Kavelashvili: City Derby Scorer Now Georgia's President

Mikheil Kavelashvili, the disputed president of Georgia, has given a rare interview looking back on the Manchester City career that saw him score on his debut in a Manchester derby three decades before he became his country's head of state.

Kavelashvili, 55, played 28 games for City in the late 1990s. His election as president in 2024 has been rejected by political opposition in Georgia and by the European Parliament, which said in 2025 that it refuses to recognise the self-proclaimed authorities of the ruling Georgian Dream party following what it called rigged parliamentary elections.

The Daily Mail obtained written answers from Kavelashvili after emailing a generic media address at the Georgian parliament, with a reply arriving after a fortnight of correspondence. He did not agree to a phone call but answered questions in writing.

Scoring on his City debut

Kavelashvili's debut came at Maine Road on 6 April 1996, when City lost 3-2 to United. Eric Cantona opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Kavelashvili levelled from a Niall Quinn knock-down, poking the ball past Peter Schmeichel. Andy Cole restored United's lead, and Schmeichel later blocked a Kavelashvili effort with his face before the Georgian was substituted for Uwe Rosler. Rosler's equaliser, celebrated with a finger-wag at manager Alan Ball, was cancelled out by a Ryan Giggs winner.

"In a match like this, the positions occupied by the teams in the league table are virtually irrelevant," Kavelashvili said. "The fans create an atmosphere that makes it feel as though you are playing in a tournament final. An unforgettable experience." He said City "genuinely believed" they could beat a United side that was among the best in Europe at the time.

"In my view, we should at least not have lost the match, as it was an evenly contested game overall and we had several opportunities to score, including a chance for me," he said. "Given the way the match unfolded, I believe a draw would have been a fairer result. As for my goal, scoring in a derby of this magnitude, especially in my debut match, was, of course, a tremendous source of joy. Unfortunately, however, the result of the match somewhat overshadowed that joy."

Sunday's fixture between the clubs at Old Trafford will be the 199th Manchester derby. Kavelashvili's appearance came in the 135th.

How the move to City came about

Kavelashvili signed for City from the Russian champions Spartak Vladikavkaz for £1.4million in March 1996, aged 24, following what he called a prolonged campaign of recommendation from his fellow Georgian Giorgi Kinkladze, then City's playmaker.

He said the move followed a win with the Georgian national team in Wales and a Russian championship in which he was top scorer. He said City's president at the time, Francis Lee, told him the club's plan was to build a more creative team around Kinkladze, which he found an interesting project, and that the fans' passion exceeded his expectations. "I am certain (they) will stay with me for the rest of my life," he said.

City were three points above the relegation zone when Kavelashvili signed. Rosler, the club's cult hero, had been in open rebellion against Ball and was dropped for the derby in favour of the new arrival. "I remember him as a warm, nice fella," Quinn said this week. "We called him Kav. There was a lot going on at the club, things were tense, but he came in and was one of those forwards who worked hard. He wouldn't wait with hands on hips, he'd do his own running." Rosler, who learned he was benched only when he saw Kavelashvili's shirt hanging in the dressing room, later told Match of the Day there was a "massive problem" with the manager.

Relegation and regret

City were relegated at the end of that season. On the final day, against Liverpool with the score at 2-2, Ball mistakenly believed a draw would keep his side up because of results elsewhere and told players to work the ball into the corner, until the injured Quinn came sprinting from the physio room waving his arms for them to attack. Team-mate Keith Curle remembered the game differently. "Kav missed a sitter in that game!" he said.

Kavelashvili played 24 games in the second tier the following season, scoring two goals, before a loan to Grasshoppers in Switzerland in 1997 and a permanent move in 1999. "As my contract was signed towards the end of the season, I joined the team only four or five matches before the end of the championship," he said, adding that Ball's trust in more familiar players was understandable but that he felt he could have contributed more with greater confidence shown in him. He said Gary Lineker expressed a similar view at the time. Kavelashvili left England in 1999 and retired in 2006.

From football to Georgian politics

Quinn said he was stunned to learn in December 2024 that his old team-mate had become Georgia's head of state after eight years in the country's parliament. "Jeez, that was a surprise!" he said. "Didn't see that coming, if I'm honest."

Frank Clark, who managed Kavelashvili during the 1996-97 season, told The Athletic around the time of the election: "Good luck to him, if he is going to be dealing with Putin, although he might find Putin is easier to deal with than I was. I am joking of course." Kavelashvili responded that he took the remark as a reference to Clark's own steadfastness, but said compromise mattered in politics too, and that he would have found it more natural to be compared to Winston Churchill or Margaret Thatcher.

Kavelashvili's stance towards neighbouring Russia has been described by critics as sympathetic, a characterisation he has previously denied. He traced his path into politics to an incident more than a decade ago when he said football in Georgia was being hijacked for political objectives; after speaking out, he said he found himself drawn into political life.

Watching City from afar

Kavelashvili said he still follows the club he once played for. "As someone who once had a connection with the club, this makes me very happy," he said of City's more recent success.

Reflecting on Ball and Lee's plans to build around Kinkladze, he said few teams had that creative vision at the time, and that Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool only began developing a similar approach in the years that followed. He said City struggled to implement the idea at the time, but that, looking at the club today, he now sees Ball and Lee as the first to attempt to introduce that footballing philosophy.