FC Tskhinvali is a defunct
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, 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
The Georgian–Ossetian conflict is an Ethnic conflict, ethno-political conflict over Georgia (country), Georgia's former autonomous region of South Ossetia, which evolved in 1989 and developed into a 1991–1992 South Ossetia War, war. Despit ...
they were unable to host their opponents in the city of
Tskhinvali, 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 ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...
and
Rustavi.
In early 2020, the club was disqualified from
Liga 3 after their failure to solve a severe financial crisis.
Several times the club has undergone name changes:
* Spartaki until 1990
* Liakhvi from 1990 to 2003
* Tskhinvali from 2003 to 2007
* Spartaki from 2007 to 2015
* Tskhinvali after 2015
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.
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Georgian league the club changed their name into ''Liakhvi'' and played several games of the first season until being withdrawn from the competition.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 the
Umaglesi Liga.
In January 2015 the team was renamed as ''FC Tskhinvali.'' In 2014/15 the club reached semifinals of the
national Cup for the first time, but failed to overcome
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 ...
(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
**Champions: 1987
*
Pirveli Liga
**Champions: 2013
**Bronze medal winner: 1997, 2005
Last squad
Eurocups record
;Notes
* 1Q: First qualifying round
Top scorers
Managers
*
Badri Kvaratskhelia
Badri Kvaratskhelia ( ka, ბადრი კვარაცხელია, tr; born 15 February 1965) is a Georgian professional football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the father of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, a curr ...
(Oct 1, 2010–1?)
*
Vladimer Khachidze (Sept 15, 2011 – Oct 30, 2013)
*
Kakhaber Kacharava (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
Defunct football clubs in Georgia (country)
FC Tskhinvali
FC Tskhinvali