FC Rustavi (Georgian: საფეხბურთო კლუბი რუსთავი) is a Georgian football club based in the city of Rustavi. Following the 2025 season, they were promoted to the top tier of Georgian football.
Founded in 2015, it is one of the youngest participants of the Georgian football leagues.
The team has spent two seasons in the top division.
History 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.
Rustavi debuted in the second division the same year and achieved a modest goal of retaining a place in it by finishing in midtable.
Contrary to expectations, in 2016 they emerged among the favourites, managed to prevail in the promotion contest and under manager Varlam Kilasonia won the league. However, due to the season being transitional to the spring-autumn system, no team was promoted.
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.
Rustavi signed some experienced players such as Nukri Revishvili, Mamuka Kobakhidze and Otar Martsvaladze and in the very first game in the Erovnuli Liga obtained three points at Dinamo 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.
The club was struggling for most of the regular season in 2019. Eventually, Rustavi could have remained in the league in case of a play-off victory over Telavi, but they were defeated in both games.
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.
Starting from 2021, the club took part in two relegation battles. Initially, Rustavi prevailed over Kolkheti 1913 due to away goals, but in the next season they lost both matches to Kolkheti Khobi, which resulted in their relegation to the third division.
During the 2023 season, Rustavi were battling for an automatic promotion spot. Although the team suffered a 7–4 aggregate defeat from Locomotive in play-offs, ultimately they were admitted back to the 2nd division after Shukura's disqualification by the Federation.
In 2024, Rustavi finished 3rd, implying taking part in promotion playoffs, but they lost to Telavi again. A year later, though, the team managed to win the Liga 2 season despite trailing by ten points in mid-season and return to the top tier after a six-year absence.
Rustavi have three times reached the quarterfinal stage of the Georgian Cup competition. As a lower league side, they came close to reaching the semifinals during the game against Dinamo Tbilisi in 2017. After a goalless draw in regular and extra times, the winner of the quarterfinal was determined on penalties. The same scenario unfolded two years later when Rustavi's Cup campaign was stopped by Torpedo Kutaisi.
Seasons + Season League Pos P W D L GFGA Pts Domestic Cup 2015/162nd9/18 34 10 13 11 33 33 43 1st round 20161/9 16 12 2 2 40 15 32 Preliminary round 20171/10 36 26 5 5 72 25 83 finals 2018 1st7/10 36 8 13 15 33 4437 finals 20198/10 36 9 11 16 40 56 38 finals 2020 2nd4/10 18 7 5 6 35 27 26 finals 20219/10 36 11 6 19 46 5839 finals 20227/10 28 6 5 17 34 54 23 finals 20233rd 3/16 30 194 7 63 31 61 1st round 2024 2nd2/10 36 20 5 116241 65 finals 2025 1/10 36 21 8 76230 71 finals
Top goalscorers + 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 Gotsadze10 2024 2nd Giorgi Gabedava15 2025 2nd Jean 13
Penalty shoot-outs DateCompetitionRoundOpponentVenueResultScore 13 September 2017Georgian CupQuarterfinalsDinamo TbilisiHomeLost0–3 25 September 2019Georgian CupQuarterfinalsTorpedo KutaisiHomeLost2–4 7 August 2025Georgian CupRound of 16Iberia 1999 BAwayWon4–3
Squad As of 20 August 2026
(C)
Out on loan
Managers NameNat.FromToGiorgi Mishvelidze September 2015April 2016Varlam Kilasonia April 2016December 2017Vladimir Gazzayev January 2018June 2018Varlam Kilasonia (2) June 2018September 2018Ucha Sosiashvili September 2018December 2018Badri Kvaratskhelia February 2019April 2019Varlam Kilasonia (3) May 2019July 2020Suliko Davitashvili July 2020August 2020Temur Makharadze August 2020February 2021Vladimer Khachidze February 2021July 2021Armaz Jeladze August 2021April 2022Levan Jokhadze May 2022November 2022Valeri Abramidze November 2022December 2022Varlam Kilasonia (4) February 2023April 2025 Giorgi Tsetsadze April 2025
Club staff + Position Name General Director Bachana Tskhadadze Head coach Giorgi Tsetsadze Assistant coach Goalkeeper coach Andro Koroshinadze
Honours Pirveli Liga/Erovnuli Liga 2 Champions (3): 2016 (Group White), 2017, 2025 Runners-up (1): 2024 Liga 3 Third (1): 2023 Notable players Giorgi Mamardashvili Khvicha Kvaratskhelia
Other teams Rustavi also have a reserve team, which participates in Group A of Regionuli Liga. Their home ground is the Poladi stadium.
References
External links
FC Rustavi at Soccerway FC Rustavi Results at Flashscore