Wikipedia

Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.

(Redirected from Esteghlal Meli-Sanati Khuzestan F.C.)
Not to be confused with Esteghlal F.C..

Esteghlal Khuzestan Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال استقلال خوزستان, Bašgâh-e Futbâl-e Esteqlâl-e Xuzestân), commonly known as Esteghlal Khuzestan, is an Iranian football club based in Ahvaz, Iran. The club currently competes in the Azadegan League after being relegated from Persian Gulf Pro League in the 2018–19 season.

Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.
Full nameEsteghlal Khuzestan Football Club
Nickname(s)Âbihai-ye Jinub (Southern Blues)
Founded2011; 13 years ago (2011)
GroundGhadir
Capacity38,900
OwnerIran National Steel Industrial Group
ManagerSirous Pourmousavi
LeaguePersian Gulf Pro League
2022–23Azadegan League, 2nd (promoted)
WebsiteClub website
Current season

This football club is different from Esteghlal Ahvaz.[1] In 2011 they bought Esteghlal Jonub's licence to compete in the Azadegan League. They finished 2012–13 season in 2nd place of their group and qualified to the promotion play-off. However, they were awarded the direct promotion IRIFF after group's winner, Shahrdari Tabriz's relegation due to match-fixing. They won the Persian Gulf Pro League title in 2015–16 season.

History edit

Founding and early years edit

Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C. was established just before the start of the 2011–2012 season by acquiring the license of Esteghlal Jonub Tehran F.C. who has just been promoted to the Azadegan League (Iran's 1st division). After an average 6th-place finish in the team's inaugural year in the Azadegan League in 2011–2012, the next season (2012–13) turned out to be a different year, with a 2nd-placed finish in group B, the club was promoted to the Iran Pro League for the first time in their history.

Promotion to the Pro League edit

In Esteghlal Khuzestan's first year in the top flight, it finished 12th, escaping relegation play-off by better goal difference. In the Hazfi Cup Esteghlal Khuzestan exited the competition in the Round of 32 after a shock defeat to Azadegan League side Alvand Hamedan. Esteghlal finished the 2014–15 season 14th, meaning it would have to play in a relegation play-off against the winner of the Azadegan League promotion play-off winner. Esteghlal Khuzestan defeated Mes Kerman 3–0 on aggregate meaning it had secured a spot in the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League season.

2015–16 season edit

 
Esteghlal Khuzestan players celebrating after winning league title in 2015–16 season

Before the start of the 2015–16 season Esteghlal Khuzestan signed many of Foolad Novin's players and was a major surprise, as it started well in the season. Esteghlal Khuzestan had four consecutive winning streak at the 12th week, which made Esteghlal Khuzestan finished champion of the first half of the season.[2][3] After a great result with Abdollah Veisi, Esteghlal Khuzestan managed to keep its shape at the second half of the season. On January 1, 2016, Esteghlal Khuzestan lost to Persepolis which made the race tighter for first place, and also made Esteghlal Khuzestan fall to second place, Esteghlal became first after 17th week. The head coach Abdollah Veisi later said that their main goal was to take place at AFC Champions League.[4] Esteghlal Khuzestan qualified to the AFC Champions League on 8 May, for the first time in its history. Esteghlal Khuzestan won the league title on 13 May after a 2–0 win over Zob Ahan.

Relegation edit

Following a poor start to the following season, 6 points were deduced from Esteghlal Khuzestan by FIFA. Dariush Yazdi was sacked and Karim Boostani replaced the coach. Results ultimately did not improve under Boostani and he was replaced with Mohammad Alavi. Esteghlal Khuzestan were relegated from the Persian Gulf Pro League to Azadegan League on 3 May 2019.

Individual Records edit

All Top Appearances edit

# Name Nationality Position Apps
1 Mohammad Tayyebi   Iran Defender 133
2 Hossein Bahrami   Iran Midfielder 107
Meysam Doraghi   Iran Defensive midfielder 107
4 Ali Helichi   Iran Midfielder 100
5 Aghil Kaabi   Iran Defender 95
6 Moussa Coulibaly   Mali Defender 92
7 Vahid Sheikhveisi   Iran Goalkeeper 87
8 Mehdi Momeni   Iran Forward 83
9 Hadi Khanifar   Iran Midfielder 82
10 Mojtaba Rashidi   Iran Forward 75

All Top Scorers edit

# Name Nationality Position Goals
1 Mojtaba Rashidi   Iran Forward 23
2 Hassan Beyt Saeed   Iran Forward 22
3 Ehsan Alvanzadeh   Iran Forward 21
4 Farshad Janfaza   Iran Striker 18
5 Javad Aghaei Pour   Iran Forward 16
6 Ali vaziri Panah   Iran Striker 15
7 Mehdi Momeni   Iran Forward 14
Rahim Zahivi   Iran Forward 14
9 Hadi Khanifar   Iran Midfielder 9
Ali Kiani Far   Iran Midfielder 9

Stadium edit

Main article: Ghadir Stadium
See also: Takhti Stadium (Ahvaz)

After the takeover of the club in 2011, the club played its home matches in Ahvaz's Takhti Stadium. After the club promoted to the Iran Pro League, it was decided that club continuing to play at Takthi, while big games like Persepolis, Esteghlal and Foolad playing at newly built Ghadir Stadium. In 2015, the club moved to Ghadir permanently, as city rivals Foolad set to move to its private ground.

Rivals edit

The team competes in Ahvaz derby against two-times Iran Pro League winner Foolad.

Honours edit

Domestic competitions edit

League edit

Cup edit

Season-by-season edit

The table below shows the achievements of the club in various competitions.

Season League Position Hazfi Cup Asia Notes
2011–12 Azadegan League 6th Round of 32 did not qualify
2012–13 2nd ? Promoted
2013–14 Persian Gulf Pro League 12th Round of 32
2014–15 14th Round of 16 Relegation play-off
2015–16 1st Round of 16 Super Cup
2016–17 7th Round of 64 Round of 16
2017–18 12th Semi-Final did not qualify
2018–19 16th Round of 16 Relegated
2019–20 Azadegan League 9th Did not participate
2020–21 6th Did not participate
2021–22 13th Third Round
2022–23 2nd Round of 32 Promoted

Continental record edit

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2017 AFC Champions League Group B   Al-Fateh 1–0 1–1 2nd
  Al-Jazira 1–1 1–0
  Lekhwiya 1–1 1–2
Round of 16   Al-Hilal 1–2 1–2 2–4

Players edit

First-team squad edit

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   IRN Farzin Garousian
3 DF   IRN Ali Helichi
6 MF   IRN Mahmoud Motlaghzadeh (Captain)
8 MF   IRN Hassan Shoushtari
9 FW   IRN Javad Aghaeipour
11 FW   IRN Behrouz Barani
14 FW   IRQ Aso Rostam
16 MF   ECU Sergio Quintero
17 DF   IRN Matin Karimzadeh
21 FW   IRN Amirmohammad Mohkamkar
23 FW   IRN Alireza Kazemi
25 DF   IRN Soheil Delfiefard
26 MF   IRN Amirhossein Jalalivand
27 FW   IRN Ahmad Savari
No. Pos. Nation Player
30 MF   IRN Foad Koroushat
37 DF   IRN Hossein Saki
39 FW   IRN Peyman Ranjbari
44 DF   UZB Dostonbek Tursunov
50 MF   BRA Sávio Roberto
64 DF   IRN Saeid Irankhah
66 MF   IRN Hossein Ahmadi
72 DF   IRN Alireza Khoshkafa
77 GK   IRN Hassan Pour Hamidi
79 FW   IRN Alireza Rahmati
80 DF   IRN Ahmadreza Jalali
90 DF   SEN Ousmane Ndong
97 FW   IRN Mohammad Hossein Baseri

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers winter 2023–24.

Officials edit

Coaching staff edit

Staff[5] Name
Head coach   Sergio Mendes
Assistant coach   Behrouz Makvandi
Goalkeeping coach   Karim Boostani
Fitness coach   Rafael Bispo
International manager   Behdad Bayat
Doctor   Jalal Heydari
Physiotherapist   Sadegh Norouzi
Analyzer   Habib Eslami
B Team Manager   Behrouz Makvandi
Team manager   Afshin Komaei

List of managers edit

Period Name G W D L GF GA GD Honours
2011–2013   Majid Bagherinia 52 22 15 15 52 41 +11 Promotion to the Persian Gulf Cup
2013–2016   Abdollah Veisi 132 55 47 30 142 131 +21 Azadegan League
Persian Gulf Pro League
2016–2017   Sirous Pourmousavi 30 10 11 9 36 34 +2
2017–2018   Abdollah Veisi 30 8 10 12 29 36 -7
2018   Dariush Yazdi 12 2 4 6 8 18 -10
2018–2019   Karim Boostani 8 0 2 6 5 11 -6
2019   Karim Ghanbari (caretaker) 4 1 0 3 3 6 -3

Players in International Tournaments edit

Players who were a member of their national team at International Competitions while playing for Esteghlal Khuzestan.

Cup Players
  2015 Africa Cup of Nations   Soumbeïla Diakité

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ اهواز صاحب دومین استقلال شد/ امتیاز استقلال جنوب به اهواز انتقال یافت (in Persian). Goal.com. 2011-07-31. Archived from the original on 2012-10-16. Retrieved 2013-11-10.
  2. ^ "استقلال خوزستان چگونه قهرمان نیم فصل شد؟".
  3. ^ "استقلال خوزستان قهرمان نیم فصل شد". 18 December 2015.
  4. ^ "ویسی: طالب لو فوق العاده بود".
  5. ^ "اعلام رقم قرارداد بازیکنان و کادر فنی استقلال خوزستان". 22 July 2014.

External links edit

 
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Esteghlal Khuzestan FC.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Esteghlal_Khuzestan_F.C.&oldid=1218692334"