FC Telavi

FC Telavi

Full name	Football Club Telavi
Founded	July 19, 2016; 8 years ago (2016-07-19)
Ground	Givi Chokheli Stadium Telavi, Georgia
Capacity	12,000
Chairman	Soso Grishikashvili
Manager	Pambos Christodoulou
League	Erovnuli Liga
2024	9th of 10
Website	fctelavi.ge
Home colours Away colours

FC Telavi (Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი თელავი) is a Georgian professional football club based in the city of Telavi, Kakheti. The team competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the first tier of the national league system.

While the municipal stadium named after Givi Chokheli awaits a thorough reconstruction, Telavi have played their home matches at Kavkasioni Arena since their promotion to the Erovnuli Liga.

They have been a member of the top flight since 2020.

History

First steps

The football club was founded in 2016 by former football players Irakli Vashakidze, Soso Grishikashvili and Aleksandre Amisulashvili.^[1] Telavi successfully completed their first season in Regionuli Liga in 2016 and earned a place in III division. The next year they finished 2nd in Group White and in promotion play-offs defeated Guria 3–2 on aggregate.^[2]

In 2018, Telavi took a foothold in Liga 2 coming 5th in the final table. In David Kipiani Cup Telavi eliminated four opponents, including Dila Gori, and reached the semifinals where they lost to Torpedo Kutaisi, the future champions of the competition.^[3]

The next year they booked another promotion play-off, beat Rustavi in both games and advanced to the Erovnuli Liga.^[4] With this result the team achieved three promotions within the four seasons. Also, after a twelve-year pause the first-tier football finally returned to the capital of Kakheti.

In Erovnuli Liga

Following this promotion, nine new players, including four foreigners, strengthened the squad for 2020.^[5] During their very first season the club was widely praised for decent performance. Having lost just two games out of 18, FC Telavi finished in the 6th place.^[6]

The next season began poorly. After being winless for 17 games Telavi seemed a primary candidate for relegation, which resulted in the exit of manager. Starting from mid-June the team experienced some revival, producing an unbeaten run for seven matches, including five wins. They secured six more victories in the last quarter of the season, leapfrogged the rivals and accomplished a great escape. With this achievement Giorgi Mikadze claimed the Manager of Erovnuli Liga Round 4 (October–December) award^[7] and received a nomination for Coach of the Season.^[8]

Despite a promising forecast to the season, things went awry in early 2023. By mid-season, with the club sitting bottom of the table, fourteen players had been released in a summer overhaul preceded by departure of two managers. Instead, more than a dozen of new players was brought led by Irakli Rukhadze, the top goalscorer for three consecutive seasons a few years earlier.^[9] Тhese changes brought an immediate impact. After the summer break Telavi won six of their eight games and climbed out of the relegation zone. As a result, when the Erovnuli Liga summed up part 3 (rounds 19–28) of the season, Giorgi Mikadze was recognized as best manager with three players - Begić, Guti and Rukhadze - named in the best eleven of the league.^[10]

Statistics

Seasons

Year	Division	Pos	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Cup
2017	3rd, White Group	2/10	18	10	5	3	30	18	35	1⁄32 finals
	Promotion Group	3/10[a]↑	18	12	3	3	56	15	39
2018	2nd	5/10	36	12	12	12	45	43	48	1⁄2 finals
2019		3/10[b]↑	36	19	6	11	70	36	63	1⁄8 finals
2020	1st	6/10	18	4	12	2	21	14	24	1⁄4 finals
2021		6/10	36	12	8	16	35	53	44	1⁄8 finals
2022		7/10	36	8	15	13	29	36	39	1⁄8 finals
2023		8/10[c]	36	10	7	19	34	62	37	1⁄8 finals
2024		9/10[d]	36	8	10	18	32	43	34	1⁄4 finals

1. Defeated Guria 3–2 on aggregate in Liga 2/3 playoffs
2. Beat Rustavi 3–1 on aggregate in Liga 1/2 playoffs
3. Defeated Spaeri 5–1 on aggregate in Liga 1/2 playoffs
4. Beat Rustavi 3–2 on aggregate in Liga 1/2 playoffs

Top goalscorers

Season	Div.	Player	Goals
2018	2nd	Giorgi Nikabadze	10
2019	2nd	Irakli Rukhadze	16
2020	1st	Irakli Rukhadze	5
2021	1st	Irakli Rukhadze	7
2022	1st	Imeda Ashortia Giorgi Kvernadze	3
2023	1st	Imeda Ashortia Irakli Rukhadze	6
2024	1st	Tornike Morchiladze Dejan Georgijević	6

Managerial history

Name	From	To
Giorgi Dekanosidze	2017	2018
Denys Khomutov	2019	2019
Revaz Gotsiridze	2019	2021
Giorgi Mikadze	2021	2021
Giorgi Chelidze	2022	2022
Giorgi Tsetsadze	2022	2023
Vardan Minasyan	2023	2023
Giorgi Mikadze (2)	2023	2023
Georgios Kostis	2023	2023
Oleg Vasilenko	2024	2024
Armen Adamyan	2024	2024
Pambos Christodoulou	2024

Current squad

As of 21 October 2024^[11]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GEO Levan Tandilashvili 2 MF  GEO Tato Zhividze 3 DF  GEO Aleko Ananidze 4 DF  GEO Piruz Marakvelidze 5 DF  GEO Piruz Gabitashvili 6 DF  GUI Simão Júnior 7 FW  GEO Tornike Morchiladze 8 MF  BRA André Mensalão 9 FW  HAI Jonel Désiré 10 MF  RUS Nikolai Kipiani 11 DF  GEO Eldar Parkinashvili 12 MF  GEO Dachi Tsnobiladze (captain) 17 MF  NGA Ojetunde Olaoluwa 18 MF  BRA George Pitbull

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 DF  GEO Temur Gognadze 21 GK  GEO Aleksandre Liparteliani 22 DF  GEO Davit Gogotishvili 23 MF  MLI Sidiki Traore 24 MF  GRE Christos Kountouriotis 25 MF  RUS Mikhail Strelnik 26 FW  NGA Shehu Abdullahi Aliyu 27 MF  ECU Mateo Fernández 28 MF  GEO Otar Gagnidze 30 DF  GEO Anton Tolordava 33 GK  GEO Beka Kurdadze 37 FW  SRB Dejan Georgijević 39 DF  GEO Lado Odishvili

Management

Ownership

The club is governed by shareholders. Currently, 33% of the share belongs to chairman Soso Grishikashvili while the rest have been purchased by Armenian businessmen Vardan Hakopian and Tigran Hakobian.^[12]

Telavi received the first Armenian investment in March 2023. ^[13]

Coaching positions

Position	Name
Head coach	Pambos Christodoulou
Assistant coach	Chrisostomos Kyriakopoulos
Fitness coach	Anastasios Apostolidis
Goalkeeping coach	Sotirios Sokratidis
First-team analyst	Petros Konstantinopoulos

Sponsors

In early 2018, FC Telavi signed a sponsorship contract with m2 Development company.^[14]

In late 2022, the club announced a partnership deal with a wine-producing company based in Telavi.^[15]

Stadium

Givi Chokheli football ground is home to FC Telavi, although the club played most of their home games in the last several seasons at 2,000-seater Kavkasioni Rugby Arena.^[16]

In October 2020, local authorities made a presentation on construction plans for a brand new stadium.^[17]

External links

• Profile on Soccerway
• Page on Facebook
• FC Telavi Results

References

1. "ვინ თქვა, კახეთში ფეხბურთი არ უყვართო?! თელავში გუნდი ფეხბურთელებმა აღადგინეს". sportall.ge (in Georgian). 10 September 2016.
2. ""თელავმა" პლეი-ოფში "გურიას" სძლია და მე-2 ლიგაში აღზევდა" (in Georgian). reginfo.ge. 4 December 2017.
3. ""ტორპედო" საქართველოს დავით ყიფიანის სახელობის თასის ფინალში გავიდა". topnews.ge (in Georgian). 7 November 2018.
4. ""თელავმა" "რუსთავი" დაამარცხა და ეროვნულ ლიგაში დაწინაურდა". 1tv.ge (in Georgian). 11 December 2019.
5. "თელავმა ცხრა ფეხბურთელი დაიმატა". 1tv.ge (in Georgian). 29 February 2020.
6. "2020 Final table". eliga.ge.
7. "გიორგი მიქაძე ეროვნული ლიგის მეოთხე წრის საუკეთესო მწვრთნელია". 1tv.ge (in Georgian). 10 December 2021. Retrieved 11 Dec 2021.
8. "ELIGA AWARDS 2021". europop.ge (in Georgian). 28 December 2021.
9. ""თელავი" 14 ფეხბურთელს შეელია და 13 ახალი მოთამაშე დაიმატა". 1tv.ge (in Georgian). 9 July 2023.
10. "მიქაძე მესამე წრის საუკეთესო მწვრთნელად დაასახელეს". atiani.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 7 October 2023.
11. "Players". eliga.ge.
12. "შპს საფეხბურთო კლუბი თელავი". companyinfo,ge (in Georgian). 16 September 2024.
13. "სომხური ინვესტიცია ქართულ ფეხბურთში". commersant.ge (in Georgian). 27 March 2023.
14. "m2 უძრავი ქონება" საფეხბურთო კლუბ "თელავის" გენერალური სპონსორი გახდა" (in Georgian). netgazeti.ge. 28 February 2018.
15. ""თელავი" ახალ სეზონს ფინანსურად გაძლიერებული შეხვდება" (in Georgian). 5 December 2022.
16. "მამუკა ბახტაძემ თელავში რაგბის სტადიონი დაათვალიერა და ახალგაზრდა მორაგბეებს შეხვდა". 1tv.ge (in Georgian). 24 November 2018.
17. "თელავს თანამედროვე სტანდარტების შესაბამისი სტადიონი ექნება". telavi.gov.ge (in Georgian). 30 October 2020.