The Rise and Fall of Dinamo Tbilisi
Today Dinamo Tbilisi continue to rank as one of the most reputable clubs in Georgia, but their standing in Europe has fallen over the decades, last season saw them competing in the Europa Conference League whilst western European sides have tightened their strangle hold around the riches of the two main European competitions (Europa and champions league).
Some 40 years ago however, the landscape of European football was far less centralised. The likes of the Swedish IFK Goteburg under Sven Goran Eriksen claimed the UEFA Cup in 1982, whilst in 1986 Romanian side Steau Burucesti became European Champions (Modern day champions league) led by the legendary Gheorge Hagi, and Serbia’s Red Star Belgrade also won the ultimate club prize in 1991.
By the mid-90s football’s superpowers began to flex their muscles and some aforementioned sides succumbed to corruption or were otherwise cast aside during the chaotic dissolution of the Soviet Union. Since then, the Champions League has become the preserve of a handful of clubs, with brief surprises like Porto’s 2004 win being an exception to this rule. Whilst the Europa league can boast a modicum of diversity, its last Eastern European winner was Shakhtar Donetsk in 2009. The likely hood of any Eastern European side winning any of the three European competitions in modern football is practically impossible following the consolidation of wealth by central European teams.
Europe and Tbilisi
Dinamo Tbilisi were first introduced to European football in the 1972 UEFA Cup, initially beating FC Twente at home 3–2 before losing the away tie 2–0 and being eliminated from their inaugural competition. The following season saw them reach the third-round succumbing to Tottenham Hotspur.
Five years after their first appearance on the continent the club appointed Nodar Akhalkatsi as head coach, which would herald a golden era for the Soviet side.
In his first season in charge Akhalkatsi would win the Soviet Cup for the first time in the club’s history, defeating Armenia’s side Ararat Yerevan 3–0. Winning the competition qualified his team for the 1976–77 European Cup Winners Cup (Abolished in 1999) where they were eliminated in the second round by MTK Budapest. Despite that initial heartbreak, Akhalkatsi, was starting to formulate a formidable squad with midfielder David Kipiani (a goal scorer in the 1976 Soviet Cup final) at the heart of the club’s success.
Akhalkatsi led his side to the subsequent two UEFA cups beating Inter Milan and Napoli in successive seasons, but falling in the third and second round respectively. It wasn’t until the 1979–80 European Cup (Now Champions League) campaign that Dinamo Tbilisi really made the world take notice.
Liverpool hosted the first leg at Anfield, Bob Paisley’s side comprised the likes of Alan Hansen, Ray Glemence, Kenny Dalglish and Graeme Souness had won two of the past three European Cups (1977 and 1978), falling to Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest in the previous campaign. In his programme notes before the game Paisley wrote:
“‘Tonight, we meet a Russian team for the first time in Europe, and Dinamo Tbilisi will give us something to think about, here and on their own ground. I would be less than honest if I said I viewed tonight’s challenge as being more difficult than the one which came from Forest last season — they don’t and they won’t come any harder than that test. But it will still be difficult, make no mistake. (Dinamo) are well into their season and will be at peak fitness.”
A crowd of 35,000 people at Anfield watched what they had expected to be a routine victory over a European minnow raise a few eyebrows as Liverpool won the tie 2–1. Dinamo Tbilisi were somewhat of an unknown quantity, and despite Liverpool’s best efforts after sending their chief Scout behind the Iron Curtain, the Soviet side still sprung a few surprises. However, it wasn’t until the return leg in Georgia where Liverpool really suffered.
Liverpool’s trip behind the Iron Curtain was fraught with inconvenience with Soviet authorities forcing the team to use Soviet planes rather than Liverpool’s conventional team plane on a 5000-mile round trip, flying first to Moscow then onto Tbilisi. Once settled in for the night at the team hotel the squad were woken up in the middle of the night with cheering crowds of Dinamo fans outside the building.
On the day of the match a record attendance of 110,000 people crowded into the Lenin Dinamo Stadium, the third largest stadium in the Soviet Union at the time with an official capacity of 74,354. The first half ended with the scores level and Liverpool still winning on aggregate but come the second half Bob Paisley’s team would capitulate.
10 minutes into the first half David Kipiani shimmied past a flat-footed Alan Hansen before firing the ball across the box to find Gutsaev at the back post to tap home.
Dinamo’s second goal came in the 76th minute as left-back Gerogi Chilaia went on a barnstorming run past 5 Liverpool players over 50 yards, David Javakhishvilli would later say that was “the first and last time he did something like that”. Chilaia then slotted the ball through to Shengelia who subsequently chipped the ball over the on-rushing Ray Clemence.
Liverpool’s humiliation in Georgia would be completed as Dinamo were reward a penalty after a foul by captain Phil Thompson. Thompson was incensed by the decision despite clumsily sticking out a leg for Gutsaev to trip over. Chivadze, stepped up to the spot to slot home past Ray Clemence who stayed slouched over, resigned to another disappointing European campaign coming to an abrupt end.
The euphoria of beating one of the decades greatest teams saw fans spilling onto the pitch after each goal and the final whistle. After the delirium had past Dinamo’s European run came to an end at the hands of Hamburg as they lose 6–3 on aggregate. The following season saw Liverpool go on to reclaim the European Cup but the Georgian club would also go on to strike European gold.
The European Cup Winners Cup
As the curtain closed upon Dinamo’s European Cup run, they were crowned champions of the Soviet Cup in 1979 qualifying for the subsequent European Cup Winners Cup.
The 1980/81 Cup Winners Cup led Dinamo initially to Greece, advancing past Kastoria thanks to a two-nil victory in the home leg in front of 80,000 fans. Up next was a trip to Irish side Waterford that resulted in a resounding 5–0 victory on aggregate, with 50,000 hardened Georgians turning out even against the lowly reputation opposition.
West Ham United were fresh from winning the FA Cup with Frank Lampard’s father Frank Lampard in defence. In the first leg at the Boleyn Ground the Hammers lost 4–1. Dinamo’s tempo and electric counter attacking play caught the English side off guard, they were unable to deal with the technical ability of players like Shengelia, who netted a brace. Back in Tbilisi, West Ham were more awake to the potential threat Dinamo posed, and pinched a rare 1–0 victory in front of 90,000 roaring fan. But it wasn’t enough and Dinamo advanced to the semi-finals.
Dutch side Feyenoord were welcomed to Tbilisi by another packed out stadium. Dinamo had by far the largest average attendance in the competition with another 80,000 people attending the penultimate tie before the final. Dinamo breezed past a sluggish Feyenoord side 3–0 with defensive midfielder Sulakrelidze bagging a rare brace before the team headed to Holland. Back home, Feyenoord threatened to overturn the first leg, scoring two goals in 56 minutes but then the Iron Curtain enveloped Dinamo’s goals and the Georgian side shut out the Dutch for the remainder of the match.
The Rheinstadion, welcomed Dinamo and FC Carl Zeiss Jena, an East German club that meant the final was effectively an all-soviet affair. Whilst the stadium could in theory handle tens of thousands of attendees, only 4750 people officially watched from the stands as supporters struggled to travel into Western Europe.
Both sides lined up in a similar 433 shape, and both squads were comprised entirely of Georgian and East German nationals respectively, including the managers too. Whilst this may have been a common theme throughout European football at the time, with foreigners a surprise in most squads, there was an added sense of national pride in these all-Soviet ties. With the looming break-up of the Soviet Union, member nations were fighting an ever-constant battle to maintain their identity, with a recent threat of Russian becoming the official language of Georgia, effectively eradicating the national dialect from being taught in Schools. Football was more than a game, it was Georgia who were represented on the pitch, rather than the Soviet Union.
Nothing of any note occurred in the first half and was a rather dull affair until the East German’s broke the deadlock in the 63rd minute. Dinamo’s defence struggled to deal with an aimless bouncing cross into the box allowing Gerhard Hoppe to rifle the ball into the top corner, leaving the Georgian’s defence with an inquest at the back. Fortunately Dinamo’s reply was almost instant as four minutes later a counter attack culminated with Shengalia skipping over a desperate East German lunge and playing Gutasev through on goal where he drilled a shot past the keeper at the near post.
Another piece of individual brilliance in the 86th minute saw Daraselia dance past one midfielder before another desperate lunge from a defender was surpassed and the ball was drilled into the goal at the near post.
Dinamo were crowned champions, the third time a Soviet side had won the competition after Dinamo Kyiv (Ukraine, 1975) and FC Magdeburg (East Germany, 1974).
Nodar Akhalkatsi had led the Georgian side from obscurity to notoriety over the course of 5 years which drew the attention of the USSR National Team for the 1982 World Cup in Spain. Akhalkatsi would join a formidable coaching force alongside Valeriy Lobanobvskyi and manager Konstantin Beskov. It was the county’s first tournament in a decade, after a loss against Brazil in their opening game, a victory over New Zealand and a draw against Scotland was enough to get the Soviet’s into the second round where they were eventually eliminated.
On return to Tbilisi, Akhalkatsi, led Dinamo to the 1982 Cup Winners Cup Semi Final against Standard Liege but on this occasion the Soviet side weren’t able to retain their title, succumbing to the Belgians after losing both legs 1–0.
In 1983 after elimination in the first round of the UEFA Cup by Napoli 3–2 on aggregate, there was a sense that this fantastic Georgian side was winding up as many squads do after 5 or 6 years. Nodar Akhalkatsi would leave in October, effectively marking the end of Dinamo’s golden generation.
Akhalkatsi would return to the Georgian side in 1985, managing another 53 games but it was clear that the side had declined, with career altering injuries to key players like Kipiani, the team’s win rate dropped to 35% during this period, in stark contrast to Akhalkatsi’s first reign in which 48% of games were won. It was a short spell and by November 1986, he would depart the club once more.
The majority 1980’s saw Dinamo struggle to qualify for European competitions as well as win anything at home in either the Soviet Top League or Soviet cup. In 1986, Dinamo finished in 5th place which qualified them for the 1987 UEFA Cup, making to the third round of the competition before Werder Bremen would eliminate the Georgian side. The subsequent season saw Dinamo collapse and finish in a lowly 13th, just one point above relegation, and again in 1988 Dinamo finished just one place above relegation in 14th.
Independence and the modern era
The following season would be Dinamo’s last in the Soviet Top League, finishing 11th, they subsequently departed to compete in the Georgian National Championship. In an attempt to cut all ties to their Soviet past the club briefly changed their name to Iberia Tbilisi but after two years their Dinamo prefix returned, due to fan criticism.
Dinamo were by far the biggest club in Georgia and for the subsequent 10 seasons they won every single title, including winning the Georgian Cup 6 years in a row. Their initial season was marred with the withdrawal of Liakhvi Tskinvali from the league due to the South Ossetia war, in an area that wanted independence and had support from Russia. South Ossetia would later become a battleground of the Russo-Georgian war in 2008, and has been occupied by Russia ever since. The scars of Soviet rule would be frequently reopened over the next three decades after independence.
It wasn’t until the 1999/00 season that Dinamo’s stranglehold was broken as they finished third and Torpedo Kutaisi claimed their first title.
During the decade the club weren’t far from controversy. In their first European appearance representing an independent Georgia, Dinamo beat Linfield 3–2 on aggregate in the 1993–4 Champions League Preliminary Round but were subsequently disqualified after attempting to bribe the referee in the first leg.
Despite their disqualification, Dinamo have played in a European competition in practically every season since, bar the 2013 and 2017 seasons. Their initial dominance in the Georgian league has faded over time, in the 21 seasons since their 10-in-a-row accolade Dinamo have won the league 8 times, finishing runner up on 7 occasions.
Dinamo were for decades a hub of Georgian talent, exporting the likes of Kaladze to Milan or more recently Mamardashvili to Valencia and Kvaratskhelia to Napoli. The latter two have both left the club with barely a handful of appearances, despite continuing to produce fantastic talent, Dinamo have never maintained a squad of home grown players to rival their Cup winning side of 1981.
Sources:
Dinamo VS Liverpool Home | Away
Cup Winners Cup Final VS Carl Zeiss Jena
Illustrations:
1 — Midjourney AI render(Prompt: Man in a soviet propaganda poster, stadium, highly detailed, 4k, dramatic lighting)
2 — Kipiani & Alan Hansen by myself
3 — Soviet Match day poster by myself
4 — Khvicha Kvaratskhelia by myself
More of my illustrations are available on my Instagram or Twitter accounts.
