FC Guria () is a Georgian association football club from Lanchkhuti. Following the 2025 season, they were promoted to Liga 3, the third tier of the national league.
Being one of the strongest Georgian teams in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Guria played in the Soviet Top league and also won the national cup. They later played fifteen seasons in the Umaglesi Liga, twice claiming silver medals.
The team plays their home matches at the Evgrapi Shevardnadze Stadium.
History Early period Formed in 1924 as FC Kimi, the team ceased to exist after the start of World War 2 and resumed functioning in 1952 under the name "Kolmeurne", a Georgian word for the collective farm worker.
In 1960 the club was renamed as Guria. The next year they gained a first title by becoming champions of the republican league. During the subsequent decade the team won the Georgian Cup three times and the domestic league two more times, in 1966 and 1971, which enabled them to advance to the Soviet Association football.
1972–79: in the Soviet second league Starting from 1972 Guria played in the Second League, the third tier of the Soviet football league, for seven years.
+ In Second League after each season YEAR M W D L GF–GA Pts FP 1972 36 12 7 17 46-49 31 13th 1973 34 13 5 16 52-52 31 8th 1974 38 10 17 11 56-53 37 11th 1975 34 18 5 11 62-47 41 3rd 1976 38 21 10 7 67-34 521st* 1977 42 22 7 13 91-57 51 4th 1978 46 24 11 11 82-48 59 2nd1979 46 31 4 11 110-50 66 1st *Note: Lost promotion play-offs to Uralmash Sverdlovsk
Overall results shown by Guria in II League are the following: M W D L GF–GA 314 151 66 97 566:390 Guria's remarkable progress was largely attributed to Shalva Kakabadze, who worked as head coach for record twenty years continuously from 1959 until 1980, and local government chairman Evgrapi Shevardnadze, brother of the Soviet Communist Party leader in Georgia Eduard Shevardnadze.
1980–86: Road to the top flight After the winning season in 1979, Guria were promoted to the First League, where they played for another seven consecutive years. + In First League after each season YEAR M W D L GF–GA Pts FP 1980 46 18 10 18 68-73 46 11th 1981 46 16 13 17 50-56 44 14th 1982 42 15 7 20 48-67 37 18th 1983 42 19 4 19 52-71 42 9th 1984 42 16 10 16 49-52 42 10th 1985 38 15 7 16 50-52 37 17th 1986 46 28 5 13 80-66 612ndSoviet Union 1986. www.rsssf.org ↑ Source
The very fact of promotion to the Soviet Top League for the team representing a provincial town seemed amazing. Football fervour around Guria grew so high that in most cases not a single seat was available during their matches, and some youngsters would climb up trees around the stadium to watch their favourite team. A pitch invasion during a 2–1 win over fierce rivals Daugava Riga resulted in the disqualification of stadium for three matches. For this reason, the final home game of the season against Yuri Semin's Lokomotive Moscow (1–0) was held in Batumi in front of 20,000 spectators.
It happened so that the struggling Guria that was almost relegated in the previous season managed to place 2nd soon after the native of Lanchkhuti, Eduard Shevardnadze became the Soviet foreign affairs minister.
Under head coach Begi Sikharulidze, some players especially contributed to this huge achievement. Besik Pridonashvili shone with 27 goals in 46 games, becoming a shared top goalscorer of the season.
1987: the Top League
Straight away after the promotion the football ground underwent a significant reconstruction and eventually the capacity of stadium in a town with 9,021 residents as of 1987 reached 22,000.
Between the 1983–84 and 1987–88 seasons the USSR occupied a second place after Italy in UEFA ranking, therefore, the Soviet Top League was a tough challenge for Guria. Being regarded as a decent home team, Guria beat Kairat 2–0, Neftchi 1–0, Dinamo Minsk 2–1, Dinamo Moscow 2–1 and Ararat 2–0, also played goalless draws against Dinamo Kyiv, Dinamo Tbilisi and future bronze medal holders Zalgiris, although poor results in away games doomed the club for relegation.
1988–89: Promotion battles Guria did not succeed in a new promotion attempt, finishing in the 4th place in 1988, but the team still made headlines with a shock victory over Dinamo Kyiv (2–1) in the Cup 1/16 finals. The next year the Gurians once again displayed their powerful home run by winning all 21 games held in Lanchkhuti and earned a place in the Soviet Top League as runners-up of the 1989 season.
However, Guria were no longer destined to play again in the Soviet championship. On 15 February 1990, the Georgian Football Federation made a decision to break away from the Soviet Football Federation, withdraw all the teams from the Soviet leagues and form its own national championship with immediate effect. When this issue was put forward at Guria, most of the players defied the decision made by their board of directors in favour of the Soviet Top League and overwhelmingly voted to join the national league.
1990–2010: Ups and downs During the opening two seasons, Guria were the only team competing with Dinamo Tbilisi for top titles. They eliminated Dinamo 3–0 on aggregate from the semifinals and beat in-form Tskhumi with an extra-time goal scored by Pridonashvili in the 1990 cup final. Guria made history, becoming the first team to lift the national cup. Meanwhile, they finished twice in a row as runners-up of the league, losing the 1991 title contest by one point only. Midfielder Otar Korgalidze became the league topscorer for two successive seasons, netting 40 goals in the 1991–92 season alone.
In mid-1990s, Guria were plagued by poor form. After a bottom-four finish for four consecutive seasons, they suffered first relegation to tier 2 in 1999. To make things worse, the team failed to retain a place there in 2007 and fell to Meore Liga for one year. Their very name was subjected to changes, becoming Guria-Lokomotive-2 after the merger with Locomotive's reserve team in 2001, and Guria-2000 in 2008. In 2009 the team regained their popular name.
2010s-2020s: Series of promotions and relegations Guria's eleven-year wait for the top division came to an end in 2013. After winning 27 out of 33 games, the team finished on top of their Pirveli Liga group with a sixteen-point margin. A month before sealing promotion, Guria came close to knocking out Dinamo Tbilisi in the quarterfinals. After a goalless home draw, they leveled the score in the return leg but a late own goal dashed their hopes to progress on away goals.
For once Guria spent four seasons in the Umaglesi Liga up until 2016, when they were relegated following a playoff loss to 2015 champions Dila. A year later, the team dropped into the 3rd tier for the first time in ten years. As the club experienced another rapid decline in the late 2010s, 15 managers were replaced in a record-breaking thirty-month period. Although the team managed to go up for 2019, their tenure there did not last longer than one season.
Throughout the shortened 2020 season, Guria appeared poised for promotion. Yet, defeat to direct rivals in decisive last two games spelled failure for their main goal. In contrast, a year later the team mostly stayed inside the drop zone, although due to the points picked up close to the end they barely escaped yet another relegation.
Guria reached a new low in 2024, when they finished at the bottom of the table and suffered relegation to Liga 4. But with staunch support of their fans at a crucial point, the team achieved an immediate return to Liga 3. In most dramatic circumstances, Guria had to twice cancel out a two-goal deficit, including with two injury-time goals, to snatch a vital point on the final day of the 2025 season and earn first promotion in seven years.
Statistics
Seasons spent in Georgian leagues since 1990:
Umaglesi Liga (1st tier): 15 Pirveli Liga / Erovnuli Liga 2 (2nd tier): 14 Meore Liga / Liga 3 (3rd tier): 8 Liga 4 (4th tier): 1 Correct up to 2026 season
Club honours Leagues Soviet period Soviet First League: (level 2) Soviet Second League: (level 3) Winners: 1976, 1979 Runners-up: 1986, 1989 Georgian Soviet Championship: (level 4) Winners: 1961, 1966, 1971 Runners-up: 1960 Georgia Umaglesi Liga (level 1) Runners-up: 1990, 1991 Pirveli Liga: (level 2) Winners: 2000–01, 2012–13 (West) Meore Liga/Liga 3: (level 3) Runners-up: 2007–08 Cups Georgian Soviet Cup: Winners: 1965, 1966, 1971 Georgian Cup: Winners: 1990
Personal honours Otar Korghalidze – Top scorers – 14 goals, 1991 season Otar Korghalidze – Top scorers – 40 goals, 1991–92 season Zviad Endeladze – European Golden Boot – 40 goals, 1995–96 season (for Margveti Zestaponi)
In early 2020, by decree of the Georgian Ministry of Sport Begi Sikharulidze, Teimuraz Chkhaidze and Gigla Imnadze were awarded the Knight of Sport title for their distinguished contribution to Guria's victorious season in 1986.
A year later Begi Sikharulidze was awarded the title Honorary Citizen of Lanchkhuti.
Current squad As of 19 March 2026
(C)
Management PositionName Chairman Zurab Okropiridze Sports directorAndro Nemsadze Head coach Gocha TkebuchavaAssistant coach Gigla Imnadze Temur Loria Gia ChkhaidzeGoalkeeping coach Irakli Khvedelidze
Former players
Topscorers by season SeasonNameGoals1966–67 Omar Pertenava161967–68 Vakhtang Dzidziguri231968–69 Vakhtang Dzidziguri171969–70 Vakhtang Dzidziguri181970–71 Vakhtang Dzidziguri391971–72 Vakhtang Dzidziguri131972–73 Joni Abaishvili191973–74 Vakhtang Dzidziguri151974–75 Revaz Sanaia251975–76 Besik Mchedlishvili201976–77 Vasil Troian181977–78 Vasil Troian151978–79 Merab Megreladze261979–80 Merab Megreladze201980–81 Merab Megreladze111981–82 Temur Ebanoidze91982–83 Murtaz Akophiani141983–84 Vakhtang Kopaleishvili131984–85 Gia Tkebuchava111985–86 Besik Pridonashvili271986–87 Viktor Khlus51987–88 Viktor Khlus211988–89 Merab Zhordania251989–90 Otar Korghalidze211990–91 Otar Korghalidze141991–92 Otar Korghalidze40
Managerial history NameCoun.FromToGivi Imnaishvili 19521953Vladimer Narimanidze 19541955Viktor Berezhnoi19561956Boris Chitaia19571958Shalva Kakabadze19591979Aleksandre Kotrikadze19801980Murtaz Khurtsilava19811982Shalva Kakabadze (2)19831984Begi Sikharulidze19851986Aleksandre Kotrikadze (2)19861986Mykhailo Fomenko19871989Murtaz Khurtsilava (2) 19901990Gigla Imnadze19901993Temur Chkhaidze19931994Gigla Imnadze (2)19941995Begi Sikharulidze (2)19951996Boris Dudarov19961996Gigla Imnadze (3)19961997Gia Tavadze19971997Avtandil Nariashvili19971997Begi Sikharulidze19971997Joni Janelidze19981998Avtandil Nariashvili (2)19981999Shota Pataraia19992000Zaza Gurielidze20002001Gubaz Dolidze20012001Samson Pruidze20012001Imedo Dundua20012001Avtandil Nariashvili (3)20012001 Ramaz Pirtskhalaishvili20012003Temur Loria20042007Zviad Endeladze20072007Irakli Patsuria20082008Avtandil Nariashvili (4)20082009 Kakha Ebralidze20092009Gia Chkhaidze20102010Irakli Patsuria (2)20112011Gigla Imnadze (4)20112012Temur Loria (2)20122013Davit Makharadze20132013Roman Pokora20132013Davit Makharadze (2)20142014Temur Loria (3)20142015Gigla Imnadze (5)20152015Kakha Gogichaishvili20152015Badri Kvaratskhelia20152015Gia Chkhaidze (2)20152015Viktor Demidov20162016Temur Makharadze20162016Oleh Leshchynskyi20162016Gigla Imnadze (6)20172017Gia Guruli20172017Davit Makharadze (3)20172018Giorgi Oniani20182018Giga Imedaishvili20182018Tengiz Pataraia20192019Giga Imedaishvili (2)20192019Gela Sanaia20192019Gia Chkhaidze (3)20192019Temur Loria (4)20192020Levan Khomeriki / Ivane Makharadze20202021Giga Imedaishvili (3)20212021Giorgi Oniani (2)20212022Davit Digmelashvili20232023Aleksandre Koshkadze20232024Gigla Imnadze (7)20242025Temur Loria (5)20252025Gocha Tkebuchava2026
Rivalry
Mertskhali are considered to be Guria's bitter rivals. Initially, they were more or less on equal levels but their fixtures have become rare due to a significant advantage achieved by Guria over the last three decades. References
External links