Esteghlal Tehran FC

Esteghlal F.C.
استقلال تهران

Full name	Esteghlal Tehran Football Club
Nickname(s)	تاج (Crown) اس اس(Es-Es) پسران آبی آسیا(asia's blue boys)
Founded	September 24, 1945
Ground	Azadi Stadium Tehran, Iran (Capacity: 100,000[1])
Chairman	Ali Fathollahzadeh
Head Coach	Parviz Mazloomi
League	Persian Gulf Cup
2009-10	Persian Gulf Cup, 3rd
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Esteghlal Cultural and Athletic Club (Persian: باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی استقلال ایران) is an Iranian sports club most widely known for its professional football team based in Tehran. It was founded as Taj (Persian: تاج), meaning 'Crown' in Persian and renamed after the Islamic Revoloution in 1979. Founded in 1945, they play in the IPL and have spent almost all of their history in the top tier in Iranian football; they spent one season in Iran's second division in 1993-1994. The club also had a similarly successful futsal section.
They play their home games at the 100,000 capacity Azadi Stadium in Tehran, and their average home attendance in the past 5 years is 25,000. The club's traditional kit colours are royal blue shirts, shorts and socks.
Esteghlal have been Asian Champions AFC Champions League 2 times and have also won 6 National Championship titles. Esteghlal together with Al-Hilal Riadh of Saudi Arabia are the second most successful clubs in Asian Champion's League, after Pohang Steelers of South Korea, with 2 champions titles and 2 runner up.

History

Establishment

On 26 September 1945, three Iranian military officers Mirzani, Jananpour and Navab started a sports club on Ferdowsi Street, Tehran. Since the founders of the club were mostly interested in cycling, the club's original name was Docharkheh Savaran (Persian: دوچرخه سواران), meaning 'The Cyclists' in Persian. Docharkheh Savaran football club played its first official match in 1946, and in 1947 was able to win the Tehran Hazfi Cup.

Emerging success

In 1949, the club officially changed its name to Taj. The club became the most beloved team in Iran after some years, and won numerous league championships, Hazfi Cups and Asian Club Championships. The club has been successful in recent years and is always a contender for the league championship. In the past few years it has finished 2nd or 3rd in the league, and Amir Ghalenoei was able to get the team its first championship in the IPL in the 2005-06 season after his third and final year as the manager.

1979 Islamic Revolution

After the 1979 Islamic Revoloution in Iran, the club was confiscated by the newly established Islamic government and put under the control of the Physical Education Organization of Islamic Republic of Iran (Persian: سازمان تربیت بدنی جمهوری اسلامی ايران), a governmental organization, and change its name to Esteghlal (Persian: استقلال), 'Independence' in Persian. Taj (Persian: تاج) means 'Crown' in Persian; after the revolution, any sign of the previous monarchist regime was not tolerated.

Tehran Derby

Main articles: Tehran Derby

The club's main rival and its opponent in the Tehran Derby is Persepolis F.C. The first derby match between the clubs took place on April 5, 1968 at Amjadieh Stadium. Today, all derbies and home matches occur at the 100,000 capacity Azadi Stadium which is invariably sold out for the derby . Ali Samereh scored the earliest goal in Tehran derby for Esteghlal F.C. against Persepolis F.C. which came less than a minute into the game. In 1995, IRIFF began to invite foreign referees to officiate the derby to ease fan and player suspicions of referee bias. This occurred after the events of the 38th derby. In the 38th derby (January 11, 1995) Persepolis was leading in the match by a score of 2-0 until the last 10 minutes of the match. Esteghlal scored 2 goals in quick succession, including one which was a penalty. This angered the Persepolis fans and players who felt the referee was biased towards Esteghlal (There was speculation about Esteghlal bribing the referee and the officials). Persepolis fans stormed the field, and fights broke out on the pitch between fans and players. Following this match it was decided that Iranian referees would no longer be used for the derby. After 13 years of foreign referees, the second leg of the 2008-09 season Derby saw an Iranian once again refereeing the game. The game ended a draw with goals coming from Mojtaba Jabari and Maziar Zare.

Over the years, Esteghlal has 17 wins plus 3 unfinished matches decided in favor of Esteghlal by the Football Federation of Iran. Persepolis has won 17 derbies.

AFC Champions League

Esteghlal is one of the most successful clubs in Asian Champion's League with 2 champions titles and 2 runner up finishes, tied with Al-Hilal Riadh Saudi Arabia. .

AFC Champions League 2007

Esteghlal was dropped from the 2007 edition of the Asian Champion's League after the AFC did not receive the club's player list for the tournament in time. Despite efforts by the club management to reverse the decision, AFC upheld its decision ^[2] and the club's board resigned soon after.

Stadium

Main articles: Azadi Stadium

Esteghlal-Bargh match,The last week of 5th IPL at the Azadi Stadium, Azadi Stadium holds over 100,000 Esteghlali fans in this match

Esteghlal's home stadium is The Azadi (Persian: ورزشگاه آزادی), a football stadium in Tehran, Iran. The Stadium's former name was Aryamehr Stadium but was changed after the Iranian Revolution. The stadium has an official capacity of 90,000 but has been filled over capacity on numerous occasions, for example when it faces rivals Persepolis F.C. in the Tehran Derby or in several AFC Champions League matches. Prior to the construction of Azadi, Esteghlal used to play their games at Amjadieh Stadium

Players

First-team squad

See also: Esteghlal F.C. season 2009-10 -

Iranian clubs are limited to use four players without Iran Citizenship on the pitch at the same time, but they can have more on the bench. Beginning in the 2009-10 season, foreign goalkeepers are not allowed to play for Iranian clubs. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 1 GK Vahid Taleblou 2 DF Amir Hossein Sadeghi 3 DF Mehdi Amirabadi 4 DF Hanif Omranzadeh 5 DF Bijan Koshki 6 DF Hadi Shakouri 7 FW Farhad Majidi 8 MF Mojtaba Jabari 9 FW Arash Borhani 10 FW Milad Meydavoudi 11 FW Anderson 12 FW Mehdi Seyed Salehi 13 MF Mohsen Yousefi 14 MF Kianoosh Rahmati 15 MF Yaghob Karimi

No. Position Player 16 DF André Luiz 17 MF Farzad Ashoubi 18 MF Mehrshad Momeni 20 MF Felipe Alves 22 GK Mohammad Mohammadi 23 MF Omid Ravankhah 25 FW Mojtaba Mojaz 26 MF Fardin Abedidni 28 MF Ehsan Pirhadi 29 MF Tohid Gholami 30 GK Fereydoon Rezaii 31 DF Javad Shirzad 32 MF Iman Mobali 33 DF Pejman Montazeri 34 MF Esmaeil Sharifat

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers, summer 2010.

World Cup Players

Club captains

Name	Nat	Career	Captaincy	#
Amir Ghalenoei		1988-1997	1993-1997	8
Javad Zarincheh		1986-2002	1997-2002	2
Mahmoud Fekri		1993-2007	2002-2007	6
Alireza Mansourian		1995-1997 2003-2008	2007-2008	10
Farhad Majidi		1997-1999 2007-	2008-	7

Club Managers

Notable managers

Only managers who have won at least one trophy are mentioned.

Name	Period	Trophies
		Domestic			International
		IPL	HC	AL	ACL
Zdravko Rajkov	1969-1976	0	0	2	1
Mansour Pourheidari	1979-1983 1995-1996 2000-2002	0	2	2	1
Nasser Hejazi	1996-1999	0	0	1	0
Amir Ghalenoei	2003-2006 2008-2009	2	2	0	0

IPL Managers

Name	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	%
Mansour Pourheidari		2000	2002	26	13	9	4	50%
Roland Koch		2002	2003	26	8	8	10	31%
Amir Ghalenoei		2003	2006	86	46	30	10	53%
Samad Marfavi		2006	2007	30	14	10	6	47%
Nasser Hejazi		Aug 2007	Nov 2007	14	5	5	4	36%
Firouz Karimi		Nov 2007	May 2008	20	6	5	9	30%
Amir Ghalenoei		May 2008	May 2009	34	19	9	6	56%
Samad Marfavi		May 2009	May 2010	34	16	11	7	47%
Parviz Mazloumi		June 2009	Present	0	0	0	0	0

Current management team

Position	Name
Temporary Director	Ali Fatollahzadeh
Head Coach	Parviz Mazloomi
Second Coach	Mahmoud Fekri
Assistant Coach	Behtash Fariba
Goalkeeper Coach	Hossein Torabpour
Fitness Coach	Noshadi
Football Academy President	Reza Rajabi
Technical adviser	Morteza Mohasses
Doctor	Kaveh Sotoudeh
Physiotherapist	Amin Norouzi
Psychologist	Abbas Montazeri
Analyzer	Mahdi Arjanginia
Technical Manager	Mansour Pourheidari
Media Officer	Mohammad Hayrani

Chairmen

Chairman	Tenure
Parviz Sheikhan	1945-?
Parviz Khosravani	?-1978
??	?-?
Kazem Oliaei	1988-1996
Ali Fathollahzadeh	1996-May 2003
Hossein Gharib	June 2003-July 2005
Kazem Oliaei	July 2005-December 2005
Hossein Gharib	December 2005-September 2006
Meghdad Najafnejad	September 2006-May 2007
Ali Fathollahzadeh	May 2007-September 2008
Amir Reza Vaezi Ashtiani	September 2008-May 2010

Season-by-season

The table below chronicles the achievements of Esteghlal in various competitions since 1945.

Achievements

National

• Iran Pro League / Azadegan League / Takht Jamshid Cup

Winners (6): 1974-75, 1989-90, 1997-98, 2000-01, 2005-2006, 2008-2009

Runners-Up (7): 1973-74, 1998-99, 1991-92, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2001-02, 2003-04

• Iran Local League:

Winner (3): 1970, 1983, 1985

Runner-Up (1): 1982

• Iran 2nd Division:

Runner-Up (1): 1994

• Hazfi Cup:

Winners (5): 1977, 1996, 2000, 2002, 2008

Runners-Up (2): 1999, 2004

Continental

• Asian Club Championships:

Winners (2): 1971, 1991

Runner Up (2): 1992, 1999

Statistics and records

Sponsorship

• Official shirt sponsors -
• Official shirt manufacturer - Uhlsport
• Official Water - Damavand Mineral Water Co.

IPL Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Notes

External links

• (Persian) Official Website
• (English) PFDC Esteghlal Fans
• (English) Player Statistics
• (Persian) Esteghlali - Esteghlal Fan Club website
• (Persian) FcEsteghlalNews - Best Esteghlal News Website
• (Persian) Esteghlal fc - Esteghlal Fan Club website
• (Persian) Abieteh - Esteghlal Fan Club website
• (Persian) Abidelan - Esteghlal Fan Club Forum
• (Persian) Esteghlal Tehran - Esteghlal Tehran
• (Persian) Esteghlal Fans - FCE Fans Website
• (Persian) Esteghlaliha - Best Fans Website

Achievements
Preceded by Maccabi Tel Aviv	Champions of Asia 1970	Succeeded by Maccabi Tel Aviv
Preceded by Liaoning FC	Champions of Asia 1990-91	Succeeded by Al-Hilal