Liga 3
Founded1990 (1990)
Country Georgia
ConfederationUEFA
Number of teams16
Level on pyramid3
Promotion toErovnuli Liga 2
Relegation toLiga 4
Domestic cup(s)Georgian Cup
Current championsAragvi (2023)
Websiteliga.gff.ge
Current: 2023 Liga 3

Liga 3, organized by the Georgian Football Federation since 1990, is the third division of professional football in Georgia.

Until 2017, when the current name was introduced, it was known as Meore Liga (the Second league).

Structure and league system

There were 20 teams competing in the league in 2017. In 2019, when Liga 4 was formed, their number was reduced to ten,[1] although after two seasons GFF decided to extend the league to 14 at the expense of two bottom teams from the previous season and two second-placed clubs from Liga 4 While and Red Groups.[2] For 2022 the number of clubs was increased to 16.[3]

Seasons run based on Spring-Autumn system with each team playing an equal amount of home and away games against their league rivals.

The league operates based on a system of promotion and relegation. Starting from the 2022 season, champions and runners-up win automatic promotion to Erovnuli Liga 2, while the teams that finish in the third and fourth positions book a place in promotion play-off home and away games against respectively the 8th and 7th placed clubs of Liga 2. Three bottom teams are relegated to Liga 4.[4]

In case two or more clubs obtain the same number of points, their head-to-head records are next to be taken into consideration.

Number of teams each season

● 2017–18 = 20

● 2019–20 = 10

● 2021 = 14

● 2022–24 = 16

Current members

Sixteen teams will compete in Liga 3 for the 2024 season. Five of them, namely Borjomi, Guria, Merani Martvili, Merani Tbilisi and Zestafoni, have previously played in the top division. There are also two reserve teams of higher league members this season.

The clubs are listed below in alphabetical order.

Clubs Position last season Location Region
Betlemi2nd in Liga 4KedaAdjara
Bakhmaro12thChokhatauriGuria
Borjomi11thBorjomiSamtskhe-Javakheti
Gardabani3rd in Liga 4GardabaniKvemo Kartli
Gonio1st in Liga 4GonioAdjara
Gori8thGoriShida Kartli
Guria9thLanchkhutiGuria
Irao6thTbilisiTbilisi
Locomotive-210thTbilisiTbilisi
Matchakhela14thKhelvachauriAdjara
Merani M9th in Liga 2MartviliMartvili
Merani T10th in Liga 2TbilisiTbilisi
Saburtalo-27thTbilisiTbilisi
Meshakhte5thTkibuliImereti
Varketili4thTbilisiTbilisi
Zestafoni13thZestafoniImereti

Results

Group Winners of Meore Liga

Season West East Center
2011–12 Chikhura Sachkhere II Sasco Tbilisi
2012–13 Matchakhela Khelvachauri Kartli 2011
2013–14 Lazika Zugdidi Borjomi
2014–15 Imereti Khoni Tskhumi Sukhumi Liakhvi Tskhinvali
2015–16 Sulori Vani Gardabani Mark Stars
2016 BetlemiMargvetiSamegrelo AlgetiN.DinamoShevardeniTelavi Gori

Note: Due to the season being transitional in 2016, none of the teams was promoted

Top three teams of Liga 3

Season Winner Runner-up Third place
2017 Shevardeni Norchi Dinamo Tbilisi Telavi
2018 Zugdidi Bakhmaro Chokhatauri Guria Lanchkhuti
2019 Merani Martvili Samgurali Tskhaltubo Aragvi Dusheti
2020 Gareji Sagarejo Kolkheti-1913 Poti Gori
2021 Spaeri Tbilisi Kolkheti-1913 Poti Tbilisi City
2022 Dinamo Tbilisi-2 Kolkheti-1913 Poti Aragvi Dusheti
2023 Aragvi Dusheti Shturmi Rustavi

Notes: Apart from the champions who were automatically promoted to the second division, the teams indicated in bold gained promotion after winning the play-offs against their Liga-2 rivals. Due to the changed format, in 2022 and 2023, the runner-ups of the seasons were also promoted directly.

Relegated teams

The number of relegated teams per each recent season varies due to the fact that the competition format is subject to frequent changes.

SeasonClubs
2017Odishi-1919 ZugdidiChkherimela Kharagauli ● Liakhvi Tskhinvali ● Sapovnela Terjola
2018Samegrelo ChkhorotskuMagaroeli Chiatura ● Varketili Tbilisi ● Algeti Marneuli ● Mark Stars Tbilisi ● Imereti KhoniGardabaniSulori VaniSamgurali Tskaltubo-2Machakhela Khelvachauri
2019BorjomiBetlemi Keda
2020NONE
2021Magaroeli Chiatura ● Didube Tbilisi
2022Tbilisi City*
2023TBDMerani-2Chikhura

Note: Tbilisi City failed to obtain a league license for the 2023 season.

Participation per club

Including the 2024 season there have been 45 teams in total competing in this league since 2017. Gori are topping the list with an overall nine-year continuous tenure in the third tier, including all the eight seasons after its re-branding as Liga 3.

Team Par.
Gori8
Bakhmaro7
Meshakhte7
Saburtalo-27
Borjomi6
Guria6
Kolkheti Khobi6
Aragvi5
Varketili5
Betlemi4
Kolkheti 19133
Magaroeli3
Merani-2 Tb3
Tbilisi City3
Gardabani3
Team Par.
Irao3
Matchakhela3
Zestafoni3
Algeti2
Chikhura2
Imereti2
Locomotivi-22
Merani M2
Merani Tb2
Mark Stars2
Samegrelo2
Spaeri2
Sulori2
Chkherimela1
Didube1
Team Par.
Dinamo-21
Gareji1
Gonio1
Liakhvi1
Margveti 20061
Odishi 19191
Rustavi1
Samgurali1
Samgurali-21
Sapovnela1
Shturmi1
Skuri1
Shevardeni 19061
Telavi1
Zugdidi1

As of 2024 their current status is:

Erovnuli Liga3
Erovnuli Liga 27
Liga 316
Liga 49
Regionuli Liga5
Defunct5

References

  1. "2019 regular season". soccerway.com.
  2. "სფფ-ს აღმასკომი - ცვლილებები Crystalbet ეროვნულ ლიგაში". crystalsport.ge (in Georgian), 25 January 2021.
  3. "2022 წლიდან ლიგა 2-ში და ლიგა 3-ში გუნდების რაოდენობა იზრდება". primesport.ge (in Georgian), 12 February 2021.
  4. "სფფ-ში აღმასრულებელი კომიტეტის სხდომა გაიმართა". gff.ge (in Georgian), 22 February 2022.
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