Fc Metalurgi Rustavi
Metalurgi Rustavi was a Georgian football team based in Rustavi, which has twice won the national league.
| Founded | 1948 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dissolved | 2015 | ||
| Ground | Poladi Stadium Rustavi, Georgia | ||
| Capacity | 6,200 | ||
| | |||
In Soviet times, the club played under the name "Metalurgi" (Rustavi), then during the independence of Georgia, the club was called "Gorda" (Rustavi) and FC Rustavi.
After FC Tbilisi merged with club FC Rustavi in 2006, FC Olimpi Rustavi was established.
History
Football in Rustavi could be traced back to Metalurgi Rustavi in the Soviet era.
In 1990, the club became a member of the newly created Umaglesi Liga under the name Gorda with Givi Nodia at the helm. In the first three seasons Gorda came third twice. Following Nodia's departure from the team, the management reversed its decision regarding the name. For the next six seasons Metalurgi did not achieve any significant success, although they signed several players who later joined the national team, namely Soso Grishikashvili, Zurab Menteshashvili, Aleksandre Rekhviashvili, and Levan Kobiashvili.
The club was renamed back to Gorda in 1998. Around this period the team usually stayed in bottom half of the table. In 2002, Gorda lost playoffs to Mtskheta and suffered a first relegation to Pirveli Liga. A year later, being Rustavi this time, they prevailed over the same opponents in play-offs, but due to financial difficulties failed to obtain a top-flight license.
Before the 2006 season, it was announced that Rustavi would merge with Umaglesi Liga side Tbilisi and take part in the main division as Olimpi Rustavi. Starting from this year, Olimpi were regarded as one of the main title contenders.
In 2007, the team won their first Georgian Umaglesi Liga title, followed by the second title three years later. In the same season they recorded an unbeaten run consisting of 27 league matches. With 26 goals netted in 31 matches Anderson Aquino became their top scorer of this season. Having beaten WIT Georgia 2-0, Olimpi won the Super Cup as well.
For the 2011–12 season the club changed its name to Metalurgi Rustavi after a thirteen-year wait. Metalurgi finished on equal points as Zestafoni and faced with a bizarre scandal involving the Football Federation. As these clubs differently inferred new league regulations determining a winner of the tournament, they both declared themselves a champion. Initially, the GFF sided with Metalurgi, although after an Executive Committee extraordinary meeting held the next day, it announced a final decision in favour of Zestafoni.
Despite some decline, experienced by Metalurgi in following years, their players occasionally still featured in different post-season nominations. In one of such events in December 2014, Otar Kiteishvili was voted among three best young players.
The 2014–15 season turned out critical. Despite sitting among top five teams before the winter break, soon the overall situation rapidly deteriorated. The club had amassed debts exceeding 8₾ million and could not afford to pay salaries to its staff and players. After a fifteen-game winless run, Metalurgi ended up in the relegation zone. Following a 5-0 loss to Lokomotivi in playoffs, they were relegated.
Their last season was in the Meore Liga, the third division, in 2015–16, but midway through the season they withdrew from the league. Subsequently, Metalurgi were declared bankrupt. A new Rustavi club emerged representing the city in Liga 2, although they did not have any legal connections.
Honours
- Erovnuli Liga
- Georgian Super Cup
- Winners (1): 2010
- Georgian SSR Football Competition:
- Winners (4): 1959, 1974, 1979, 1984
Seasons
Season League Pos. Pl. W D L GF GA P Cup Europe Notes Manager 1990 Umaglesi Liga 3 34 22 3 9 63 33 69 Gorda Rustavi 1991 Umaglesi Liga 9 19 7 5 7 34 22 26 Gorda Rustavi 1991–92 Umaglesi Liga 3 38 22 9 7 71 38 75 Gorda Rustavi 1992–93 Umaglesi Liga 7 32 14 7 11 73 69 49 Metallurgi Rustavi 1993–94 Umaglesi Liga 9 Metallurgi Rustavi 1994–95 Umaglesi Liga 7 Metallurgi Rustavi 1995–96 Umaglesi Liga 5 Metallurgi Rustavi 1996–97 Umaglesi Liga 10 Metallurgi Rustavi 1997–98 Umaglesi Liga 11 Metallurgi Rustavi 1998–99 Umaglesi Liga 12 Gorda Rustavi 1999-00 Umaglesi Liga 12 Gorda Rustavi 2000–01 Umaglesi Liga 11 Gorda Rustavi 2001–02 Umaglesi Liga 10 Gorda Rustavi 2002–03 Umaglesi Liga 10 Gorda Rustavi 2003–04 Pirveli Liga 4 FC Rustavi 2004–05 Pirveli Liga 11 30 10 7 13 39 43 37 FC Rustavi 2005–06 Pirveli Liga 8 34 13 10 11 50 37 49 FC Rustavi 2006–07 Umaglesi Liga 1 26 19 6 1 57 9 63 Round of 16 FC Olimpi Rustavi 2007–08 Umaglesi Liga 4 26 16 4 6 26 16 52 Quarter-finals UEFA Champions League 1st qualifying round FC Olimpi Rustavi 2008–09 Umaglesi Liga 3 30 16 9 5 40 20 57 Runner-up FC Olimpi Rustavi 2009–10 Umaglesi Liga 1 36 25 7 4 69 26 79 Round of 16 UEFA Europa League 2nd qualifying round FC Olimpi Rustavi 2010–11 Umaglesi Liga 3 36 20 6 10 52 31 66 Quarter-finals UEFA Champions League 2nd qualifying round FC Olimpi Rustavi 2011–12 Umaglesi Liga 2 28 17 4 7 39 28 55 Semi-finals UEFA Europa League 3rd qualifying round FC Metalurgi Rustavi 2012–13 Umaglesi Liga 7 32 12 8 12 29 35 44 Semi-finals UEFA Europa League 2nd qualifying round FC Metalurgi Rustavi 2013–14 Umaglesi Liga 5 32 13 6 13 35 39 45 Quarter-finals FC Metalurgi Rustavi 2014–15 Umaglesi Liga 14 30 6 8 16 25 46 26 Quarter-finals FC Metalurgi Rustavi
European record
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q |  | FC Astana | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| 2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  | B36 Tórshavn | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 2Q |  | Legia Warszawa | 0–1 | 0–3 | ||
| 2010–11 | UEFA Champions League | 2Q | | Aktobe | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| 2011–12 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  | Banants | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| 2Q | | Irtysh Pavlodar | 1–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 3Q |  | Stade Rennais | 2–5 | 0–2 | ||
| 2012–13 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  | Teuta | 6–1 | 3–0 |
| 2Q |  | Viktoria Plzeň | 1–3 | 0–2 |
Notable Players
Managers
Giorgi Kiknadze (July 1, 2006 – Jan 1, 2007)
Anatoliy Piskovets (Sept 1, 2007 – Feb 1, 2008)- Khvicha Kasrashvili
- Teimuraz Makharadze (July 1, 2008 – Oct 4, 2010)
- Nestor Mumladze (Oct 10, 2010 – Nov 1, 2010)
- Armaz Jeladze (Nov 2010 – Aug 11)
- Koba Zhorzhikashvili (Aug 9, 2011 – Oct 1, 2012)
- Georgi Kipiani (Oct 3, 2012 – May 31, 2013)
- Gela Sanaia (June 1, 2013 – Dec 31, 2013)
- Varlam Kilasonia (Jan 1, 2014–)
External links
- Official website (in Georgian)
References
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