Malavan F.C.

Malavan
ملوان

Full name	Malavan Bandar Anzali Football Club
Nickname(s)	White Swan (قوی سپید)
Founded	1969; 48 years ago
Ground	Takhti Stadium Bandar-e Anzali
Ground Capacity	8,000
Chairman	Ahmad Donyamali
Manager	Nader Dastneshan
League	Azadegan League
2016–17	Azadegan League, 4th
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Malavan Bandar Anzali Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال ملوان بندر انزلى‎‎) is an Iranian football club based in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran. It currently plays in Iran's second football league, the Azadegan League after they were relegated in 2015–16 season. The team is known to have some of the most passionate fans in Iranian football, and is one of the successful teams that is not based in Tehran.

The club is owned by Iranian businessman Sirous Mahjoob and forms the football part of the multisport Malavan Sport and Cultural Club.

History

Establishment

Bahman Salehnia created the team in 1968 along with some young athletes from the port city of Anzali. After some time, the Iranian Navy decided to become the team's main sponsor and owner.

Early Years

The club never really had great success in the league but they were able to become the best non-Tehran based club and finishing third in the 1977 and 1989. Malavan has won the Hazfi Cup on one occasions, in 1990. In 1988 Malavan participated in Asian Club Championship but after beating Saunders SC in first round they withdrew from tournament due to the Iran–Iraq War.

Iran Pro League

In 2003 Malavan was relegated to the Azadegan League, they only stayed one year in the lower league as they were immediately promoted back to the Iran Pro League. Since then, they have been one of the most stable teams of the league in recent years where they only had few coaches during their history and always finished in mid table and challenge the big teams. They finished 12th in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 season. In 2010–11 season they finished 8th and reached the final of Hazfi Cup but lost to Persepolis. In the 2013–14 Iran Pro League season Malavan achieved a surprising 7th-place finish in the league, their highest ever.

Relegation

In July 2015 Malavan hired famous Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoi who had won several league titles with Esteghlal and Sepahan. Player such as Arash Afshin, Hossein Mahini and Shahab Karami joined the squad to serve their conscription period. In Ghalenoi's first game in charge, Malavan defeated the Hazfi Cup holders, Zob Ahan 1–0. After only three games Ghalenoi left the club and was replaced by former Persepolis manager Hamid Estili.

On 13 May 2016 after a 2–0 loss to Siah Jamegan, who were behind Malavan before the match started, the clubs was relegated to the Azadegan League for the second time in their history.

Before the start of the 2016–17 season it was announced that controversial manager Mohammad Mayeli Kohan had been named Malavan's manager. Despite achieving good results and being in or near a promotion spot the entire season, Mayeli Kohan was involved in several confrontations with the supporters, which led to many supporters boycotting the team's games.

El Gilano

The match between Malavan and Damash or Sepidrood is known as the Gilan Derby or El Gilano. This match is one of Iran's most important and heated derby's. Malavan hold the record for most wins in the derby with four since the start of the Iran Pro League in 2001. Malavan also holds the largest margin of victor when they defeated Damash 3–0 in 2005 and again in 2013. The derby is also known for its fan violence. In 2008 after Malavan defeated Damash 2–1, Damash fans attacked Malavan's fans and tore up seats in the stadium. This again occurred when Malavan defeated Damash 3–0 in 2013.

Fans

Fans of Malavan in play of Malavan & Esteghlal semi-final in 2010–11 Hazfi Cup

Malavan fans are among Iran's most passionate and loyal fans. People's daily life is tied with Malavan matches . Most businesses are closed during Malavan games.

Season-by-season

The table below chronicles the achievements of Malavan in various competitions since the beginning of Iranian Pro league in 2001.

Year	Division	Position	Hazfi Cup
2001–02	Pro League	12th	1/8 Final
2002–03	Pro League	14th	1/4 Final
2003–04	Azadegan League	2nd	1/8 Final
2004–05	Pro League	7th	1/8 Final
2005–06	Pro League	11th	Quarter final
2006–07	Pro League	14th	1/8 Final
2007–08	Pro League	16th	1/16 Final
2008–09	Pro League	12th	1/8 Final
2009–10	Pro League	12th	1/8 Final
2010–11	Pro League	8th	Final
2011–12	Pro League	15th	Fourth Round
2012–13	Pro League	13th	1/16 Final
2013–14	Pro League	7th	1/8 Final
2014–15	Pro League	13th	1/16 Final
2015–16	Pro League	14th	1/8 Final
2016–17	Azadegan League	4th	1/8 Final

For details on seasons, see List of Malavan F.C. seasons

Individual Records

Top scorers of the club in the Iran Pro League era, bold indicates present player.

Top Scorers

Player	Goals	Years
Jalal Rafkhaei	68	2005–10, 2011–16
Mohammad Nozhati	23	2004–05, 2007–13
Mehrdad Oladi	20	2009–11, 2012–13, 2014
Pejman Nouri	18	2001–03, 2009–11, 2012–13, 2014–16
Mehdi Daghagheleh	16	2010–12, 2013–14

Club officials

Presidents

^{[1] [2]}

Current Coaching Staff^[3]

Position	Name
Head coach	Nader Dastneshan
Assistant coach	Nader Ezatollahi
Assistant coach	Mohammad Ghadir Bahri
Goalkeeping coach	Mohammad Habibi
Doctor	Babak Sayyad
Technical director	Ghafour Jahani
Team manager	Hossein Gholami

Head Coaches

Below is a list of Malavan coaches from 1968 until the present day. Firouz Karimi carries the honor of being the first Iranian head coach to assume the title without rising from the Malavan football school.

Name Nationality Years Bahman Salehnia 20 May 1968 – 5 February 1997 Nosrat Irandoost 5 February 1997 – 15 December 2000 Mohammad Ahmadzadeh 15 Dec 2000 – 2 July 2002 Bahman Salehnia 15 May 2002 – 2 July 2004 Nosrat Irandoost 2 July 2004 – 5 July 2006 Mohammad Ahmadzadeh 5 July 2006 – 1 January 2010 Farhad Pourgholami 1 January 2010 – 29 September 2012 Mohammad Ahmadzadeh 29 September 2012 – 28 May 2013 Dragan Skočić 28 May 2013 – 1 June 2014 Nosrat Irandoost 1 June 2014 – 8 October 2014 Stevan Mojsilović 8 October 2014 – 5 December 2014 Firouz Karimi 6 December 2014 – 1 June 2015 Hamid Estili 10 August 2015 – 20 February 2016 Mohammad Ahmadzadeh 1 March 2016 – 15 July 2016 Mohammad Mayeli Kohan 22 July 2016 – 27 May 2017 Nader Dastneshan 28 May 2017 – Present

Players

First-team squad

as of 13 March 2017^[4]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player 3 DF Hamed Noormohammadi 4 MF Mehdi Rostami U21 5 DF Saeb Mohebi 6 DF Ahmad Ahi 8 FW Alireza Azimi 11 FW Reza Etemadi 12 FW Mohammadreza Naghdipour 15 MF Mohammad Bakhtiari 16 MF Mohammad Pour Rahmatollah 17 MF Pouria Gholami U23 19 MF Yaser Vakili

No. Position Player 20 MF Hossein Ghanbari 22 GK Alireza Heidari 25 MF Milad Jalali 26 DF Mahyar Zahmatkesh U23 40 MF Saeid Yousefzadeh 44 GK Nima Mirzazad U21 50 DF Vahid Heydarieh 70 FW Bahman Salari 77 FW Siavash Hagh Nazari U21 99 MF Mohammad Abshak

Loan list

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

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers summer 2017.

Honours

National titles

• Hazfi Cup

Winners (3): 1975–76, 1986–87, 1990–91

Runner Up (4): 1987–88, 1988–89, 1991–92, 2010–11

• Azadegan League

Runner Up (1): 2003–04

Minor titles

• Vahdat Cup

Third Place (1): 1982

• RCD Cup

Runner Up (1): 1974

Notes

References

• Malavan Stats
• Malavan

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Malavan F.C..

External links

• Persian League- Latest Iran League News – Iran Football News
• Malavan
• Official website (in English) (in Persian)