SFC Shturmi

Full name	Sartichala Football Club Shturmi
Founded	2020
Ground	Sartichala Central stadium
Capacity	530
Coach	Levan Nebieridze
League	Erovnuli Liga 2
2023	2nd of 16 in Liga 3 (promoted)
Website	fcsshturmi.ge

SFC Sturmi (Georgian: სართიჭალის საფეხბურთო კლუბი შტურმი) is a Georgian football club based in the town of Sartichala.

Being one of the youngest domestic teams, they started taking part in the fifth division of the Georgian league system in 2020 and within the four years progressed to Erovnuli Liga 2.

Shturmi Sartichala was formed in early 2020 to replace FC Sarti Sartichala, dissolved in 2018, and represent the town in Regionuli Liga. Tornike Chaduneli, the former Torpedo Kutaisi defender and Sarti manager, took charge of the team.

Shturmi had to patiently wait until their first game. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the season was suspended until August, when a single-round competition among 14 clubs of Group D East began.^[1]

The club from the very outset displayed an attacking football which greatly contributed to thrashing some rivals. In their first historic game held on 20 August 2020, Shrurmi cruised to 7–0 victory over Hereti.^[2] By mid-season with the seven matches behind Shturmi had won five of them with a large margin and reached an astonishing 31:5 aggregate goal difference.

In mid-October the team was placed in a two-week COVID quarantine. Straight after the games were resumed, Shturmi set their own record by winning 12–0. Until the final game week the club kept beating all other opponents, although so did Dinamo-2 Tbilisi who, apart from the same winning run, had a better goal advantage. The decisive tie was supposed to determine a winner of the league group with promotion to Liga 4.

The match on 20 December in Sartichala drew a great interest among the cheering locals who, unable to get inside the ground, gathered around it. Shturmi took the lead after ten minutes with Dinamo equalizing five minutes later. Numerous attempts to break the well-defending rivals reached a dramatic end in stoppage time when the hosts were awarded a penalty kick. However, goalkeeper Omar Migineishvili saved it and with final score 1–1 Shturmi were denied a victory.^[3]

In late January 2021, the Georgian Football Federation decided to enlarge Liga 4 at the expense of all four second-placed Regionuli Liga clubs from the previous season^[4] with Shturmi being among these promoted teams.

The start in the fourth tier was less impressive. However, the team drastically improved in the second stage, won ten games, including with 7–0 and 9–0, and prevailed in the final match of the season with a 12–0 victory.^[5]

During the 2022 season, Shturmi turned out the only team in the top four Georgian leagues with the perfect home record. This circumstance played a crucial role in successful conclusion of their league campaign. With head coach Tornike Chaduneli back at the helm, Shturmi advanced to Liga 3.

From the first games there, the team proved to be a title challenger. With a 13-game unbeaten run and an eight-game winning streak during this season, Shturmi took the 3rd league by storm. Had they not dropped two points on the last matchday, the club would have become champions. Yet, they came 2nd on a goal difference and achieved another huge success by winning another promotion in their history.^[6]

As of 8 March 2024

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  GEO Luka Sanikidze 3 DF  GEO Tornike Latsabidze 4 DF  GEO Tornike Kiknadze (C) 6 MF  GEO Nikoloz Abuladze 7 FW  GEO Temur Gabunia 8 MF  GEO Zviad Sikharulia 9 MF  GEO Lasha Butskhrikidze 10 MF  GEO Guram Lukava 11 MF  GEO Vladimer Kapanadze 13 DF  GEO Shalva Sanashvili 14 MF  GEO Irakli Zaridze 17 MF  GEO Konstantine Tsikalanovi 18 FW  GEO Giorgi Bliadze

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF  GEO Giorgi Tsikhelashvili 20 MF  GEO Zurab Golubiani 21 MF  GEO Nikoloz Talakhadze 22 MF  GEO Giorgy Khmaladze 23 MF  GEO Beka Shubitidze 24 DF  GEO Davit Chigoevi 25 GK  GEO Mamia Tabeshadze 26 FW  GEO Giorgi Peradze 28 DF  GEO Zurab Sekhniashvili 30 DF  GEO Temur Bekauri 31 MF  GEO Bachana Mikeladze 33 GK  GEO Ilia Jincharadze

• Regionuli Liga

Runners-up (1): 2020

• Liga 4

Runners-up (1): 2022

• Liga 3

Runners-up (1): 2023

Shturmi play home matches at Central stadium in Sartichala, which underwent major reconstruction works announced in January 2021. A 530-seater stadium was officially opened in late January 2024.^[7] For this reason the team hosted all their Liga 4 and Liga 3 rivals at Sagarejo's football ground.

SFC stands for Sartichala Football Club while Georgian word shturmi can be translated as assault.

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