Sepahan S.C.

Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club (Persian: باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی فولاد مبارکه سپاهان, Bâšgâh-è Varzeši-ye Fulâd-è Mobârake-ye Sepâhân), commonly known as Sepahan, are an Iranian sports club based in Isfahan, best known for their association football branch[1] that play in the Persian Gulf Pro League, the highest tier of Iranian football.

Sepahan S.C.
Full nameFoolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club
Nickname(s)Yellow Storm
Founded5 October 1953 (1953-10-05)
GroundNaghsh-e Jahan Stadium
Capacity75,000
OwnerMobarakeh Steel Company
PresidentMohammad Reza Saket
ManagerJosé Morais
LeaguePersian Gulf Pro League
2022–23Persian Gulf Pro League, 2nd
WebsiteClub website

In the 2002–03 season, Sepahan ended the total dominance of two Tehran-based clubs, Persepolis and Esteghlal, to win the Pro League. They are also the first Iranian club to win three consecutive league titles, reach the AFC Champions League final in 2007 and qualify for the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup, becoming the first-ever Iranian representative of the tournament. To date, they have won five league titles and four Hazfi Cups, becoming one of the most successful football clubs in Iran.

Club history

Before the revolution

Shahin Isfahan Club

In 1953, with the help of Iran national football team player Mahmoud Hariri the Shahin Isfahan football club was created. This club was one of the teams attached to the more popular and successful Shahin F.C. of Tehran. In 1963, Shahin as the representative of Isfahan Province became champions of Iran after a 1–1 draw against Tehran XI. In 1967, due to the problems that arose in the Shahin F.C. organization in Tehran, the Isfahan branch was forced to cease operations. The club changed its name to Sepahan. The club participated in the Takht Jamshid Cup league from 1974 to 1978. In the club's first season in the Takht Jamshid Cup they finished in 10th place ahead of city rivals Zob Ahan.

Post Revolution

After the Revolution, they played in the local Isfahan leagues for many years until 1993. That year the club was purchased by the Siman-e-Sepahan (Sepahan Cement) factory of Isfahan. It participated in the Azadegan League until the year 2000, when Foolad Mobarekeh (Steel Mill of Mobarekeh Isfahan) bought the team from the Siman factory. The team now plays under the name of Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan, and enjoys very good support by the club board, and has been able to attain a respectable fan base in its hometown.

Success years

The club was able to demonstrate its worth when it captured the league title in the 2002–03 season of the IPL, and qualified for the AFC Champions League tournament with Farhad Kazemi. It also won the Hazfi Cup in 2004 and was able to qualify for another season of the ACL competition, though the club did not have much success in the continental tournaments of ACL 2004 and 2005.

Sepahan in a match against Homa during 1975–76 season

With Luka Bonačić, Sepahan was able to once again win the Hazfi Cup on 22 September 2006. With this win, they gained Iran's final and second spot in the AFC Champions League 2007. They were impressive in continental stage as they finished top of their group and defeated Kawasaki Frontale of Japan and Al Wahda of the UAE to reach the final of the newly established continental tournament for the first time. Although they lost the final to Urawa Red Diamonds on aggregate, by reaching the final, Sepahan became the first Iranian club to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup.

In the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup 2007, Sepahan defeated Waitakere United of New Zealand to reach the quarter-final where they met Urawa Red Diamonds for a spot in the semifinal match against AC Milan. Urawa Reds managed to defeat Sepahan for the second time in just one month, reaching the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup.

By winning the Hazfi Cup once again in 2007, Sepahan also qualified for the AFC Champions League 2008, but could not repeat their success of 2007.

Sepahan has qualified for the AFC Champions League for the third consecutive time in 2009, coming as the Runners-up in Persian Gulf Cup 2007-08. Sepahan lost the title by only one point to Persepolis F.C., who beat them 2–1 in the last match of the season with a winner six minutes into second half injury time. They tried to improve the team by sacking the Brazilian coach Viera and replacing him with the German coach Firat but they had a difficult season where they could not win anything in the 2008–09 season and changed the coach three times.

In the next season Sepahan hired Turkish and former Iran's assistant coach Engin Firat, but he was fired after getting poor result in the league, and Hossein Charkhabi who was Sepahan Novin head coach at that time replaced Firat. Despite getting good result with the team Charkahbi was replaced once again with Farhad Kazemi who won the league title with Sepahan in the 2002–03 season. Finally Sepahan finished 4th in the league and qualified for the 2010 AFC Champions League Group stage. In the next season the club hired former Iran and Esteghlal head coach Amir Ghalenoei, at the helm of Sepahan's 2010 Season, the club sealed a championship title two weeks before the end of the season with a 2–2 tie against F.C. Aboomoslem.[2]

In the 2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup, Sepahan dominated the league after a slow start and practically won the title two weeks before the season end. They also advanced to the knock out stage of the ACL competition, after finishing on top of the table in the group stage. Their group was arguably the group of death, consisting of Al-Hilal, Al Gharafa and Al-Jazira. They won their third championship and became the most successful team in Iran Pro League.

Kranjčar Era

They also repeated their league title in 2011–12 season, this time with Croatian manager, Zlatko Kranjčar. Sepahan also made it to the quarter-finals of 2012 AFC Champions League after defeating the fellow Iranian club Esteghlal.

In 2013 however, Sepahan was placed in Group C of the 2013 AFC Champions League and was unable to get past the 2013 AFC Champions League group stage. Being placed in the same group as Al-Gharafa Sports Club of Qatar, Al-Ahli SC of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates' Al Nasr SC, they could not qualify as one of the top two teams of their group. Sepahan started the 2013 AFC Champions League with a great win at home against Al Nasr SC, however heading for an away game against Al-Gharafa Sports Club in Qatar, Sepahan only returned home humiliated by the Qatari team in a 3–1 lost game. That was not the end of Sepahan's poor performance in the AFC Champions League. About three weeks after their loss in Qatar, Sepahan hosted Al-Ahli SC at Foolad Shahr Stadium, losing poorly once again but this time with a score of 4–2. Sepahan still had a chance after those two losses, but all hopes were lost once they lost in front of the Saudi giants again, this time with a score of 4–1 thus having them bid farewell to the 2013 AFC Champions League.

Sepahan players celebrating their fifth league title in 2015

In the 2013–14 Iran Pro League season, Sepahan finished 4th, thus missing out on the AFC Champions League for the first time in five years. At the end of the season, Croatian manager Zlatko Kranjčar announced that he would not be returning for the 2014–2015 season. Sepahan also struggled in the Champions League as well, failing to make it past the group stage with a 1–0 loss to Al Hilal on the final match day. After originally announcing he was leaving the club, Sepahan announced that they had extended the contract of Kranjčar for another season.

Faraki years

Sepahan started the 2014–15 season with three wins in a row. However, Sepahan did not win their next four matches. Kranjčar resigned on 8 September 2014 and was replaced with former Foolad manager Hossein Faraki.

On 15 May 2015, with a 2–0 Sepahan victory over Saipa and Tractor drawing 3–3 with Naft Tehran, Sepahan won their fifth league title with a one-point margin over runner up Tractor. With the league victory, Sepahan returned to the AFC Champions League after a one-year absence.

On 12 November 2015 Hossein Faraki left Sepahan for personal problems. Faraki left by saying "Things just don't seem to be working out for me and I decided to quit my job in the team, I have nothing more to say because I think Sepahan needs concentration at the moment since they will play in Iran's Hazfi Cup on Thursday,"[3][4]

Štimac and Veisi years

After Hossein Faraki's resignation, the club signed former Croatia national team manager Igor Štimac. Igor Štimac won his first game against Naft Tehran, but after not winning a game in 10 weeks made the situations harder for Sepahan. Sepahan got knocked out of the Hazfi Cup by their rivals, Zob Ahan in penalties at the semi-final. Sepahan also went out of the AFC Champions League after losing five times in the first round. Igor Štimac resigned as Sepahan head coach on 20 April 2016, after a run of unsuccessful results which led the league champions Sepahan to end up in 11th place and out of both season's cups, Hazfi Cup and AFC Champions League.

Before the start of the 2016–17 season, Abdollah Veisi who had led Esteghlal Khuzestan to the league title, was announced as the new manager of Sepahan but sepahans poor results continued so they announced Zlatko Kranjčar as their new manager. Sepahan finished the season in the 5th place.

Reserve team

Sepahan is also one of the clubs in Iranian football to have a senior reserve team, Foolad Sepahan Novin F.C., that as of the 2007/08 season, participates in 3rd Division and the Hazfi Cup. The reserve team was promoted to the Iran Pro League from the Azadegan League, but was not allowed to participate due to Fifa's regulations about two teams from the same club playing in the same league.

Rivalries

Isfahan Derby

The Nagsh-e Jahan derby is a football match played annually in Isfahan, Iran, between the two rival professional teams of the city: Zob Ahan F.C. and Sepahan. Naqsh-e Jahan is an important square in old centrum of Isfahan. The competition is one of the most popular annual football events in Iran.[5] The Isfahan derby goes back to the 1970s, when Zob Ahan F.C. and Sepahan F.C. faced each other in Takht Jamshid Cup seasons (1974/75, 1975/76, 1976/77, 1977/78). Their rivalry resumed in the 1990s when they faced each other in Azadegan League seasons (1993/94, 1996/97, 1997/98) and from then on the two met each other twice a year.

Tehran rivalries

Esteghlal–Sepahan and Persepolis–Sepahan rivalries are the two important Iran Football Rivalries played between Sepahan and two Tehran based football clubs: Esteghlal and Persepolis.

FIFA Club World Cup

One of the most important titles of Sepahan football club, which makes this club a special club in Iranian football, is the participation in the Club World Cup in 2007. For the people of Isfahan and those interested in football, especially the fans of Sepahan and of course Iranian football, the second day of November is undoubtedly a reminder of the name of Sepahan. On the day when the club was born, Sepahan's name was placed next to big teams such as AC Milan of Italy, Boca Juniors of Argentina, Pachuca of Mexico, Whiteacres United of New Zealand, Sahil Tunis and Overwards of Japan. Until today, Sepahan is the first and last representative of Iranian football who has hoisted the Iranian flag in the Club World Cup.

Partnerships

Two smiling men holding a golden plaque together
The general secretary of Ahed (left) and the president of Sepahan (right) in 2009

On 28 January 2009, Sepahan and Lebanese club Ahed signed an informal partnership deal.[6] The partnership was made official on 8 March 2021, involving training camps and friendly games between the two sides.[7]

Stadium

Sepahan Club's previous stadium (Fooladshahr Stadium) – in the 2011–2012 season

The Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Isfahan, Iran that is home ground of Sepahan. It is currently used for football matches. The stadium was built in 2003 and holds 45,000 in a three-tier configuration. The first phase finished in 2003 and they have decided to finish the second phase which is the first floor of the stadium. It was started in 2007 and was meant to be finished by 2008, but construction continued until summer 2016. The final capacity of the stadium will be 75,000. Sepahan's second home ground is Foolad Shahr Stadium that is the home ground of Zob Ahan F.C. too. Some of Sepahan's matches are held in that stadium.

Season-by-season

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

Season Div. Pos. Hazfi Cup Asia
2001–02 IPL 9th Semi-Final - -
2002–03 IPL Champions Semi-Final - -
2003–04 IPL 6th Champions ACL Group stage
2004–05 IPL 10th 1/8 Final ACL Group stage
2005–06 IPL 7th Champions - -
2006–07 PGC 5th Champions ACL Runner Up
2007–08 PGC 2nd Quarter-Final ACL Group stage
2008–09 PGC 4th 1/8 Final ACL Group stage
2009–10 PGC Champions 1/8 Final ACL Group stage
2010–11 PGC Champions Quarter-Final ACL Quarter-Final
2011–12 PGC Champions Round of 32 ACL Quarter-Final
2012–13 PGC 3rd Champions ACL Group stage
2013–14 PGC 4th Round of 32 ACL Group stage
2014–15 PGPL Champions Round of 32 - -
2015–16 PGPL 11th Semi-Final ACL Group stage
2016–17 PGPL 5th Semi-Final - -
2017–18 PGPL 14th Round of 32 - -
2018–19 PGPL 2nd Semi-Final - -
2019–20 PGPL 5th Quarter-Final ACL Group stage
2020–21 PGPL 2nd Quarter-Final - -
2021–22 PGPL 3rd Round of 16 ACL Group Stage

Honours

League

Cup

Continental

Players

First-team squad

See also: 2023–24 Sepahan S.C. season
As of 6 July 2023

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Iran IRN Payam Niazmand (vice-captain)
2 DF Iran IRN Hadi Mohammadi
5 MF Iran IRN Reza Asadi
6 MF Burkina Faso BFA Bryan Dabo
7 FW Iran IRN Issa Alekasir
8 MF Iran IRN Mohammad Karimi (captain)
9 DF Iran IRN Ramin Rezaeian
10 MF Iran IRN Farshad Ahmadzadeh
11 FW Iran IRN Kaveh Rezaei
13 GK Iran IRN Mohammad Gerami U21
14 DF Iran IRN Aria Yousefi U23
18 DF Iran IRN Milad Zakipour
19 DF Iran IRN Omid Noorafkan (third-captain)
22 GK Iran IRN Mohammad Sadegh Salehi U21
No. Pos. Nation Player
23 MF Iran IRN Ahmad Reza Mousavi U21
44 GK Iran IRN Nima Mirzazad
58 DF Iran IRN Mohammad Daneshgar
66 MF Iran IRN Mohammad Ghorbani U23
70 FW Iran IRN Shahriyar Moghanlou
77 MF Iran IRN Ali Ahmadi U21
80 MF Iran IRN Arshia Sarshogh U21
81 MF Iran IRN Reza Shekari
86 MF Iran IRN Mohammad Javad Hosseinnejad U21
90 MF Iran IRN Ehsan Pahlavan
91 DF Brazil BRA Nilson Júnior
99 DF Iran IRN Siavash Yazdani
  • U21 = Under-21 level player. U23 = Under-23 level player. SPE = Special group player. INJ = Out of main squad due to injury.

Loan list

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
FW Iran IRN Isa Moradi (at Shams Azar until June 2024)
MF Iran IRN Mohammad Alinejad (at Foolad until June 2024)
DF Iran IRN Mohammad Hossein Rouholamin (at Chadormalou until June 2024)

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers summer 2023.

Former players

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

Notable players

See: List of Sepahan players

Managerial staff

[8][9]

Current managerial staff

Position Name
Manager Portugal José Morais
Assistant coaches Portugal Hugo Almeida
Portugal Miguel Teixeira
Goalkeepers coach Portugal Paulo Santos

Head coaches

Below is a list of Sepahan coaches from 1953 until the present day.[10][11][12]

Name Nationality Years
Mahmoud Hariri Iran 1953–1960
Technical Commission 1960–1970
Mahmoud Yavari Iran 1970–1978
Zdravko Rajkov Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1978
Mahmoud Yavari Iran 1978–1980
Masoud Tabesh Iran 1980–1993
Firouz Karimi Iran 1993–1994
Nasser Hejazi Iran 1994–1995
Mahmoud Yavari Iran 1995–1996
Rasoul Korbekandi Iran 1996–1998
Mehdi Monajati Iran 1998–1999
Hamid Nadimian Iran 1999–2001
Stanko Poklepović Croatia 2001–2002
Farhad Kazemi Iran 2002–2005
Stanko Poklepović Croatia 2005
Edson Tavares Brazil 2005–2006
Luka Bonačić Croatia 2006–2008
Jorvan Vieira Brazil 2008
Engin Firat Turkey 2008
Hossein Charkhabi Iran 2008
Farhad Kazemi Iran 2008–2009
Amir Ghalenoei Iran 2009–2011
Luka Bonačić Croatia 2011
Zlatko Kranjčar Croatia 2011–2014
Hossein Faraki Iran 2014–2015
Igor Štimac Croatia 2015–2016
Ghasem Zaghinejad* Iran 2016
Abdollah Veisi Iran 2016–2017
Zlatko Kranjčar Croatia 2017–2018
Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Iran 2018
Amir Ghalenoei Iran 2018–2020
Miguel Teixeira* Portugal 2020
Moharram Navidkia Iran 2020–2022
José Morais Portugal 2022–Present

Club officials

Position Name
PresidentMohammad Reza Saket
Chairman of the BoardMojtaba Lotfi
Board MembersMojtaba Lotfi
Mohammad Reza Saket
Karim Fakharezadeh
Ali Pezeshk
Alireza Afzal

List of Sepahan records

FIFA Club World Cup participation

FIFA Club World Cup History
YearRoundScoreResultScorers
2007 Play-offSepahan 3 – 1 New Zealand Waitakere UnitedWinEmad Mohammed 3', 4'
Abdul-Wahab 47'
2007 QuarterfinalsSepahan 1 – 3 Japan Urawa Red DiamondsLossKarimi 80'

Top scorers by season

Season Player in League Player in whole season
2001–02 Iran Edmond Bezik 6
2002–03 Iran Edmond Bezik 13
2003–04 Iran Rasoul Khatibi 8 Iran Rasoul Khatibi 14
2004–05 Iran Rasoul Khatibi 14 Iran Rasoul Khatibi 17
2005–06 Iran Rasoul Khatibi 10 Iran Rasoul Khatibi 11
2006–07 Iraq Emad Mohammed Ridha 9 Iraq Emad Mohammed Ridha 12
2007–08 Iran Mahmoud Karimi 9 Iran Mahmoud Karimi 13
2008–09 Iraq Emad Mohammed Ridha 14 Iraq Emad Mohammed Ridha 16
2009–10 Iraq Emad Mohammed Ridha 19 Senegal Ibrahima Touré 20
2010–11 Senegal Ibrahima Touré 18 Senegal Ibrahima Touré 24
2011–12 Iraq Emad Mohammed Ridha 9 Brazil Bruno Correa 12
2012–13 Iran Mohammad Reza Khalatbari 13 Albania Xhevahir Sukaj 16
2013–14 Iran Mehdi Sharifi 8 Iran Mehdi Sharifi 12
2014–15 Iran Mehdi Sharifi 12 Iran Mehdi Sharifi 12
2015–16 Iran Mohammad Reza Khalatbari
Brazil Luciano Chimba
4 Brazil Luciano Chimba
Iran Mehdi Sharifi
6
2016–17 Iran Mehrdad Mohammadi
Iran Masoud Hassanzadeh
7 Iran Mehrdad Mohammadi
Iran Masoud Hassanzadeh
Iran Jalaleddin Alimohammadi
7
2017–18 Iran Sasan Ansari 11 Iran Sasan Ansari 11
2018–19 Brazil Kiros Stanlley 16 Brazil Kiros Stanlley 17

Players on international cups

Cup Players
Argentina 1978 FIFA World CupIran Ali Shojaei
Iran Bahram Mavaddat
Germany 2006 FIFA World CupIran Moharram Navidkia
Iran Rasoul Khatibi
ThailandVietnamMalaysiaIndonesia 2007 AFC Asian CupIran Hadi Aghily
South Africa 2009 FIFA Confederations CupIraq Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail
Iraq Emad Mohammed
Qatar 2011 AFC Asian CupIran Ehsan Hajsafi
Iran Hadi Aghily
Iran Jalal Hosseini
Iran Khosro Heydari
Iran Mehdi Rahmati
Iran Mohsen Bengar
Iraq Emad Mohammed
Brazil 2014 FIFA World CupIran Ehsan Hajsafi
Iran Rahman Ahmadi
Australia 2015 AFC Asian CupIran Ehsan Hajsafi
Iran Voria Ghafouri
United Arab Emirates 2019 AFC Asian CupIran Payam Niazmand

Sponsorship

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Sepahan League Sponsors
Period Kit Manufacturer Shirt Sponsor
2007–08 Germany Uhlsport Mobarakeh Steel Company
2008–09
2009–10 Italy Lotto
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14 Germany Uhlsport
2014–15
2015–16 Spain Joma
2016–17 Germany Uhlsport
2017–18 China Peak Mobarakeh Steel Company / Snapp
2018–19 Iran Start Mobarakeh Steel Company / Taban Air / Hamrah-e-Avval
2019–20 Germany Uhlsport
2020–21 Mobarakeh Steel Company / Iran Insurance Company
2021–22
2022-23 Iran Merooj Mobarakeh Steel Company / Bahonar Brokerage / GERAD Clothing
2023-24 Iran Start Mobarakeh Steel Company

References

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