Sepahan F.C.

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Sepahan F.C. 2007-08 Season
Sepahan
سپاهان
Full name Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Football Club
Nickname(s) طوفان زرد آسیا
Founded 1953
Ground Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium
Esfahan
Iran & Foolad Shahr Stadium
Esfahan
Iran
(Capacity 50,000&20,000)
Chairman Flag of Iran Mohammad Reza Saket
Head Coach Vacant
League Persian Gulf Cup
2007-08 Persian Gulf Cup, 2nd
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home colours
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away colours

Sepahan (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال سپاهان) is an Iranian football club based in Esfahan, Iran. They compete in the Iran Pro League and became IPL Champions in the 2002-03 season, the first league champion outside of Tehran.

Sepahan Football Club is the football division of Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club and is owned by steel company Mobarakeh Steel Co.. Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan also has a successful handball team, the current champions of the Iranian Handball League and the Silver Medalists at the 2004 Asian Club League Championships.

Sepahan also operates a reserve football team Foolad Sepahan Novin, currently competing in the Azadegan League.

Contents

[edit] Club history

[edit] Early years

In 1944, with the help of Mahmoud Hariri, the Shahin Esfahan club was created. This club was one of teams attached to the more popular and successful Shahin F.C. of Tehran. In 1967 due to the problems that arose in the Shahin F.C. organization in Tehran, the Esfahan branch was forced to cease operations. The club changed its name to Sepahan. The club played in the local Esfahan leagues for many years until 1993. That year the club was purchased by the Siman (cement) factory of Esfahan. It participated in the Azadegan League until the year 2000, when Foolad Mobarekeh (Steel Mill of Mobarekeh Esfahan) bought the team from the Siman factory. The team now plays under the name of Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan, and enjoys very good support by the club board, and has been able to attain a respectable fan base in its hometown.


[edit] First IPL title

The club was able to demonstrate its worth when it captured the league title in the 2002-2003 season of the IPL, and qualified for the AFC Champions League tournament. It also won the Hazfi Cup in 2004 and was able to qualify for another season of the ACL competition, though the club did not have much success in the continental tournaments of ACL 2004 and 2005.

[edit] First Club World Cup appearance

Sepahan lineup during the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup

With Luka Bonačić, Sepahan was able to once again win the Hazfi Cup on September 22, 2006. With this win, they gained Iran's final and second spot in the AFC Champions League 2007. They were impressive in continental stage as they finished top of their group and defeated Kawasaki Frontale of Japan and Al Wahda of the UAE to reach the final of the newly established continental tournament for the first time. Although they lost the final to Urawa Red Diamonds on aggregate, by reaching the final, Sepahan became the first Iranian club to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup.

In the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup 2007, Sepahan defeated Waitakere United of New Zealand to reach the quarterfinal where they met Urawa Red Diamonds for a spot in the semifinal match against AC Milan. Urawa Reds managed to defeat Sepahan for the second time in just one month, reaching the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup.

[edit] ACL 2008

By winning the Hazfi Cup once again in 2007, Sepahan also qualified for the AFC Champions League 2008, but could not repeat their success of 2007.

[edit] IPL 2007/08 and ACL 2009

Sepahan has qualified for the AFC Champions League for the third consecutive time in 2009, coming as the Runners-up in Persian Gulf Cup 2007-08. Sepahan lost the title by only one point to Persepolis F.C., who beat them 2-1 in the last match of the season.

[edit] Reserve team

Sepahan is also one of the few clubs in Iranian football to have a senior reserve team, Foolad Sepahan Novin F.C., that as of the 2007/08 season, participates in Iran's Azadegan League and the Hazfi Cup.

[edit] Season-by-season

The table below chronicles the achievements of Sepahan in various competitions since 2001.

Season League League Finishing Position Hazfi Cup ACL Club World Cup
2001-2002 Iran Premier League 9th Semifinal
2002-2003 Iran Premier League 1st (Champions)
2003-2004 Iran Premier League 6th Cup First Round
2004-2005 Iran Premier League 10th 1/8 Final First Round
2005-2006 Iran Premier League 7th Cup
2006-2007 Iran Premier League 5th Cup Runners-up Quarterfinals
2007-2008 Iran Premier League 2nd 1/4 Final First Round

[edit] Club honors

Winners (1): 2002/2003
Runner Up (1): 2007/2008
Winners (3): 2004, 2006, 2007
Runner Up (1): 2007

[edit] Club managers

[edit] Players

[edit] First-team squad

As of 24 November 2007, according to FIFA official website.[1]

No. Position Player
1 Flag of Iran GK Abbas Mohammadi
2 Flag of Iran DF Hamid Azizadeh
3 Flag of Iran DF Reza Talabeh
4 Flag of Iran MF Moharram Navidkia (captain)
5 Flag of Iran DF Hadi Aghily
6 Flag of Iran MF Jalal Akbari
7 Flag of Iran MF Farshad Bahadorani
8 Flag of Iran DF Mohsen Bengar
9 Flag of Georgia (country) DF Jaba Mujiri
10 Flag of Iraq FW Emad Mohammed
11 Flag of Iran MF Hossein Kazemi
12 Flag of Iraq MF Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail
13 Flag of Iran FW Mahmoud Karimi
14 Flag of Nigeria FW Kabir Bello
15 Flag of Iran GK Amirhossein Sadeghzadeh
16 Flag of Iran DF Mohammad Ealivand
No. Position Player
17 Flag of Iran MF Hadi Jafari
18 Flag of Iran MF Mohsen Hamidi
19 Flag of Iran MF Amir Radi
20 Flag of Iran MF Hojatolah Zadmahmoud
21 Flag of Iran MF Saeid Bayat
22 Flag of Iran GK Mohammad Savari
23 Flag of Iran FW Seyed Mohammad Salehi
24 Flag of Iran GK Masoud Homami
25 Flag of Iran MF Ebrahim Loveinian
26 Flag of Iran FW Jalaladin Ali Mohammadi
27 Flag of Iran MF Abolhassan Jafari
28 Flag of Iran MF Ehsan Hajysafi
29 Flag of Iran MF Behzad Soltani
30 Flag of Iran MF Hossein Papi
31 Flag of Iran MF Mohammad Ali Rouzati
35 Flag of Iraq MF Haitham Kadhim

[edit] 2008/2009 Transfers

In:

No. Position Player
Flag of Iran FW Ahmad Jamshidian (from Rah Ahan for 400 million toman)
Flag of Iran FW Mehdi Jafarpour (from Pas Hamedan)
Flag of Iran DF Mohsen Mirabi (from Pas Hamedan)

Out:

No. Position Player

[edit] Former players

For details on former players, see Category:Sepahan players.

[edit] Famous players

[edit] Club officials

Position Name
President Mohammad Reza Saket
Vice President Masoud Tabesh
General Secretary Abbas Ramezani
Treasurer Ali Reza Shafiei
Media Officer Hamid Bagheri

[edit] References

  1. ^ PROVISIONAL LIST OF PLAYERS. FIFA.com (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-24.

[edit] External links

[edit] Official

[edit] Fan club site

[edit] Fan sites