| Founded | 1948 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dissolved | 2015 | ||
| Ground | Poladi Stadium Rustavi, Georgia | ||
| Capacity | 6,200 | ||
Metalurgi Rustavi was a Georgian football team based in Rustavi, which has twice won the national league.
In Soviet times, the club played under the name "Metalurgi" (Rustavi), then during the independence of Georgia, the club was called "Gorda" (Rustavi) and FC Rustavi.
After FC Tbilisi merged with club FC Rustavi in 2006, FC Olimpi Rustavi was established.
Football in Rustavi could be traced back to Metalurgi Rustavi in the Soviet era.
In 1990, the club became a member of the newly created Umaglesi Liga under the name Gorda with Givi Nodia at the helm. In the first three seasons Gorda came third twice. Following Nodia's departure from the team, the management reversed its decision regarding the name. For the next six seasons Metalurgi did not achieve any significant success, although they signed several players who later joined the national team, namely Soso Grishikashvili, Zurab Menteshashvili, Aleksandre Rekhviashvili, and Levan Kobiashvili.
The club was renamed back to Gorda in 1998. Around this period the team usually stayed in bottom half of the table. In 2002, Gorda lost playoffs to Mtskheta and suffered a first relegation to Pirveli Liga. A year later, being Rustavi this time, they prevailed over the same opponents in play-offs, but due to financial difficulties failed to obtain a top-flight license. [1]
Before the 2006 season, it was announced that Rustavi would merge with Umaglesi Liga side Tbilisi and take part in the main division as Olimpi Rustavi. Starting from this year, Olimpi were regarded as one of the main title contenders.
In 2007, the team won their first Georgian Umaglesi Liga title, [2] followed by the second title three years later. [3] In the same season they recorded an unbeaten run consisting of 27 league matches. [4] With 26 goals netted in 31 matches Anderson Aquino became their top scorer of this season. Having beaten WIT Georgia 2-0, Olimpi won the Super Cup as well.
For the 2011–12 season the club changed its name to Metalurgi Rustavi after a thirteen-year wait. Metalurgi finished on equal points as Zestafoni and faced with a bizarre scandal involving the Football Federation. As these clubs differently inferred new league regulations determining a winner of the tournament, they both declared themselves a champion. Initially, the GFF sided with Metalurgi, although after an Executive Committee extraordinary meeting held the next day, it announced a final decision in favour of Zestafoni. [5]
Despite some decline, experienced by Metalurgi in following years, their players occasionally still featured in different post-season nominations. In one of such events in December 2014, Otar Kiteishvili was voted among three best young players. [6]
The 2014–15 season turned out critical. [7] Despite sitting among top five teams before the winter break, soon the overall situation rapidly deteriorated. The club had amassed debts exceeding 8₾ million and could not afford to pay salaries to its staff and players. [8] After a fifteen-game winless run, Metalurgi ended up in the relegation zone. Following a 5-0 loss to Lokomotivi in playoffs, they were relegated. [9]
Their last season was in the Meore Liga, the third division, in 2015–16, but midway through the season they withdrew from the league. [10] Subsequently, Metalurgi were declared bankrupt. A new Rustavi club emerged representing the city in Liga 2, although they did not have any legal connections. [11]
| Season | League | Pos. | Pl. | W | D | L | GF | GA | P | Cup | Europe | Notes | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Umaglesi Liga | 3 | 34 | 22 | 3 | 9 | 63 | 33 | 69 | Gorda Rustavi | |||
| 1991 | Umaglesi Liga | 9 | 19 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 34 | 22 | 26 | Gorda Rustavi | |||
| 1991–92 | Umaglesi Liga | 3 | 38 | 22 | 9 | 7 | 71 | 38 | 75 | Gorda Rustavi | |||
| 1992–93 | Umaglesi Liga | 7 | 32 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 73 | 69 | 49 | Metallurgi Rustavi | |||
| 1993–94 | Umaglesi Liga | 9 | Metallurgi Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 1994–95 | Umaglesi Liga | 7 | Metallurgi Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 1995–96 | Umaglesi Liga | 5 | Metallurgi Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 1996–97 | Umaglesi Liga | 10 | Metallurgi Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 1997–98 | Umaglesi Liga | 11 | Metallurgi Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 1998–99 | Umaglesi Liga | 12 | Gorda Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 1999-00 | Umaglesi Liga | 12 | Gorda Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 2000–01 | Umaglesi Liga | 11 | Gorda Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 2001–02 | Umaglesi Liga | 10 | Gorda Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 2002–03 | Umaglesi Liga | 10 | Gorda Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 2003–04 | Pirveli Liga | 4 | FC Rustavi | ||||||||||
| 2004–05 | Pirveli Liga | 11 | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 39 | 43 | 37 | FC Rustavi | |||
| 2005–06 | Pirveli Liga | 8 | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 50 | 37 | 49 | FC Rustavi | |||
| 2006–07 | Umaglesi Liga | 1 | 26 | 19 | 6 | 1 | 57 | 9 | 63 | Round of 16 | FC Olimpi Rustavi | ||
| 2007–08 | Umaglesi Liga | 4 | 26 | 16 | 4 | 6 | 26 | 16 | 52 | Quarter-finals | UEFA Champions League 1st qualifying round | FC Olimpi Rustavi | |
| 2008–09 | Umaglesi Liga | 3 | 30 | 16 | 9 | 5 | 40 | 20 | 57 | Runner-up | FC Olimpi Rustavi | ||
| 2009–10 | Umaglesi Liga | 1 | 36 | 25 | 7 | 4 | 69 | 26 | 79 | Round of 16 | UEFA Europa League 2nd qualifying round | FC Olimpi Rustavi | |
| 2010–11 | Umaglesi Liga | 3 | 36 | 20 | 6 | 10 | 52 | 31 | 66 | Quarter-finals | UEFA Champions League 2nd qualifying round | FC Olimpi Rustavi | |
| 2011–12 | Umaglesi Liga | 2 | 28 | 17 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 28 | 55 | Semi-finals | UEFA Europa League 3rd qualifying round | FC Metalurgi Rustavi | |
| 2012–13 | Umaglesi Liga | 7 | 32 | 12 | 8 | 12 | 29 | 35 | 44 | Semi-finals | UEFA Europa League 2nd qualifying round | FC Metalurgi Rustavi | |
| 2013–14 | Umaglesi Liga | 5 | 32 | 13 | 6 | 13 | 35 | 39 | 45 | Quarter-finals | FC Metalurgi Rustavi | ||
| 2014–15 | Umaglesi Liga | 14 | 30 | 6 | 8 | 16 | 25 | 46 | 26 | Quarter-finals | FC Metalurgi Rustavi |
| Season | Competition | Round | Country | Club | Home | Away |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | UEFA Champions League | 1Q |  | FC Astana | 0–0 | 0–3 |
| 2009–10 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  | B36 Tórshavn | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| 2Q |  | Legia Warszawa | 0–1 | 0–3 | ||
| 2010–11 | UEFA Champions League | 2Q | | Aktobe | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| 2011–12 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  | Banants | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| 2Q | | Irtysh Pavlodar | 1–1 | 2–0 | ||
| 3Q |  | Stade Rennais | 2–5 | 0–2 | ||
| 2012–13 | UEFA Europa League | 1Q |  | Teuta | 6–1 | 3–0 |
| 2Q |  | Viktoria Plzeň | 1–3 | 0–2 | ||
Notable Players
Giorgi Kiknadze (July 1, 2006 – Jan 1, 2007)
Anatoliy Piskovets (Sept 1, 2007 – Feb 1, 2008) Khvicha Kasrashvili Teimuraz Makharadze (July 1, 2008 – Oct 4, 2010) Nestor Mumladze (Oct 10, 2010 – Nov 1, 2010) Armaz Jeladze (Nov 2010 – Aug 11) Koba Zhorzhikashvili (Aug 9, 2011 – Oct 1, 2012) Georgi Kipiani (Oct 3, 2012 – May 31, 2013) Gela Sanaia (June 1, 2013 – Dec 31, 2013) Varlam Kilasonia (Jan 1, 2014–)
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