WIT Georgia - Locomotive Tbilisi (0-2)

Erovnuli Liga
Mikheil Meskhi Stadium Annex
November 2, 2019

If you are of a certain age, Georgian football will be primarily associated with Dinamo Tbilisi. I was not following football closely in my childhood, but of course I knew about the team then. I remember the mysterious names like Chivadze, Shengelia, Kipiani, Daraselia but I don’t think I ever watched them play. But I certainly do remember the voice of Kote Makharadze and the way he commentated the games. The glory of Dinamo Tbilisi is long gone, but for some of us the mystique is still there. So when I checked the dates of my trip to Georgia, I was delighted to find out that I can attend the Georgian Classico – Dinamo Tbilisi playing Torpedo Kutaisi at their legendary stadium. 

Unfortunately, the game was then moved to the next day when we had to leave Tbilisi. I was really bummed even though usually I don’t really care about the level of football if I have a chance to see a game in a new country, but that really hurt. Thus, I had to find something else and there was another game of the Georgian top level in Tbilisi. Instead of the biggest possible game of Georgian club football at their biggest stadium, I got the last place WIT Georgia playing Locomotive Tbilisi at the other stadium’s reserve field. Well, at least it’s a derby, right?

I expected something much worse, when I heard the game would be played at the reserve field of

Mikheil Meskhi stadium. In fact, it’s a nice little ground adjacent to the main arena. And what a glorious stadium it is! It’s located in a vast Vake park that is quite far from the city centre, but the area is very modern and is one of the best places in Tbilisi. Being quite the distance, the park itself is a bit neglected, but still impressive. There was barely anyone when I walked there. It has a massive winged statue atop its hill and I must tell you, Georgians sure do love their huge statues. The park also features a cable car that can take you to the lake but I think it was under repairs on that day. And frankly, I had no desire to ride it anyway.

The stadium is named after Mikheil Meskhi, who was a Georgian football star in the 50s and 60s and

played for both Dinamo and Locomotive. There is Meskhi’s statue inside the stadium grounds. You can also see the Georgian football walk of fame which is a very nice and touching thing. I was happy to find Kakha Kaladze’s star, who will forever be Kyiv’s hero! The stadium looks huge, much bigger than its attendance. It’s very circular in shape and looks marvelous surrounded by the green hills. How I’d wished to see a game there.

Let me write a few words about the teams who played on the day. Turns out Locomotive is an old team who mostly served as grounds for young footballers, who went on to play for Dinamo later. It even had a couple of seasons in the early editions of the Soviet top league. WIT Georgia is a corporate team of some American business venture that sells pet foods or something like that. For no particular reason they just decided to sponsor a new team in Tbilisi. WIT Georgia are a one-time Georgian champions but recently played in the lower leagues. Currently they occupy the last place with no immediate prospects to leave it.

The entrance was free. I did not expect any serious attendance. But in the end, there were some people who decided to turn up to the game. I know it’s not much and the teams do not rely on this money but you can still charge something at the gates. It still helps to cover some of the costs. I had paid to enter 4th Polish tier grounds and this was the top Georgian league. It was especially contrasting with how respectable the teams looked and both had good kits with sponsors. By the way, there were a few obvious groundhoppers from Germany and Netherlands, I believe. Predictably, there was no organized support for either of two teams. 

Georgian football has always been presented as very technical, where players rely on skills and not

physique. I tried to keep an eye on that and I must say that it did seem true. It looked like players would try to pass and dribble more than in a regular lower league game in Poland or Ukraine. It would not call the game dull and I was quite amused by what happened on the pitch. Even though WIT Georgia was an outsider, the game was quite even.

Unfortunately, as it grew dark, I could no longer see the glorious Georgian mountains and the above mentioned huge statue was not lit enough to be seen from the stands. It was also very chilly on that particular day. I was freezing my ass off as we were exposed to the wind from the mountains and there was nothing to protect us. To my disappointment, there were no hot drinks sold anywhere close.

In fact, there was nothing on offer for those few dozens of people who decided to see the game. Again, I’m pretty sure all of us would love to have a cup of tea and some tasty Georgian snack. Why would you not sell anything? It brings money with no real expenses. It did not look like teams even try to produce some merchandise or match programs.

I was very cold and there road construction meant I could not take a direct bus home. I decided to leave early and thus I missed both Locomotive goals. Can’t say I was disappointed. Anyway, a game in the new country was in my groundhopper’s bag.