FC Imereti Khoni

FC Imereti is a Georgian association football club from the town of Khoni. They currently take part in Regionuli Liga, the fifth tier of Georgian league system.

Imereti Khoni
Full nameFC Imereti Khoni
Founded1936
GroundIpolite Khvichia stadium
Capacity1,500
ManagerDato Chelidze
LeagueRegionuli Liga
20227th of 11,
Regionuli Liga, Group C

History

Founded in 1936, Imereti spent many years in Georgian Soviet championship under the name Imereti Tsulukidze. The second division has been the highest league they participated at any time since 1990.

In 2014/15 Imereti, trained by manager Koba Zhorzhikashvili, won a tight competition against Sulori Vani for promotion to Pirveli Liga.[1] The club pledged to become promotion chasers for the top flight and carry out some reconstruction of the stadium, which was regularly overcrowded during the matches.[2]

In the next season the club performed below expectations, but still with positive prospect looming ahead. However, near the end of 2016 Imereti were delivered a severe blow. The Disciplinary Committee of Georgian Football Federation upon completion of its investigation on a possible match-fixing incident involving Imereti decided to annul the latter's points in the league table and expel the club to a lower division. The manager was sentenced to a life-long ban on any football activities.[3]

Back in the third league the club quickly recovered and took part in the promotion round. Simultaneously, Imereti set their own historic record by reaching the fifth round of David Kipiani Cup after having eliminated upper league teams Sioni Bolnisi and Merani Tbilisi. But in the semifinal game they were beaten by Chikhura Sachkhere, who later clinched the Cup title.[4]

In 2018, Imereti finished in the relegation play-off zone and defeated Regionuli Liga group winner Dinamo Batumi-2 in a two-legged tie for Liga 4.[5] Their troubles continued in this division as well, although two decisions made by GFF regarding the league format in the next two years saved the club from further relegation.

In the 2021 season, the team still failed to finish above the drop zone and slumped to the bottom of Georgian football leagues.[6]

Seasons
Season League Pos. MP W D L GF–GA P Notes
2014/15Meore Liga West1st of 1528243189-1175Promoted
2015/16Pirveli Liga13th of 183410111334-5341
2016Pirveli Liga Group White8th of 91643920-290Relegated
2017Liga 3 Red Group2nd of 101896320-1033
Promotion Round6th of 101856713-2621
2018Liga 316th of 20381291744-5245Relegated
2019Liga 410th of 1027322225-7411
2020Liga 4 Red Group7th of 81441916-2413
2021Liga 4 Red Group10th of 1018231312-519Relegated
Relegation Round9th of 1018221413-538
2022Regionuli Liga, Group C7th of 1120811132-4725

Honours

• Meore Liga

Winners (1): 2014-15 (Group West)

Stadium

Imereti play home matches at a municipal stadium with the capacity of 1,500 seats, named after Ipolite Khvichia, the distinguished Georgian actor born in Khoni district.

Name

Imereti is the name of the province where Khoni is located.

Profile on Soccerway

Page on Facebook

References
  1. "Meore Liga 2014/15". soccerway.com.
  2. "ხონის იმერეთის ამბიციები მეორე ლიგაში". sportall.ge (in Georgian). 8 June 2015.
  3. "კიდევ ერთი გარიგებული მატჩი". sportall.ge (in Georgian). 15 November 2015.
  4. "საჩხერის "ჩიხურა" დავით ყიფიანის სახელობის თასის ფინალშია" (in Georgian). fanebi.com. 1 November 2017.
  5. "Imereti vs Dinamo Batumi-2". gff.ge, 10 December 2018.
  6. "Liga 4, 2021". gff.ge (in Georgian).


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.