Football Club Dinamo Batumi () is a Georgian professional football club based in Batumi, Adjara that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top division of Georgian football.
They are one of the oldest clubs in the country, having won all three major trophies: two league titles, one Georgian Cup and two Super Cups. As of 2026, it ranks third in the all-time national points rankings. In 1990, they changed their name to FC Batumi, only to reverse the decision in 1994.
Dinamo play their home matches at the Batumi Stadium.
History Early period Prior to the formation of this club, there were some other teams existing in the city. In 1923, two newly established clubs called Mezgvauri (The Sailor) and Tsiteli Raindi (The Red Knight) merged and became Dinamo Batumi.
Football became more popular in Adjara later, although Dinamo participated only in the lower divisions of Soviet championship. However, there were some players in the club, who later became successful footballers in the USSR, including Revaz Chelebadze, Nodar Khizanishvili and Vakhtang Koridze. The famous Greek footballer Andreas Niniadis also started his career in the club. He later played for Olympiacos and the Greece national team.
The team played the last six seasons of the 1980s in the Soviet First League, tier 2 of Soviet football.
1990s and 2000s The success for the Batumi-based club came when they won the Georgian Cup in 1998, after losing two previous finals. As the team defeated Dinamo Tbilisi, the goals were scored by Aleksandre Kantidze and Davit Chichveishvili. They secured the Georgian Super Cup as well after a 2–1 win over the same opponents. As one of the strongest teams of the league, starting from 1995 Dinamo represented the country in European competitions for four consecutive seasons.
The next decade turned out disappointing for Dinamo, which failed to notch up any success on either competition. Amid construction boom in Adjara, in 2006 the club lost their stadium, located at the seaside, to be sold and demolished. The Adeli stadium, which Dinamo started using as their home ground, met the same fate later on. It coincided with deteriorating performance in the league. After 2007–08 they were relegated to Pirveli Liga for the first time. Overall, Dinamo spent next five seasons out of six in the second division.
In search for success In 2013–14, the club revived their ambitions, first to gain promotion to Umaglesi Liga and then to secure a place among the league leaders. They performed as runners-up after a 17-year wait in 2015, but two years later entered the period of instability characterized by a drastic change of players and replacement of managers. The team concluded the season in the relegation zone, despite having some experienced players such as Otar Martsvaladze, David Kvirkvelia and Elguja Grigalashvili in the squad. They suffered a worse setback in the play-off as a dramatic two-leg tie against Sioni resulted in their relegation.
Prior to the new season in Liga 2, Gia Geguchadze was appointed as head coach and with promotion set as their only goal, Dinamo convincingly won the league by an eleven-point margin.
Тhe Lamini managerial years (2020–25) In early 2020, 100% share of Dinamo Batumi owned by the Adjarian government was awarded to Lamini Ltd for 49 years.
Back in the top flight Dinamo rushed to the title-chasing battle, in which they initially performed beyond expectations. As no other newly promoted club had ever won the league, Dinamo Batumi appeared close to setting this record, although at the crucial stage they slipped up, dropping vital points against two unmotivated clubs. Yet, the second place was definitely success for the club, where national team members Jaba Jigauri, Giorgi Navalovski and Vladimer Dvalishvili emerged at this stage.
On 27 October 2020, following a long-awaited opening ceremony of the Batumi Stadium, the second-placed club for two consecutive seasons representing the second largest city proudly moved into their new home.
Dinamo Batumi achieved their biggest league triumph from a third straight attempt in 2021. With the same head coach into the fourth season and a largely retained squad, the team gained advantage over their rivals, won six matches with a large margin, including 8–1, the biggest win of the season, and lifted the Champion's Shield for the first time in their history. Subsequently, their seven players were named in Team of the Season. An impressive UEFA European campaign also boosted the players from Adjara. Seven of them were called up in early September for Georgia's World Cup qualifier against Spain.
Dinamo Batumi position attracted young talents like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Zuriko Davitashvili to join the club in March 2022. The next year, amid the celebrations of their centenary season, the team, now guided by Andriy Demchenko, secured the league title, also reaching the cup final for the first time in 25 years.
A new decline started in 2024 when Dinamo failed to finish the season among top two teams for the first time in the last six years. In the summer of 2025, the management admitted a financial crisis. As a year-long transfer ban was imposed by FIFA, many footballers left the club. In early December, the Adjarian government announced that they abolished the 2020 agreement with Lamini Ltd and restored full control over the club. On 29 December 2025, JSC DB 1923 officially took over Dinamo Batumi.
Statistics Domestic Champions Runners-up Third place Relegated Promoted
Season League Pos. P W D L GF GA P Georgian Cup Super Cup Europe1990Umaglesi Liga6341879562861Semi-finalsN/A1991Umaglesi Liga51910272821321991–92Umaglesi Liga93815617555851Quarter-finals1992–93Umaglesi Liga113211615565639Runner-up1993–94Umaglesi Liga53216511634653Semi-finals1994–95Umaglesi Liga4301668694054Runner-up1995–96Umaglesi Liga6301668682854Runner-upRunner-upCWC 1st Round1996–97Umaglesi Liga3301884712262Runner-upRunner-upCWC 1st Round1997–98Umaglesi Liga2301875581962WinnerWinnerCWC QR1998–99Umaglesi Liga53013116492250Quarter-finalsCWC QR1999–00Umaglesi Liga4 Semi-finals2000–01Umaglesi Liga7 Round of 162001–02Umaglesi Liga5 Quarter-finals2002–03Umaglesi Liga8 Round of 162003–04Umaglesi Liga10 Quarter-finals2004–05Umaglesi Liga83691215353339Quarter-finals2005–06Umaglesi Liga6301776422158Round of 162006–07Umaglesi Liga9268612273030Semi-finals2007–08Umaglesi Liga13264418165116Round of 162008–09Pirveli Liga83099123342362009–10Pirveli Liga528 15 8 544 17 53Round of 322010–11Pirveli Liga532 18 9 566 18 63Round of 162011–12Pirveli Liga1 18 13 3 2 28 9 42Round of 162012–13Umaglesi Liga 11 32 8 7 17 39 55 31Round of 162013–14Pirveli Liga 226 19 2 565 17 59Round of 162014–15Umaglesi Liga230 18 4 840 24 58Round of 162015–16Umaglesi Liga830 12 8 1041 32 44Round of 16Europa League 1st QR2016Umaglesi Liga315 7 5 323 7 26Round of 322017Erovnuli Liga836 10 3 2328 60 33Round of 32Europa League 1st QR2018Liga 2 136 23 7 660 22 76Round of 162019Erovnuli Liga236 21 7 85731 70Round of 322020Erovnuli Liga218 10 6 229 14 36Round of 16Europa League 1st QR2021Erovnuli Liga136 2112 373 27 75Semi-finalsUECL 3rd QR2022Erovnuli Liga236 238 587 34 77Round of 16WinnerUCL 1st QR UECL 2nd QR2023Erovnuli Liga136 21 11 483 41 74Runner-upRunner-upUECL 1st QR2024Erovnuli Liga436 15 10 1142 41 55Quarter-finalsUCL 1st QR UECL 2nd QR2025Erovnuli Liga636 11 10 1540 59 43Semi-finals
Top scorers
+ Season Div. Player Goals 2011/12 2nd Mikheil Jorbenadze 8 2012/13 1st Mikheil Jorbenadze 6 2013/14 2nd Amiran Abuselidze 8 2014/15 1st Giorgi Beriashvili 9 2015/16 1st Giorgi Beriashvili 10 2016 1st Elguja Lobjanidze Temur Shonia 5 2017 1st Yaroslav Kvasov 8 2018 2nd Flamarion 24 2019 1st Flamarion 17 2020 1st Jaba Jigauri 8 2021 1st Jaba Jigauri Giorgi Pantsulaia 13 2022 1st Flamarion 19 2023 1st Flamarion 17 2024 1st Lado Mamuchashvili Mario Balburdia 5 2025 1st Jalen Blesa 7
European campaigns
Dinamo's European history began with the 1995 Cup Winners' Cup competition. In a memorable home game against Celtic, more than 15,000 spectators witnessed good attacking football from both sides. The Georgians took the early lead but conceded twice in the first period. They equalized later and came close to the draw, although the Scots scored at the end of the regular time to cruise to victory.
A year later the draw paired Dinamo against PSV Eindhoven. Even though the Dutch side were the ultimate winners, Batumi played decently enough to earn a point in the first game. Goals in this game were scored by Amiran Mujiri and Luc Nilis.
Another remarkable event occurred in 1998 when they beat the powerful Yugoslav team Partizan Belgrade at home.
In 2021, the club narrowly missed out on UEFA Conference League play-offs after an extra-time draw at Sivasspor preceded by a sensational away victory over BATE Borisov.
Competition Pld W D L GF GA UEFA Champions League 3 0 1 2 2 5 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 12 5 2 5 18 18 UEFA Europa League 5 1 0 4 1 10 UEFA Europa Conference League 10 3 3 4 17 14 Total 30 9 6 15 38 47
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup QR Obilić 2–2 1–0 3–2 1R Celtic 2–3 0–4 2–7 1996–97 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup QR HB Torshavn 6–0 3–0 9–0 1R PSV Eindhoven 1–1 0–3 1–4 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup QR Ararat Yerevan 0–3Ararat Yerevan were awarded a 3–0 win in the qualifying round first leg after Dinamo Batumi were found guilty of fielding an ineligible player ― Sotogashvili. The match originally ended as a 4–2 win for Dinamo Batumi. 2–0 2–3 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup QR Partizan 1–0 0–2 1–2 2015–16 UEFA Europa League 1QR AC Omonia 1–0 0–2 1–2 2017–18 UEFA Europa League 1QR Jagiellonia Białystok 0–1 0–4 0–5 2020–21 UEFA Europa League 1QR Hapoel Be'er Sheva 0–3 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League 1QR Tre Penne 3–0 4–0 7–0 2QR BATE Borisov 0–1 4–1 4–2 3QR Sivasspor 1–2 1–1 2–3 2022–23 UEFA Champions League 1QR Slovan Bratislava 1–2 0–0 1–2 UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR Lech Poznań 1–1 0–5 1–6 2023–24 UEFA Europa Conference League 1QR Tirana 1–2 1–1 2–3 2024–25 UEFA Champions League 1QR Ludogorets Razgrad 1–0 1–3 2–3 UEFA Conference League 2QR Dečić 0–2 0–0 0–2
Crest and colours
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors +PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsorRef2020-21PumaEuropebet2022Errea7th Heaven Residence2023ErreaCrocobet Lixin group
Current squad
Out on loan
Managerial history Notable managers Below is the list of coaches who spent at least two seasons at Dinamo Batumi Shota Cheishvili (1990–94, 1996–99, 2015–16) Valerian Chkhartishvili (1994–96) (2000–02) Levan Khomeriki (2014–15, 2016–17) Gia Geguchadze (2018–2023)
Recent managers NameNat.FromToGia Guruli April 2012June 2013Koba Zhorzhikashvili July 2013March 2014Levan Khomeriki March 2014June 2015 Shota CheishviliJuly 2015April 2016Levan Khomeriki April 2016May 2017Kostyantyn Frolov May 2017October 2017Aslan Baladze October 2017December 2017Gia Geguchadze January 2018August 2023Andriy DemchenkoAugust 2023October 2024
Honours Erovnuli Liga Winners (2): 2021, 2023 Runners-up (5): 1997–98, 2014–15, 2019, 2020, 2022 Third place (2): 1996–97, 2016 Georgian Cup Winners (1): 1997–98 Runners-up (5): 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2023 Georgian Super Cup Winners (2): 1997–98, 2022 Runners-up (3): 1995–96, 1996–97, 2023
References
External links
FC Dinamo Batumi Results