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Esteghlal Ahvaz Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال استقلال اهواز) is an Iranian football club based in Ahvaz, Iran.
The team currently plays in Iran's Premier Football League.
[edit] History
[edit] Establishment
The club was founded in 1948 with the help of Hakim Shoushtari. The club was one of Taj Tehran F.C. branches at the time, and was called Taj Ahvaz F.C. From the beginning the club was able to attract some of the better Khuzestani players.
[edit] Takht Jamshid Cup
In 1973 the team was promoted to the Takht Jamshid Cup, but league rules allowed for only one team of the same name to participate, therefore Taj Tehran F.C., remained in the league, and Taj Ahvaz F.C. was forced to stay in the lower leagues.
[edit] Post-revolution success
After 1979 Islamic Revoloution in Iran, Taj Ahvaz F.C. (Persian: تاج اهواز) changed its name to Esteghlal Ahvaz F.C. (Persian: استقلال اهواز). The Iran-Iraq War hit Ahvaz and Khuzestan hard, and very little attention was paid to the club at that time. Finally in 1991 the team was promoted to the Azadegan League and was allowed to participate, despite two teams having the same name. In 1997, the club was relegated, but returned to the IPL in 2002. The club started to develop during its initial and second season in the IPL, because of the amount of money they spent, thanks to club chairman, Ali Shafizadeh. The club became known as Iran's Chelsea after that.
[edit] Season-by-season
The table below chronicles the achievements of Esteghlal Ahvaz in various competitions since 2002.
[edit] Club honors
- Runner Up (1): 2006/2007
[edit] Club chairmen
[edit] Club managers
♦ Martik Khachatourian has remained as Esteghlal Ahvaz's Technical Director.
[edit] Current management team
[edit] Players
As of November 10, 2007 according to IPLstats.
[edit] First-team squad
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
| 1 |
 |
GK |
Hamidreza Babaei |
| 2 |
|
DF |
Reza Jalali Sabet |
| 4 |
|
DF |
Mojtaba Shiri |
| 5 |
|
DF |
Hossein Mahini |
| 6 |
|
MF |
Saeed Ramezani (captain) |
| 7 |
|
MF |
Afshin Komaei (Suspended) |
| 8 |
|
MF |
Davoud Haghi |
| 9 |
|
FW |
Reza Taheri |
| 12 |
|
MF |
Mehrzad Rezaei |
| 15 |
|
DF |
Ali Hamoudi |
| 18 |
|
FW |
Ruhollah Bigdeli |
| 19 |
|
FW |
Mostafa Haghipour |
| 20 |
|
DF |
Hamid Sarabadani |
| 21 |
|
FW |
Mohammad Faeal |
|
|
| No. |
|
Position |
Player |
| 22 |
|
GK |
Majid Gholami |
| 23 |
|
FW |
Mostafa Bijani |
| 24 |
|
FW |
Saeed Chajouei |
| 28 |
 |
MF |
Fabricio |
| 30 |
|
FW |
Mojtaba Torshizi |
| 33 |
|
GK |
Nasser Salari |
| -- |
|
FW |
Mehdi Daghagheleh |
| -- |
|
FW |
Mostafa Ekrami |
| -- |
|
FW |
Vahid Khedmatkari |
| -- |
|
DF |
Ali Mirshafieian |
| -- |
|
MF |
Mostafa Safaei |
| -- |
|
MF |
Yaghoub Selahshoor |
| -- |
|
GK |
Behrouz Zahedi |
|
[edit] 2008/2009 Transfers
[edit] Famous players
[edit] External links
[edit] Official
Luka Bonačić (2004-2005)
Martik Khachatourian (2005)♦
Srđan Gemaljević (2005-2006)
