Homayoun Behzadi

Homayoun Behzadi (همایون بهزادی in Persian, born June 20, 1942 in Khorramabad, Iran) is a retired Iranian footballer and coach. He usually played as a striker.

Early life

He was born on 20 June 1942 in Khorramabad, Lorestan Province. Behzadi first broke into the Shahin side when he was only 16 years old. He played for Shahin until 1966, when – due to financial problems – Shahin closed. He is graduated in Persian language.

Playing career

Homayoun Behzadi Scoring a goal against Taj SC during the well-known Shishtayiha Match

Club career

In 1967 he changed to Paykan, then he changed to Persepolis in spring 1968. Because of a heavy injury happened in the 1968 Asian Cup, his contract was dissolved, and Behzadi went back to Peykan. There he won the Tehran Championship in 1970 before changing to Persepolis in 1970. There he won the Iranian league in 1972 as well as in 1974.

International career

In 1966 he won the silver medal of the Asian Games in Thailand. He won the Asian Nations Cup with Iran in 1968 – when he scored 4 goals in 4 matches, also the equalizer in the final match, which led to 2–1 victory against Israel (and to become one of the tournament's top scorer). He also won the Asian Nations Cup with Iran in 1972.

Coaching career

Before his starting his coaching career, he trained Persepolis in the absence of manager Alan Rogers, when he was part of the team. After he retired in 1975, he became caretaker head coach of the club after resignation of Rogers. He starts a project in Persepolis that held in next years to decrease the age of the first team squad. His first match as the Persepolis match was a friendly against Malavan which won 3–1. His first official match was a lose to Rah Ahan. After that, Persepolis won and drew twice, then faced to the rivals, Taj (now Esteghlal) in Tehran derby. He lose the match 3–1, but after the match he claimed that Taj players drugs before the match. It was later rejected. He was banned for two months and was replaced with Buyuk Vatankhah. After he sacked as Persepolis head coach, he was manager of Shahbaz B team for more than ten years.

Team	Nation	From	To	Record
G	W	D	L	Win %	GF	GA	GD
Persepolis		6 March 1975	9 May 1975	700115000000000000015	70007000000000000007	70004000000000000004	70004000000000000004	700146670000000000046.67	23	14	+7

After retirement

Membership in Persepolis Hall of Fame

He was named as one of the members of Persepolis F.C. Hall of Fame and the club thanked him for his great performance during his senior career at Persepolis. The club gave him a statue of his face and named him as one of the twelve great players of Persepolis in 1970s.^[1][2][3][4]

Illness

He was suffered a hearth attack and was transferred to Tehran hospital in April 2013. After two days, he transferred to Day hospital and his personal doctor announced that his general health is good as of 3 May 2013.

Honours

Club

Shahin

• Tehran Football League
  • Winner (7): 1958–59, 1959–60, 1964–65, 1965–66
  • Runner-Up (6): 1961–62, 1962–63
• Tehran Hazfi Cup
  • Winner (1): 1962–63

Paykan

• Tehran Football League
  • Winner (1): 1969–70

Persepolis

• Iranian Football League
  • Winners (2): 1971–72 1973–74
  • Runners-Up (1): 1974–75

International

• AFC Asian Cup
  • Winner (2): 1968, 1972
• Asian Games
  • Runner-Up (1): 1966

References

External links

• Homayoun Behzadi at TeamMelli.com
• Interview with Homayoun Behzadi