Georgia
Boris Paichadze Stadium
The Boris Paichadze Stadium is a football stadium in Tbilisi. It is the home stadium of FC Dinamo Tbilisi and is also used by the national football team of Georgia. The stadium was built in 1976 by Georgian architect Gia Kurdiani. Before then FC Dinamo Tbilisi's stadium was a smaller ground with a maximum capacity of 35 000. The demand for a bigger stadium was increased because of the successful performance of FC Dinamo Tbilisi. When the new stadium was built, it had the third largest capacity in the Soviet Union. It could hold 78 000 supporters.
The first official match played was in September 1976. This was an UEFA Cup match between FC Dinamo Tbilisi and Cardiff City FC from Wales, which the Georgian side won 3-0. The record attendance was in 1979, when the stadium hosted 110 000 people during the match between FC Dinamo Tbilisi and Liverpool FC.
In 1995 the stadium was renamed after Boris Paichadze, a legendary former Georgian football player.
The stadium was refurbished in 2006 when it became an all-seater stadium. This reduced the capacity to 55 000.
