One of the most unlikely European Cup winners ever

One of the most unlikely European Cup winners ever

UEFA Cup Winners Cup 1980/81 went to Dinamo Tbilisi. This was during a period when they also won the Soviet Cup and Soviet Top League. Go back 20 years and the USSR Nations Cup winning side of 1960 had a core of Georgian talent.

This is the story of their rise and, with the fall of communism and the death of their stars, how it collapsed.

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#UEFA #UEFACup #UCL

[ianbrudnakvoss]

Time to load up FM, we’ve got a stage to put Georgia back on

[manish]

The accurate pronunciations in this video are just.. out of this world!

[McSwirley]

you die twice: when you breathe your last breath and the last time someone remembers your name. tifo keeping these legends alive, as if georgians won’t remember their heroes forever

[Ora]

Never felt more proud to be Georgian. Well done, Tifo. 👏

[sandrourushadze]

Never would’ve thought I’d see a Tifo video about my hometown and country. Great video about a once great club with interesting stories.

Kipiani by the way is the GOAT. When they beat Liverpool some fan gave him money to congratulate him. He looked at it signed it with his autograph and gave the money back to the fan.

[rayniedayz]

The amount of obscure football knowledge I have because of Tifo is insane.

[alameano]

Correct. The Soviet republics didn’t play for the “Russian” side they all played for the Soviet Union national team because it was one country representing all nationalities and ethnicities within the union.

[AnonymousCoolKid]

I’ve never heard of David Kipiani before but now his YouTube highlights look insane

[gollick]

Anyone who has been to Georgia will know what a beautiful country it is. Lovely people and even better Food!

[Aryaninho-innit]

I would've loved if Ajax had won in 2019....
Or atalanta this season if they're playing the same devastating attacking play....
Underdogs surely... they can bite off anyone with their tight formations and a attacking output that prime Manchester united can be compared to ....
Hats off to gian piero gasperinii..🙏
May they win the serie a in some seasons and throw roma out of the top 6

[danielbanks]

My dad always says the best team he saw beat West Ham at Upton Park was that dinamo tbilisi team. Great work tifo 👍

[StoutProper]

I think forest were pretty unlikely winners, mostly with players who'd got them promoted only two seasons earlier

[Ryan-srsy]

The streets won't forget when Georgia ruled European football

[akamiguelsanchez]

Oooh, I was reading about Carl Zeiss Jena last night and ended up on to Tbilisi! Really fascinating story, I remember watching Newcastle beat them in the UEFA cup.

[heavyt]

Interesting and insightful as always. So sad at the end. Didn’t anyone else think the title was a bit click-bait? For clarity, it was European Cup Winners Cup!!!

[TSEEMOD_]

Another reasons why we need a 3rd European Cup (big up for the new coming UEFA Conference Cup!) and another reason why UEFA was super stupid to cancel the Cup Winners' Cup and in making - especially on the financial distribution of funds towards certain federations in an inequal way - most of the decisions since 1999 on.

It's super sad to always see the top 5 federations and the same clubs winning trophies. Sad, stupidly planned, inequal and digging distance between clubs in different countries, rather than promoting a good, fair football.

Anecdote: was in Tbilisi and bought a scarf of Dinamo Tbilisi, with written "1980 Cup Winners Cup Winners". Something I am terribly proud of.

[Gio-mtlb]

As a Georgian thanks for doing this video.

[anggaihza]

I once won the Champions League with SC Toulon in FM20. Not meaning to brag but I guess my team should get the recognition they deserve

[dinamotbilisi]

Thanks Tifo for this amazing video ❤❤ I hope one day we will be back 🔵⚪🔵

[haakonlehn]

I went to a Dinamo Tbilisi match against Sioni Bolnisi in the summer of 2022. It was a very strange experience for me because a) they sold tickets for about a dollar. I was thinking they would be cheap but they were practically giving them away. b) There were about 50 people at the game. Boris Paichadze arena holds around 60, 000 so it was basically empty. No atmosphere or noise, just some teens and older gentleman chewing sunflower seeds and smoking. I later learned the tickets were so cheap because fans have been protesting the club. They have been getting progressively worse over the last 5-10 years and even lost the Georgian Cup final to a third division side last season. Given the grandiose history of the club, I now see why fans are so so upset. It is said to see a grand old club fall like this. I also witnessed Dinamo Tbilisi get absolutely throttled in Batumi 4-0 a couple weeks before the Sioni game. To see your club get demolished like that to the upstart Adjarian club must be so so frustrating for the fans. It is great to see the Georgian national team playing so well, but I hope their domestic league can improve simultaneously.