FC Margveti 2006

FC Margveti 2006 (Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი მარგვეთი 2006), commonly referred to as Margveti, is a Georgian association football club from Zestaponi, which has earned promotion to Liga 3, the third division of Georgian football, following the 2024 season.

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 late 2000s and early 2010s, becoming a dominant force along with Dinamo Tbilisi. The two-times champions and the Cup title holders, however, due to various reasons faded away gradually after 2014.

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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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,^[3] 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.^[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.^[5]

Meore Liga

• Winners (1): 2016 (Group A West)
• Runners-up (2): 2013–14, 2015–16 (West)

Liga 4

• Runners-up (1): 2024

As of 30 October 2024

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 Aleksandre Giorgadze 2 DF  GEO Shota Vardosanidze 3 DF  GEO Aleko Sulamanidze 6 MF  GEO Dimitri Margvelashvili 7 MF  GEO Iakob Maglaperidze 8 DF  GEO Tornike Kakushadze 9 FW  GEO Nika Kharaishvili 10 MF  GEO Koba Gogiberishvili 11 FW  GEO Jumber Khmelidze

No. Pos. Nation Player 14 MF  GEO Beka Kakushadze 15 DF  GEO Tornike Darsavelidze 16 MF  GEO Saba Bagdavadze 17 DF  GEO Giorgi Kheladze 19 FW  GEO Levan Liparteliani 20 MF  GEO Nodar Gachechiladze (captain) 21 FW  GEO Guram Vardanidze 22 DF  GEO Lasha Chikhladze 23 DF  GEO Irakli Chankvetadze 33 GK  GEO Nika Jokhadze

Due to unavailability of a football ground in the city, the club hires a pitch in the town of Kharagauli, situated in 22 km from Zestaponi, for their official matches. The construction of a municipal stadium, which was repeatedly announced,^[6] is yet to commence.

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.^[7]

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.

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

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