F.C. Aboomoslem

Aboumoslem
Full name Football Club Aboumoslem
Nickname(s) Black Pearl (Persian: مرواريد سياه)
Founded 1970
Ground Samen Stadium
Mashhad
Iran
(Capacity: 35,000)
Owner Esmaeil Vafaee
Chairman Nasser Shahsavari
Head Coach Khodadad Azizi
League Azadegan League
2008-09 Persian Gulf Cup, 15th
Home colours
Away colours

Football Club Aboumoslem (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال ابومسلم) is an Iranian football club based in Mashhad, Khorasan. They play in the Azadegan League.

Contents

History

Establishment

In 1970 a group of football players from Mashhad decided to create a new football team by the name of Aboumoslem. Most of the players on the team knew each other and were from the Shah Abbasi Tri-way area. They had grown up playing football on the dirt fields of the area. When the Takht Jamshid Cup was created, a qualification tournament for provincial representatives was set up in Isfahan. Another club from Mashhad, named Arya F.C. represented the province of Khorasan but they were not able to make into the Takht Jamshid Cup.

After defeat in the tournament, it was decided that for Khorasan to have a powerful football team, Aboumoslem and Aria must merge together. Three brothers by the names of Ataollah, Asghar and Heshmat Mohajerani helped to merge the clubs, and Aboumoslem was able to make it to the 1975 Takht Jamshid Cup, which was the top football league in Iran before the Iranian revolution. The team originally only wore black, but red was added late on. With the purchase of great players like Asgarkhani, Majid Tashrefi, Masih Masihnia, Alireza Ligarab, Hossein Omidvar and Mahmood Ebrahimzadeh they were able to become the best non-Tehran based club in the league that year. Success was short lived and the team was relegated the next season, staying in the 2nd division until the revolution.

1980s

Like most sporting clubs in Iran, the revolution and the Iran-Iraq War severely limited the team's activities. From 1980 to 1984 the club participated in almost no meaningful competitions. This changed when in late 1984 local and provincial leagues were set up. In 1986 Aboumoslem won the Mashhad city league and the provincial championship in the following season. In the late eighties, Shahdiran Inc. sponsored the team, giving the club a better chance at success. After the war the local and provincial leagues were scrapped in favor of nation-wide leagues.

1990s

Aboumoslem made it to the newly established Azadegan League and participated during the 1990-91 and 1991-92 seasons, but was relegated after only two years. It was during this time that Aboumoslem's most famous player, Khodadad Azizi was discovered. Once relegated the club struggled dramatically, being relegated all the way to the third division, which was a local league. Shahdiran stopped sponsoring the team and was replaced by soft drink company, Khoshgovar. After several seasons in the lower leagues, Aboumoslem finally made it back to the top level of Iranian football, gaining promotion to the Azadegan League during the 1997-98 season. Aboumoslem had been in a poor financial situation that season, as Khoshgovar had stopped being its sponsor. Aboumoslem's only revenue came from advertisements and support from club fans, but surprisingly won promotion with the help of former Aboumoslem player, Akbar Misaghian. Aboumoslem again only stayed in the league for two seasons and was relegated during the 1999-2000 season. Around the same time the club went back to its roots, once again being sponsored by the Iranian police.

IPL

They were promoted again in the next season and debuted in Iran's first fully professional league, the IPL, for the 2001-02 season. They have remained in the IPL since with two 5th place finishes being their best results. During this time the club has shown its skill for finding talented players, with famous Iranian football players such as Reza Enayati, Mojtaba Jabari and Andranik Teymourian all making their names there. After the 2004-05 season Aboumoslem's new sponsor became Iran Khodro.

Recent

In 2006 Khodadad Azizi joined the club as an advisor, beginning his new life in football management after retirement from playing. Akbar Misaghian the club's manager for the past two seasons resigned after the first week of the 2006-07 season due to financial disagreements with management. In January 2007, it became official and Khodadad Azizi was named manager of Aboumoslem. He was sacked less than a year later and replaced by Parviz Mazloomi in October 2007.Which he had a good season with the team and finished the league in the top half of the league but the season after he left the club for a better offer and the club had a very difficult season which they avoided the relegation on the last week and changed 3 head coaches and 3 chairmans but their unstability continued for the 2009-10 season where they finished last and got relegated.

Mashhad Derby

Main articles: Mashhad Derby

Stadium

The club currently plays in Samen Stadium after years of playing in Mashhad's Takhti Stadium. The club recently announced plans to construct their own stadium with the help of the provincial government. The land was awarded to the team during Karim Malahi's time as club chairman. Construction was planned to begin March 2007 in the Elahieh area of Mashhad.[1]

Fan base

Aboomoslem is the most popular club from Khorasan with huge fan base in Razavi Khorasan Province, North Khorasan, South Khorasan and also in (Herat Province, Afghanistan) where there is a club by the name of Abumoslem Herat F.C.. In Mashhad, her popularity is only rivaled by Tehran's two biggest clubs Esteghlal F.C. and Persepolis F.C., and cross-city rival Payam Mashhad F.C. who has a smaller fan base.

Season-by-season

The table below chronicles the achievements of Aboumoslem in various competitions.

Season League Position Hazfi Cup Notes
1973-1974 2nd Division 7th Not held
1974-1975 2nd Division 1st Not held
1975-1976 Takht Jamshid Cup 5th 1/16 Final
1976-1977 Takht Jamshid Cup 16th 1/8 Final Relegted
1977-1978 2nd Division 9th Not held
1978-1979 Takht Jamshid Cup did not finish Not held
1979-1984 Not held
1984-1985 Mashhad Football League 2nd Not held
1985-1986 Mashhad Football League 1st Not held
1987-1988 Khorasan Football League 1st 1/16 Final
1988-1989 Khorasan Football League 2nd 1/8 Final
1989-1990 Khorasan Football League 1st Did not qualify Promoted
1990-1991 Not held _ 1/8 Final
1991-1992 Azadegan League 12th Not held
1992-1993 Azadegan League 8th Not held Relegted
1993-1994 Khorasan Football League 4th Did not qualify
1994-1995 Khorasan Football League 1st Did not qualify Promoted
1995-1996 2nd Division 10th Second Round
1996-1997 2nd Division 12th Second Round
1997-1998 2nd Division 3rd Not held Promoted
1998-1999 Azadegan League 8th 1/8 Final
1999-2000 Azadegan League 11th 1/16 Final Relegted
2000-2001 2nd Division 1st 1/16 Final Promoted
2001-2002 Iran Pro League 5th 1/8 Final
2002-2003 Iran Pro League 12th
2003-2004 Iran Pro League 10th 1/8 Final
2004-2005 Iran Pro League 8th Final
2005-2006 Iran Pro League 5th 1/8 Final
2006-2007 Iran Pro League 6th
2007-2008 Iran Pro League 4th 1/16 Final
2008-2009 Iran Pro League 15th 1/16 Final
2009-2010 Iran Pro League 17th 1/8 Final Relegted
2010-2011 Azadegan League 5th 2nd Round
2011-2012 Azadegan League 1/8 Final

Club chairmen

  • Heshmat Mohajerani
  • Hadi Khayami
  •  ? Sharifian
  • Bagher Sayammi
  • Jahangir Sadehdel
  • Hamid Tayebbi
  • Mahmoud Haj Rezapour
  • Rahman Naderi
  • Gholam Hossein Takaffoli
 
  • Gholam Reza Basiripour
  • Nasser Shafagh
  • Mahdi Najami
  • Karim Malahi (?-2006)
  • Nasser Shafagh (2006–2008)
  • Mostafa Bani-Asad (2008–2009)
  • Hossein Ghasemi (2009)
  • Esmaeil Vafaei (2010–Present)

Club managers

Honours

Runner-Up: 2005

Champions: 1988, 1990

Champions: 1986

Players

As of September 13, 2011[2]

First-team squad

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
GK Mayis Azizyan
GK Amin Jalalian
GK Nader Jalayi Ashkzari
DF Ahmad Mohammadpour
DF Mojtaba Ensafi
DF Mehdi Tajik
DF Majid Ghadimi
DF Saeed Abdollahpour
DF Farzad Hamidi
DF Ahmad Hanafi
MF Afshin Daneshian
MF Saeed Khani
MF Ali Salmani
MF Mohsen Azarbad
No. Position Player
MF Jafar Afhami
MF Sajjad Omidi
MF Ali Haghdoost
MF Saeed Fatemi
MF Saeed Ganjkhani
MF Salman Zahmatkesh
MF Mohammad Soleiman-Falah
MF Behzad Shiri
MF Nasser Abbasi
FW Erfan Olerum
FW Qader Pourhamzavi
FW Mohammad Pahlavanpour
FW Iman Rezaei

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers, summer 2011.

Former players

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

Aboomoslem Players at major tournaments

The following players were selected for their national teams for major tournaments whilst playing for Aboomoslem:

Cup Players
1976 AFC Asian Cup Mehdi Asgarkhani
2000 WAFF Championship Hamid Reza Ebrahimi
2001 FIFA World Youth Championship Ershad Yousefi
2002 WAFF Championship Reza Enayati
2005 Islamic Solidarity Games Fereydoon Fazli
Mojtaba Jabbari
Andranik Teymourian
2006 FIFA World Cup Andranik Teymourian

Notable players

This list of former players includes those who received international caps (in bold) while playing for the team, made significant contributions to the team in terms of appearances or goals while playing for the team, or who made significant contributions to the sport either before they played for the team, or after they left. It is clearly not yet complete and all inclusive, and additions and refinements will continue to be made over time.

Iran(Khorasan province)
Iran(Other provinces)
Asia
Europe
Africa

References

External links