26 May

Tskaltubo built its name on spa water, and the ground on 26 May Street sits at the centre of a town. The arena carries the same name as the street, and it opened in 1945, in the first months after the war — in Georgia .

What stands there now is not what was raised then. Between 1969 and 1976 the stadium was reworked by the architects Archil Kurdiani senior and Gia Kurdiani, with Shalva Gazashvili as engineer. Who put up the original in 1945 is not recorded.

The most recent change came in 2018 and 2019, when the pitch was relaid with high-grade natural turf, paid for by the Georgian football federation.

Capacity is modest — 3,500 — and the figure is worth stating plainly because larger numbers circulate for this ground. Searches for the name also throw up Tbilisi, where 26 May is a square with a sports palace, not a football ground; the two are unconnected.