David Kipiani
David Kipiani (Georgian: დავით ყიფიანი; 18 June 1951 – 17 September 2001) was a Georgian and Soviet football midfielder and manager, who played for the USSR national team. Kipiani principally played as a playmaker and is considered one of Georgia's greatest players. He was known for his elegant style of play, dribbling ability and passing range.
.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent;color:inherit}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:-3px}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}
| Column 1 | Column 2 | Column 3 |
|---|---|---|
| Kipiani in 1981 | ||
| (1951-06-18)18 June 1951According to Birth certificate (modified) (1951-11-18)18 November 1951 | ||
| Tbilisi, USSR | ||
| 17 September 2001(2001-09-17) (aged 50) | ||
| Tbilisi, Georgia | ||
| 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Attacking midfielder | ||
| School No. 35 Tbilisi | ||
| Dinamo Tbilisi | ||
| Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Locomotive Tbilisi | 1 | (0) |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 0 | (0) |
| Locomotive Tbilisi | 28 | (3) |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 245 | (79) |
| 274 | (82) | |
| USSR | 19 | (7) |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | ||
| Dinamo Tbilisi | ||
| Dinamo Tbilisi | ||
| Olympiakos Nicosia | ||
| Dinamo Tbilisi | ||
| Georgia | ||
| Racing Mechelen | ||
| Shinnik Yaroslavl | ||
| Torpedo Kutaisi | ||
| Georgia | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals |
| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1976 Montreal | Team competition |
David Kipiani (Georgian: დავით ყიფიანი; 18 June 1951 – 17 September 2001) was a Georgian and Soviet football midfielder and manager, who played for the USSR national team. Kipiani principally played as a playmaker and is considered one of Georgia's greatest players. He was known for his elegant style of play, dribbling ability and passing range.
Kipiani on stamp of Georgia, 2004
Kipiani was born in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR. He started playing for the 35th School during the early stages of his career. Kipiani was invited to play for Dinamo Tbilisi in 1967. Due to injuries, he was only able to play one game in the next two seasons. So, Kipiani went to play for another Tbilisi-based club, Locomotive Tbilisi.
After a successful season with Locomotive, Kipiani was invited back to play for Dinamo again by Gavril Kachalin. Meanwhile, while playing for Locomotive, Kipiani worked with his future manager Nodar Akhalkatsi, under whose managing he later became one of the key figures of Dinamo Tbilisi, which were among the powerful and successful clubs – presented not only at the highest level of Soviet football but internationally by the end of the 1970s and early 1980s. It was a time of the most significant results in the national championship along with the local and international recognition and notable achievements at various prestigious football tournaments.
During the period between 1975 and 1982, Kipiani was one of the prominent players on Dinamo Tbilisi, alongside others such as Manuchar Machaidze, Aleksandre Chivadze, Vladimir Gutsaev and Ramaz Shengelia. The Georgian team saw success against such football clubs as Liverpool, Inter Milan, Napoli, West Ham United, and Feyenoord, largely determined by their talent, unique playing abilities and individual skills, vision of the game, and by their complete interactions on the football pitch, where Kipiani was arguably the most dominant player.
Kipiani was capped 19 times for the Soviet Union, between April 1974 and May 1981, scoring seven goals. He made his international debut under manager Konstantin Beskov, in a friendly international match on 17 April 1974 in Zenica, when he was a second-half substitute for Vladimir Fedotov. Kipiani has scored his first international goal just after five minutes into his debut for the Soviet team, which became the only goal of the match and Soviet Union beat Yugoslavia 1–0. He played his last national team game on 30 May 1981 in a 1982 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Wales.
Kipiani was not given a chance to play in the World Cup finals. Many think his peak was in 1982, but missed the Spain World Cup and quit playing altogether due to a severe leg injury sustained against Kuban Krasnodar on 26 April (Round 4).
After retirement, Kipiani coached FC Dinamo Tbilisi, Torpedo Kutaisi, Shinnik Yaroslavl (Russia), Racing Mechelen (Belgium), Olympiakos Nicosia (Cyprus) and the Georgia national team.
He died in Tbilisi, Georgia from injuries sustained in a car crash near Tserovani (Mtskheta) on 17 September 2001. He was 50 years old. The Georgian Cup and the David Kipiani Stadium in the town of Gurjaani belong to Alazani Gurjaani, were named after him.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Locomotive Tbilisi | 1968 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 1 | 0 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 1969 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| Locomotive Tbilisi | 1970 | 28 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 3 |
| Dinamo Tbilisi | 1971 | 23 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 3 |
| 1972 | 28 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 33 | 8 | |
| 1973 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 28 | 8 | |
| 1974 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 4 | – | – | 8 | 5 | |
| 1975 | 24 | 12 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 26 | 13 | |
| 1976 | 18 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 25 | 15 | |
| 1977 | 27 | 14 | – | – | 5 | 2 | 32 | 16 | |
| 1978 | 25 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 35 | 9 | |
| 1979 | 22 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 28 | 6 | |
| 1980 | 31 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 42 | 11 | |
| 1981 | 18 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 8 | |
| 1982 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 | 4 |
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soviet Union | 1974 | 1 | 1 |
| 1975 | – | – | |
| 1976 | – | – | |
| 1977 | 6 | 3 | |
| 1978 | 6 | 3 | |
| 1979 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1980 | – | – | |
| 1981 | 1 | 0 |
Dinamo Tbilisi
- Soviet Top League: 1978
- Soviet Cup: 1976, 1979
- UEFA Cup Winners Cup: 1981
Soviet Union U18
- U-19 UEFA Championship: 1976
Dinamo Tbilisi
- Umaglesi Liga: 1990, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
- Georgian Cup: 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97
Torpedo Kutaisi
-
Umaglesi Liga: 1999–2000, 2000–01
-
Georgian Cup: 2000–01
-
Soviet Footballer of the Year: 1977
-
Grigory Fedotov club: 155 goals
.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}body.skin-vector-2022 .mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:27em}body.skin-vector-2022 .mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:22.5em}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=upper-alpha]{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=upper-roman]{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=lower-alpha]{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=lower-greek]{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .references[data-mw-group=lower-roman]{list-style-type:lower-roman}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-upper-alpha .references{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-upper-roman .references{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-lower-alpha .references{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-lower-greek .references{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output div.reflist-liststyle-lower-roman .references{list-style-type:lower-roman}
| External videos |
|---|
| David Kipiani, FC Dinamo Tbilisi |
| Legendary 10 – David Kipiani, El Fenomeno |
| David Kipiani vs Feyenoord – Coppa delle Coppe 1980–1981, Football 1970s |
| Inimitable David Kipiani (1951–2001), Aleks Chistogan |
| Internazionale Milan 0–1 Dinamo Tbilisi. 14.09.1977 – David Kipiani Goal, GiviFilms Studio Sport |
| David Kipiani – The Legend, Bada Jr |
- David Kipiani – FIFA competition record (archived)
- David Kipiani at National-Football-Teams.com
- David Kipiani Stock Photos and Images at alamy.com
- David Kipiani Pictures and Images at gettyimages.com
- Article at FC Dinamo Tbilisi Official Club Site
- Profile at FC Dinamo Tbilisi Official Club Site
- Profile at footballtop.com
- David Kipiani at WorldFootball.net
- Article Archived 27 October 2020 at the Wayback Machine at GeorgianJournal.ge
- International Statistics at AFS
- David Kipiani at EU-Football.info (archive)
- Deprecated link at archive.today (archived 25 December 2012)
- Profile and statistics at klisf.net
- Articles at Sport-Express.ru
- Profile and Articles Archived 1 November 2020 at the Wayback Machine at rusteam.permian.ru
- David Kipiani at FootballFacts.ru (in Russian)