| Full name | Football Club Rustavi | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2015; 10 years ago (2015) | ||
| Ground | Technical Centre,Rustavi | ||
| Capacity | 1,000 | ||
| Manager | Bachana Tskhadadze | ||
| Coach | Varlam Kilasonia | ||
| League | Erovnuli Liga 2 | ||
| 2024 | 2nd of 10 in Erovnuli Liga 2 | ||
| Website | fc-rustavi | ||
FC Rustavi (Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი რუსთავი) is aGeorgian football club based in the city ofRustavi. They compete inErovnuli Liga 2, the 2nd tier ofGeorgian football.
Founded in 2015, it is one of the youngest participants of the Georgian football leagues.
The team has spent two seasons in the first division.
FC Rustavi have no legal connections with any of the football clubs previously existing in the city (Gorda,Metalurgi, Olimpi). As a new team, it was established on 3 July 2015.[1]
Rustavi debuted in the second division the same year and achieved a modest goal of retaining a place in it by finishing in midtable.[2]
Contrary to expectations, in 2016 they emerged among the favourites, managed to prevail in the promotion contest and under managerVarlam Kilasonia won the league. However, due to the season being transitional to the spring-autumn system, no team was promoted.[3]
Despite a poor start in 2017, the club drastically improved and after a ten-match winning run claimed the first place with automatic promotion to the first tier.[4]
Rustavi signed some experienced players such asNukri Revishvili,Mamuka Kobakhidze andOtar Martsvaladze and in the very first game in theErovnuli Liga obtained three points atDinamo Tbilisi. But frequent changes of the squad throughout the season did not contribute to stable results and finally the team finished in the 7th place.[5]
The club was struggling for most of the regular season in 2019. Eventually, Rustavi could have remained in the league in case of aplay-off victory overTelavi, but they were defeated in both games.[6]
Back in Liga 2, the next season Rustavi joined the promotion battle and remained in a play-off range until the last game. However, the results of the final matchday turned out unfavourable. Yet, in this season Rustavi recorded their biggest win 10–0.[7]
Starting from 2021, the club took part in two relegation battles. Initially, Rustavi prevailed overKolkheti 1913 due toaway goals, but in the next season they lost both matches toKolkheti Khobi, which resulted in their relegation to the third division.[8]
During the2023 season, Rustavi were battling for an automatic promotion spot. Although the team suffered a 4–7 aggregate defeat fromLocomotive inplay-offs, ultimately they were admitted back to the 2nd division afterShukura's disqualification by the Federation.[9]
Rustavi have twice reached the quarterfinal stage of this competition.
As a lower league side, they came close to the sensation during the game againstDinamo Tbilisi in 2017. After a goalless draw in regular and extra times, the winner was determined on penalties.[10]
The same scenario unfolded two years later when Rustavi's Cup campaign was stopped byTorpedo Kutaisi.[11]
| Season | League | Pos | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | Pts | Domestic Cup |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015/16 | 2nd | 9/18 | 34 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 33 | 33 | 43 | 1st round |
| 2016 | 1/9 | 16 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 40 | 15 | 32[a] | Preliminary round | |
| 2017 | 1/10↑ | 36 | 26 | 5 | 5 | 72 | 25 | 83 | 1⁄4 finals | |
| 2018 | 1st | 7/10 | 36 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 33 | 44 | 37 | 1⁄8 finals |
| 2019 | 8/10↓[b] | 36 | 9 | 11 | 16 | 40 | 56 | 38 | 1⁄4 finals | |
| 2020 | 2nd | 4/10 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 35 | 27 | 26 | 1⁄16 finals |
| 2021 | 9/10[c] | 36 | 11 | 6 | 19 | 46 | 58 | 39 | 1⁄16 finals | |
| 2022 | 7/10↓[d] | 28 | 6 | 5 | 17 | 34 | 54 | 23 | 1⁄8 finals | |
| 2023 | 3rd | 3/16↑[e] | 30 | 19 | 4 | 7 | 63 | 31 | 61 | 1st round |
| 2024 | 2nd | 2/10[f] | 36 | 20 | 5 | 11 | 62 | 41 | 65 | 1⁄8 finals |
| Season | Div. | Name | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | 2nd |  Zviad Metreveli, Zaza Tsitskishvili | 6 |
| 2016 | 2nd | Data Sitchinava | 12 |
| 2017 | 2nd | Data Sitchinava | 30 |
| 2018 | 1st | Beka Kavtaradze, Zaza Tsitskishvili, Otar Martsvaladze | 4 |
| 2019 | 1st | Beka Kavtaradze | 8 |
| 2020 | 2nd | Toma Tabatadze | 13 |
| 2021 | 2nd | Paata Kiteishvili | 12 |
| 2022 | 2nd |  Bantu Mzwakali | 9 |
| 2023 | 3rd | Bachuki Gotsadze | 10 |
| 2024 | 2nd | Giorgi Gabedava | 15 |
| Season | Date | Competition | Round | Opponent | Venue | Result | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 13 September 2017 | Georgian Cup | Quarterfinals | Dinamo Tbilisi | Home | Lost | 0–3 |
| 2019 | 25 September 2019 | Georgian Cup | Quarterfinals | Torpedo Kutaisi | Home | Lost | 2–4 |
As of 10 March 2025[12]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
| Name | Nat. | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Giorgi Mishvelidze | | September 2015 | April 2016 |
| Varlam Kilasonia | | April 2016 | December 2017 |
| Vladimir Gazzayev |  | January 2018 | June 2018 |
| Varlam Kilasonia (2) | | June 2018 | September 2018 |
| Ucha Sosiashvili | | September 2018 | December 2018 |
| Badri Kvaratskhelia |  | February 2019 | April 2019 |
| Varlam Kilasonia (3) | | May 2019 | July 2020 |
| Suliko Davitashvili | | July 2020 | August 2020 |
| Temur Makharadze | | August 2020 | February 2021 |
| Vladimer Khachidze | | February 2021 | July 2021 |
| Armaz Jeladze | | August 2021 | April 2022 |
| Levan Jokhadze | | May 2022 | November 2022 |
| Valeri Abramidze | | November 2022 | December 2022 |
| Varlam Kilasonia (4) | | February 2023 |
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| General Director | Bachana Tskhadadze |
| Head coach | Varlam Kilasonia |
| Assistant coach | |
| Goalkeeper coach | Andro Koroshinadze |
Rustavi also have a reserve team, which participates in Group A ofRegionuli Liga.[13] Their home ground is thePoladi stadium.
