Shukura U20

19 Aug 2026
Wednesday
Process
3 Edition

The Shukura Herald

17 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

The small margins put Shukura out

Out, 0‑1 to Tskhinvali, and the long argument about which of the small moments decided it. The league is all there is now, and everybody knows it.

Player ratings

Rezo Meskhidze, 21, plays like he has been here for years — 7.85

A mark of 7.85 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.

Player ratings

Guram Gamsakhurdia runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 23. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Guram Japaridze

Shukura asked and Dinamo Batumi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Squad

Tempers go at Shukura

Giorgi Kavtaradze was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Transfer targets

No deal for Tornike Kirkitadze at that price

Shukura offered $37.0K; Dinamo Batumi said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.

Match

Rezo Meskhidze the difference as Shukura beat Chikhura

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Rezo Meskhidze. 2‑1 against Chikhura, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Rezo Meskhidze

At 21 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Transfer targets

A loan move for Irakli Tsitaishvili is in the works

Shukura have made the call to Tskhinvali. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.

In brief

Back issues
2 Edition

The Shukura Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Benjamin Twum

There were 22 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Shukura

A 0‑9 beating by Zugdidi was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Market

Giorgi Kavtaradze asks to leave Shukura

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Transfer targets

Lasha-Giorgi Titvinidze will not be coming to Shukura

Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Dila is saying, and nobody at Shukura is enjoying the guessing.

Squad

A falling-out at Shukura

Giorgi Kavtaradze and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Shukura and Zugdidi in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Transfer targets

Door shut on Irakli Rukhadze

Shukura asked and Dinamo Batumi said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.

Market

One of our own: Tornike Chakvetadze joins the Shukura first team

Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Tornike Chakvetadze is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.

Market

Mamuka Daraselia steps up from the Shukura academy

There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Mamuka Daraselia has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.

In brief

1 Edition

The Shukura Herald

3 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Aleksandre Katamadze stands alone

7 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.

Squad

Giorgi Kavtaradze signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Giorgi Kavtaradze commits to Shukura for another 4 years.

Market

Nika Ghlonti comes home

The shirt still fits. Nika Ghlonti is back at Shukura, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.

Squad

Words exchanged at Shukura

Giorgi Kavtaradze and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.

Transfer targets

Shukura rebuffed over Zurab Gigashvili

Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Samtredia have kept their man, and Shukura go back to a list with one name crossed off it.

Match

Shukura come up short against Merani

Merani left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

The dugout

Kakha Kvaratskhelia answers for it

“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.

Transfer targets

Shukura try to borrow Irakli Rukhadze

Dinamo Batumi have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

Transfer targets

Shukura try to borrow Lasha-Giorgi Titvinidze

Dila have been asked whether they would lend him. Loans are agreed quickly or not at all, and this one will be one or the other by the weekend.

In brief