 | |||
| Founded | 30 November 1923; 101 years ago (1923-11-30) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Ground | Adjarabet Arena | ||
| Capacity | 20,000 | ||
| Owner | Guram Beridze | ||
| Chairman | Aslan Baladze | ||
| Manager | Gia Chiabrishvili | ||
| League | Erovnuli Liga | ||
| 2024 | Erovnuli Liga, 4th of 10 | ||
| Website | https://dinamobatumi.com/ | ||
FC Dinamo Batumi (Georgian:საფეხბურთო კლუბი დინამო ბათუმი) is aGeorgian professionalfootball club based inBatumi,Adjara that competes in theErovnuli Liga, the top division of thenational football system.
The club won the champion's title in2021 and2023, theGeorgian Cup in1997–98, and twoGeorgian Super Cups, in 1997–98 and 2022. In 1990, they changed their name toFC Batumi, only to reverse the decision in 1994.
Dinamo play their home matches atBatumi Stadium.[1]
Prior to the formation of this club, there were some other teams existing in the city. In 1923 two newly established clubs calledMezgvauri (The Sailor) andTsiteli Raindi (The Red Knight) merged and became Dinamo Batumi.[2]
Football was becoming more popular inAdjara later, although Dinamo participated only in the lower divisions ofSoviet championship. However, there were some players in the club, who later became successful footballers inUSSR, includingRevaz Chelebadze,Nodar Khizanishvili andVakhtang Koridze. The famousGreek footballerAndreas Niniadis also started his career in the club. He later played forOlympiacos andGreece national football team.
The team played the last six seasons of 1980s inthe First league, the second Soviet division.[3]
The success for the Batumi-based club came when they wonGeorgian Cup in 1998, after losing two previous finals. The club defeatedDinamo Tbilisi in final. The goals were scored by Aleksandre Kantidze andDavit Chichveishvili.[4] The club wonGeorgian Super Cup during the same year as well. They again defeated Dinamo Tbilisi, by 2–1.[5] As one of the strongest teams of the league, starting from 1995 Dinamo represented the country inEuropean competitions for four consecutive seasons.
The next decade turned out disappointing for Dinamo, which failed to notch up any success on either competition. Amid construction boom inAdjara, in 2006 the club lost their stadium, located at the seaside, to be sold and demolished. TheAdeli stadium, which Dinamo started using as their home ground, met the same fate later on.[6] It coincided with deteriorating performance in the league. After2007-08 they were relegated for the first time toPirveli Liga, where as debutants the club took 8th place in an 11-team league. Overall, Dinamo spent next five seasons out of six in the second division.
From2013/14 the club revived their ambitions, first to gain promotion toUmaglesi Liga and then to secure a place among the league leaders. Silver, taken in 2015, was followed by bronze the next year, but in 2017 Dinamo entered a period of instability with a drastic change of players and replacement of managers.Levan Khomeriki, the head coach for three successive years, left to be replaced byUkrainian managerKostyantyn Frolov, but he stepped down five months later.[7]Aslan Baladze took charge of the team, which finished the season in the relegation zone, despite having some experienced players such asOtar Martsvaladze,David Kvirkvelia andElguja Grigalashvili in the squad. Dinamo suffered a worse setback in the play-off as dramatic two-leg tie againstSioni Bolnisi ended 5:5 on aggregate and the penalty shoot-out determined the winner.[8]
Prior to the new season inLiga 2 Gia Geguchadze was appointed in the club[9] and with promotion set as their only goal, Dinamo convincingly won the league by an 11-point margin.[10]
2019 brought some more encouraging news. 100% share of Dinamo Batumi owned by the Adjarian government was awarded to Lamini Ltd for 49 years.[11] Besides, a new prospect emerged for the issue of football ground, which had plagued the club for so long. While Dinamo played home matches either on their training base or at Rugby Arena, in January the government inaugurated the construction of a new UEFA category IV stadium with the capacity of 20,000 seats due to be completed in late 2020.
Back in the top flight Dinamo rushed to the title-chasing battle, in which they initially performed beyond expectations. As no other newly promoted club had ever won the league, Dinamo Batumi appeared close to setting this record, although at the crucial point they slipped up, first dropping two points against relegation-boundWIT Georgia and then losing to another unmotivated club altogether.[12] Yet, the second place was definitely success for Dinamo, where some national team members -Jaba Jigauri,Giorgi Navalovski,Vladimer Dvalishvili - emerged at this stage.
Meanwhile, support for the club reached remarkable proportions by Georgian standards. While all of 1,500 seats on Angisa training base were full approximately three hours in advance, many more spectators watched the games from outside the fence. According to some estimates, an average number of fans per each match was around 6,400.[13]
The next season, shortened bycoronavirus, saw a scenario resembling the previous one. After ten rounds Dinamo were unbeaten, sitting on the top of the table, but later they suffered two home defeats, including from direct rivalsDinamo Tbilisi, who taking this opportunity sealed the champion's fate.[14]
On 27 October 2020 a long-awaited official opening ceremony was held in Batumi. Finally, the second placed club for two consecutive seasons representing the second largest city proudly moved into their home.[15]In early December UEFA announced that this stadium would host some ofU21 European championship matches in 2023.[16]
This ultimate triumph was made possible from a third straight attempt. With the same head coach into the fourth season and a largely retained squad, the team had some advantage over their rivals fromTbilisi who were plagued by a frequent change of managers and key players. One point picked up by the latter in four head-to-head matches indicated which side looked stronger this year. Besides, an impressive European campaign boosted the players from Adjara. As a result, seven of them were called up in early September forthe national team's World Cup game againstSpain.[17]
Inspired by fervent supporters, Batumi won six matches with a large margin, including 8–1, the biggest win of the season, and lifted the Champion's Shield for the first time in their history.[18] Subsequently, their seven players were named inTeam of the Season.
Тhe club failed to defend the title in 2022 despite having a nine-point lead over the nearest rivals by mid-season. But they prevailed in another champion's race over the same opponent the next season. Their 2023 campaign was not as smooth as two years earlier, though. The club faced a mounting pressure from the fanbase who voiced their protest against an existing transfer policy after the departure of key players such asKhvicha Kvaratskhelia,Zuriko Davitashvili andSandro Altunashvili. Eventually, Gia Geguchadze, who had guided Dinamo to five trophies during his five-year tenure, left the club following the second consecutive premature elimination from the European season.[19]
Being in a celebratory mood in view of their 100th anniversary and sitting on top of the table during the whole season, the team under new coachAndriy Demchenko comfortably regained the champion's title and, besides, reached thecup final for the first time in 25 years.[20]
| Champions | Runners-up | Third place | Relegated | Promoted |
| Season | League | Pos. | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | P | Georgian Cup | Super Cup | Europe |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Umaglesi Liga | 6 | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 56 | 28 | 61 | Semi-finals | N/A | |
| 1991 | Umaglesi Liga | 5 | 19 | 10 | 2 | 7 | 28 | 21 | 32 | |||
| 1991–92 | Umaglesi Liga | 9 | 38 | 15 | 6 | 17 | 55 | 58 | 51 | Quarter-finals | ||
| 1992–93 | Umaglesi Liga | 11 | 32 | 11 | 6 | 15 | 56 | 56 | 39 | Runner-up | ||
| 1993–94 | Umaglesi Liga | 5 | 32 | 16 | 5 | 11 | 63 | 46 | 53 | Semi-finals | ||
| 1994–95 | Umaglesi Liga | 4 | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 69 | 40 | 54 | Runner-up | ||
| 1995–96 | Umaglesi Liga | 6 | 30 | 16 | 6 | 8 | 68 | 28 | 54 | Runner-up | Runner-up | CWC 1st Round |
| 1996–97 | Umaglesi Liga | 3 | 30 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 71 | 22 | 62 | Runner-up | Runner-up | CWC 1st Round |
| 1997–98 | Umaglesi Liga | 2 | 30 | 18 | 7 | 5 | 58 | 19 | 62 | Winner | Winner | CWC QR |
| 1998–99 | Umaglesi Liga | 5 | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 49 | 22 | 50 | Quarter-finals | CWC QR | |
| 1999–00 | Umaglesi Liga | 4 | Semi-finals | |||||||||
| 2000–01 | Umaglesi Liga | 7 | Round of 16 | |||||||||
| 2001–02 | Umaglesi Liga | 5 | Quarter-finals | |||||||||
| 2002–03 | Umaglesi Liga | 8 | Round of 16 | |||||||||
| 2003–04 | Umaglesi Liga | 10 | Quarter-finals | |||||||||
| 2004–05 | Umaglesi Liga | 8 | 36 | 9 | 12 | 15 | 35 | 33 | 39 | Quarter-finals | ||
| 2005–06 | Umaglesi Liga | 6 | 30 | 17 | 7 | 6 | 42 | 21 | 58 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2006–07 | Umaglesi Liga | 9 | 26 | 8 | 6 | 12 | 27 | 30 | 30 | Semi-finals | ||
| 2007–08 | Umaglesi Liga | 13 | 26 | 4 | 4 | 18 | 16 | 51 | 16 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2008–09 | Pirveli Liga | 8 | 30 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 33 | 42 | 36 | |||
| 2009–10 | Pirveli Liga | 5 | 28 | 15 | 8 | 5 | 44 | 17 | 53 | Round of 32 | ||
| 2010–11 | Pirveli Liga | 5 | 32 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 66 | 18 | 63 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2011–12 | Pirveli Liga | 1 | 18 | 13 | 3 | 2 | 28 | 9 | 42 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2012–13 | Umaglesi Liga | 11 | 32 | 8 | 7 | 17 | 39 | 55 | 31 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2013–14 | Pirveli Liga | 2 | 26 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 65 | 17 | 59 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2014–15 | Umaglesi Liga | 2 | 30 | 18 | 4 | 8 | 40 | 24 | 58 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2015–16 | Umaglesi Liga | 8 | 30 | 12 | 8 | 10 | 41 | 32 | 44 | Round of 16 | Europa League 1st QR | |
| 2016 | Umaglesi Liga | 3 | 15 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 7 | 26 | Round of 32 | ||
| 2017 | Erovnuli Liga | 8 | 36 | 10 | 3 | 23 | 28 | 60 | 33 | Round of 32 | Europa League 1st QR | |
| 2018 | Liga 2 | 1 | 36 | 23 | 7 | 6 | 60 | 22 | 76 | Round of 16 | ||
| 2019 | Erovnuli Liga | 2 | 36 | 21 | 7 | 8 | 57 | 31 | 70 | Round of 32 | ||
| 2020 | Erovnuli Liga | 2 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 2 | 29 | 14 | 36 | Round of 16 | Europa League 1st QR | |
| 2021 | Erovnuli Liga | 1 | 36 | 21 | 12 | 3 | 73 | 27 | 75 | Semi-finals | UECL 3rd QR | |
| 2022 | Erovnuli Liga | 2 | 36 | 23 | 8 | 5 | 87 | 34 | 77 | Round of 16 | Winner | UCL 1st QR UECL 2nd QR |
| 2023 | Erovnuli Liga | 1 | 36 | 21 | 11 | 4 | 83 | 41 | 74 | Runner-up | Runner-up | UECL 1st QR |
| 2024 | Erovnuli Liga | 4 | 36 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 42 | 41 | 55 | Quarter-finals | UCL 1st QR UECL 2nd QR |
| Season | Div. | Player | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011/12 | 2nd |  Mikheil Jorbenadze | 8 |
| 2012/13 | 1st | Mikheil Jorbenadze | 6 |
| 2013/14 | 2nd | Amiran Abuselidze | 8 |
| 2014/15 | 1st | Giorgi Beriashvili | 9 |
| 2015/16 | 1st | Giorgi Beriashvili | 10 |
| 2016 | 1st | Elguja LobjanidzeTemur Shonia | 5 |
| 2017 | 1st |  Yaroslav Kvasov | 8 |
| 2018 | 2nd |  Flamarion | 24 |
| 2019 | 1st | Flamarion | 17 |
| 2020 | 1st | Jaba Jigauri | 8 |
| 2021 | 1st | Jaba JigauriGiorgi Pantsulaia | 13 |
| 2022 | 1st | Flamarion | 19 |
| 2023 | 1st | Flamarion | 17 |
| 2024 | 1st | Lado Mamuchashvili Mario Balburdia | 5 |
Dinamo's European history began with the1995 Cup Winners' Cup competition. In a memorable home game againstCeltic Glasgow more than 15,000 spectators witnessed good attacking football from both sides. The Georgians took the early lead but conceded twice in the first period. They equalized later and came close to the draw, although theScots scored at the end of the regular time to cruise to victory.[21]
A year later the draw paired Dinamo againstPSV Eindhoven. Even though theDutch side were the ultimate winners, Batumi played decently enough to earn a point in the first game. Goals in this game were scored byAmiran Mujiri andLuc Nilis.[2]
Another remarkable event occurred in 1998 when they beat the powerfulYugoslav teamPartizan Belgrade at home.
In 2021, the club narrowly missed out onUEFA Conference League play-offs after an extra-time draw atSivasspor preceded by a sensational away victory overBATE Borisov.[22]
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 18 |
| UEFA Europa League | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 14 |
| Total | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 38 | 47 |
| Season | Competition | Round | Club | Home | Away | Aggregate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995–96 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | QR |  Obilić | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 |
| 1R |  Celtic | 2–3 | 0–4 | 2–7 | ||
| 1996–97 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | QR |  HB Torshavn | 6–0 | 3–0 | 9–0 |
| 1R |  PSV Eindhoven | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–4 | ||
| 1997–98 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | QR |  Ararat Yerevan | 0–3[23] | 2–0 | 2–3 |
| 1998–99 | UEFA Cup Winners' Cup | QR | Partizan | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| 2015–16 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR |  AC Omonia | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| 2017–18 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR |  Jagiellonia Białystok | 0–1 | 0–4 | 0–5 |
| 2020–21 | UEFA Europa League | 1QR |  Hapoel Be'er Sheva | — | 0–3 | — |
| 2021–22 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 1QR |  Tre Penne | 3–0 | 4–0 | 7–0 |
| 2QR |  BATE Borisov | 0–1 | 4–1 | 4–2 | ||
| 3QR |  Sivasspor | 1–2 | 1–1 (a.e.t.) | 2–3 | ||
| 2022–23 | UEFA Champions League | 1QR |  Slovan Bratislava | 1–2 (a.e.t.) | 0–0 | 1–2 |
| UEFA Europa Conference League | 2QR | Lech Poznań | 1–1 | 0–5 | 1–6 | |
| 2023–24 | UEFA Europa Conference League | 1QR |  Tirana | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| 2024–25 | UEFA Champions League | 1QR |  Ludogorets Razgrad | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 |
| UEFA Conference League | 2QR |  Dečić | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 |
| Period | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020-21 | Puma | Europebet | [24] |
| 2022 | Errea | 7th Heaven Residence | |
| 2023 | Errea | Crocobet Lixin group |
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
|
|
Below is the list of coaches who spent at least two seasons at Dinamo Batumi
| Name | Nat. | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gia Guruli | | April 2012 | June 2013 |
| Koba Zhorzhikashvili | | July 2013 | March 2014 |
| Levan Khomeriki | | March 2014 | June 2015 |
| Shota Cheishvili | | July 2015 | April 2016 |
| Levan Khomeriki | | April 2016 | May 2017 |
| Kostyantyn Frolov | | May 2017 | October 2017 |
| Aslan Baladze | | October 2017 | December 2017 |
| Gia Geguchadze | | January 2018 | August 2023 |
| Andriy Demchenko | | August 2023 | October 2024 |
