FC Iberia 1999, formerly known as FC Saburtalo, is a Georgian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club, based in the Saburtalo District of

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

, the capital of the country. Тhey have been the most decorated Georgian team since 2017 when the

Erovnuli Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა; ) is the top Division (sport), division of professional top tier Association football, football in Georgia (Country), Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional ...

was launched.

History

Saburtalo was founded on 20 August 1999, in

. In 2005, the club was bought by Iberia Business Group and its owner Tariel Khechikashvili, who later became the Minister of Sport & Youth Affairs of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Following the 2014–15 season, Saburtalo won their respective

Pirveli Liga The Georgian Erovnuli Liga 2 ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა 2; ), organized since 1990 by the GFF, serves as the second division of professional football in Georgia. The league was introduced for the 2017 season under the current ...

group with a nineteen-point margin and advanced to the

Umaglesi Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა; ) is the top division of professional top tier football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football Federati ...

. In 2018, Saburtalo who had not won any silverware during the previous three seasons in the top-flight, claimed the champion's title for the first time under coach Gia Chiabrishvili. A year later, they successfully completed their cup campaign after a 3–1 win over

Locomotive A locomotive is a rail transport, rail vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. Traditionally, locomotives pulled trains from the front. However, Push–pull train, push–pull operation has become common, and in the pursuit for ...

in the final. In 2020, Saburtalo beat champions

Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi is a sports club from Tbilisi, Georgia (country), Georgia. It was founded in 1925. Among its highest honors, is the European trophy earned by its Association football, football team which won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1981, beating ...

to lift the Georgian Super Cup. Next seasons saw the team winning two more cup trophies and another league title with 2022 being the only year when Saburtalo failed to win any domestic tournament.

Statistics

Domestic

European record

Saburtalo made their debut in a

UEFA The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...

competition in 2019 after being paired with Moldovan side

Sheriff Tiraspol Fotbal Club Sheriff Tiraspol (), commonly known as Sheriff Tiraspol or simply Sheriff, is a professional football club based in Tiraspol, a city located in the unrecognised breakaway state of Transnistria, that plays in the Liga, the top tier o ...

in the Champions League 1st qualifying round. They cruised to an away 3–0 victory, although survived an early scare in the return leg after conceding three goals within the opening ten minutes. The team has twice reached the 3rd round of UEFA competitions. ;Notes * QR: Qualifying round

Overall record

Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.

Players

Out on loan

Honours

Other teams

The

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

currently competes in the 2nd division after a seven-year continuous tenure in Liga 3. The U19s won their youth league in 2016 and 2022, while the U17 team secured three titles in the early 2020s. Saburtalo has one of the top football academies in the country.

Stadium

The club has a full-size stadium, called ''Bendela'', with the capacity of 1,800 spectators.

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Iberia 1999. ;Georgia * Sandro Altunashvili * Bachana Arabuli * Grigol Chabradze * Vladimir Dvalishvili * Iva Gelashvili * Giorgi Gocholeishvili * Tornike Gorgiashvili * Levan Kakubava * Levan Kenia * Giorgi Kharaishvili * Giorgi Kochorashvili * Lazare Kupatadze * Giorgi Makaridze * Nikoloz Mali * Vladimer Mamuchashvili * Zurab Menteshashvili * Omar Migineishvili * Shota Nonikashvili * Lasha Parunashvili * Giorgi Rekhviashvili * Irakli Sikharulidze * Davit Skhirtladze * David Targamadze * Dimitri Tatanashvili * Davit Volkovi ;Europe * Dmitri Mandrîcenco * Victor Mudrac ;Africa * Olivier Boumal * Alwyn Tera * Jardel Nazaré *

Alec Mudimu Alec Mudimu (born 8 April 1995) is a Zimbabwean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder. He last played for Tunisian Ligue Professionnelle 1 club Olympique de Béja and the Zimbabwe national team. Early and personal life Mudimu was ...

;North America * Dhoraso Klas

Name

Saburtalo is the name of one of Tbilisi's districts where the team academy and ''Bendela'' are located, while the term ''Iberia'', a

synonym A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means precisely or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are a ...

for

Kartli Kartli ( ka, ქართლი ) is a historical region in central-to-eastern Georgia traversed by the river Mtkvari (Kura), on which Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, is situated. Known to the Classical authors as Iberia, Kartli played a crucial rol ...

, stems from an ancient kingdom which existed until the Early Middle Ages. On 27 February 2024, the team's name was changed to Iberia 1999.

External links

*
FC Saburtalo results
at Flashscore

References

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