FC Samtredia ( ka, სკ სამტრედია), commonly known as Samtredia, is a Georgian professional

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 city of

Samtredia Samtredia ( ka, სამტრედია ) is a town in Imereti, Georgia (country), Georgia, lying in a lowland between the rivers Rioni River, Rioni and Tskhenis-Tsqali, west of the capital Tbilisi, and west of Georgia's third largest city K ...

. Following the 2024 season, the club was relegated to

Erovnuli Liga 2 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 ...

, the 2nd tier of Georgian football. Their home ground is the Erosi Manjgaladze Stadium. In

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, Samtredia won the league and the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

Pre-Independence

Soviet League Era

Established in 1936, Samtredia spent years in the Georgian SSR Championship before the club eventually obtained the right to participate in the

Soviet Second League The Soviet Second League (, Soviet football championship (Second League)) was the third highest division of Soviet Union, Soviet football (soccer), football, below the Soviet First League. The league was formed in 1971 in place of the Class A Se ...

, the third tier of the Soviet football system. Lokomotivi Samtredia finished their season as runners-up several times and even won the league twice, although they eventually failed to win the knockout stages of the competition against winners of two other SSR Countries. Below are the all-time results during the 17 consecutive seasons in the Soviet Second League. Following the 1989 season, the Samtredian team as well as all other Georgian clubs withdrew from their relevant Soviet leagues after

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 ...

broke ties with the

Soviet Football Federation The Football Federation of the USSR () 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 in late 1934 by the decision of the '' Supreme Council of P ...

and formed an independent championship.

After Independence

Early years

Right after Georgia's independence, Sanavardo Samtredia became a member of the new national top tier, 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 ...

. While twice, in 1993/94 and 1995/96, they finished in 4th, in 1994/1995 the club ended the season in 2nd which gave them qualification for the preliminary round of the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

. The debut in European competition turned out unsuccessful. Soon they fell from the top flight followed by relegation from

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 ...

as well.

Recent Times

In 2014/15 Samtredia reached the final of the David Kipiani Cup. In the previous rounds they had knocked out four opponents, including favourites Dinamo Batumi,

Torpedo Kutaisi FC Torpedo Kutaisi ( Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი ტორპედო ქუთაისი) is a Georgian professional football club based in Kutaisi, Georgia's third largest city. The team competes in the Erovnuli ...

and Chikhura, but they weren't able to upset the odds again against

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 ...

. The most fruitful period for Samtredia was in the mid-2010s, when they finished amongst the top three teams of Umaglesi Liga for three consecutive seasons. Moreover, in

, under head coach Giorgi Tsetsadze, they became champions for the first time in their history after a victory over Chikhura Sachkhere in the championship

playoffs 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 ...

. Samtredia completed the season with the double after they beat

Georgian Cup The Georgian Cup ( ka, საქართველოს თასი) is the main annual association football knockout cup competition in Georgia. It is organized by the Georgian Football Federation (GFF) and is open to clubs of all divisions. Th ...

holders

in the

game. In 2019, the club competed in Liga 2, although they returned to the Erovnuli Liga after one season. Manager Kakhaber Kacharava, who guided Samtredia back to the top flight, had to quit the club in September 2020 after just one point earned in their last five league games and a shock cup defeat from Liga 3 minnows Tbilisi City. New head coach Giorgi Mikadze steered Samtredia away from the relegation zone, but in February 2021 he was replaced by Giorgi Tsetsadze, who had once brought the club to their only champion's title. His second tenure lasted eight months, though. The team lost the relegation struggle and finished bottom of the table. Just like the previous case three years earlier, it took Samtredia a year to move back to the top flight. Under Giorgi Shashiashvili the team beat their rivals for a

playoff 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 ...

spot and qualified for decisive matches for the third time in the last five years. Another victory over Sioni completed their successful league campaign in 2022. Samtredia spent the next two seasons fighting for survival. In 2023, they cruised to a narrow

play-off 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 eith ...

victory over Gareji, but a year later suffered a third relegation in seven years.

Seasons

Domestic leagues

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1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

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1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, , 1st, , 18_/20 , , , , , , – , - , 1991/92, , 1st, , 15_/20 , , , , , , Round of 16 , - , 1992/93, , 1st, , 10_/17 , , , , , , Round of 16 , - , 1993/94, , 1st, , 4_/10 , , , , , , Round of 16 , - , 1994/95, , 1st, , bgcolor=Silver, 2_/16 , , Gia Jishkariani, , 18 , , Quarterfinals , - , 1995/96, , 1st, , 4_/16 , , Zurab Ionanidze, , 23 , , Semifinals , - , 1996/97, , 1st, , bgcolor=LimeGreen, 14_/16 , , , , , , Round of 16 , - , 1997–98 Pirveli Liga, 1997/98, , 2nd, , bgcolor=Silver, 2_/14 , , , , , , Quarterfinals , - , 1998/99, , 1st, , 8_/16 , , , , , , Round of 16 , - , 1999/2000, , 1st, , 7_/8 , , , , , , Round of 32 , - , 2000/01, , 1st, , bgcolor=LimeGreen, 12_/12 , , , , , , Round of 32 , - , 2001/02, , 2nd, , 10_/11 , , , , , , Round of 32 , - , 2002/03, , 2nd, , 16_/16 , , , , , , Round of 32 , - , 2003/04, , 2nd, , bgcolor=LimeGreen, 14_/16 , , , , , , Round of 32 , - , 2007/08, , 2nd , , 8_/10, , , , , , 1st Round , - , 2008/09, , 2nd, , bgcolor=Gold, 1_/11, , , , , , Round of 16 , - , 2009/10, , 1st, , 7_/10 , , Zaur Khachiperadze , , 11 , , Round of 16 , - , 2010/11, , 1st, , bgcolor=LimeGreen, 10_/10, , Giga Kverenchkhiladze , , 4, , Round of 32 , - , 2011/12, , 2nd, A , , bgcolor=#F1A33F, 3_/8, , Papuna Shatirishvili , , 3, , Round of 32 , - , 2012/13, , 2nd, , 5_/12 , , Zaur Khachiperadze , , 9 , , Round of 16 , - , 2013/14, , 2nd, , bgcolor=Gold, 1_/14, , Zviad Kantaria , , 11, , Round of 32 , - , 2014/15, , 1st , , 6_/16 , , Tornike Kapanadze , , 7, , bgcolor=Silver, Runners-up , - , 2015/16, , 1st , , bgcolor=Silver, 2_/16 , , Budu Zivzivadze , , 16 , , Quarterfinals , - ,

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2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

, , 1st , , bgcolor=#F1A33F, 3_/10, , Davit Rajamashvili , , 8, , Round of 16 , - ,

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

, , 1st , , bgcolor=LimeGreen, 9_/10, , Giorgi Pantsulaia , , 6 , , Round of 16 , - ,

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

, , 2nd , , bgcolor=Silver, 2_/10, , Guram Samushia , , 15, , Round of 16 , - ,

2020 The year 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 even ...

, , 1st , , 7_/10, , Nijat Gurbanov , , 4, , Round of 16 , - ,

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

, , 1st , , bgcolor=LimeGreen, 10_/10, , Nikola Prelčec , , 4 , , Round of 32 , - ,

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, , 2nd , , bgcolor=#F1A33F, 3_/10, , Dato Kirkitadze , , 8 , , Round of 32 , - ,

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

, , 1st , , 9_/10, , Zurab Nachkebia
Aleksandar Mishov , , 8 , , Round of 32 , - ,

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

, , 1st , , bgcolor=LimeGreen, 10_/10 , , Daniel Owusu , , 5 , , Round of 16

European record

Current squad

''As of 10 March 2025''

Managers

Honours

League

* Umaglesi Liga/Erovnuli Liga **Winners:

**''Runners-up:'' 1994–95, 2015–16 **''Bronze medals:''

* Pirveli Liga/Erovnuli Liga 2 **Winners: 2008–09, 2013–14 **''Runners-up:'' 1997–98,

**''Third place:'' 2011–12 (A Group),

Cup

**''Runners-up:'' 2014–15 * Georgian Super Cup **Winners:

Name

Throughout their history Samtredia have also been named Lokomotivi, Sanavardo, Juba and Iberia with the current name regained in 2006. ''Samtredia'' literally means a place where pigeons reside and comes from Georgian word ''mtredi'' - pigeon.

References

External links

*
Team profile
at Soccerway
FC Samtredia results
at Flashscore {{Authority control

1936 establishments in Georgia (country) Association football clubs established in 1936