Badri Danelia

Badri Danelia
Personal information
Date of birth (1962-01-02) 2 January 1962
Place of birth Gegechkori, Georgian SSR
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position Defender
Youth career
Gegechkori Sport School
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980 Dila
1981 Locomotive Samtredia
1982 Guria 17 (1)
1983 Dinamo Tbilisi 11 (0)
1984 Locomotive Samtredia 8 (0)
1985 Dinamo Batumi 18 (0)
1985 Dinamo Tbilisi 1 (0)
1986–1992 Guria 178 (4)
1992–1993 Kolkheti 1913 24 (2)
1993–1994 Guria 19 (1)
1994–1995 Kolkheti 1913 21 (0)
1995–1996 Optik 33 (5)
1996–1997 Lok-Altmark 33 (0)
1997–2004 Eisenhüttenstädter 173 (24)
2004–2011 Neuzeller 1922 56+ (23+)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 29 January 2026

Badri Danelia (Georgian: ბადრი დანელია, born 2 January 1962) is a retired Georgian professional footballer player who played as a right-back and spent his long-time career in Georgia and later in Germany.

Danelia was a key player at Guria when the latter achieved its biggest success between 1986 and 1992. He is the winner of the first Georgian Cup tournament held in 1990. He has also twice won the league silver medals.

Career

Danelia studied at Gegechkori Sport School. At age 18, he moved to third-tier club Dila. In 1982, Danelia joined Guria in the 2nd division and a year later signed with Dinamo Tbilisi where he made eleven top-flight appearances. In 1986, he returned to Guria to stay for seven successive trophy-laden seasons. In his first year, Danelia played 43 out of Guria's 46 league matches, scoring an equalizer in a 4–2 home loss to Kuzbass. This season Guria managed to gain their first ever promotion to a top tier.[1]

Danelia contributed with 40 appearances to Guria's another triumph three years later. Although the team lost the 1990 title race, it was Danelia, now the team captain, who lifted the national cup following an extra-time win over Tskhumi.[2] At the end of this season, Danelia was named as the best right-back of the year together with Omar Tetradze.[3] In the same year, he was called up to the national team who were about to play their first official game against Lithuania.[4]

During his second spell, Danelia played 178 league games for Guria who, apart from the cup glory, finished as the league runners-up four times.

Later, in 1995, Danelia moved to Germany where he played for low-division sides before announcing retirement at 49.

In December 2025, when former player and later manager Merab Jordania announced his plans to purchase Guria, Danelia was named in the board of directors along with his other ex-teammates.[5]

Honours

Player

Guria

References

  1. ^ ""გურია", "გურია" - ქართული ფეხბურთის მატიანე". worldsport.ge (in Georgian). 24 March 2013. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  2. ^ "პირველად იყო ლანჩხუთი!". guriatoday.ge (in Georgian). 18 November 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  3. ^ "სეზონის რჩეულები: 1990" [Players of the 1990 season]. mygoals.ge (in Georgian). Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  4. ^ "ჩივაძის 65, ლეგენდარული 13 მაისი და ეროვნული ნაკრების დაბადება" (in Georgian). Lelo. 2 February 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2026.
  5. ^ "მერაბ ჟორდანიამ კლუბის დირექტორატის წევრები დაასახელა" [Merab Jordania names the Board of directors]. guriatoday.ge (in Georgian). 1 December 2025. Retrieved 29 January 2026.