Manuchar Machaidze

Manuchar Machaidze, born on 25 March 1949, is a Georgian former association football player who worked as a midfielder and is remembered above all for his years at Dinamo Tbilisi. He also played for Pakhtakor Tashkent, Spartak Moscow and Torpedo Kutaisi, and his younger brother Gocha Machaidze played for the same clubs as a defender and defensive midfielder. Machaidze was a deep-lying playmaker who could also operate in the classic number 7 position. He is the only player in Georgian football history to have lifted the Soviet Crystal Cup as captain twice, first in 1976 and again in 1979. His honours include one Soviet Top League title and two Soviet Cups, and after his playing career he served in the Parliament of Georgia from 1995 to 1999 and became known as an amateur artist. In 2013 Georgia's Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs awarded him the title Knight of Sport.