Esteghlal Ahvaz F.C.

Esteghlal Ahvaz

Full name	Esteghlal Ahvaz Football Club
Founded	1948; 67 years ago
Ground	Takhti Stadium Ahvaz Iran
Ground Capacity	15,000[1]
Chairman	Mohammad Maleki
Head Coach	Siavash Bakhtiarizadeh
League	Persian Gulf Pro League
2014–15	Azadegan League Group A, 1st (promoted)
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours

Esteghlal Ahvaz Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال استقلال اهواز‎‎) is an Iranian football club based in Ahvaz, Iran. They currently compete in the Persian Gulf Pro League.

History

Establishment

The club was founded in 1948 with the help of Hakim Shoushtari. The club was one of Taj Tehran 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.

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, remained in the league, and Taj Ahvaz F.C. was forced to stay in the lower leagues.

Post-revolution success

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution 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 Iran's Premier Football League (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. Despite being the only private club in the league they could not win anything and they finally came so close and finished second in the league in 2006–07 by only 2 points. They continued to be an average team in 2007–08 and 2008–09 seasons which finished in mid table for both seasons.

Relegation

Their instability in 2010–11 season caused the teams relegation to the Azadegan League where they changed their head coach three times. In their first year in the Azadegan League, they had a dismal season as they finished 13th and were relegated to the 2nd Division. Fortunately for Esteghlal Ahvaz, the team bounced back in 2012 as they finished first in the 2nd Division and were promoted to the Azadegan League.

Return to Persian Gulf Pro League

After the 2014–15 Azadegan League they bought the right to play in Persian Gulf Pro League from Foolad Novin and were promoted to the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League.^[2]

Ahvaz Derby

Main articles: Ahvaz Derby

The Ahvaz derby is a football local derby match between the two rival professional teams of Ahvaz, Iran: Esteghlal Ahvaz and Foolad. It is one of the most important derbies in Iran.

Season-by-season

The table below chronicles the achievements of Esteghlal Ahvaz in various competitions since 1991.

Notes

• ^R buy the right to play in IPL.

Club honours

• Persian Gulf Pro League

Runners–Up (1): 2006–2007

• Azadegan League

Winners (1): 2001–02

• 2nd Division

Winners (1): 2011–12

Club chairmen

• Nasrollah Heibodi (−2002)
• Ali Shafizadeh (2002–2006)
• Shahram Shafizadeh (2006–2011)
• Safar Jamalpour (2011–present)

Club managers

Players

First-team squad

As of 19 January 2016.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 8 FW Taleb Reykani 10 MF Adel Kolahkaj 13 FW Ali Bigdeli 15 DF Peyman Taleshi U23 17 MF Milad Pakparvar U23 19 MF Hamzeh Khaziravi U23 20 DF Mehdi Eslami 21 MF Reza Ayyar U23 22 GK Luiz Fernando 24 FW Reza Bahmaei U23 25 DF Milad Rabbani U23 26 DF Maki Sharifi 28 FW Mehdi Niyayesh Pour 29 MF Mohammad Javad Kerdouni U21

No. Position Player 30 MF Hossein Bahrami U21 31 MF Mojtaba Rashidi U21 32 MF Sadegh Zharfani U21 34 DF Mehdi Yalali U21 36 MF Danial Mousavi U21 37 DF Hossein Saki U21 38 FW Mirfarzad Majidi 39 DF Adel Masoudifard U23 40 DF Ali Helichi U21 44 GK Ehsan Moradian U23 45 GK Ali Kordani MF Pedram Ardalany FW Sandi Sahman

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers winter 2015–16.

See also

• Esteghlal Tehran Football Club
• Esteghlal Meli-Sanati Khuzestan Football Club
• Esteghlal Dushanbe Football Club
• 2011-12 Hazfi Cup
• 2011–12 Iran Football's 2nd Division

References

External links

• (Persian) Official club website
• (Persian) Khuzestan Football Association