Metalurgi Rustavi was a Georgian football team based in Rustavi, which has twice won the national league.

In Soviet times, the club played under the name "Metalurgi" (Rustavi), then during the independence of Georgia, the club was called "Gorda" (Rustavi) and FC Rustavi.

After FC Tbilisi merged with club FC Rustavi in 2006, FC Olimpi Rustavi was established.

History Football in Rustavi could be traced back to Metalurgi Rustavi in the Soviet era.

In 1990, the club became a member of the newly created Umaglesi Liga under the name Gorda with Givi Nodia at the helm. In the first three seasons Gorda came third twice. Following Nodia's departure from the team, the management reversed its decision regarding the name. For the next six seasons Metalurgi did not achieve any significant success, although they signed several players who later joined the national team, namely Soso Grishikashvili, Zurab Menteshashvili, Aleksandre Rekhviashvili, and Levan Kobiashvili.

The club was renamed back to Gorda in 1998. Around this period the team usually stayed in the bottom half of the table. In 2002, Gorda lost playoffs to Mtskheta and suffered a first relegation to Pirveli Liga. A year later, being Rustavi this time, they prevailed over the same opponents in play-offs, but due to financial difficulties failed to obtain a top-flight license.

Before the 2006 season, it was announced that Rustavi would merge with Umaglesi Liga side Tbilisi and take part in the main division as Olimpi Rustavi. Starting from this year, Olimpi was regarded as one of the main title contenders.

In 2007, the team won their first Georgian Umaglesi Liga title, followed by the second title three years later. In the same season they recorded an unbeaten run consisting of 27 league matches. With 26 goals netted in 31 matches Anderson Aquino became their top scorer of this season. Having beaten WIT Georgia 2–0, Olimpi won the Super Cup as well.

For the 2011–12 season the club changed its name to Metalurgi Rustavi after a thirteen-year wait. Metalurgi finished on equal points as Zestaponi and was faced with a bizarre scandal involving the Football Federation. As these clubs differently inferred new league regulations determining a winner of the tournament, they both declared themselves a champion. Initially, the GFF sided with Metalurgi, although after an executive committee extraordinary meeting held the next day, it announced a final decision in favor of Zestaponi.

Despite some decline, experienced by Metalurgi in following years, their players occasionally still featured in different post-season nominations. In one of such events in December 2014, Otar Kiteishvili was voted among three best young players.

The 2014–15 season turned out critical. Despite sitting among the top five teams before the winter break, soon the overall situation rapidly deteriorated. The club had amassed debts exceeding 8₾ million and could not afford to pay salaries to its staff and players. After a fifteen-game winless run, Metalurgi ended up in the relegation zone. Following a 5–0 loss to Lokomotivi in playoffs, they were relegated.

Their last season was in the Meore Liga, the third division, in 2015–16, but midway through the season they withdrew from the league. Subsequently, Metalurgi were declared bankrupt. A new Rustavi club emerged representing the city in Liga 2, although they did not have any legal connections.

Honours Erovnuli Liga Winners (2): 2007, 2010 Runners-up (1): 2011–12 Third place (4): 1990, 1991–92, 2008–09, 2010–11 Georgian Super Cup Winners (1): 2010 Georgian SSR Football Competition: Winners (4): 1959, 1974, 1979, 1984

Seasons ChampionsRunners-upThird placePromotedRelegated Season League Pos. P W D L GF GA P Cup EuropeGorda Rustavi1990Umaglesi Liga 3 34 22 3 9 63 33 69 QuarterfinalsDid not qualify19919 19 7 5 7 34 22 26 —1991–923 38 22 9 7 71 38 75 Round of 32Metalurgi Rustavi1992–93Umaglesi Liga 7 32 14 7 11 73 69 49 Round of 32Did not qualify1993–949 20 5 1 14 32 46 16Runner-up1994–957 30 12 8 10 48 37 44Semifinals1995–965 30 22 0 8 70 36 66Round of 161996–9710 30 11 2 17 44 57 35Round of 161997–9811 30 10 4 16 32 41 34Round of 32Gorda Rustavi1998–99Umaglesi Liga 12 30 7 11 12 28 46 32 Round of 16Did not qualify1999-0012 28 13 3 12 42 28 34Round of 162000–0111 32 8 11 13 32 42 26Round of 162001–0210 32 8 8 16 27 47 25Quarterfinals2002–0310 32 9 4 19 30 48 25Round of 322003–04Pirveli Liga4 30 16 3 11 46 31 51 Round of 32FC Rustavi2004–05Pirveli Liga1130 10 7 13 39 43 37Round of 32Did not qualify2005–06834 13 10 11 50 37 49Round of 32FC Olimpi Rustavi2006–07Umaglesi Liga1 26 19 6 1 57 9 63 Round of 16 Did not qualify2007–08426 16 4 6 26 16 52 Quarter finals UEFA Champions League 1st qualifying round2008–09330 16 9 5 40 20 57 Runner-up Did not qualify2009–101 36 25 7 4 69 26 79 Round of 16 UEFA Europa League 2nd qualifying round2010–113 36 20 6 10 52 31 66 Quarter finals UEFA Champions League 2nd qualifying roundFC Metalurgi Rustavi2011–12Umaglesi Liga2 28 17 4 7 39 28 55 Semi-finals UEFA Europa League 3rd qualifying round2012–137 32 12 8 12 29 35 44 Semi-finals UEFA Europa League 2nd qualifying round2013–145 32 13 6 13 35 39 45 Quarter finals Did not qualify2014–1514 30 6 8 16 25 46 26Quarter finals Did not qualify2015–16Meore Liga Withdrew

European record Season Competition Round Country Club Home Away2007–08UEFA Champions League1QFC Astana 0–0 0–32009–10UEFA Europa League1QB36 Tórshavn2–02–02QLegia Warszawa0–10–32010–11UEFA Champions League2QAktobe1–10–22011–12UEFA Europa League1QBanants1–11–02QIrtysh Pavlodar1–12–03QStade Rennais2–50–22012–13UEFA Europa League1QTeuta6–13–02QViktoria Plzeň1–30–2

Notable Players Shota Khinchagashvili Kakhaber Tskhadadze Levan Silagadze Varlam Kilasonia Giorgi Kilasonia Levan Kobiashvili Nugzar Lobzhanidze Nikoloz Togonidze Iason aladashvili Giorgi Sichinava Giorgi Gakhokidze Gocha Jamarauli Otar Kiteishvili Vako Qazaishvili

Managers Giorgi Kiknadze (July 1, 2006 – Jan 1, 2007) Anatoliy Piskovets (Sept 1, 2007 – Feb 1, 2008) Khvicha Kasrashvili Teimuraz Makharadze (July 1, 2008 – Oct 4, 2010) Nestor Mumladze (Oct 10, 2010 – Nov 1, 2010) Armaz Jeladze (Nov 2010 – Aug 11) Koba Zhorzhikashvili (Aug 9, 2011 – Oct 1, 2012) Georgi Kipiani (Oct 3, 2012 – May 31, 2013) Gela Sanaia (June 1, 2013 – Dec 31, 2013) Varlam Kilasonia (Jan 1, 2014–)

External links Official website (in Georgian) (archived)

References