Ramaz Shengelia


Ramaz Shengelia was a Georgian and Soviet footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Born in Kutaisi, Shengelia started career in his hometown club Torpedo Kutaisi in 1968. He spent four seasons for the club, scoring 29 goals in 75 games in the Soviet First League. Shengelia became the top scorer of the club twice.
After the successful spell in the second strongest team in Georgian SSR, he was invited to Dinamo Tbilisi in 1977. The head coach of the Tbilisi-based club, Nodar Akhalkatsi arrived to Kutaisi in order to monitor the performance of Shengelia and his other teammate Tamaz Kostava. Both of them eventually signed for Dinamo for the following season.
During the debut years, Shengelia has to compete for the starting place with Revaz Chelebadze. However, Shengelia found his place in the team and became the top scorer of the club during Soviet Top League|1978] season. Dinamo won the championship for the second time in history, while Shengelia was nominated as Soviet Footballer of the Year ahead of Oleg Blokhin and Georgi Yartsev.
The season of 1981 was the most successful for Shengelia. Dinamo won UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, after defeating FC [Carl Zeiss Jena|Carl Zeiss Jena] in the 1981 [European Cup Winners' Cup Final|final]. Shengelia scored 4 goals during the tournament. At the end of the season he finished 7th in Ballon d'Or nominees. Two of his teammates were also the nominees for the title, as Aleksandre Chivadze finished 8th, while David Kipiani was 11th in the final ranking. Shengelia was again named Soviet Footballer of the Year in 1981.
During the following season, Dinamo lost in the semifinal of UEFA Cup Winners' Cup to Standard Liège. However, Shengelia became the topscorer of the tournament with six goals.
Shengelia retired from football in 1988, but he came out of retirement a year later, joining the Swedish club IFK Holmsund with his teammate Tengiz Sulakvelidze. Holmsund competed in the second tier of the championship. During the Swedish football Division 1|only season] with the club, Shengelia scored 2 goals in 13 appearances.

International career

Shengelia played in 26 games scoring 10 goals for the Soviet Union national team, including performance at the 1982 FIFA World Cup. He also represented his country in five FIFA World Cup qualification matches.

Later years

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Shengelia worked in the Georgia national team as an assistant of Aleksandre Chivadze. Later was invited to Georgian Football Federation by his former coach and then-president of the federation Nodar Akhalkatsi.
Shengelia died of a brain haemorrhage in Tbilisi in June 2012, at the age of 55.
The football stadium in his hometown Kutaisi is named after him.

Career statistics

International

No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
128 March 1979Lokomotiv Republican Sports Complex, Simferopol, Soviet Union2–03–1Friendly
219 April 1979Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi, Soviet Union1–02–0Friendly
35 May 1979Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union2–03–0Friendly
419 May 1979Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi, Soviet Union2–22–21980 qualifying Group 6|UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying]
523 September 1981Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union4–04–01982 [FIFA World Cup qualification (UEFA)|1982 FIFA World Cup qualification]
67 October 1981Atatürk Stadium, İzmir, Turkey1–03–01982 FIFA World Cup qualification
728 October 1981Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi, Soviet Union1–02–01982 FIFA World Cup qualification
828 October 1981Dinamo Stadium, Tbilisi, Soviet Union2–02–01982 FIFA World Cup qualification
95 May 1982Central Lenin Stadium, Moscow, Soviet Union1–01–0Friendly
1022 June 1982Estadio La Rosaleda, Málaga, Spain2–12–21982 FIFA World Cup

Honours

Player

Dinamo Tbilisi
Soviet Union U21
Individual