FC Merani Martvili

Football clubs from Martvili have previously been called Salkhino Gegechkori (Soviet times), Chkondidi Martvili and Salkhino Martvili.

FC Merani was founded by Georgian ex-minister of communications Pridon Injia in 2006.[1]

In their first season in Pirveli liga under head coach Malkhaz Zhvania Merani came the third and until the promotion to Umaglesi Liga in 2011/12 they were among top five clubs.

In 2010 Merani became a first II league club to play in David Kipiani Cup semifinals where they lost 1-2 on aggregate to WIT Georgia, the Cup winners of the season.[2]

The next year Merani successfully completed their season and as a second-placed team got promoted to the top flight.

During the five following seasons in Umaglesi Liga Merani achieved the best result in their first year, reaching 5th place, while in other cases the club was mostly involved in relegation groups.

In 2015/16 Merani were relegated. The same year, though, they managed to book a place in the Cup final after having eliminated Dila, Kolkheti-1913 and Chikhura in previous rounds. Torpedo Kutaisi won the game held in Zestafoni and clinched the Cup.[3]

Merani came close back to Erovnuli Liga in 2017, although they were unable to beat Kolkheti Poti in promotion play-offs.[4]

At the end of the next season Merani lost last two league games and surprisingly finished at the bottom of the table, which implied an automatic relegation.[5]

After one year spent in Liga 3 Merani returned to the second division. In 2020 they retained a place in it after the victory over FC Gori in a play-off tie.[6]

In early 2021 Pridon Injia quit the club and Jesi Surmava, the head of Martvili Football School, took over the management, which resulted in major changes among both staff and squad members.[7]

Season	League	Pos.	Pl.	W	D	L	GF	GA	P	Cup	Notes
2007/08	Pirveli Liga	3	27	13	5	9	36	25	44
2008/09	Pirveli Liga	3	30	18	6	6	45	24	60	Quarter-finals
2009/10	Pirveli Liga	3	28	17	2	9	44	31	53	Semi-finals
2010/11	Pirveli Liga	2	32	22	7	3	60	15	73	Round of 16	Promoted
2011/12	Umaglesi Liga	8	28	6	3	19	31	55	21	Quarter-finals
2012/13	Umaglesi Liga	8	22	7	2	13	23	36	23	Round of 32	Relegation group
2013/14	Umaglesi Liga	12	22	4	3	15	16	41	15	Round of 8	Relegation group
2014/15	Umaglesi Liga	11	30	9	9	12	29	33	36	Round of 16
2015/16	Umaglesi Liga	15	30	5	8	17	28	62	23	Round of 32	Relegated
2016	Liga 2 White Group	4	16	9	5	2	31	11	26	Runner-up	Relegation play-off, won
2017	Liga 2	2	36	24	8	4	67	16	80	Round of 8	Promotion play-off, lost
2018	Liga 2	10	36	8	12	16	36	47	36	Round of 16	Relegated
2019	Liga 3	1	36	26	4	6	78	24	82	Round of 8	Promoted
2020	Liga 2	8	18	6	6	6	23	20	30	Round of 32	Relegation play-off, won

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

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GEO Zurab Mamaladze 2 GK  RUS Petr Sevostyanenko 3 DF  GEO Giorgi Gegia 4 DF  GEO Vasil Gogolidze 7 DF  GEO Kachi Meliava 8 DF  GEO Sergi Orbeladze 9 DF  GEO Mikheil Rukhaia 10 DF  GEO Irakli Tsitskhvaia 11 DF  GEO Giorgi Tsimakuridze 12 MF  GEO Zaur Goguadze 13 MF  GEO Lasha Jghamaia 14 MF  GEO Ivane Khabelashvili

No. Pos. Nation Player 15 MF  UKR Akaki Tskarozia 16 MF  GEO Nodar Kiknavelidze 17 MF  GEO Alexander Shengelia 18 MF  NGA Benjamin Opeyemi Teidi 19 MF  GEO Imeda Ashortia 21 FW  GEO Besik Chimakadze 22 FW  GEO Shota Jikia 23 FW  GEO Sabanadze 24 FW  GEO Jaba Ugulava — FW  UKR Serhiy Tretyak — FW  UKR Taras Puchkovskyi

Merani playes home matches on Murtaz Khurtsilava stadium, which has the capacity of 1,850 seats.

In February 2017 this arena hosted the Georgian Super Cup game between Samtredia and Torpedo Kutaisi.[8]

• Pirveli Liga
  • Silver Medal winner: 2011
  • Bronze Medal winner: 2008, 2009, 2010

• David Kipiani Cup
  • Runners-up 2016

• Malkhaz Zhvania (July 1, 2007–Oct 7, 2013)
• Zurab Ionanidze (2014)

Merani is a Georgian word for pegasus.

• Official website