2017–18 Persian Gulf Pro League

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Padideh[3]
(31 March 2018)
Total attendance2,138,049
Average attendance9,060
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The 2017–18 Persian Gulf Pro League (formerly known as Iran Pro League) was the 35th season of Iran's Football League and 17th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Persepolis were the defending champions. The season featured 14 teams from the 2016–17 Persian Gulf Pro League and two new teams promoted from the 2016–17 Azadegan League: Pars Jonoubi Jam as champions and Sepidrood. The league started on 27 July 2017 and ended on 27 April 2018. Persepolis won the Pro League title for the fourth time in their history, a total 11th Iranian title.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Naft Talaieh
Paykan
Saipa
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Locations of clubs in 2017–18 Persian Gulf Pro League
Team Location Stadium Capacity
Esteghlal Tehran Azadi 78,116
Esteghlal Khuzestan Ahvaz Ghadir 38,900
Foolad Ahvaz Ghadir 38,900
Gostaresh Tabriz
Bonyan Diesel
 12,000
Naft Tehran Tehran Takhti Tehran 30,122
Padideh
 Mashhad Samen
Imam Reza 		35,000
25,000
Pars Jonoubi Jam Jam Takhti Jam 15,000
Paykan
Shahr-e Qods
Shohada Shahr-e Qods
 25,000
Persepolis Tehran Azadi 78,116
Saipa Tehran Shahid Dastgerdi 8,250
Sanat Naft Abadan Takhti Abadan 10,000[4]
Sepahan Isfahan
Naghsh-e-Jahan
 75,000
Sepidrood Rasht
Dr. Azodi
Sardar Jangal
 11,000
15,000
Siah Jamegan Mashhad Samen
Imam Reza 		35,000
25,000
Tractor Sazi
 Tabriz Sahand 66,833
Zob Ahan Fuladshahr Foolad Shahr 15,000

Number of teams by region

Region Number of teams Teams
Tehran
 5 Esteghlal, Persepolis, Naft Tehran, Paykan, Saipa
Khuzestan
 3 Esteghlal Khuzestan, Foolad, Sanat Naft
East Azerbaijan
 2 Tractor Sazi, Gostaresh
Khorasan
 2 Siah Jamegan, Padideh
Isfahan
 2 Sepahan, Zob Ahan
Bushehr
 1 Pars Jonoubi Jam
Gilan
 1 Sepidrood

Personnel and kits

Main article: List of Iranian Football League managers

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

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer
Esteghlal Germany Winfried Schäfer Iran Mehdi Rahmati China Li-Ning
Est. Khuzestan Iran Abdollah Veisi Iran Meysam Doraghi Iran Start
Foolad Iran Sirous Pourmousavi Iran Ayoub Vali Germany Uhlsport
Gostaresh Iran Firouz Karimi Iran Andranik Teymourian Iran Merooj
Naft Talaieh Iran Human Afazeli Iran Alireza Ezzati Germany Uhlsport
Padideh Iran Mohammad Reza Mohajeri Iran Reza Nasehi Turkey Fitcom
Pars Jonoubi Jam Iran Mehdi Tartar Iran Meysam Naghizadeh Iran Merooj
Paykan Iran Majid Jalali Iran Rahman Ahmadi Iran Yousef Jame
Persepolis Croatia Branko Ivanković Iran Jalal Hosseini Spain Joma
Saipa Iran Ali Daei Iran Roozbeh Shahalidoost Iran Start
Sanat Naft Iran Faraz Kamalvand Iran Hossein Baghlani Iran Merooj
Sepahan Iran Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Iran Hossein Papi China Peak
Sepidrood
Ali Karimi
 Iran Hossein Kaebi Iran Yousef Jame
Siah Jamegan Iran Davoud Mahabadi Iran Hossein Badamaki Iran Start
Tractor Sazi Turkey Ertuğrul Sağlam Iran Mehdi Kiani China Li-Ning
Zob Ahan Iran Amir Ghalenoei Iran Mehdi Rajabzadeh Iran Merooj

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing head coach Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming head coach Date of appointment
Gostaresh Iran Faraz Kamalvand Contract expired 3 May 2016 Pre-season Croatia Luka Bonačić 10 May 2017[5]
Sanat Naft Iran Firouz Karimi 5 May 2017 Iran Faraz Kamalvand 13 May 2017[6]
Saipa Iran Hossein Faraki 9 May 2017 Iran Ali Daei 13 May 2017[7]
Tractor Sazi
 Iran Amir Ghalenoei 12 May 2017[8] Iran Yahya Golmohammadi 24 May 2017[9]
Zob Ahan
 Iran Mojtaba Hosseini 1 June 2017 Iran Amir Ghalenoei 10 June 2017[10]
Esteghlal Khuzestan Iran Sirous Pourmousavi 1 June 2017[11] Iran Abdollah Veisi 10 June 2017[12]
Foolad Iran Naeim Saadavi 1 June 2017 Iran Sirous Pourmousavi 3 June 2017[13]
Naft Tehran
 Iran Ali Daei Signed by Saipa 11 May 2017[14] Iran Hamid Derakhshan 29 June 2017
Esteghlal Iran Alireza Mansourian Resigned 20 September 2017 16th Germany Winfried Schäfer 2 October 2017
Gostaresh Croatia Luka Bonačić Sacked 28 September 2017 16th Iran Firouz Karimi 29 September 2017
Siah Jamegan Iran Akbar Misaghian Sacked 15 October 2017 14th Iran Alireza Marzban 15 October 2017
Siah Jamegan Iran Alireza Marzban Resigned 1 December 2017 16th Iran Reza Enayati 1 December 2017
Sepidrood Iran Ali Nazarmohammadi Sacked 10 December 2017 15th
Ali Karimi
 1 January 2018
Naft Tehran
 Iran Hamid Derakhshan Resigned 17 December 2017 14th Iran Human Afazeli 1 January 2018
Tractor Sazi
 Iran Yahya Golmohammadi Resigned 15 January 2018 11th Turkey Ertuğrul Sağlam 19 January 2018
Sepahan Croatia Zlatko Kranjčar Mutual Consent 20 January 2018 12th Iran Mansour Ebrahimzadeh 27 January 2018
Siah Jamegan Iran Reza Enayati Sacked 18 February 2018 16th Iran Davoud Mahabadi 20 February 0218

Foreign players

See also: List of foreign footballers in the Persian Gulf Pro League

The number of foreign players is restricted to four per Persian Gulf Pro League team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team can use four foreign players on the field in each game, including at least one player from the AFC country.
In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.

Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player Former Players
Esteghlal Brazil Leandro Padovani North Macedonia Bojan Najdenov
Mame Baba Thiam
 Uzbekistan Server Djeparov
Esteghlal Khuzestan Brazil Claudir Mali Moussa Coulibaly Georgia (country) Saba Tavadze
Foolad
Gostaresh
Fernando Jesus
Edson Henrique
 Serbia Dragan Žarković
Naft Talaieh
Padideh
Pars Jonoubi Jam Cameroon Aloys Nong
Costa Rica Michael Umaña
Paykan
Kenneth Ikechukwu
 Senegal Arfang Daffé Nigeria Ezekiel Bassey
Persepolis Croatia Božidar Radošević Nigeria Godwin Mensha Iraq Bashar Resan
Saipa Cameroon Aloys Nong Ghana Samuel Sarfo
Sanat Naft
Augusto César
Luciano Pereira
Magno Batista
 Iraq Karrar Jassim
Sepahan
 Albania Edon Hasani Syria Ibrahim Alma Iraq Marwan Hussein
Lee Oliveira
Brazil Jairo Rodrigues
Brazil Rafael Crivellaro
Sepidrood
Siah Jamegan France Goran Jerković
Croatia Jure Čolak
Tractor Sazi
 Bosnia and Herzegovina Sulejman Krpić
Jordi Almeida
 Croatia Šime Gregov
Zob Ahan
Kiros Stanlley
 Georgia (country) Giorgi Gvelesiani Lebanon Rabih Ataya

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Persepolis (C) 30 19 7 4 48 15 +33 64 Qualification for the 2019 AFC Champions League group stage
2 Zob Ahan 30 15 10 5 46 30 +16 55 Qualification for the 2019 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs
3 Esteghlal 30 15 9 6 43 18 +25 54 Qualification for 2020 AFC Champions League group stage[a]
4 Saipa 30 15 9 6 40 34 +6 54 Qualification for the 2019 AFC Champions League qualifying play-offs
5 Pars Jonoubi Jam 30 11 14 5 34 24 +10 47
6 Paykan 30 12 9 9 32 26 +6 45
7 Foolad 30 10 14 6 28 27 +1 44
8 Sanat Naft 30 10 10 10 36 36 0 40
9 Gostaresh 30 9 10 11 24 32 −8 37
10
Tractor Sazi
 30 8 10 12 28 33 −5 34
11
Padideh
 30 10 9 11 33 33 0 33[b]
12 Est. Khuzestan 30 7 10 13 25 42 −17 31
13 Sepidrood 30 8 6 16 24 39 −15 30
14
Sepahan
 30 6 11 13 31 34 −3 29
15 Naft Tehran (R) 30 5 9 16 23 41 −18 24 Relegation to the 2018–19 Azadegan League
16
Meshki Pooshan
(R) 		30 2 9 19 17 48 −31 15
Updated to match(es) played on April 13, 2018. Source: IPL Stats, Soccerway
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored.[16]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Esteghlal qualified to AFC Champions League group stage directly by winning the Hazfi Cup
  2. ^ Padideh deducted 6 points by FIFA[15]

Results

Home \ Away EST
ESK
 FOL GOS NAF
PAD
 PJJ PAY PRS SAP
SNA
SEP
 SPR
MEP
TRK
ZOB
Esteghlal 0–0 0–0 2–0 2–0 0–2 4–0 3–2
1–0
 1–1 4–0
3–0
 3–0 4–1 1–0 1–1
Est. Khuzestan
 0–3 0–0 1–2 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 1–3 1–2 0–1 3–2 0–0 2–1 1–0 0–2
Foolad 1–4 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–1 0–1 1–1
Gostaresh 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–4 0–3 0–3 3–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 0–1
Naft Tehran 1–2 1–0 1–2 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 0–3 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 4–1 2–0 0–1
Padideh
 0–0 2–2 2–2 0–2 3–1 1–2 1–1 0–1 3–0 1–0 4–0 1–0 2–1 0–3 2–2
Pars Jonoubi Jam 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–2 3–0 1–1 3–2 0–1 0–0 2–1 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–1 0–0
Paykan 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–3 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–0 2–1 2–1 0–0
Persepolis
1–0
 1–0 2–0 1–1 0–0 0–0 1–1 0–1 1–2 2–0
2–0
 3–0 1–1
2–0
 4–0
Saipa 1–0 3–2 2–0 0–0 4–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–2 3–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 4–2
Sanat Naft
 1–0 3–3 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 1–1 1–0 0–3 3–0 3–2 3–0 4–1 1–1 2–2
Sepahan
0–1
 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–0 4–0 1–1 0–1
2–2
 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–0 3–0
1–2
Sepidrood 1–2 1–1 0–0 1–2 3–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 2–1 1–2 1–0 1–2
Meshki Pooshan
 0–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 1–1 0–2 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–3 0–1 0–5 2–0 0–0 2–2
Tractor Sazi
 0–0 3–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 0–1
1–2
 1–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–0
Zob Ahan
 2–1 6–0 0–1 3–0 2–0 2–1 0–3 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–1
0–2
 3–0 0–0 3–0
Updated to match(es) played on March 13, 2018. Source: PersianLeague Stats
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Positions by round

Team ╲ Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930
Siah Jamegan
76788891314151616161616161616161616161616161616161616
Leader : 2019 AFC Champions League Group stage
2019 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off round
Relegation to 2018-19 Azadegan League
Source: IranProLeague Stats