FC Iberia 1999


FC Iberia 1999, formerly known as FC Saburtalo, is a Georgian football club, based in the Saburtalo District of Tbilisi, the capital of the country.
Тhey have been the most decorated Georgian team since 2017 when the Erovnuli Liga was launched.
WWW fcsaburtalo.geIG fc.saburtalo

History

Saburtalo was founded on 20 August 1999, in Tbilisi. In 2005, the club was bought by Iberia Business Group and its owner Tariel Khechikashvili, who later became the Minister of Sport & Youth Affairs of Georgia.
Following the 2014–15 season, Saburtalo won their respective Pirveli Liga group with a nineteen-point margin and advanced to the Umaglesi Liga.
In 2018, Saburtalo who had not won any silverware during the previous three seasons in the top-flight, claimed the champion's title for the first time under coach Gia Chiabrishvili.
A year later, they successfully completed their cup campaign after a 3–1 win over Locomotive in the final. In 2020, Saburtalo beat champions Dinamo Tbilisi to lift the Georgian Super Cup.
Next seasons saw the team winning two more cup trophies and another league title with 2022 being the only year when Saburtalo failed to win any domestic tournament.
Team won title for the second time under coach Levan Korgalidze.

Statistics

European record

Saburtalo made their debut in a UEFA competition in 2019 after being paired with Moldovan side Sheriff Tiraspol in the Champions League 1st qualifying round. They cruised to an away 3–0 victory, although survived an early scare in the return leg after conceding three goals within the opening ten minutes.
The team has twice reached the 3rd round of UEFA competitions.
SeasonCompetitionRoundClubHomeAwayAgg.
2019–20UEFA Champions League1QR

Overall record

CompetitionPlayedWonDrewLostGFGAGDWin%

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Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.

Other teams

The reserve team currently competes in the 2nd division after a seven-year continuous tenure in Liga 3.
The U19s won their youth league in 2016 and 2022, while the U17 team secured three titles in the early 2020s.
Saburtalo has one of the top football academies in the country.

Stadium

The club has a full-size stadium, called Bendela, with the capacity of 1,800 spectators.

Notable players

Had international caps for their respective countries. Players whose name is listed in bold represented their countries while playing for Iberia 1999.
;Georgia
;Europe
;Africa
;South America

Name

Saburtalo is the name of one of Tbilisi's districts where the team academy and Bendela are located, while the term Iberia, a synonym for Kartli, stems from an ancient kingdom which existed until the Early Middle Ages.
On 27 February 2024, the team's name was changed to Iberia 1999.