became Urozhay ...

2–0, Neftchi 1–0, Dinamo Minsk 2–1,

Dinamo Moscow MGO VFSO "Dynamo" (russian: МГО ВФСО «Динамо»), commonly known as Dynamo Moscow (russian: Динамо Москва) is a Russian sports club based in Moscow. Founded by Felix Dzerzhinsky on 18 April 1923, Dynamo Moscow was the first ...

2-1 and

Ararat Yerevan Football Club Ararat Yerevan ( hy, Ֆուտբոլային Ակումբ Արարատ Երևան), commonly known as Ararat Yerevan, is an Armenian football club based in Yerevan that plays in the Armenian Premier League. Since 1999, the club is ...

2–0, also played goalless draws against

Dinamo Kiev Football Club Dynamo Kyiv (, ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society, the club as a separate business entity was officia ...

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 ...

and future bronze medal holders Zalgiris, although poor results in away games doomed the club for relegation.

1988-89: Promotion battles

Guria did not succeed in a new promotion attempt, finishing in the 4th place in 1988, but the team still made headlines with a shock victory over

(2-1) in the Cup 1/16 finals. The next year the Gurians once again displayed their powerful home run by winning all 21 games held in

and earned a place in the

as runners-up of the 1989 season. However, Guria were no longer destined to play again in the Soviet championship. On 15 February 1990

Georgian Football Federation The Georgian Football Federation ( GFF; ka, საქართველოს ფეხბურთის ფედერაცია, ''sakartvelos pekhburtis pederatsia'') was founded in 1936. Based in Tbilisi, it was part of the Football Fede ...

made a decision to break away from the

Soviet Football Federation The Football Federation of the USSR (russian: Федерация футбола СССР) was a governing body of football in the Soviet Union and since 1972 the main governing body of football in the country. The Federation was created late i ...

, withdraw all the teams from the Soviet leagues and form its own national championship with immediate effect.

Since 1990: Georgian leagues

By entering

competition a new stage opened up for Guria. First several years they remained high-flying, winning the

Georgian Cup The Georgian Cup (, ''Sakartvelos tasi'') is the main cup competition in Georgia (country), Georgian football (soccer), football. The competition is a knockout (single elimination) tournament. Soviet era cup winners Previous winners are: * 194 ...

title in 1990 and silver medals in 1990 and 1991. Later the decline started which saw the club moving up and down the first three divisions several times. Their very name was subjected to changes, becoming Guria-Lokomotive-2 after the merger with Locomotive's reserve team in 2001, and Guria-2000 in 2008. In 2009 the team regained their popular name. In the

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

season Guria played in the top Georgian division, but within two years they slumped to Liga 3. Although the team managed to go up for 2019, their tenure there did not last longer than one season. Throughout the shortened

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

season Guria appeared poised for promotion. Yet, decisive last two games lost to direct rivals spelled failure for their main goal. In contrast, a year later the team mostly stayed inside the drop zone, although due to the points picked up close to the end they barely escaped yet another relegation.

Seasons

: Overall, seasons spent in Georgian leagues since 1990: •

(1st tier): 15 •

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 ...

Erovnuli Liga 2 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 ...

(2nd tier): 14 •

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 ...

/ Liga 3 (3rd tier): 5 ''Correct up to 2022 season''

Club honours

* Georgian Soviet Championship: **Winners: 1961, 1966, 1971 **Runners-up: 1960 * Georgian Soviet Cup: ** Winners: 1965, 1966, 1971 *

Soviet First League The Soviet First League in football (russian: Первая лига СССР по футболу) was the second highest division of Soviet football,Evgeni Kazakov. The Soviet First Football League (Первая лига СССР по футбо ...

: ** Runners-up:

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

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 ...

: ** Winners:

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

: **Winners:

1990 File:1990 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1990 FIFA World Cup is played in Italy; The Human Genome Project is launched; Voyager I takes the famous Pale Blue Dot image- speaking on the fragility of Humankind, humanity on Earth, Astroph ...

**Runners-up:

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

: ** Winners: 2000-01, 2012-2013 (West) *

: ** Runners-up: 2007-08 ** Third place:

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

Personal honours

Otar Korghalidze Otar Korghalidze ( ka, ოთარ კორღალიძე; born 2 September 1960) is a Georgian former professional football player and manager. During his playing career Korgalidze played for various clubs in Georgia, Austria, Azerbaijan ...

– Top scorers – 14 goals,

season *

– Top scorers – 40 goals, 1991–92 season *

Zviad Endeladze Zviad Endeladze ( ka, ზვიად ენდელაძე; born 7 April 1966 in Adigeni) is a retired Georgian footballer who played as a forward. He has played for clubs such as Guria Lanchkhuti and Margveti, scoring 40 goals during the ...

–

European Golden Boot The European Golden Shoe, also known as European Golden Boot, is an award that is presented each season to the leading goalscorer in league matches from the top division of a European national league. The trophy is a sculpture of a football boot. ...

– 40 goals, 1995-96 season (for Margveti Zestafoni) In early 2020, by decree of the Georgian Ministry of Sport Begi Sikharulidze, Teimuraz Chkhaidze and Gigla Imnadze were awarded ''the Knight of Sport'' title for their distinguished contribution to Guria's victorious season in 1986. A year later Begi Sikharulidze was awarded the title ''Honorary Citizen of Lanchkhuti''.

Current squad

''As of April 2022'' (C)

Former players

Topscorers by season

Managers

* Givi Imnaishvili (1952–53) * Vladimer Narimanidze (1954–55) * Viktor Berezhnoi (1956) * Boris Chitaia (1957–58) * Shalva Kakabadze (1959–79) * Aleqsandre Kotrikadze (1980) *

Murtaz Khurtsilava Murtaz Kalistratovich Khurtsilava ( ka, მურთაზ ხურცილავა, russian: Муртаз Калистратович Хурцилава, born 5 January 1943) is a former Georgia (country), Georgian association football defende ...

(1981–82) * Shalva Kakabadze (1983–84) * Begi Sikharulidze (1985–86) * Aleqsandre Kotrikadze (1986) * Mikhail Fomenko (1987–90) * Gigla Imnadze (1990) *

(1990–93) * Teimuraz Chkhiadze (1993–94) * Gigla Imnadze (1994–95) * Begi Sikharulidze (1995–96) * Boris Dudarov (1996) * Gigla Imnadze (1996–97) * Gia Tavadze (1997) * Avtandil Nariashvili (Aug 1997–??) * Davit Makharadze (22 July 2013– 18 September 2013) *

Roman Pokora Roman Mykhaylovych Pokora ( uk, Роман Михайлович Покора, 22 February 1948 – 8 March 2021) was a Ukrainian football player and manager who played most of his career as a midfielder. Career Born in Zboriv, Pokora lived in ...

(Sep – Dec 2013) * Davit Makharadze (Jan - Aug 2014) * Temur Loria (Aug 2014 - Apr 2015) * Gigla Imnadze (Apr - May 2015) * Kakha Gogichaishvili (Aug - Sep 2015) *

Badri Kvaratskhelia Badri Kvaratskhelia ( ka, ბადრი კვარაცხელია, tr; born 15 February 1965) is a former footballer. Born in the Georgian SSR, he represented the Azerbaijan national team internationally. Playing career In early 1990 ...

(Sep 2015) * Gia Chkhaidze (Oct - Dec 2015) * Viktor Demidov (Feb - Apr 2016) * Temur Makharadze (Apr- Aug 2016) * Oleg Leshchinskiy (Aug - Nov 2016) * Gigla Imnadze (Mar - May 2017) *

Gia Guruli Gia Guruli (born 20 May 1964 in Chiatura) is a former Georgia (country), Georgian professional Association football, football player. He is the father of Alexander Guruli. He made his debut on 22 February 1994. against Israel national football ...

(May - Oct 2017) * Davit Makharadze (Oct 2017 Aug 2018) * Giorgi Oniani (Aug - Oct 2018) * Giga Imedaishvili (Oct - Dec 2018) * Tengiz Pataraia (Mar - Apr 2019) * Giga Imedaishvili (May 2019) * Gela Sanaia (May - Aug 2019) * Giorgi Chkhaidze (Aug 2019) * Temur Loria (Sep 2019 - Mar 2020) *

Levan Khomeriki Levan Khomeriki ( ka, ლევან ხომერიკი; born 20 January 1974) is a retired Georgian football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, t ...

/Ivane Makharadze (Apr 2020 - Feb 2021) * Giga Imedaishvili (Feb - Sep 2021) * Giorgi Oniani (Oct 2021 – Jul 2022) * Gigla Imnadze (since Aug 2022)

References

External links

Profile on Soccerway

Page on Facebook

Guria, Georgian Public TV Documentary
'in Georgian'' {{Erovnuli Liga teamlist

Guria Lanchkhuti FC Guria is a Georgian association football club from Lanchkhuti, which competes in Liga 3, the third tier of the national league. Being one of the strongest Georgian teams in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Guria have taken part in the Soviet ...

1924 establishments in Georgia (country) Soviet Top League clubs