Liga 3 (Georgia)

Liga 3, organized by Georgian Football Federation since 1990, is the third division of professional football in Georgia.

Liga 3
Founded1990 (1990)
Country Georgia
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams16
Level on pyramid3
Promotion toErovnuli Liga 2
Relegation toLiga 4
Domestic cup(s)Georgian Cup
Current championsDinamo Tbilisi-2 (2022)
Websiteliga.gff.ge
Current: 2023 Liga 3

Until 2017, when the current name was introduced, it was known as Meore Liga (the Second league).

Structure and league system

There were 20 teams competing in the league in 2017. In 2019, when Liga 4 was formed, their number was reduced to ten,[1] although after two seasons GFF decided to extend the league to 14 at the expense of two bottom teams from the previous season and two second-placed clubs from Liga 4 While and Red Groups.[2] For 2022 the number of clubs was increased to 16.[3]

Seasons run based on Spring-Autumn system with each team playing an equal amount of home and away games against their league rivals.

The league operates based on a system of promotion and relegation. Starting from the 2022 season, champions and runners-up win automatic promotion to Erovnuli Liga 2, while the teams that finish in the third and fourth positions book a place in promotion play-off home and away games against respectively the 8th and 7th placed clubs of Liga 2. Three bottom teams are relegated to Liga 4.[4]

In case two or more clubs obtain the same number of points, their head-to-head records are next to be taken into consideration.

Number of teams each season

● 2017-18 = 20

● 2019-20 = 10

● 2021 = 14

● 2022 = 16

Current members
Locations of Liga 3 football clubs in 2023

Sixteen teams will compete in Liga 3 for the 2023 season. Four of them had previously played in the top division, namely Borjomi, Chikhura, Guria Lanchkhuti and Zestafoni. There are also three reserve teams of higher league members this season.

Clubs are listed below in alphabetical order:

Clubs Position last season Location Region
Aragvi3rdDushetiMtskheta-Mtianeti
Bakhmaro10thChokhatauriGuria
Borjomi8thBorjomiSamtskhe-Javakheti
Chikhura16thSachkhereImereti
Gori6thGoriShida Kartli
Guria11thLanchkhutiGuria
Irao9thTbilisiTbilisi
Locomotive-21st in Liga 4TbilisiTbilisi
Matchakhela3rd in Liga 4KhelvachauriAdjara
Merani-2 Tbilisi13thTbilisiTbilisi
Rustavi7th in Liga 2RustaviKvemo Kartli
Saburtalo-27thTbilisiTbilisi
Meshakhte14thTkibuliImereti
Shturmi2nd in Liga 4SartichalaKvemo Kartli
Varketili5thTbilisiTbilisi
Zestafoni15thZestafoniImereti

Results

Group Winners of Meore Liga
Season West East Center
2011–12 Chikhura Sachkhere II Sasco Tbilisi —
2012–13 Matchakhela Khelvachauri Kartli 2011 —
2013–14 Lazika Zugdidi Borjomi —
2014–15 Imereti Khoni Tskhumi Sukhumi Liakhvi Tskhinvali
2015–16 Sulori Vani Gardabani Mark Stars
2016 Betlemi ● Margveti ● Samegrelo Algeti ● N.Dinamo ● Shevardeni ● Telavi Gori

Note: Due to the season being transitional in 2016, none of the teams was promoted

Top three teams of Liga 3
Season Winner Runner-up Third place
2017 Shevardeni Norchi Dinamo Tbilisi Telavi
2018 Zugdidi Bakhmaro Chokhatauri Guria Lanchkhuti
2019 Merani Martvili Samgurali Tskhaltubo Aragvi Dusheti
2020 Gareji Sagarejo Kolkheti-1913 Poti Gori
2021 Spaeri Tbilisi Kolkheti-1913 Poti Tbilisi City
2022 Dinamo Tbilisi-2 Kolkheti-1913 Poti Aragvi Dusheti

Notes: Apart from the champions who were automatically promoted to the second division, the teams indicated in bold gained promotion after winning the play-offs against their Liga-2 rivals. Due to the changed format in 2022, the runner-ups of the season were also promoted directly.

Relegated teams

The number of relegated teams per each recent season varies due to the fact that the competition format is subject to frequent changes.

SeasonClubs
2017Odishi-1919 Zugdidi ● Chkherimela Kharagauli ● Liakhvi Tskhinvali ● Sapovnela Terjola
2018Samegrelo Chkhorotsku ● Magaroeli Chiatura ● Varketili Tbilisi ● Algeti Marneuli ● Mark Stars Tbilisi ● Imereti Khoni ● Gardabani ● Sulori Vani ● Samgurali Tskaltubo-2 ● Machakhela Khelvachauri
2019Borjomi ● Betlemi Keda
2020NONE
2021Magaroeli Chiatura ● Didube Tbilisi
2022Tbilisi City*

Note: Tbilisi City failed to obtain a league license for the 2023 season.

Participation per club

Including the 2023 season there have been 44 teams in total competing in this league since 2017. Gori are topping the list with an overall eight-year continuous tenure in the third tier, including all the seven seasons after its re-branding as Liga 3.

Team Par.
Gori7
Bakhmaro6
Kolkheti Khobi6
Meshakhte6
Saburtalo-26
Aragvi5
Borjomi5
Guria5
Varketili4
Betlemi3
Kolkheti 19133
Magaroeli3
Merani-2 Tb3
Tbilisi City3
Algeti2
Team Par.
Chikhura2
Gardabani2
Imereti2
Irao2
Matchakhela2
Mark Stars2
Samegrelo2
Spaeri2
Sulori2
Zestafoni2
Chkherimela1
Didube1
Dinamo-21
Gareji1
Liakhvi1
Team Par.
Locomotivi-21
Margveti 20061
Merani M1
Merani Tb1
Odishi 19191
Rustavi1
Samgurali1
Samgurali-21
Sapovnela1
Shturmi1
Skuri1
Shevardeni 19061
Telavi1
Zugdidi1

As of 2023 their current status is:

Erovnuli Liga2
Erovnuli Liga 27
Liga 316
Liga 411
Regionuli Liga4
Defunct4

References
  1. "2019 regular season". soccerway.com.
  2. "სფფ-ს აღმასკომი - ცვლილებები Crystalbet ეროვნულ ლიგაში". crystalsport.ge (in Georgian), 25 January 2021.
  3. "2022 წლიდან ლიგა 2-ში და ლიგა 3-ში გუნდების რაოდენობა იზრდება". primesport.ge (in Georgian), 12 February 2021.
  4. "სფფ-ში აღმასრულებელი კომიტეტის სხდომა გაიმართა". gff.ge (in Georgian), 22 February 2022.
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