Tbilisi 2025

The beginning: 1920s

The history of FC Dinamo Tbilisi began in autumn 1925 when the Dinamo sports society set out to form a football club, at a time when football was gradually becoming one of the greatest and most popular sports in the world.

In 1927, FC Dinamo Tbilisi established a Junior club, "Norchi Dinamoeli" (young Dinamo). The Juniors club provided the senior with many young players, including the first goalkeeper who played for Dinamo in the USSR championship, the first captain Shota Savgulidze, defender Mikhail Minaev, forward Vladimer Berdzenishvili and other players.

In the early years, no official championship existed in Georgia, so the teams played friendly games against each other. The first match was played with Azerbaijan team Dinamo Baku on 26 January 1926, with the more experienced Azerbaijan squad winning 1–0. The Dinamo team starred: D. Tsomaia, A. Pochkhua, M. Blankman, I. Fedorov, N. Anikin, A. Gonel, A. Pivovarov, O. Goldobin, A. Galperin, S. Maslenikov, and V. Tsomaia.

Three days later, Dinamo played another Azerbaijani team, "Progress", and easily beat them 3–0.

Despite their success in the middle years of the 1930s, the Football Federation of the Soviet Union placed FC Dinamo Tbilisi in the first league instead of the Top League. Dinamo continued to show good form against the top teams, winning 9–5 in Tbilisi against probably the best team in the USSR championship, Dynamo Moscow. They later beat Dinamo Leningrad 3–2, winning 5 matches out of 6 plus a draw against Stalinec Moscow. This was enough for Dinamo to qualify for the top league.

World War II: 1930s and 1940s

The second championship started in autumn 1936. Altogether Dinamo played 1424 matches in the Soviet Union Championship. The first match was against Dynamo Kyiv, finishing 2–2, with goals by Nikolas Somov and Boris Paichadze. The team sheet was: A. Dorokhov, S. Shavgulidze (E. Nikolaishvili), B. Berdzenishvili, N. Anikin, V. Jorbenadze, G. Gagua, I. Panin, M. Berdzenishvili, B. Paichadze, M. Aslamazov, and N. Somov.

The first victory in the USSR championship was in the match against Spartak Moscow on 25 September with Mikheil Berdzenishvili scoring the winning goal. Dinamo finished the season in 3rd place. They challenged for the title, but this faded after the 2–3 loss against Krasnaia Zaria Leningrad. Dinamo also played an unforgettable match in Moscow against Spartak Moscow in the Soviet Cup quarter-final, when Dinamo beat them 6–3. They reached the first edition of the Soviet Cup final, but lost 0–2 to Lokomotiv Moscow. Their first international match was against the Spanish team Baskonia in 1937, which Dinamo lost 0–2.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Dinamo was one of the top Soviet football teams, even though they did not win a title. They were often referred to as the "crownless champions" with the team including S. Shavgulidze, A. Dorokhov, S. Shudra, B. Frolov, M. Berdzenishvili, A. Kiknadze, V. Paniukov, V. Berezhnoi, G. Gagua, V. Jorbenadze, and G. Jejelava.

1950s

In the 1950s, the team was led by Avtandil Gogoberidze who spent 17 years with Dinamo. He still holds the record for games played and goals scored for Dinamo, with 341 matches and 127 goals. In the same period, the following players starred for Dinamo: G. Antadze, Vladimer Marghania, N. Dziapshipa, M. Minaev, A. Zazroev, V. Eloshvili, and Avtandil Chkuaseli.

A prominent place in Dinamo history belongs to Andro Jordania, a coach who is considered as one most important figures in the club's history. His period in charge was seen as "the Renaissance" of Dinamo's traditions, which laid the ground for the major successes connected with his name. The club's Digomi practice ground is named after him.

First Soviet successes: 1960s

The first major success came in the 1964 Soviet Top League when Dinamo won the Soviet Top League, with the team unbeaten in the last 15 matches. At the end, Dinamo was tied with Torpedo Moscow so the teams played an additional match in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, which Dinamo won 4–1. Georgian supporters celebrated the victory by naming their team "Golden Guys".

A popular French magazine, France Football, wrote: "Dinamo has great players. Their technique, skills, and playing intellect enables us to name them the best Eastern representatives of 'South American Football Traditions'. If Dinamo were able to participate in the UEFA European Cup, we are certain, they would bring the hegemony of Spanish-Italian teams to an end." However, no Soviet team appeared in the European Cup at that time.

The line-up of the winning team in 1964 was: Sergo Kotrikadze, Giorgi Sichinava, Guram Petriashvili, Jemal Zeinklishvili, Guram Tskhovrebov, Vakhtang Rekhviashvili, Shota Iamanidze, Slava Metreveli, Vladimer Barkaia, Mikheil Meskhi, Ilia Datunashvili, and Alexander Apshev. Coach: Gavriil Kachalin.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the quality of the Dinamo team was further enhanced by several skillful players: Mikheil Meskhi, Slava Metreveli, Murtaz Khurtsilava, Revaz Dzodzuashvili, Kakhi Asatiani, Gocha Gavasheli, Guram Petriashvili, Piruz Kanteladze, and the Nodia brothers, Givi and Levan.