FC Samtredia ( ka, სკ სამტრედია), commonly known simply as Samtredia, 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 ...

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in the city of Samtredia. The club gained promotion to

Erovnuli 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 ...

, the first tier of Georgian football system, after the 2022 season. Their home ground is Erosi Manjgaladze Stadium. In

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, Samtredia won the champion's title and the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

History

In the Soviet leagues

Established in 1936, Samtredia spent years in the Georgian championship before the club obtained the right to participate in the Soviet Second League, the third tier of the Soviet football system. Several times Lokomotivi Samtredia finished their season as runners-up, twice won the league, although eventually failed to win the knock-out stages of the competition against winners of other two zones. Below are all-time results during these 17 consecutive seasons in the 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 broke ties with the

Soviet Football Federation The Football Federation of the USSR (russian: Федерация футбола СССР) 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 late i ...

and formed an independent championship.

After Independence

Sanavardo Samtredia became member of a new national Umaglesi liga. While twice, in 1993/94 and 1995/96, they finished in the 4th place, in 1994/1995 the club ended the season with the silver, which implied qualification for the preliminary round of

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

. But the debut in European football competitions 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 GFF, serves as the second division of professional football in Georgia. Under the current name the league was introduced for the 2017 season ...

as well. In 2014/15 Samtredia reached the final of

David Kipiani Cup The Georgian Cup (, ''Sakartvelos tasi'') is the main cup competition in Georgian football. The competition is a knockout (single elimination) tournament. Soviet era cup winners Previous winners are: * 1944: Team of Sukhumi * 1945: Dinamo Sukh ...

. In previous rounds they had knocked out four opponents, including contenders for the title

Dinamo Batumi FC Dinamo Batumi is a Georgian football club based in Batumi, Adjara, and current vice-champion of Erovnuli Liga, the top division of Georgian football system. The club has won the league (2021), the Georgian Cup ( 1997-98) and Super Cup (1997 ...

Torpedo Kutaisi FC Torpedo Kutaisi is a Georgian professional football club based in Kutaisi, Georgia's third largest city. 'Torpedo Kutaisi' was founded in 1946 and in just three years the club became the winner of the Football Championship of that time. Torp ...

and Chikhura, but resistance offered to

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 ...

proved insufficient. The most fruitful period for Samtredia was in mid-2010s, when they finished among top three teams of Umaglesi liga for three seasons in a row. Moreover, in

, under head coach

Giorgi Tsetsadze Giorgi (Gia) Tsetsadze (, born on 3 September 1974) is a Georgian football manager. Most recently he was the head coach of Telavi. Career In 2011 Tsetsadze led FC Dila Gori to gain promotion to the Georgia top division (Umaglesi Liga). In 2013 ...

they became champions for the first time in their history after victory over

Chikhura Sachkhere Football Club Chikhura Sachkhere, commonly known as Chikhura Sachkhere or simply Chikhura, is a Georgian football club based in Sachkhere. After the 2022 season they were relegated to Liga 4, the fourth tier of Georgian league system. His ...

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 (, ''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 ...

holders

in the

game. In 2019, the club took part in Liga 2, although returned to the top division after one season. Manager

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 ...

, who guided Samtredia back to the top flight, had to quit the club in September 2020 after just one point earned in 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

, who had once brought the club to their only champion's title. His second tenure lasted eight months, though. The team lost a survival struggle and finished at the bottom of the table. As in 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 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.

Seasons

Domestic leagues

European record

Current squad

''As of 9 March 2022''

Managers

* Levan Anjaparidze (Jan - Jul 2011) * Koba Mikadze (Aug - Oct 2011) * Gia Bendeliani (Oct 2011 - Sep 2012) * Leri Megeneishvili (Sep - Dec 2012) * Dato Chelidze (Jan - Jun 2013) * Ucha Sosiashvili (Jul - Dec 2013) * Gela Sanaia (Jan - Oct 2014) *

(Oct 2014 - Sep 2018) * Giorgi Daraselia (Sep - Dec 2018) *

(Jan 2019 - Aug 2020) * Giorgi Mikadze (Aug 2020 - Jan 2021) *

(Feb - Oct 2021) * Leri Megeneishvili (Oct 2021 - Jan 2022) * Giorgi Shashiashvili (Since Feb 2022)

Notable players

Born in Samtredia, Kаkha Kaladze began his football career at the age of 11 in FC Samtredia's junior team as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

Honours

Umaglesi Liga/Erovnuli Liga *Winners:

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

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

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

*''Third place:'' 2011-12 (A Group),

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*''Runners-up:'' 2014-2015

Georgian Super Cup The Georgian Super Cup is a competition consisting of a single football match played between the champions of the Erovnuli Liga and the winners of the Georgian Cup. It was first held in 1996. When a club has won both competitions, the Georgian Cu ...

*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

Official Website

Soccerway
{{Authority control Samtredia 1936 establishments in Georgia (country) Association football clubs established in 1936 Samtredia