Georgian U-17 Liga

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Organising bodyGeorgian Football Federation
Founded2016; 10 years ago (2016)
Country Georgia
Number of clubs10
Georgian U-17 Liga
Organising bodyGeorgian Football Federation
Founded2016; 10 years ago (2016)
Country Georgia
Number of clubs10
Level on pyramid1 (of under-17 age group)
Current championsIberia 1999
(2025)
Most championshipsDinamo Tbilisi (5 titles)
Websitegff.ge

The U17 Golden League (Georgian: 17 წლამდელთა ოქროს ლიგა) is the main youth football competition run by the Georgian Football Federation for under-17 teams, whose parent clubs usually compete in the Erovnuli Liga or lower leagues.

Created in mid-2016, it is named after distinguished player Mikheil Meskhi[1] and currently consists of eleven teams.

A playing season of the league consists of two parts. During the first phase, teams play Double round robin. The top five teams qualify for Championship group which determines the winner via an eight-game tournament. The remaining clubs take part in Relegation round with the bottom team to be relegated to the Silver League, which is the 2nd division, contested by ten teams as of 2025.[2]

Seasons run based on Spring-Autumn system.

History

The U17 competition started in 2016. Based on geographic principle, 27 teams were initially divided into four groups. Their winners, runners-up and two best three-placed teams then formed a ten-member Championship group.[3] Locomotive became the first champions after a 4–1 victory over Saburtalo in the final match of the season.[4]

Starting from 2019, Dinamo Tbilisi have been represented in the league with two teams. Twice in a row in the early 2020s, Dinamo-2 even surpassed the main team, becoming champions in 2022.[5] A year later, Saburtalo also doubled their representation.

The 2020 league season was abandoned after seven rounds following a COVID-19 outbreak. The latter also affected the next season which was completed in July 2022 only.[6] Iberia 1999 have dominated during the recent period, securing four out of five league titles.

Current teams

There are currently ten teams competing in U19 Golden League:

Seasons

Season Champion Runner-up Third place
2016 Locomotive Saburtalo
2017 Dinamo Tbilisi Locomotive
2018 Dinamo Tbilisi Saburtalo Locomotive
2019 Dinamo Tbilisi Saburtalo Dinamo Tbilisi-2
2020 Abandoned due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Saburtalo Dinamo Tbilisi-2 Dinamo Tbilisi
2022 Dinamo Tbilisi-2 Saburtalo Dinamo Tbilisi
2023 Saburtalo Dinamo Tbilisi 35th Football School
2024 Iberia 1999 Dinamo Tbilisi Dinamo Tbilisi-2
2025 Dinamo Tbilisi Iberia 1999 Locomotive

Note: Saburtalo changed its name to Iberia 1999 in February 2024[7]

Player of the Year

References

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