Manchester City and Georgia: a proud bond

Georgia have undoubtedly captured the imagination of anyone invested in Euro 2024.

The nation of less than four million people, which borders the Black Sea and is ranked 74th in world football by FIFA, has become the “other team” of most nations in the tournament.

Having reached the last 16, they now face Rodrigo’s powerhouse Spain this weekend, with their 2-0 win over Portugal confirming their first knockout stage at a major tournament.

But ask any City fan and they’ll probably tell you they’ve already got a soft spot for Georgia.

That’s because no English club has had more Georgian players than Manchester City, our link with the Eastern European country going back almost three decades.

It started with City chairman Francis Lee being tipped off about an outstanding young talent playing for Dinamo Tbilisi and after watching some hard-hitting videos, the 21-year-old in question – Georgi Kinkladze – Lee struck a deal of gentleman with the president of Tbilisi, Merab Jordania. that the Blues could have first refusal on the skilful playmaker.

Not long after, Kinkladze scored in a 5-0 win over Wales and scouts began making inquiries about the talented footballer who modeled his game on Diego Maradona.

Legend has it that Colin Bell and Tony Book went to watch the Euro ’96 qualifier between Wales and Georgia in June 1995 at Cardiff Arms Park.

The Welsh were reduced to 10 men with barely 30 minutes on the clock thanks to a typically cruel challenge from Vinnie Jones, keen to put his stamp on proceedings and, in this case, the inner thigh of Mikheil Kavelashvili.

With 73 minutes played and Wales desperately holding on for 0-0, the ball was played to 21-year-old Georgi Kinkladze, who headed into the box unchallenged before slotting a sumptuous 25-yard chip past Neville Southall to make it 1-0. victory for the Georgians.

City scouts – both club legends, of course – are believed to have returned to Manchester to inform chairman Francis Lee – “we’ve got to sign this, man, and quickly”.

Lee sanctioned a £2million move for Kinkladze and after a few training sessions new City boss Alan Ball claimed fans would literally be hanging from the rafters at Maine Road to watch the Georgian play.

And he wasn’t far wrong.

‘Kinky’ – as he quickly became known to City fans – proved to be a magical talent, capable of seemingly impossible grace and almost balletic moves.

He was soon the idol of the Blues faithful and the one to shine in an otherwise difficult season, scoring perhaps the biggest goal Maine Road has ever seen in a 2-1 win over Southampton.

SEE: Kinkladze: The Wizard of Maine Road

Kinky’s form has attracted interest from Celtic, Liverpool and Barcelona – among others – and with Ball’s side struggling near the foot of the Premier League, chairman Lee was keen to ensure his prized asset remains at the club.

To do this, he wanted other Georgians at Manchester City and when Georgia and former Tbilisi team-mate Kavelashvili became available, the forward arrived in March 1996 and began training with the Blues.

Memorably, he made his debut against Manchester United and scored with a close-range finish after a Niall Quinn challenge to make it 1–1, although his start came at the expense of Uwe Rosler, who he was left on the bench, later replacing the Georgian striker and leveling with a lightning strike and angry reaction to the Ball boss.

For all Kinkladze’s magic, City were relegated at the end of the 1995/96 season and his adoring crowd thought it inevitable that, as he left the pitch in tears after a 2-2 draw with Liverpool, he would confirm our relegation from the top. flight, he had certainly played his last game for the club.

But an outpouring of love for Kinkladze and his close relationship with Franny Lee ensured he would stay with the Blues to help secure promotion at the first attempt.

It was a gamble by the player, but still only 23, one he felt he owed to his chairman and the supporters.

“It was hard,” Kinkladze said in later years,

“It’s true that I had chances to leave. Barcelona and other sides expressed interest, but I couldn’t go. I wanted to help City get back into the Premier League, so it wasn’t a difficult decision for me to make.”

Kavelashvili had one more season left but was unable to find the goals to save coach Ball or help the club return to the top flight.

Kinky had been the constant target of the hatchet men in the second tier, with the clear feeling that by stopping him, City was no longer winning.

He was injured for the final game of the 1996/97 season against Reading, but City supporters made a day of Kinkladze celebrations with flags, banners and Georgian songs, while the electronic scoreboard displayed the messages ‘Don’t go, Gio!”. .

When the Blues No.10 was paraded off Maine Road at the end of a 3-2 win, it almost felt as if the club had unfairly tugged at his heartstrings, leaving Kinky to say things like “How I can go back.” on the back of this love?”

Incredibly, he agreed to stay for another season, but City’s situation worsened.

The Kavelashvili experiment didn’t work – he scored just three goals in 29 appearances – and the first half of the 1997/98 campaign under manager Frank Clarke was pretty dire, with just five league wins in the first 20 games.

Failure to obtain a work permit meant he was loaned out to Grasshoppers Zurich.

Two more Georgians arrived at the start of the year – both centre-backs – the first being Murtaz Shelia and six weeks later Kakhaber Tskhadadze.

Both were excellent additions, experienced internationals and suited to the rough and tumble nature of the English second tier.

However, neither the defender nor a battered and bruised Kinkladze could ultimately prevent City from being relegated to the third tier for the first time in the club’s history.

Kinky’s price for loyalty was to be lowered by new manager Joe Royle in recent weeks, although he took a private jet back for the final game of the season, away at Stoke, having just played for his country, still desperate to help saving the club.

He would go on to move to Ajax and later Derby County, but was never able to reach the heights he had in his first season at Maine Road, save for the odd wonder goal here and there over the next two campaigns.

City’s three Georgian representatives became two in 1998/99, but when ‘Air Eagle’ Tskhadadze tore his ACL early in the new campaign and Shelia suffered a career-threatening injury a few weeks later against Reading, none ever happened. play for the club again.

By March 2000, our four Georgian players – who had won a total of 154 caps for their nation and 181 appearances for City – had become nothing but affection for Kinkladze and that five-year period in which the Georgian flag was a common sight. The Kippax is still fondly remembered by the Blues faithful.

Watch: Goal of the Day: Kinkladze v Southampton