About

FC Merani Martvili is a Georgian association football club based in Martvili, currently participating in Liga 2, the second division of Georgian league system. Football clubs from Martvili have previously been called Salkhino Gegechkori (Soviet times), Chkondidi Martvili and Salkhino Martvili. FC Merani was founded by Georgian ex-minister of communications Pridon Injia in 2006. In their first season in Pirveli liga under head coach Malkhaz Zhvania Merani came the third and until the promotion to Umaglesi Liga in 2011/12 they were among top five clubs. In 2010 Merani became a first II league club to play in David Kipiani Cup semifinals where they lost 1-2 on aggregate to WIT Georgia, the Cup winners of the season. The next year Merani successfully completed their season and as a second-placed team got promoted to the top flight. During the five following seasons in Umaglesi Liga Merani achieved the best result in their first year, reaching 5th place, while in other cases the club was mostly involved in relegation groups. In 2015/16 Merani were relegated. The same year, though, they managed to book a place in the Cup final after having eliminated Dila, Kolkheti-1913 and Chikhura in previous rounds. Torpedo Kutaisi won the game held in Zestafoni and clinched the Cup. Merani came close back to Erovnuli Liga in 2017, although they were unable to beat Kolkheti Poti in promotion play-offs. At the end of the next season Merani lost last two league games and surprisingly finished at the bottom of the table, which implied an automatic relegation. After one year spent in Liga 3 Merani returned to the second division. In 2020 they retained a place in it after the victory over FC Gori in a play-off tie. In early 2021 Pridon Injia quit the club and Jesi Surmava, the head of Martvili Football School, took over the management, which resulted in major changes among both staff and squad members.