Shota Arveladze ( ka, შოთა არველაძე; born 22 February 1973) is a Georgian professional
football manager and former
player
Player may refer to:
Role or adjective
* Player (game), a participant in a game or sport
** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games
** Athlete, a player in sports
** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...
who most recently coached Turkish club
Fatih Karagümrük.
Arveladze played at
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 ...
,
Trabzonspor,
Ajax,
Rangers,
AZ and
Levante. He is
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 ...
's all-time top scorer with 291 goals in his 410 league games for his clubs and 26 goals in his 61 games for the
national team.
[Bibileishvili, Tiko (9 June 2008]
Arveladze Quits Football
. The Georgian Times. Retrieved on 11 July 2008.
His 27 goals scored in the
UEFA Cup competition, including qualifiers ranks him third in the
tournament's history before it became the Europa League. He has the best strike record
of independent Georgian Football. He was nominated as the best player 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 ...
as well as the best player by the
Georgian Professional Football league survey.
Club career
Tbilisi and Trabzonspor
Arveladze played at
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 ...
,
Trabzonspor, and
Ajax, and finished at least one season as the top goal scorer at all three. In 1993, he scored an effective first
Euro Tournament goal in the history of independent
Georgian Football in the match against
Linfield,
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
. When he led
Trabzonspor in goals in
1995–96, he also led the
Süper Lig
The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...
, making him the second non-
Turk to date to lead that
league in goals after
Tarik Hodžić 1983–84. He is recorded as ''"most loved foreign player"'' for
Trabzonspor supporters.
Ajax
In summer 1997, Arveladze signed for
Ajax.
Later, he declared that he was so nervous during his first training session, that he even forgot to take
football boots with him.
He became a close friend to
Ronald de Boer during his spell in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
.
His first game at the
Amsterdam Arena was a special day for the Georgian player. On 15 August 1997,
Ajax faced Brazilian side
Grêmio in a friendly game. Arveladze scored a goal, while his wife Tamuna gave birth to their first child, Giorgi hours before the game.
Arveladze made a debut for Ajax against
Vitesse, where he replaced
Gerald Sibon and scored the fourth goal for the club. During his first season, he scored three
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
s in
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
and total 25 goals in 31 appearances. The manager of the Amsterdam-based club
Morten Olsen was very pleased with the performance of the young striker.
Arveladze was a key figure for the club during
1997–98 UEFA Cup as well. He scored seven goals in eight games for the club, including
hat-trick
A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three.
Origin
The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
against
NK Maribor.
Ajax were eliminated in quarter-finals, against
Spartak Moscow. Arveladze scored the club's single goal in a tie. During his first season, he faced twice
NAC Breda, where his twin brother
Archil played. This remains as one of the most memorable facts in Shota's career.
In summer 1998, Ajax signed Arveladze's close friend
Giorgi Kinkladze from
Manchester City for £5 million.
They had been friends since their childhood and that looked like a dream move for both.
However, Kinkladze's spell at Ajax proved unsuccessful.
Rangers
Arveladze joined
Rangers from
Ajax for £3 million in 2001. He agreed a four-year deal with the club. It was obvious that the Georgian would face a fierce competitions for the starting place in the Rangers' strike force from the players like
Tore Andre Flo,
Claudio Caniggia,
Michael Mols,
Kenny Miller,
Billy Dodds,
Ronald de Boer and
Russell Latapy.
During the first season with
Glasgow
Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...
-based club, Arveladze scored 17 goals overall, including 11 in
Scottish Premier League. He only managed to take part in 30 games, after being injured in February in the quarterfinal of the
Scottish Cup against
Forfar Athletic, an injury which meant he missed the
2002 Scottish League Cup Final. However, he scored six goals for his club, which managed to win the
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify their generation, official position, military rank, professional or academic qualification, or nobility. In some languages, titles may be ins ...
. Arveladze played in the
final, replacing
Claudio Caniggia. This was his first title with the Scottish club.
The following season was the most successful in the career of the Georgian player. Rangers won treble. In March 2003, Rangers defeated their arch-rivals
Celtic in the
League Cup Final. Later in the
Scottish Cup Final, Rangers won another title, after they managed to defeat
Dundee
Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
with a goal from
Lorenzo Amoruso. Arveladze's two compatriots
Georgi Nemsadze and
Zurab Khizanishvili also took part in this game. The latter joined Arveladze at Rangers during that summer.
In May 2005, Arveladze declared that he would leave the club after the end of the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
, in which he managed to score 9 goals. He confirmed receiving offers from various clubs in Europe, including teams from England, Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey.
During his time at Rangers, Arveladze had a nickname, ''
Mr. Bean'', because of his facial likeness to
Rowan Atkinson.
During a legal case in 2015, Arveladze's agent claimed that the true transfer fee had been 12 million Euro, the equivalent of £8.5 million at the time. Arveladze scored the 300th goal in the
SPL and was part of Rangers squads that won the domestic treble in
2002–03 and a double in
2004–05.
AZ
Arveladze departed Rangers for Dutch side
AZ on a
free transfer before the start of
2005–06 season, signing a two-year deal with the club.
Under the guidance of
Louis van Gaal, Arveladze became the key figure of the club. He scored 22 goals in
Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
, becoming the second best top-scorer of the tournament after
Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, who scored 33 goals during the season. Alkmaar participated in
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 ...
this time as well. In 6 game for the club, Arveladze made 2 assists and scored 2 goals, one of them against
Real Betis. At the end of the season, AZ Alkmaar and Arveladze agreed a contract extension to keep the Georgian international striker at the Dutch club until the summer of 2008.
During the second and the final season with the club, Arveladze was appointed as the new captain of the club.
He was offered the armband after
Denny Landzaat and
Joris Mathijsen left for
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, they have p ...
and
Hamburger SV
Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...
respectively.
The Georgian was praised by
Louis van Gaal, under whose guidance he played at
Ajax as well. Van Gaal compared Arveladze to
Danny Blind and
Frank Rijkaard in terms of personality, calling him "the top professional in the squad".
He scored 23 goals, accumulating total 48 goals for AZ in 89 competitive appearances. The Georgian striker scored seven goals in
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 ...
as well, two of them at the
Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium in a 2–1 away win against
Sevilla.
Levante
In July 2007, Arveladze passed a medical and agreed a one-year contract with the Spanish club
Levante. He was injured in summer training and missed nearly ten months, undergoing surgery in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
. He returned and made his debut against
Villarreal on 23 March, replacing
Juanma. He managed to take part in other 3 games until the end of the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
.
In April, Levante confirmed that Arveladze would retire at the end of the season. In the last game of his career he played at the
Santiago Bernabeu against
Real Madrid, losing 5–2.
International career
Shota Arveladze was a regular in the
Georgian national team[Arveladze bids farewell to the national team of Georgia](_blank)
and is its all-time leading scorer with 26 goals in his 61 games.
16 of these 26 goals came in European Championship qualifiers.
He made his international debut in Georgia's first official game on 2 September 1992, a 1–0 friendly loss away to
Lithuania
Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
. Fifteen days later, he scored his first goal in the country's first home game, a 6–3 win over neighbours
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
. His first competitive goal was on 16 November, in a 5–0 win over
Wales
Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
in Tbilisi for
UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying.
On 30 March 1997, Arveladze scored a hat-trick in a 7–0 home friendly win against neighbours
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
.
[ With Georgia he won in 1998 the Malta International Football Tournament. On 18 August 2006, he scored a hat-trick away to the ]Faroe Islands
The Faroe Islands ( ) (alt. the Faroes) are an archipelago in the North Atlantic Ocean and an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. Located between Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, the islands have a populat ...
in a 6–0 win in the opening game of UEFA Euro 2008 qualifying. His final game was the following 24 March in another qualifier, equalising in a 2–1 loss away to Scotland
Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
.
Coaching career
After retiring as a player, Arveladze was appointed as assistant manager of AZ under head coach and former Ajax coach Louis van Gaal in July 2008. He maintained this position in the 2009–10 season under Ronald Koeman and Dick Advocaat.
For the 2010–11 season, Arveladze served as manager of Turkish side Kayserispor
Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...
. From 2012 to 2015, he managed Istanbul-based Kasımpaşa. In his final game, the team scored away to Konyaspor while their players were attending to his injured player, Ryan Babel. Arveladze then allowed Konyaspor to score an equaliser in the name of fair play, and Konyaspor won the game 2–1. He resigned after the game.
On 3 July 2015, Arveladze was named as manager of Turkish side Trabzonspor. He resigned in November. Under him and his successor Hami Mandıralı, the side lost a record 17 games that season.
In June 2016, Arveladze was announced as the new head coach of Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv Around the middle of the season, he was fired; it was the first time that Maccabi had dismissed a coach during a season since 2011.
In 2017, Arveladze was announced as head coach of Pakhtakor Tashkent in Uzbekistan. He won the Uzbekistan Super League and Cup in 2019 and 2020. On 21 December 2020, he left.
On 27 January 2022, Arveladze was announced as the new head coach of Hull City on a 2-year deal. On his debut two days later, the team won 2–0 at home to Swansea City. Arveladze was dismissed by Hull City on 30 September 2022, with the team 20th in the EFL Championship after four consecutive defeats.
On 11 December 2023, Arveladze was announced that he was agreed in principle for Head Coach of Fatih Karagümrük.
Personal life
Arveladze's brothers Archil (twin) and Revaz (older) also played international football, as did Revaz's son Vato.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list Georgia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Arveladze goal.''
Managerial statistics
Honours
Player
Dinamo Tbilisi
* Umaglesi Liga: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94
* Georgian Cup: 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94
Trabzonspor
* Turkish Cup: 1994–95
* Turkish Super Cup: 1995
* Prime Minister's Cup: 1994
The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations.
In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...
, 1996
Ajax
*Eredivisie
The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...
: 1997–98
* KNVB Cup: 1997–98, 1998–99
Rangers
* Scottish Premier League: 2002–03, 2004–05
* Scottish Cup: 2001–02, 2002–03
* Scottish League Cup: 2002–03
Individual
* CIS Cup top goalscorer: 1993
* Turkish Footballer of the Year: 1994
* Georgian Footballer of the Year: 1994, 1998, 2007
* Turkish Cup top scorer: 1994–95
* Süper Lig top scorer: 1995–96
* SPL Player of the Month: September 2003
Manager
Pakhtakor Tashkent
* Uzbekistan Super League: 2019, 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 ...
* Uzbekistan Cup: 2019, 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 ...
* Uzbekistan League Cup: 2019
See also
* List of Süper Lig top scorers
References
External links
* (as coach)
Profile
at Mackolik.com
Shota Arveladze
at Kayserispor.org
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arveladze, Shota
1973 births
Living people
Footballers from Tbilisi
Men's footballers from Georgia (country)
Football managers from Georgia (country)
Men's association football forwards
FC Dinamo Tbilisi players
Trabzonspor footballers
AFC Ajax players
Rangers F.C. players
AZ Alkmaar players
Levante UD footballers
Eredivisie players
Scottish Premier League players
La Liga players
Georgia (country) men's international footballers
Expatriate men's footballers from Georgia (country)
Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Turkey
Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey
Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in the Netherlands
Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands
Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Scotland
Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland
Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Spain
Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
Expatriate football managers in Turkey
Expatriate football managers in Israel
Expatriate football managers in Uzbekistan
Expatriate football managers in England
Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Israel
Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in Uzbekistan
Expatriate sportspeople from Georgia (country) in England
Süper Lig players
Kasımpaşa S.K. managers
Trabzonspor managers
Kayserispor managers
Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. managers
Pakhtakor Tashkent FK managers
Hull City A.F.C. managers
Süper Lig managers
Israeli Premier League managers
English Football League managers
Uzbekistan Super League managers
Identical twins
Twins from Georgia (country)
AZ Alkmaar non-playing staff