The U17 Golden League () is the main youth football competition run by the Georgian Football Federation for under-17 teams, whose parent clubs usually compete in the Erovnuli Liga or lower leagues.
Created in mid-2016, it is named after distinguished player Mikheil Meskhi and currently consists of eleven teams.
Structure and format A playing season of the league consists of two parts. During the first phase, teams play Double round robin. The top five teams qualify for Championship group which determines the winner via an eight-game tournament. The remaining clubs take part in Relegation round with the bottom team to be relegated to the Silver League, which is the 2nd division, contested by ten teams as of 2025.
Seasons run based on Spring-Autumn system.
History The U17 competition started in 2016. Based on geographic principle, 27 teams were initially divided into four groups. Their winners, runners-up and two best three-placed teams then formed a ten-member Championship group. Locomotive became the first champions after a 4–1 victory over Saburtalo in the final match of the season.
Starting from 2019, Dinamo Tbilisi have been represented in the league with two teams. Twice in a row in the early 2020s, Dinamo-2 even surpassed the main team, becoming champions in 2022. A year later, Saburtalo also doubled their representation.
The 2020 league season was abandoned after seven rounds following a COVID-19 outbreak. The latter also affected the next season which was completed in July 2022 only. Iberia 1999 have dominated during the recent period, securing four out of five league titles.
Current teams There are currently ten teams competing in U19 Golden League: Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi-2 Iberia 1999 Iberia-2 1999 Inter Inter-2 Locomotive Torpedo WIT Georgia 35th Football School
Seasons SeasonChampionRunner-upThird place 2016 Locomotive Saburtalo 2017 Dinamo Tbilisi Locomotive 2018 Dinamo Tbilisi Saburtalo Locomotive 2019 Dinamo Tbilisi Saburtalo Dinamo Tbilisi-2 2020Abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic 2021 Saburtalo Dinamo Tbilisi-2 Dinamo Tbilisi 2022 Dinamo Tbilisi-2 Saburtalo Dinamo Tbilisi 2023 Saburtalo Dinamo Tbilisi 35th Football School 2024 Iberia 1999 Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi-2 2025 Dinamo Tbilisi Iberia 1999 Locomotive Note: Saburtalo changed its name to Iberia 1999 in February 2024
Player of the Year Based on his individual performance in the Golden League, one notable U17 player is selected by the Football Federation each year.
YearPlayerClub 2017 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia Dinamo Tbilisi 2018 Nika Talakhadze Dinamo Tbilisi 2019 Luka Gagnidze Dinamo Tbilisi 2020Not awarded 2021 Gabriel Sigua Dinamo Tbilisi 2022 Soso Kopaliani Locomotive 2023 Rezi Danelia Dinamo Tbilisi 2024 Saba Kharebashvili Dinamo Tbilisi 2025 Andria Bartishvili Kolkheti 1913
References
External links U17 League