ESTEGHLAL F C 1945 2008 Esteghlal in Persian

ESTEGHLAL F. C 1945 - 2008

Esteghlal (in Persian, meaning 'Independence') (formerly known as Taj, meaning 'Crown') is a football club in Iran. It is one of the most famous football (soccer) clubs in Asia and in Iran's Premier Football League, established in 1945, and has won many championships in different competitions. Esteghlal and Perspolis are presently the two most popular football clubs in Iran, however in recent years their dominance has been seriously threatened by other clubs like Sepahan and Foolad. The team's main rival and its opponent in the Tehran derby is Persepolis. Azadi Stadium is always sold out when the match takes place. The team is currently under the control of the welfare ministry a government department.

Club history On 24 September 1945, three individuals by the names of Mirzani, Jananpour and Navab started a sports club on Ferdowsi Street of Tehran. Since the founders of the club were mostly interested in cycling, the club's original name was Docharke Savaran or The Cyclists. The Docharkhe Savaran football club played its first official match a year later, and in 1947 was able to capture the Tehran Hazfi Cup. In 1949, the team officially changed its name to Taj. The club became the second most loved team in Iran after some years, and were able to make their fans happy by winning numerous league championships, Hazfi Cups and Asian Club Championships.

The team had to change its name again in 1979 to Esteghlal(independence in Persian), because of the revolution. Taj means crown in Persian, and after the revolution, any sign of the previous monarchist regime was not tolerated, so naturally, the name Taj was not suitable. The club has been able to get successful results in the past couple of years and is always looked at as a contender for the league championship. In the past two years it has finished 2 nd or 3 rd in the league, but Ghalenoei was able to get the team its first championship in the IPL in the 2005 -06 season after his third and final year as the manager.

Season-by-season The table below chronicles the achievements of Esteghlal FC every season, from 1994 to the present day. Season League Position 1994 -1995 Azadegan League 2 nd 1995 -1996 Azadegan League 3 rd 1996 -1997 Azadegan League 6 th 1997 -1998 Azadegan League 1 st (Champions) 1998 -1999 Azadegan League 2 nd Final Asian Cup (2 nd) 1999 -2000 Azadegan League 2 nd Cup Asian Cup Winners Cup (Second Round) 2000 -2001 Azadegan League 1 st (Champions) Semifinal Asian Cup Winners Cup (Semifinal) 2001 -2002 Iran Premier League 2 nd Cup Asian Cup (3 rd) 2002 -2003 Iran Premier League 9 th 2003 -2004 Iran Premier League 2 nd 2004 -2005 Iran Premier League 3 rd 2005 -2006 Iran Premier League 1 st (Champions) Quarterfinal 2006 -2007 Iran Premier League 4 th 1/16 Final Hazfi Cup Asian Cup and Asian Cup Winners Cup (Semifinal) Final Disqualified

Famous players: 1945 to 1970 s : 1980 s : 1990 s : 2000 s : Heshmat Mohajerani Nasser Hejazi Iraj Danaeifard Behtash Fariba Hassan Rowshan Hassan Nazari Andranik Eskandarian Mansour Pourheidari Gholam Hossein Mazloomi Parviz Ghelichkhani Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh Sadegh Varmazyar Amir Ghalenoei Majid Namjoo-Motlagh Abdolali Changiz Samad Marfavi Javad Zarincheh Alireza Mansourian Sirous Dinmohammadi Mehdi Pashazadeh Mohammad Navazi Mahmoud Fekri Hadi Tabatabaei Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh Farhad Majidi Ali Samereh Pirouz Ghorbani Reza Enayati Siavash Akbarpour Mojtaba Jabbari Vahid Talebloo Amir Hossein Sadeqi Hossein Kazemi Mehdi Amirabadi

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Esteghlal Tehran FC (Official Website) ( Official Fan Website ) Nickname: SS Founded: 24 September 1945 Ground: Azadi Stadium Capacity: 100, 000 Chairman: Ali Fatollahzade Last Coach: Firooz Karimi