FC Iberia 1999

For similar names, see FC Iberia.

Iberia 1999
Full nameFootball Club Iberia 1999
NicknameRed Eagles
Founded20 August 1999 (1999-08-20)
GroundDavid Petriashvili Stadium
Tbilisi, Georgia
Capacity2,130
ChairmanTariel Khechikashvili
ManagerGuga Nergadze
LeagueErovnuli Liga
2025Erovnuli Liga, 1st of 10 (champions)
Websitefciberia1999.ge

FC Iberia 1999, formerly known as FC Saburtalo, is a Georgian football club,[1] based in the Saburtalo District of Tbilisi, the capital of the country.

Тhey have been the most decorated Georgian team since 2017 when the Erovnuli Liga was launched.

History

Saburtalo was founded on 20 August 1999, in Tbilisi.[2] In 2005, the club was bought by Iberia Business Group and its owner Tariel Khechikashvili, who later became the Minister of Sport & Youth Affairs of Georgia.

Following the 2014–15 season, Saburtalo won their respective Pirveli Liga group with a nineteen-point margin and advanced to the Umaglesi Liga.[3]

In 2018, Saburtalo who had not won any silverware during the previous three seasons in the top-flight, claimed the champion's title for the first time under coach Gia Chiabrishvili.[4]

A year later, they successfully completed their cup campaign after a 3–1 win over Locomotive in the final. In 2020, Saburtalo beat champions Dinamo Tbilisi to lift the Georgian Super Cup.[5]

Next seasons saw the team winning two more cup trophies and another league title with 2022 being the only year when Saburtalo failed to win any domestic tournament.

Team won title for the second time under coach Levan Korgalidze.

Statistics

By season

Season League Pos. Pl. W D L GF GA P Cup Europe Manager
as Saburalo
2013–14 Erovnuli Liga 2 8 26 9 5 12 38 34 32 DNP Temur Shalamberidze
2014–15 Erovnuli Liga 2 1↑ 36 28 3 5 92 25 82 First round Giorgi Chiabrishvili
2015–16 Erovnuli Liga 8 30 11 6 13 47 61 39 First round
2016 Erovnuli Liga 3[a] 12 5 4 3 17 12 19 First round Pablo Franco
2017 Erovnuli Liga 4 36 18 6 12 61 42 60 Fourth round Giorgi Chiabrishvili
2018 Erovnuli Liga 1 36 24 7 5 64 29 79 Third round
2019 Erovnuli Liga 3 36 21 7 8 67 36 70 Winners Champions League - 2QR
Europa League - 3QR
2020 Erovnuli Liga 5 18 7 6 5 28 21 27 Semi-final Europa League - 1QR Temur Shalamberidze
Levan Korgalidze
2021 Erovnuli Liga 4 36 15 8 13 52 40 57 Winners Khvicha Shubitidze
2022 Erovnuli Liga 6 36 13 8 15 51 49 47 Semi-final Conference League - 2QR Lasha Nozadze
2023 Erovnuli Liga 6 36 14 9 13 58 49 51 Winners Omari Tetradze
Giorgi Mikadze
as Iberia 1999
2024 Erovnuli Liga 1 36 23 6 7 74 46 75 Round of 16 Conference League - 3QR Giorgi Mikadze
Levan Korgalidze
2025 Erovnuli Liga 1 36 24 8 4 60 24 80 Runners-up Champions League - 1QR Levan Korgalidze
Gia Geguchadze
Guga Nergadze
  1. ^ Lost Bronze play-offs to Dinamo Tbilisi

European record

Saburtalo made their debut in a UEFA competition in 2019 after being paired with Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League 1st qualifying round. They cruised to an away 3–0 victory,[6] although survived an early scare in the return leg after conceding three goals within the opening ten minutes.[7]

The team has twice reached the 3rd round of UEFA competitions.

As of 29 July 2025
Season Competition Round Club Home Away Agg.
2019–20 UEFA Champions League 1QR Sheriff Tiraspol 1–3 3–0 4−3
2QR Dinamo Zagreb 0−2 0−3 0−5
UEFA Europa League 3QR Ararat-Armenia 0−2 2−1 2−3
2020–21 UEFA Europa League 1QR Apollon Limassol N/a 1–5 N/a
2022–23 UEFA Europa Conference League 1QR Partizani 0–1 1–0 (a.e.t.) 1−1 (5–4 p)
2QR FCSB 1–0 2–4 3–4
2024–25 UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR Partizani 2–0 0–0 2–0
3QR İstanbul Başakşehir 0–1 0–2 0–3
2025–26 UEFA Champions League 1QR Malmö FF 1–3 1–3 2−6
UEFA Europa Conference League 2QR FCI Levadia 2–2 (a.e.t.) 0–1 2–3
2026–27 UEFA Champions League 1QR
Notes
  • QR: Qualifying round

Overall record

Competition Played Won Drew Lost GF GA GD Win%
UEFA Champions League 4 1 0 3 4 8 −4 025.00
UEFA Europa League 3 1 0 2 3 8 −5 033.33
UEFA Europa Conference League 9 3 1 5 6 9 −3 033.33
Total 16 5 1 10 13 25 −12 031.25

Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.

Players

As of 11 March, 2026

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 Tornike Megrelishvili
2 DF  GEO Giorgi Gogsadze
4 DF  LUX Vahid Selimovic
5 DF  GEO Jemali-Giorgi Jinjolava
6 MF  GEO Nikoloz Dadiani
7 FW  GEO Paata Gudushauri
8 MF  GEO Bakar Kardava
9 FW  GEO Amiran Dzagania
10 FW  GEO Zviad Natchkebia
11 FW  GEO Andria Bartishvili (on loan from Kolkheti)
14 FW  GEO Guram Goshteliani
15 DF  NED Terence Kongolo
No. Pos. Nation Player
16 GK  GEO Revaz Kurtanidze
17 MF  GEO Irakli Bidzinashvili
18 MF  BRA Lucas Café
20 DF  CIV Armel Zohouri
24 FW  GEO Vakho Bedoshvili (on loan from Pari Nizhny Novgorod)
25 DF  GEO Aleksandre Amisulashvili
29 FW  GEO Tornike Akhvlediani
31 GK  GEO Giorgi Makaridze
40 DF  GEO Giorgi Kobuladze
— MF  GEO Giorgi Kutsia (on loan from Veres Rivne)

Out on loan

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

Honours

Team honours:
Type Competition Titles Seasons
Domestic Erovnuli Liga 3 2018, 2024, 2025
Erovnuli Liga 2 1 2014–15
Georgian Cup 3 2019, 2021, 2023
Georgian Super Cup 1 2020

Other teams

The reserve team currently competes in the 2nd division after a seven-year continuous tenure in Liga 3.

The U19s won their youth league in 2016 and 2022, while the U17 team secured three titles in the early 2020s.

Saburtalo has one of the top football academies in the country.[2]

Stadium

The club has a full-size stadium, called Bendela, with the capacity of 1,800 spectators.[2]

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Iberia 1999.

Name

Saburtalo is the name of one of Tbilisi's districts where the team academy and Bendela are located, while the term Iberia, a synonym for Kartli, stems from an ancient kingdom which existed until the Early Middle Ages.

On 27 February 2024, the team's name was changed to Iberia 1999.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "Georgia – FC Saburtalo Tbilisi – Results, fixtures, squad, statistics, photos, videos and news – Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 18 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b c "The history of FC Saburtalo Tbilisi". FCsaburtalo.ge. 6 December 2015. Archived from the original on 10 February 2018. Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  3. ^ ""საბურთალოს" წარმატების ფორმულა". sportall.ge (in Georgian). 28 April 2015. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
  4. ^ ""საბურთალო" ჩემპიონია!" [Saburtalo are champions!]. at.ge (in Georgian). 3 December 2018.
  5. ^ ""საბურთალომ" გაასამა – ამჯერად სუპერთასი". 23 February 2020.
  6. ^ "Sheriff vs Saburtalo match report". UEFA. 10 July 2019.
  7. ^ "10-ბალიანი სისტემა - "საბურთალოს" ფეხბურთელების შეფასება "შერიფთან" მატჩში" [Ratings of Saburtalo players based on ten-point system]. sportall.ge. 17 July 2019.
  8. ^ "ახალი სეზონიდან "საბურთალო" "იბერია 1999"-ის სახელით იასპარეზებს". FC saburtalo (in Georgian). 27 February 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
  9. ^ "From the new season, "Saburtalo" will compete under the name of "Iberia 1999"". FC saburtalo. 29 February 2024. Retrieved 14 March 2024.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.