FC Tskhinvali 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 ...

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, which in mid-2010s spent four seasons in the top tier of the

national league The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

. Despite the name, due to the enduring

Georgian–Ossetian conflict The Georgian–Ossetian conflict is an ethno-political conflict over Georgia's former autonomous region of South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a war. Despite a declared ceasefire and numerous peace efforts, the conflict r ...

they were unable to host their opponents in the city of

Tskhinvali Tskhinvali ( ka, ცხინვალი ) or Tskhinval ( os, Цхинвал, Чъреба, Tskhinval, Chreba, ; rus, Цхинва́л(и), r=Tskhinvál(i), ) is the capital of the disputed ''de facto'' independent Republic of South Ossetia, int ...

, playing home games instead in Georgian-controlled areas, mostly in Gori,

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 ...

and

Rustavi Rustavi ( ka, რუსთავი ) is a city in the southeast of Georgia, in the region of Kvemo Kartli and southeast of capital Tbilisi. It has a population of 130,100 (2021), making it the fourth most populous city in Georgia. Its economy is ...

. In early 2020 the club was disqualified from Liga 3 after their failure to solve a severe financial crisis.

History

The original Spartaki Tskhinvali were founded in 1936, and during the time of the Soviet Union were a mainstay in the regional Georgian League, which was the fourth division in the Soviet league table. The club's biggest success came in 1987 when they won the regional

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 ...

. With the creation of independent Georgian league the club changed their name into ''Liakhvi'' and played several games of the first season until being withdrawn from the competition. The team was restored in 2007, in an effort for the Georgian government to regain control over the break-away region of South Ossetia. Having won the second league in 2013, they were promoted to

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 January 2015 the team was renamed as ''FC Tskhinvali.'' In 2014/15 the club reached semifinals of 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 ...

for the first time, but failed to overcome

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 i ...

(1-2 on aggregate). Their championship game four days prior to the return leg ended with Tskhinvali's sensational 4-1 victory. In the same season under Kakha Kacharava the team reached their highest position in the league by finishing 4th and qualified for 2015–16 Europa League competition.
FC Tskhinvali qualified to 2015–16 Europa League first qualifying round – 2015–16 UEFA Europa League list of participants. Tskhinvali were relegated from Erovnuli Liga, Umaglesi Liga after the transitional 2016 season. For three years the team competed in the second division. After an automatic relegation they were supposed to play in Liga 3 the next year, although unable to cope with long-standing financial difficulties, the club was expelled from the league in January 2020.

Honours

* Georgian Soviet Cup ::Champion: 1987 *

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: 2013 ::Bronze medal winner: 1997, 2005

Last squad

''As of August 2019''

Eurocups record

;Notes * 1Q: First qualifying round

Top scorers

Managers

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 ...

(Oct 1, 2010–1?) * Vladimer Khachidze (Sept 15, 2011 – Oct 30, 2013) *

Kakhaber Kacharava Kakhaber Kacharava ( ka, კახა კაჭარავა; born 19 November 1966) is a Georgian football coach and a former player. Career Kakha Kacharava has had the record-breaking three spells as manager of Dinamo Tbilisi. He was the f ...

(Nov 1, 2013–) * Gocha Chikovani ( - April 2017) * Malkhaz Latsabidze (May 2017 - May 2018) * Yuri Gabiskiria (June - August 2018) * Roberto Landi (Sep - Oct 2018) * Malkhaz Latsabidze (Nov - Dec 2018) * Xavier Munoz Sanchez (Mar - Jun 2019) * Vladimer Vashadze (Jul - Sept 2019) * Giga Kutivadze (Oct - Dec 2019)

External links

Page on Soccerway

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tskhinvali, FC Football clubs in Georgia (country)

FC Tskhinvali FC Tskhinvali is a Georgian football club, which in mid-2010s spent four seasons in the top tier of the national league. Despite the name, due to the enduring Georgian–Ossetian conflict they were unable to host their opponents in the city of T ...