 | |||
| Full name | Football Club Iberia 1999 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | Red Eagles | ||
| Founded | 20 August 1999; 26 years ago (1999-08-20) | ||
| Ground | Mikheil Meskhi Stadium Tbilisi,Georgia | ||
| Capacity | 25,453 | ||
| Chairman | Tariel Khechikashvili | ||
| Manager | Guga Nergadze | ||
| League | Erovnuli Liga | ||
| 2024 | Erovnuli Liga, 1st of 10 (champions) | ||
| Website | fciberia1999 | ||
FC Iberia 1999, formerly known asFC Saburtalo, is aGeorgianfootball club,[1] based in theSaburtalo District ofTbilisi, the capital of the country.
Тhey have been the most decorated Georgian team since 2017 when theErovnuli Liga was launched.
Saburtalo was founded on 20 August 1999, inTbilisi.[2] In 2005, the club was bought by Iberia Business Group and its owner Tariel Khechikashvili, who later became theMinister of Sport & Youth Affairs ofGeorgia.
Following the2014–15 season, Saburtalo won their respectivePirveli Liga group with a nineteen-point margin and advanced to theUmaglesi 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 theircup campaign after a 3–1 win overLocomotive in the final. In 2020, Saburtalo beat championsDinamo Tbilisi to lift theGeorgian 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 coachLevan Korgalidze.
| 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 |
Saburtalo made their debut in aUEFA competition in 2019 after being paired with Moldovan sideSheriff Tiraspol in theChampions 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.
| 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 | — | 1–5 | — |
| 2022–23 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 1QR |  Partizani | 0–1 | 1–0 (a.e.t.) | 1−1(5–4p) |
| 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 |
| 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.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
| Type | Competition | Titles | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| Domestic | Erovnuli Liga | 2 | 2018,2024 |
| Erovnuli Liga 2 | 1 | 2014–15 | |
| Georgian Cup | 3 | 2019,2021,2023 | |
| Georgian Super Cup | 1 | 2020 |
Thereserve team currently competes in the2nd division after a seven-year continuous tenure inLiga 3.
The U19s won theiryouth 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]
The club has a full-size stadium, calledBendela, with the capacity of 1,800 spectators.[2]
Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed inbold represented their countries while playing for Iberia 1999.
Saburtalo is the name of one of Tbilisi's districts where the team academy andBendela are located, while the termIberia, asynonym forKartli, stems from anancient kingdom which existed until the Early Middle Ages.
On 27 February 2024, the team's name was changed to Iberia 1999.[8][9]
