FC Dinamo Batumi

FC Dinamo Batumi is a Georgian football club based in Batumi, Adjara. They regularly play in top division of Georgian football – Erovnuli Liga. The club plays their home games at Batumi Stadium. 
History.
Early period.
Dinamo was founded in Batumi in 1923. However, before the club formed, there were some other teams founded in the city. In 1923, newly established two clubs, called "Mezgvauri" (The Sailor) and "Tsiteli Raindi" (The Red Knight) merged and became Dinamo Batumi.
Football was becoming more popular in Adjara later, although Dinamo didn't have any success in the lower divisions of Soviet championship. However, there were some players in the club, who later became successful footballers in USSR, including Revaz Chelebadze, Nodar Khizanishvili and Vakhtang Koridze. The famous Greek footballer Andreas Niniadis also started his career in the club. He later played for Olympiacos and Greece national football team.
In 1990s and 2000s.
The success for the Batumi-based club came when they won Georgian Cup in 1998, after losing two previous finals. The club defeated Dinamo Tbilisi in final. The goals were scored by Aleksandre Kantidze and Davit Chichveishvili. The club won Georgian Super Cup during the same year as well. They again defeated Dinamo Tbilisi, by 2-1.
In 1995, Dinamo played in European competitions for the first time in the club's history. In 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, they defeated FK Obilić in the qualifying round, but later were eliminated by Celtic. Dinamo managed to draw with PSV Eindhoven in the following season of UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. Goals in this game were scored by Amiran Mujiri and Luc Nilis. However, the Georgian club lost the second game of the tie in The Netherlands by the score 0–3.
The next decade turned out disappointing for Dinamo, which failed to notch up any success on either competition. Amid construction boom in Adjara, in 2006 the club lost their stadium, located at the seaside, to be sold and demolished. "Adeli" stadium, which Dinamo started using as their home ground, met the same fate later on. It coincided with deteriorating performance in the league. After 2007-08 they were relegated for the first time to Pirveli Liga, where as debutants the club took 8th place in a 11-team league. Overall, Dinamo spent next five seasons out of six in the second division.
In search for success.
From 2013/14 the club revived their ambitions, first to gain promotion to Umaglesi Liga and then to secure a place among the league leaders. The silver, taken in 2015, opened the way for UEFA Europa League qualifying round. Two years later Dinamo earned a slot in the same European competition only to crash out again in the first round. By this period the club had entered a period of instability with a drastic change of players and replacement of managers. Levan Khomeriki, the head coach for three successive years, left to be replaced by Ukrainian manager Kostyantyn Frolov, but he stepped down five months later. Aslan Baladze took charge of the team, which finished the season in the relegation zone, despite having some experienced players such as Otar Martsvaladze, David Kvirkvelia and Elguja Grigalashvili in the squad. Dinamo suffered a worse setback in the play-off as dramatic two-leg tie against Sioni Bolnisi ended 5:5 on aggregate and the penalty shoot-out determined the winner. 
Prior to the new season in Liga 2 Gia Geguchadze was appointed in the club and with the promotion set as their only goal, Dinamo convincingly won the league by an 11-point margin. 
Progress on the pitch and beyond.
2019 brought some more encouraging news. 100% share of Dinamo Batumi owned by the Adjarian government was awarded to Lamini Ltd for 49 years. Besides, a new prospect emerged for the issue of football ground, which plagued the club for so long. While Dinamo played home matches either on their training base or on Rugby Arena, in January the Adjarian government inaugurated the construction of new UEFA category IV stadium with the capacity of 20,000 seats due to be completed in late 2020.
Back in the top flight Dinamo rushed to the title-chasing battle, in which they initially performed beyond expectations. As no other newly promoted club had ever won the league, Dinamo Batumi appeared close to setting this record, although at the crucial point they slipped up, first squandering two points against relegation-bound WIT Georgia and then losing to another unmotivated club altogether. Yet, the second place was definitely success for Dinamo, where some national team members emerged at this stage (Jaba Jigauri, Giorgi Navalovski, Vladimer Dvalishvili).
Meanwhile, support for the club reached remarkable proportions by Georgian standards. While all of 1,500 seats on Angisa training base were full approximately three hours in advance, many more spectators watched the games from outside the fence. According to some estimates, an average number of fans per each match was around 6,400. 
The next season, shortened by coronavirus, saw a scenario resembling the previous one. After ten rounds Dinamo were unbeaten, sitting on the top of the table, but later they suffered two home defeats, including from direct rivals Dinamo Tbilisi, who taking this opportunity sealed the champion's fate. 
On 27 October 2020 a long-awaited official opening ceremony was held in Batumi. Finally, the second placed club for two seasons in a row representing the second largest city have proudly moved into their home.
In early December UEFA announced that this stadium will host some of U21 European championship matches in 2023.
Management.
Vladimer Dvalishvili, who spent last two years as a player for Dinamo Batumi, replaced Aslan Baladze on December 2020 as Sporting director.
Head Coach George (Gia) Geguchadze, the former manager of Zestafoni, Torpedo Kutaisi, Dinamo Tbilisi and Georgian U21, has been in charge since January 2018. 
Current squad.
"As of 3 March 2021."
 