Persepolis F.C. facts for kids

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Persepolis

Full name	Persepolis Football Club
Nickname(s)	Red Army Tehran Reds
Short name	PRS
Founded	November 1963; 61 years ago (1963-11) as Persepolis Amateur (Bowling) team March 21, 1967; 58 years ago (1967-03-21) as Persepolis Football team
Ground	Azadi Stadium
Ground Capacity	78,116
Owner	Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club (Shahr Bank: 30% Bank Mellat: 20% Tejarat Bank: 20% Bank Saderat Iran: 5.175% MSY: 5.158% Refah Bank: 5% EN Bank: 5% Public Shareholders: 9.667% – IFB: PSPP1)
President	Reza Darvish
Head coach	Juan Carlos Garrido
League	Persian Gulf Pro League
2023–24	Persian Gulf Pro League, 1st
Home colours Away colours Third colours

Persepolis Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال پرسپولیس, romanized: Bâšgâh-e Futbâl-e Perspolis) is a professional football team from Tehran, Iran. They play in the top league in Iran, the Persian Gulf Pro League. Persepolis is part of a bigger sports club called the Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club.

The club was started in 1963 by Ali Abdo. Since 1968, they have been in Iran's top football division. Their home stadium is Azadi Stadium, where they have played since 1973. Persepolis has a big rivalry with Esteghlal, another Tehran team. This match is called the Tehran derby and is one of the biggest in Asia.

Persepolis is one of the most popular football clubs in Asia. They have won a record fifteen Iranian league titles. They have also won seven Hazfi Cups, five Super Cups, and the 1990–91 Asian Cup Winners' Cup. Many famous players have played for Persepolis, including Ali Karimi and Ali Daei. Ali Parvin is considered the club's greatest player, playing for 18 years.

History of Persepolis F.C.

Shahin F.C. (1942–1967)

Shahin was a football club started in 1942 by Dr. Abbas Ekrami, a teacher. He wanted to teach his students good values, education, and sports.

Shahin became very popular and produced many talented players. These players often played for the Iran national football team. However, the football authorities in Iran saw Shahin's popularity as a problem. Because of this, Shahin F.C. was officially closed down on July 9, 1967.

Starting the Club (1963–1969)

The Persepolis Athletic and Cultural Club was founded in 1963 by Ali Abdo. He was a champion boxer who had returned from the United States.

Persepolis F.C. started its first season in 1968. They signed many players from the old Shahin team. This helped Persepolis become very popular, just like Shahin had been. The team was not very strong at first and played in Iran's second division.

In 1969, Persepolis became the first Iranian club to play in the Asian Champion Club Tournament in Thailand. They were knocked out in the early stages.

Takht Jamshid Cup (1969–1979)

In 1971, Persepolis won its first ever championship in the Iranian League. They finished the season with 13 wins and only 1 draw. In 1972, Ali Abdo announced that Persepolis would be Iran's first professional football club.

In 1973, the Takht Jamshid Cup league was created. Persepolis won this new cup in its first year and again in 1975. They are the most successful club in the history of the Takht Jamshid Cup.

Tough Times and Success (1979–1990)

After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Ali Abdo went back to the United States. The club faced many difficulties. The government took over the club's property.

In 1981, the government tried to change the club's name, but the players and fans did not agree. In 1986, the club was briefly renamed Azadi (meaning "freedom"). However, the players refused to play under the new name. So, in 1987, the club was renamed Pirouzi (meaning "victory"). Even with the new name, fans still called the team Persepolis. On April 10, 2012, the club officially changed its name back to Persepolis.

Despite these challenges, Persepolis remained popular and successful in the 1980s. They won the Tehran League five times in a row. During this time, Ali Parvin was both a player and the manager.

Getting Stronger (1990–2001)

The 1990s were a great time for Persepolis. They won four league championships and two Hazfi Cups. The team had many strong players, and often more than six Persepolis players were on Iran's national team.

They won the national championship in the 1995–96 season. They won the league again the next season. In those years, they also reached the semi-finals of the Asian Champions' Cup.

Many people believe the Persepolis teams from 1996–97 and 1997–98 were among the best Iranian clubs ever. Famous players like Ahmadreza Abedzadeh, Ali Daei, and Mehdi Mahdavikia played for the club then.

After the World Cup 1998, some of Persepolis' best players moved to European clubs. But the team still had talented players like Ali Karimi. They won the 1998–99 championship and the Hazfi Cup. They also won the 1999–2000 league championship.

IPL Era (2001–Present)

Persepolis joined the new Iran Pro League (IPL) when it started in 2001. They won the very first IPL championship in the 2001–02 season. They beat their rival Esteghlal by just one point on the final day.

The club faced some money problems around 2005. In the 2005–06 season, Persepolis finished ninth, which was their lowest ever position. Ali Parvin left the club in February 2006 after fans were upset with the team's performance.

Afshin Ghotbi: The Emperor

Habib Kashani became the club chairman in June 2007. He chose Afshin Ghotbi as the new head coach for the 2007–08 season. Ghotbi promised to win the IPL championship.

Persepolis started the season very well. They were undefeated for 17 games. Near the end of the season, Persepolis was docked six points by FIFA because of unpaid wages to former players. This made the championship race very close.

In the final game of the season, Persepolis played against Sepahan. Sepehr Heidari scored a goal in the last minute of the game. This goal gave Persepolis a 1–0 win and their second IPL championship. Over 110,000 fans were in Azadi Stadium to celebrate. Ghotbi was nicknamed "Emperor" by the fans.

Ghotbi left the club in November 2008 and later became the head coach of the Iran national football team.

Ali Daei's Years

After a few changes in managers, Ali Daei, a former Persepolis and Iran national football team captain, became the head coach. In the 2009–10 season, Persepolis finished fourth in the league. However, they won the Hazfi Cup. This win allowed them to play in the 2011 AFC Champions League.

In the 2010–11 season, Persepolis won the 2010–11 Hazfi Cup again. This was the first time in 13 seasons that Persepolis won two trophies in a row. Daei left the club after this success.

Daei returned to the club for the 2013–14 season. Persepolis finished second that year, just two points behind the champions. This earned them a spot in the AFC Champions League again. Daei was later replaced by Hamid Derakhshan.

Branko Ivanković's Era

On April 6, 2015, Branko Ivanković, a former Iran national football team manager, became the new head coach. On May 15, 2015, Ivanković won his first Tehran derby against Esteghlal.

On October 1, 2015, the club captain Hadi Norouzi sadly passed away at age 30 due to a heart attack. After his death, Persepolis played much better. They won many games and moved up in the league standings.

In the 2016–17 season, Persepolis added new national team players. They had a very strong start and stayed at the top of the league. On April 15, 2017, Persepolis won their third championship in the Persian Gulf Pro League. This was their 10th championship overall. Persepolis also won the league again in the Persian Gulf Pro League 2017–18 season and the Super Cup.

In 2018, Persepolis reached the AFC Champions League finals, but they lost to the Kashima Antlers from Japan. On May 16, 2019, Ivanković led the team to another Persian Gulf Pro League championship. He left the club after four successful years, winning seven trophies.

Colours and Crest

Persepolis Football Club is named after Persepolis, an ancient capital of the Achaemenid Empire. The club's logo uses symbols from this historical site. The first logo had the Faravahar, an old Persian symbol.

Later, the team created a new logo based on an image from a column at Apadana. This image shows two bull heads joined to one body, with a cup on top. The bull represents strength and the cup means championship. The team changed the logo again in the mid-1990s. In 2004, they brought back the Olympic rings and replaced the bulls with the Homa, a mythical bird from Persian architecture. The current logo, released in 2012, combines the older design within a red shield shape. It also includes the name Persepolis in both Persian and English.

One of Persepolis' nicknames is Sorkhpoushan, which means "the reds." This comes from their traditional home kit, which is mostly red. Their usual home kit includes a red shirt, red shorts (sometimes black or white), and red socks. White and black colors are also used in their kits. The away kit is usually white.

Historical kits

1971–72 First National League Title Shishtayiha Match 1973 1975–76 3rd National League Title ACL 3rd place, 1999–2000 League Title 2001–02 1st IPL and 8th National League Title 2007–08 2nd IPL and 9th National League Title 2009–10 4th Hazfi Cup 2010–11 5th Hazfi Cup 10–10–3 Match 2012 2016–17 3rd IPL and 10th National League Title 2017–18 4th IPL and 11th National League Title 2018 ACL Final, 2018–19 League and 6th Hazfi cup 2019–20 Persian Gulf Pro League 2020 AFC Champions League Final

Stadium and Facilities

When Persepolis was first created, the team did not have its own football stadium. The founder, Ali Abdo, bought land in Tehran and built a stadium called Apadana Stadium. However, Persepolis only played one game there because of problems with seating. They then used it as a training ground.

Around the mid-1970s, Ali Abdo had to sell much of the club's property to keep it running. He sold Apadana Stadium in 1975. After the Iranian Islamic Revolution in 1979, the club's properties were taken over by the government.

Azadi Stadium

Before Azadi Stadium was built in 1971, Persepolis played at Amjadieh (Shahid Shiroudi) Stadium. Since 1973, Azadi Stadium has been Persepolis' main home ground. Most of their home games are played here.

Azadi Stadium has hosted many important matches, including the Tehran derby. Persepolis has played Esteghlal 85 times at this stadium. This derby is known as one of the biggest in Asia.

Derafshifar Stadium

Derafshifar Stadium is Persepolis' training ground and where their youth academy is based. It has training areas, a hotel, and pools. The stadium was given to Persepolis in 2013.

Shahid Kazemi Stadium

Persepolis became the owner of Shahid Kazemi Stadium in 2016. This stadium can hold 15,000 people and is used for training and friendly matches. The club plans to improve the complex with new grass pitches and other facilities.

Rivalries

Tehran Derby

Persepolis has a huge rivalry with Esteghlal. This match is called the Tehran Derby. It is one of the most important derbies in Asia and one of the biggest in the world.

The rivalry started because of an older rivalry between Shahin and Taj (now Esteghlal). When Shahin players joined Persepolis, the rivalry continued. Persepolis holds the record for the biggest win in the derby, beating Esteghlal 6–0 on September 7, 1973.

Persepolis vs Sepahan

Persepolis also has a rivalry with Sepahan, a team from Isfahan. This rivalry became stronger in the early 2000s when Sepahan started winning more titles.

Persepolis vs Tractor

The rivalry between Persepolis and Tractor S.C. began when Tractor returned to Iran's top football league after eight years.

Players

First-team squad

No. Position Player 1 GK Alexis Guendouz 2 MF Omid Alishah (Captain) 3 DF Farshad Faraji 4 DF Milad Mohammadi 5 MF Masoud Rigi 6 DF Hossein Kanaanizadegan (3rd Captain) 7 MF Soroush Rafiei (4th Captain) 8 DF Morteza Pouraliganji 9 FW Ali Alipour 10 FW Issa Alekasir 11 MF Farshad Ahmadzadeh 18 FW Abolfazl Babaei U21

No. Position Player 19 MF Vahid Amiri (Vice Captain) 20 DF Ayoub El Amloud 21 MF Saeid Sadeghi 22 GK Amir Reza Rafiei U21 23 MF Milad Sarlak 27 MF Saeid Mehri 29 FW Alireza Khodadadi U21 30 DF Giorgi Gvelesiani 31 FW Lucas João 70 MF Oston Urunov U25 77 MF Mohammad Khodabandelou U25 80 MF Yasin Salmani U23

Reserve Squad

No. Position Player 14 MF Alireza Enayatzadeh U21 15 MF Samir Hoboobati U23 33 DF Erfan Mollapour U23 37 DF Yaghoub Barage U19

No. Position Player 44 GK Mehrshad Asadi U23 67 FW Hossein Hajizadeh U23 76 DF Soheil Sahraei U23 90 DF Erfan Shirvani U23

Other players under contract

No. Position Player MF Omid Fahmi Maleki U23

Out on loan

No. Position Player MF Mohammad Omri (at Malavan until 31 December 2024) MF Mohammad Badpa (at Chadormalou until 30 June 2025)

Retired numbers

No.	Player	Position	Persepolis debut	Last match	Ref.
24	Hadi Norouzi	MF/FW	24 October 2008	25 September 2015

On October 6, 2015, the club retired the number 24 jersey. This was done to honor Hadi Norouzi, who passed away at age 30.

Notable players

For a full list of important players, see List of Persepolis F.C. players.

Club captains

#	Name	Nat	Career in Persepolis	Captaincy	Shirt No.
1	Hamid Jasemian⚱		1968–69	1968–69	5
2	Aziz Asli⚱		1968–71	1969–71	1
3	Buyuk Vatankhah		1968–69 1970–74	1971–72	6
4	Homayoun Behzadi⚱		1967–68 1969–75	1972–74	10
5	Jafar Kashani⚱		1968–69 1970–75	1974	4
6	Ebrahim Ashtiani⚱		1968–69 1970–76	1974–76	2
7	Ali Parvin		1970–88	1976–88	7
8	Mohammad Mayeli Kohan		1976–90	1988–89	19
9	Mohammad Panjali		1977–87 1989–94	1989–94	5
10	Farshad Pious		1985–88 1989–97	1994–96	17
11	Mojtaba Moharrami		1988–97	1996–97	8
12	Hossein Abdi		1987–2000	1997–2000	12
13	Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh		1994–01	2000–01	1
14	Afshin Peyrovani		1993–96 1997–04	2001–04	5
15	Behrouz Rahbarifar		1994–03 2004–06	2004–06	20
16	Karim Bagheri		1996–97 2002–10	2006–10	6
17	Sheys Rezaei		2003–08 2009–12	2010	13
18	Sepehr Heidari		2007–11	2011	3
19	Ali Karimi		1998–01 2008–09 2011–13	2011–12	8
20	Mehdi Mahdavikia		1995–98 2012–13	2012–13	2
21	Mohammad Nouri		2010–15	2013–15	14
22	Hadi Norouzi⚱		2008–13 2014–15	2015	24
23	Alireza Nourmohammadi		2010–16	2015–16	20
24	Jalal Hosseini		2012–14 2016–22	2016–22	4
25	Omid Alishah		2013–17 2018–	2022–	2

^⚱ Passed Away

Hall of Fame

These players are part of the Persepolis F.C. Hall of Fame:

• Ebrahim Ashtiani (Defender)
• Homayoun Behzadi (Forward)
• Hamid Jasemian (Defender)
• Hossein Kalani (Forward)
• Jafar Kashani (Defender)
• Mahmoud Khordbin (Forward)
• Fereydoun Moeini (Midfielder)
• Ali Parvin (Midfielder)
• Kazem Rahimi (Midfielder)
• Hadi Tavoosi (Goalkeeper)
• Büyük Vatankhah (Defender)
• Reza Vatankhah (Defender)

Managers

For a full list of managers, see List of Persepolis F.C. managers.

Notable managers

The table below shows Persepolis managers who won important titles or had a big impact on the team.

Name	Nat	Period	Trophies
Parviz Dehdari		1968–69	Tehran Hazfi Cup: 1969 Runner-up Asian Club Championship Qualification: 1969 Winner
Alan Rogers		1971–76	Iran local league: 1971–72 Winner Takht Jamshid Cup: 1973–74 Winner – 1974–75 Runner-up
Buyuk Vatankhah		1976	Takht Jamshid Cup: 1975–76 Winner
Ali Parvin		1982–93 1998–03 2005–06	Persian Gulf Pro League: 2001–02 Winner Azadegan League: 1998–99, 1999–00 Winners – 1992–93, 2000–01 Runners-up Qods League: 1990 Runner-up Tehran Province League: 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 Winners – 1982, 1984, 1992 Runner-up Tehran Hazfi Cup: 1982, 1987 Winners – 1981 Runner-up Hazfi Cup: 1988, 1992, 1998–99 Winners Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 1991 Winner – 1993 Runner-up Asian Club Championship: 1999–2000 semi-finals (3rd place), 2000–01 semi-finals (3rd place)
Stanko Poklepović		1995–97	Azadegan League: 1995–96, 1996–97 Winners Asian Club Championship: 1996–97 semi-finals (3rd place)
Mustafa Denizli		2006–07 2011–12	Hazfi Cup: 2005–06 Runner-up
Afshin Ghotbi		2007–08	Persian Gulf Pro League: 2007–08 Winner
Ali Daei		2009–11 2013–14	Persian Gulf Pro League: 2013–14 Runner-up Hazfi Cup: 2009–10, 2010–11 Winners
Branko Ivanković		2015–19	Persian Gulf Pro League: 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 Winners, 2015–16 Runner-up Hazfi Cup: 2018–19 Winner Super Cup: 2017, 2018, 2019 Winners AFC Champions League: 2017 semi-finals, 2018 Runners up
Yahya Golmohammadi		2012–13 2020–24	Persian Gulf Pro League: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23 Winners, 2021–22 Runner-up Hazfi Cup: 2022–23 Winner, 2013 Runner-up Super Cup: 2020, 2023 Winner AFC Champions League: 2020 Runners up

Personnel

Technical staff

Position	Staff
Manager	Juan Carlos Garrido
First-team coach	Xavi Oliva Karim Bagheri
Assistant coaches	Jalal Hosseini
Fitness coach	Idriss Saissi
Assistant Fitness coach	Saman Eskandari
Goalkeeping coach	Jorcey Anísio
Assistant Goalkeeping coach	Javad Bagheri
Analyzers	Mehrdad Khanban Siamak Tehrani
Head of the medical committee	DR Farid Zarineh
Club doctor	DR Alireza Ghalyayi
Physiotherapist	Ali Azam Moadi
Academy director	Mohsen Khalili
U21 Head coach	Mahmoud Ansari
U19 Head coach	Mehdi Atalou
U16 Head coach	Farzad Ashoubi
U14 Head coach	Hassan Khanmohammadi
Team Manager	Afshin Peyrovani
Women Team Manager	Hoda Khosh Bayan
Media Officer	Alireza Ashraf
Director of International Relations	Amir Ali Hosseini

Management

Office	Name
Chairman	Reza Darvish
Board secretary	Hossein Shahriyari
Board members	Hossein Shahriyari Hossein Khabiri Mohammad Delbari Majid Pourahmadi Peyman Haddadi

Honours

Persepolis F.C. Honours

Type		Competition	Titles	Runners-up	Winning Years	Runners-up Years
Domestic	National	League	16	10	1971–72, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99 *, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19*, 2019–20, 2020–21, 2022–23*, 2023–24	1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1989–90, 1992–93, 1993–94, 2000–01, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2021–22
		Hazfi Cup	7s	2	1987–88, 1991–92, 1998–99*, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2018–19*, 2022–23*	2005–06, 2012–13
		Super Cup	5	1	2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2023	2021
		Espandi Cup	1	–	1979–80	–
	Provincial	Tehran Football League	7	4	1982–83, 1986–87 ♦, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1989–90, 1990–91, 2011–12♦	1970–71, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1991–92
		Tehran Hazfi Cup	4	2	1978–79, 1981–82, 1986–87♦, 2011–12♦	1968–69, 1980–81
Continental		Asian Cup Winners' Cup	1	1	1990–91¤	1992–93
		AFC Champions League	–	2	–	2018, 2020

•      record
• ^¤First ever winners
• ^* Won League title and Hazfi Cup
• ^♦ Won Tehran League title and Tehran Hazfi Cup
• ^s shared record

Continental History

Persepolis has a rich history playing against other clubs in Asia.

Individual Honours

Asian Football Awards

• Asian Young Footballer of the Year

* 1997 – Mehdi Mahdavikia

• Asian Footballer of the Year

* 1990 – Farshad Pious (Runner-up) * 1996 – Ali Daei (Runner-up) * 1997 – Khodadad Azizi (Runner-up) * 1997 – Karim Bagheri (Runner-up) * 2012 – Ali Karimi (Runner-up) * 2019 – Alireza Beiranvand (Runner-up)

Iran National Team Honours

• Iran World Cup Captains

* 1978 – Ali Parvin * 1998 – Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh

• AFC Asian Cup MVP Award

* 1996 – Khodadad Azizi

Statistics and Records

Ali Parvin holds the record for most appearances for Persepolis, playing 341 games from 1970 to 1988. Afshin Peyrovani has the most league appearances with 209 games. The goalkeeper with the most appearances is Alireza Beiranvand, with 189 games.

Ali Daei is Persepolis' most capped international player, with 149 games for Iran. Farshad Pious is the club's all-time top goalscorer, with 153 goals in 211 matches. Persepolis holds the Iranian league record for most titles (15) and most times finishing as runner-up (9). The team also has a record of scoring in 36 games in a row. They also went 22 games without losing.

Ownership

Persepolis is owned by the public. For a long time, the club was owned by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. In April 2024, a group of six Iranian banks bought 85% of the club. This change happened because of rules from the Asian Football Confederation. About 10% of the club's shares are available for people to buy on the Tehran Stock Exchange.

Sponsorship

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Persepolis League Sponsors

Period	Kit Manufacturer		Shirt Sponsor
2015–16	Uhlsport		T.T Bank	None	Hamrahe Aval
2016–17¤	Joma		Hamrahe Aval
2017–18			Irancell
2018–19	Li-Ning
2019–20	Uhlsport		Irancell		Tourism Bank
2020–21			Tourism Bank
2021–22			Tourism Bank		Irancell
2022–23			Irancell
2023–24	Merooj
2024–25			Saba Battery

^¤ In 2016–17, Persepolis wore Givova kits for the first ten matches of the season.

Supporters

Persepolis is one of the most popular football teams in Iran. It is estimated that the club has over 40 million fans. The club is based in Tehran but has fans all over the country. Persepolis also has many fans in Afghanistan and countries around the Persian Gulf.

Famous fans

Affiliated Clubs

Persepolis has connections with these clubs:

• AC Milan
• Rubin Kazan
• Beira-Mar
• Real Madrid

Reserve Teams

• Persepolis Academy
• Persepolis B
• Persepolis Qaemshahr
• Persepolis Shomal
• Persepolis women

See also

In Spanish: Persépolis Football Club para niños