FC Kolkheti-1913 Poti

The football club from Poti under the name Kolkhida for many years was a member of the Georgian Soviet championship until early 1960s. From 1962 to 1990, they spent 24 seasons in fourth and third divisions of the Soviet football system, including last consecutive 11 years in zone 9 of the Second league, with the 2nd place in 1989 being the best result.[2]

When GFF formed the national league in early 1990, Kolkheti-1913 took part in an opening game against Iberia Tbilisi. The historic match held in Boris Paichadze stadium ended 1–0 in favour of the guest team.[3]

Throughout the first decade, the Kolkhs were considered one of the strongest rivals. Apart from 1992/93, when they finished in 9th place, the club completed each season among top five teams with twice, in 1993-94 and 1996–97, coming second.[4]

Starting from mid-1990s, Kolkheti was owned by the naval port of Poti, but in 2006, after a foreign business company took over the port administration, the football club abruptly lost a significant income.[5] Despite being 10th among 16 clubs in 2005/06, due to the severe financial crisis Kolkheti had to quit the league.[6]

The club climbed back to Umaglesi Liga following the 2009/10 season, but returned to the second league three years later.[7]

From 2014/15, Kolkheti were back in the top division, although further financial difficulties hit the club in 2018, which pushed them to the verge of bankruptcy. In an emergency statement, the club appealed for help.[8] As Kolkheti amassed a large amount of debts, they were deducted six points. Eventually, they were relegated.[9]

While in Liga 2, Kolkheti still could not afford to pay off debts. As a result, they were slapped with another 6 points deduction.[10] The overall situation badly affected the team. Three managers were sacked for unsatisfactory results within initial five months of the season.[11] The tide remained unchanged, though. Only in the last game week did Kolkheti manage to avoid an automatic relegation, but after being thrashed by Samgurali Tskaltubo in play-offs they slumped to the third division.[12]

In 2020, Kolkheti finished 2nd in Liga 3 and booked a place for promotion battle. However, after a draw against WIT Georgia on aggregate in a two-legged tie the club lost on penalties.[13] The next year marked another unsuccessful attempt to climb back to Liga 2 with the team beaten by Rustavi in the extra time on away goals.[14]

As of 2020, among 51 clubs which have participated in the top division since 1990, Kolkheti are in the 5th place in terms of results achieved in all the seasons combined.[15]

Based on successful performance in Umaglesi Liga, Kolkheti-1913 represented Georgia on UEFA Cup for four consecutive seasons from 1996 until 2000.

The only victory achieved in this competition against Dinamo Minsk was insufficient for qualifying for the next round. Having lost the first leg 0-1, Kolkheti conceded an early goal at home and scored twice afterwards, but the away goals rule gave a final advantage to their opponents.[16]

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1996	UEFA Intertoto Cup	GS	Zemun	2–3	-	5th
			FF Jaro	-	0–2
			Guingamp	1–3	-
			Dinamo București	-	0–2
1997–98	UEFA Cup	1Q	Dinamo Minsk	2–1	0–1	2–2
1998–99	UEFA Cup	1Q	Red Star Belgrade	0–4	0–7	0–11
1999	UEFA Intertoto Cup	1R	Cementarnica 55	0–4	2–4	2–8