Georgy Demetradze is a former Georgian footballer who managed to play in Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian and other clubs during his career. Today he is forty years old, and he left football seven years ago. As a player, Georgy Demetradze played in the position of the central striker.
Carier start
Georgy Demetradze was born on September 26, 1976 in the city of Tbilisi, Georgian SSR, but he began his career in the small club "Kakheti", which he joined the youth academy in 1992 when he was 16 years old. The guy was so talented that at the age of sixteen he made his debut in the club’s main squad, and at the age of 17 he began to appear on the field much more often, having played 18 matches in the 93/94 season and scored 11 goals, making a lasting impression on the local audience. Naturally, this led to more serious interest from the country's largest clubs, and in the summer of 1994, Georgy Demetradze moved to one of the strongest clubs in Georgia - Dynamo Tbilisi.
Going to Dynamo
Georgy Shalvovich Demetradze did not immediately get a place at the base, and during the first season he needed to prove his skills. In 17 matches, he scored 8 goals, which was enough to allow him to appear on the field much more often. Over the next two seasons, he was a base player and scored an incredible number of goals. In the 95/96 season, he scored 17 goals, and the next managed to successfully send 26 goals in 26 matches, scoring an average of one goal per game. George Demetradze - a football player who has just begun his ascent - began to receive invitations from European clubs. And in the fall of 1997, when he had just started the season at Dynamo and played four matches, having marked one more goal, Feyenoord, who had rented the player for six months, became interested in him.
Unfortunately, Demetradze was not able to show himself in the lease and in seven matches he did not mark a single goal scored. When he returned to Dynamo, he received an offer from the Russian Alania, which George could not refuse. And after three seasons at Dynamo and three league titles, Demetradze, who will become one of the most famous Georgian football players in Russia, moved to Vladikavkaz.
The game for Alania
Georgy Demetradze, whose photographs could be seen in all Russian sports publications, was a real phenomenon, and in “Alania” he immediately began to show his best side. In the first season, the player entered the field 15 times and scored 14 goals. Naturally, in the second season he became a base player and scored 21 goals in 28 matches. This result was more than impressive, and Demetradze was again talked about everywhere. Only this time, the football player was in no hurry to leave far from home, but moved to Dynamo Kyiv.
Moving to Ukraine
It was the second club with the name Dynamo in the career of a football player, but this time his performances were not so impressive. In the first season, George scored 7 goals in 14 matches, and in the second - 8 goals in 12 matches. However, the results were still quite good. It also led to increased interest in the player. Demetradze entrenched in Dynamo, received the necessary practice at a high level, so he was ready for new challenges. Moreover, in 2000, he became the champion of Ukraine together with the Kiev club, so now he could go into a more serious league. The best option was the Spanish Real Sociedad, which paid more than five million euros for the striker.
Another unsuccessful attempt
Georgian footballer George Demetradze, whose biography is full of successful seasons in Georgian, Russian and Ukrainian clubs, could not play in Europe. At first there was a failed rental to the Dutch Feyenoord, and in 2000 a transfer to Real Sociedad followed. There, the player spent only one year, but this was enough to understand that he did not belong to European football. Demetradze entered the field 13 times and was able to score only one goal. Naturally, the result was not satisfactory for the club, so it was decided to send the striker for rent.
In the winter of 2002, Demetradze ended up in Lokomotiv Moscow, where he played six matches and was unable to score a single goal. In the summer, he was sent to rent in “Alanya”, where he had already performed and showed good results. This time the lease was more successful, and the striker scored six goals in 16 matches. However, this was not enough to convince the leadership of Real Sosedyad, so in the winter of 2003 the 27-year-old football player was sold to Metallurg Donetsk.
Return to Ukraine
It was in Metallurg that Demetradze was able to linger for a long time. Already at the end of the 2002/03 season. He showed that he was serious, scoring 8 goals in 15 matches. In the first full season, he was able to become the top scorer of the entire Ukrainian championship, scoring 18 goals in 28 matches. The following season, however, did not work out for him, and he was able to score only 4 goals. As a result, in the winter of 2005, he again went to Alanya for rent, but the player’s results were no longer impressive. He scored just two goals for the club, after which he was rented to Israel, where he spent six months at Maccabi. There George also did not shine and scored only three goals.
Returning from the lease, he spent another season for Metallurg, scoring 4 goals in 19 matches. But the Donetsk club did not renew the contract with an experienced striker, and he was forced to look for a new job.
End of career
In the summer of 2007, the 31-year-old striker signed an annual contract with Kiev Arsenal, for which he played 18 matches, but was able to score just three goals. Naturally, the agreement was not extended, so Demetradze had to look for a new club, which he found quite quickly. In the summer of 2008, the Azerbaijani club "Baku" offered a contract to a veteran, and he agreed. But again, the results left much to be desired: he entered the field only ten times and was able to score only two goals.
After the expiration of the contract with Baku, Demetradze for some time could not find a new job. In the spring of 2010, he joined the Spartak Tskhinvali club from his native Georgia, for which he played six times and scored his last professional goal.
Team appearances
As for the national team, here Demetradze was a fairly frequent guest. He debuted in May 1996, when the guy was only twenty years old. He spent 55 matches in the national team, scoring 12 goals. Such a weak result is due to the fact that at the end of a career a football player was more often used not at the tip of the attack, but on the flanks or in the position of a drawn forward. Therefore, George’s track record has become much more assists and much less goals. Demetradze spent his last match in the national team shirt in October 2007. As for the last goal, it happened in September 2006 in a match against the national team of Ukraine. However, this goal did not help Georgia win - the team lost 2: 3. Well, Demetradze continued to help teammates until the very end of his career. His last assist was in September 2007. Again, the opponent was the Ukrainian team, but this time the game ended for the Georgian team more successfully - in a draw with a score of 1: 1.
Life after football
What happened to a football player when he finished his sports career in 2010? Many former football players decide to stay in the game, become coaches, scouts, agents and so on. Unfortunately, Demetradze did not have such an opportunity, because even his retirement was forced. The fact is that in the summer of 2010 he was arrested and convicted of connections with the criminal world, as well as for his active participation in an underground sweepstake, where he collected debts from those who could not pay on time. He was sentenced to six years in prison, but the man was released after two and a half years under an amnesty.
Once at large, he was able to return to football, but was no longer in the role of a player. In January 2014, he became president of the Georgian club Torpedo from Kutaisi, and this post is still held by George Demetradze.
The personal life of the former footballer was adjusted almost immediately after leaving prison. He met with Tea Moseshvili, whom he married in 2015. Two years later, in March 2017, they had a daughter, who was named Natalia.