The 1990 season was the 66th year in Guria's history and first season in the Umaglesi Liga, which was launched by the Georgian Football Federation following its exit from Soviet football. In addition to the league season, the team also participated in the 1990 Georgian Cup, becoming the first winners of this competition. Overview In early February 1990, when Guria were busy with pre-season preparations in Gagra, a nation-wide debate arose whether Georgian teams should continue taking part in Soviet competitions. The Gurians were in a delicate situation when, from one hand, they would not mind exploiting the success resulted from a hard-fought promotion battle in 1989 but, from the other one, could not ignore strong national aspirations directed against anything Soviet. The club seemed divided with the management inclined to opt in favour of the Top League, but it faced opposition from players who also had their say. Eventually, when supporters of a national league idea prevailed, Guria enthusiastically embraced it. They had to go through certain changes, though. Manager Mykhailo Fomenko who had coached the team for last three seasons, as well as several players from other republics departed. Instead, two footballers were signed from Lithuania who likewise broke ties with Soviet football.
As 18 teams from across four divisions formed the Umaglesi Liga, Guria were in a pole position along with Dinamo Tbilisi, now renamed as Iberia. They had an excellent start to the season, winning the opening five games with a 14–0 aggregate score. But then the team stumbled, losing three away matches in a row. The race was still wide open until 19 October when Guria sustained a painful home defeat to Iberia in a must-win tie. With this loss, their remarkable 55-game unbeaten home run stretching from 7 April 1988 also came to an end.
The team took revenge on Iberia in the cup semi-finals with a dominant 3–0 aggregate win and faced Tskhumi in a final game held in Tbilisi. Besik Pridonashvili became a hero again, netting an extra-time winner this time.
Guria under coach Gigla Imnadze ended the season in a jubilant mood, becoming the first Georgian cup holders in history and runners-up of the national league. Midfielder Otar Korgalidze was the team topscorer with 21 goals while young defender Gocha Gujabidze was named Discovery of the Year.
Statistics Standings (part)
Matches
Source
Appearances and goals Pos. Player DOBGK Mamuka Abuseridze 1962 2 -GK Avtandil Kantaria 1955 32 –DF Badri Danelia 1962 25 3DF Gocha Gujabidze 1971 20 1DF Temur Kabisashvili 1967 27 0DF Giorgi Khurtsilava 1971 4 0DF Roman Kuridze 1965 16 0DF Kakha Kvintradze 1971 16 0DF Romas Mažeikis 1964 23 0DF Gocha Tkebuchava 1963 27 3DF Davit Tsomaia 1967 30 2MF Zaza Bakuradze 1968 12 1MF Levan Baratashvili 1964 23 0MF Gia Chkhaidze 1970 30 0MF Otar Korgalidze 1960 31 21MF Teimuraz Loria 1971 5 0MF Nugzar Mikaberidze 1963 25 4FW Robertas Fridrikas 1967 20 11FW Besik Pridonashvili 1961 32 13FW Davit Ugrelidze 1964 28 14 Source:
Georgian Cup
Round of 32
Round of 16
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
Final
References
External links rsssf.org