Football in Rustavi could be traced back to
Metalurgi Rustavi in the
Soviet era. In 1990, the club became a member of the newly created
Umaglesi Liga under the name
Gorda with
Givi Nodia at the helm. In the first three seasons Gorda came third twice. Following Nodia's departure from the team, the management reversed its decision regarding the name. For the next six seasons Metalurgi did not achieve any significant success, although they signed several players who later joined the
national team, namely
Soso Grishikashvili,
Zurab Menteshashvili,
Aleksandre Rekhviashvili, and
Levan Kobiashvili. The club was renamed back to
Gorda in 1998. Around this period the team usually stayed in the bottom half of the table. In 2002, Gorda lost
playoffs to
Mtskheta and suffered a first relegation to
Pirveli Liga. A year later, being
Rustavi this time, they prevailed over the same opponents in play-offs, but due to financial difficulties failed to obtain a top-flight license. Before the 2006 season, it was announced that Rustavi would merge with
Umaglesi Liga side
Tbilisi and take part in the main division as
Olimpi Rustavi. Starting from this year, Olimpi was regarded as one of the main title contenders. In 2007, the team won their first Georgian Umaglesi Liga title, followed by the second title three years later. In the same season they recorded an unbeaten run consisting of 27 league matches. With 26 goals netted in 31 matches
Anderson Aquino became their top scorer of this season. Having beaten
WIT Georgia 2–0, Olimpi won the
Super Cup as well. For the 2011–12 season the club changed its name to
Metalurgi Rustavi after a thirteen-year wait. Metalurgi finished on equal points as
Zestaponi and was faced with a bizarre scandal involving the Football Federation. As these clubs differently inferred new league regulations determining a winner of the tournament, they both declared themselves a champion. Initially, the
GFF sided with Metalurgi, although after an executive committee extraordinary meeting held the next day, it announced a final decision in favor of Zestaponi. Despite some decline, experienced by Metalurgi in following years, their players occasionally still featured in different post-season nominations. In one of such events in December 2014,
Otar Kiteishvili was voted among three best young players. The 2014–15 season turned out critical. Despite sitting among the top five teams before the winter break, soon the overall situation rapidly deteriorated. The club had amassed debts exceeding 8₾ million and could not afford to pay salaries to its staff and players. After a fifteen-game winless run, Metalurgi ended up in the relegation zone. Following a 5–0 loss to
Lokomotivi in playoffs, they were relegated. Their last season was in the
Meore Liga, the third division, in 2015–16, but midway through the season they withdrew from the league. Subsequently, Metalurgi were declared bankrupt. A
new Rustavi club emerged representing the city in
Liga 2, although they did not have any legal connections. ==Honours==