FC Margveti 2006 (Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი მარგვეთი 2006), commonly referred to as Margveti, is a Georgian association football club from Zestaponi. It competes in Liga 3, the third division of Georgian football.

History Clubs of Zestaponi

Since 1990, when independent leagues were formed, the city of Zestaponi has been represented by several clubs in Georgian football divisions.

● FC Margveti spent eight seasons in Umaglesi Liga in the 1990s, twice reaching semifinals of the national cup and once finishing the second, which paved the way for participation in UEFA Cup preliminary round. However, facing a severe financial crisis, the club went bust in 2000.

● FC Metalurgi (Georgian: მეტალურგი), bearing the name of a Soviet-time football club from Zestaponi, re-emerged instead. Being participant of two top-flight seasons between 2001 and 2003, they, too, ceased to exist for the same reason.

● FC Zestaponi, founded in 2004, achieved a remarkable success in the late 2000s and early 2010s, becoming a dominant force along with Dinamo Tbilisi. The two-time champions and the cup title holders, however, due to various reasons faded away gradually after 2014.

Margveti 2006

Margveti 2006 were formed in 2006 as a municipal club on the basis of a local football school, where at one point 268 pupils were engaged in football, participating in different regional and republican competitions. As for the professional club, they have taken part in the third division and below only.

Margveti came close to gaining promotion to Pirveli Liga three times in four years in the middle of the decade. In 2016, they won the Group tournament, although no club was promoted in this season.

In contrast with the previous seasons, in 2017 the club was involved in the relegation round. Although Margveti seemed clear favorites in a play-off tie, they surprisingly lost it, which led to the exit of manager Gia Guruli and 13 field players. The team was a member of Regionuli Liga for the next three years before they managed to take the second place in 2020 in Group A West and advance to Liga 4.

It took the club four years to achieve another promotion. Having been among the top three teams throughout the 2024 season, Margveti under head coach Tamaz Gabrichidze sealed their return to the third tier after a seven-year absence. This year turned out especially unforgettable for forward Jumber (Juba) Khmelidze, who by mid-October had scored 39 out of Margveti's 79 goals. His tally included two hat-tricks, four pokers and even seven goals that he netted in a single match.

Seasons + Season League Pos MP W D L GF–GA P Notes 2012/13 Meore Liga West 5th of 13 24 14 1 9 70–37 43 2013/14 Meore Liga West 2nd of 13 24 15 6 3 52–21 51 2014/15 Meore Liga West 7th of 15 28 14 2 12 54–46 44 2015/16 Meore Liga West 2nd of 14 26 22 0 4 80–23 66 2016 Meore Liga A Group West 1st of 7 12 8 4 0 28–5 28 2017 Liga 3 Red Group 7th of 10 18 5 6 7 21–28 21 Relegation round 5th of 10 18 8 5 5 27–17 29 Play-off, relegated2018 Regionuli Liga, A West 2nd of 8 14 11 1 2 45–15 34 Promotion Group, West5th of 8 1462626–37202019 Regionuli Liga, A West 5th of 10 9 4 1 4 14–21 13Promotion Group, West10th of 1018 00180 2020 Regionuli Liga, A West 2nd of 9 16 9 4 3 45–31 31 Promoted 2021 Liga 4, Red Group4th of 10 18 8 5 5 36–33 29 Promotion Group 10th of 10 182 3 13 18–51 9 2022 Liga 4 9th of 16 30 10 9 11 59–68 39 2023 Liga 45th of 14 26 15 3 8 55–40 48 2024Liga 4 2nd of 15 26 202 6 96–46 62 Promoted2025 Liga 312th of 16 30771636–7128

Honours Meore Liga Winners (1): 2016 (Group A West) Runners-up (2): 2013–14, 2015–16 (West) Liga 4 Runners-up (1): 2024

Players As of 20 March 2026

(C)

Stadium Due to unavailability of a football ground in the city, the club was using a pitch in the town of Kharagauli, situated in 22 km from Zestaponi, for their official matches in the early 2020s. The construction of a municipal stadium, which was repeatedly announced, is yet to commence.

Margveti 2006 returned to their hometown in 2026.

City derby Relations with FC Zestaponi can hardly be described as easy. In 2015, a media row erupted after Ilia Kokaia, the owner of the latter, slammed Margveti 2006 for cronyism and unfair privileges, and suggested that the local authorities were deliberately seeking to sink FC Zestaponi at the expense of this municipal club. Margveti hit out at him by dismissing all the allegations.

During the 2018, 2019 and 2021 seasons these two clubs played in the same division. Initially Margveti won two games (1–0 and 2–0), but then lost next seven matches in a row with a 4–35 aggregate goal difference.

Name Margveti, also mentioned as Argveti in historic annals, was a duchy between VIII and XI centuries on large swaths of the current Imereti region.

External links Page on Facebook On Soccerway

References