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.
100% share of the club currently belongs to the Lanchkhuti municipality.[1]
History
Early period
Formed in 1924[2] as FC Kimi, the team ceased to exist after the start of World War 2 and resumed functioning in 1952 under the name "Kolmeurne".
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 SovietAssociation football.[3]
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.
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 GeorgiaEduard Shevardnadze.[4]
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.
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. The pitch invasion during the 2–1 win over fierce rivals Daugava Riga resulted in the disqualification of the stadium for three matches. For this reason the final home game of the season against Yuri Semin'sLokomotive Moscow (1–0) was held in Batumi in front of 20,000 spectators.[5]
Under head coach Begi Sikharulidze some players especially contributed to this huge achievement:[6]
Besik Pridonashvili with all 46 games played and 27 goals scored; Teimuraz Chkhaidze - 44 (8); Murman Akopian - 43 (7); Badri Danelia - 43 (1); Levan Melikia - 41; Vakhtang Kopaleishvili - 40 (16); Sergey Shvetsov - 40 (1); Enuki Tevzadze - 39 (5); Tariel Ebanoidze - 37 (1); Gigla Imnadze - 36; Alexander Kondratiev - 36; Merab Tevzadze - 30 (1); Gia Giligashvili - 26;
Karlo Mchedlidze - 12; Davit Ugrelidze - 11 (5).
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.[7]
Between the 1983–84 and 1987–88 seasons the USSR occupied a second place after Italy in UEFA ranking,[8] 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.[9] 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.[10]
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.[11]
Since 1990: Georgian leagues
By entering Umaglesi Liga competition a new stage opened up for Guria. First several years they remained high-flying, winning the Georgian Cup title in 1990[12] and silver medals in 1990 and 1991. Later the decline started which saw the club moving up and down the first three divisions several times.
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.
In the 2016 season Guria played in the top Georgian division, but within two years they slumped to Liga 3. 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, the decisive last two games lost to direct rivals spelled failure for their main goal.[13] 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.
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.[14]
A year later Begi Sikharulidze was awarded the title Honorary Citizen of Lanchkhuti.[15]
