Our history
From a printing-house yard in 1948 to four league titles: the story of FC Lineuper, decade by decade.
Seventy-eight years in crimson
The story of FC Lineuper begins in the autumn of 1948 in a workshop yard behind a printing house in Tbilisi. The name came from the printers: a lineuper is the arrangement of a team on the pitch, and also the careful arrangement of type on a page. The founders liked that both depended on putting the right piece in the right place.
Decade by decade
1948-1959: A club is born
The first season was played on a borrowed pitch in Vake with shirts dyed crimson in a bathtub. Lineuper won the city amateur cup in 1953 and moved to a purpose-made ground in 1956.
1960-1979: The arena and the first title
Lineuper Arena opened in 1962 with a capacity of 9,000. In 1967 the club won its first league title with a team built almost entirely from local players, and followed it with the national cup in 1971 and a second league title in 1981.
1980-1999: Lean years and a fightback
Economic turmoil in the early nineties nearly ended the club. Supporters organised a membership drive that kept the lights on, and in 1996 the cup returned to Rustaveli Avenue after a 2-1 final win.
2000-2017: Foundations
The third league title arrived in 2004. The academy was formally established in 2009 and has since produced more than forty professional players.
2018-2026: The modern club
A third cup in 2018, the east stand rebuild in 2019 and, in 2025, a fourth championship celebrated by an open-top bus parade that filled Rustaveli Avenue from the Opera to Freedom Square. The 2026/27 season begins a new chapter under head coach Levan Kapanadze.
Honours
- League champions: 1967, 1981, 2004, 2025
- National cup winners: 1971, 1996, 2018
- City amateur cup: 1953
- Youth league (U19) champions: 2014, 2022
In their words
We did not have much in 1948. We had a ball, some dyed cotton and each other. If the club ever forgets that, it forgets what it is.
These words are attributed to Shalva Gogoladze, one of the founders, and hang on the wall of the supporters' lounge at Lineuper Arena. They are also the reason the club's membership list is still printed in the programme every season.
