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Saipa
سايپا
Saipa Football Club de Tehran.svg
Full name Saipa Football Club
Nickname(s) Carmakers
The Foxes
Oranges
Founded 1 February 1989; 36 years ago (1989-02-01)
Ground Shahid Dastgerdi Stadium
Ground Capacity 8,250
Owner Aihan Amerian
Chairman Kamran Amerian
Manager Ebrahim Sadeghi
League Azadegan League
2023-24 Azadegan League, 5th
Third colours

Saipa Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال سايپا, Bashgah-e Futbal-e Saipa) is a professional football team from Tehran, Iran. The club is owned by SAIPA, a big Iranian car company. Saipa FC has won the Persian Gulf Cup once, in the 2006–07 season, with famous player Ali Daei as their coach. They have also won the Azadegan League twice and the Hazfi Cup once. Saipa is part of a larger sports club called Saipa Cultural and Athletic Corporation.

History of Saipa Football Club

Saipa Football Club T3
Team training in February 2019

How Saipa FC Started

Saipa Company decided to create its own football team in 1989. They bought a team that was playing in the 4th division of Tehran's city league. This new team was renamed Saipa F.C. They quickly moved up through the leagues. By 1991, the team, which was based in Karaj at the time, was playing in the 2nd division.

In the same year, they joined the 1st division of Tehran's local league. Saipa won the Tehran city championship and the Tehran Super Cup. This allowed them to play in Iran's top league, the Azadegan League.

Winning the Azadegan League

In their very first year in the Azadegan League, Saipa won the championship! They also won the Hazfi Cup that year. They won the league championship again in 1994. In 1995, the team moved down to the second division, but they quickly came back up the next year. Since then, the club has usually stayed in the middle of the league table.

The Ali Daei Era

Around 2001, Saipa FC was a steady team, often finishing in the middle of the league. Then, in 2006, they signed Ali Daei, a very famous Iranian football player. The team had finished third the season before and hoped to win the title with their new coach, Werner Lorant.

However, Lorant was soon replaced, and Ali Daei became both a player and the coach! Daei scored the winning goal in the game that secured the title for Saipa. This was their only Persian Gulf Cup title. After this success, Daei became the full-time coach.

Moving to Tehran

After winning the league title, Saipa played in the AFC Champions League. However, they soon returned to their usual mid-table position. Before the 2015–16 season, Saipa announced they were moving their home city from Karaj to Tehran.

Saipa's Achievements Over the Years

This table shows how Saipa has performed in different competitions since 1993.

Season League Position Hazfi Cup ACL
1993–94 Azadegan League 1st Winners did not qualify
1994–95 1st Second round
1995–96 16th 4th Place
1996–97 Second Division 2nd did not qualify
1997–98 Azadegan League 7th Not held
1998–99 4th
1999–2000 3rd Semifinal
2000–01 7th Semifinal
2001–02 Pro League 11th
2002–03 6th Quarterfinals
2003–04 13th Semifinal
2004–05 13th Quarterfinals
2005–06 3rd Round of 16
2006–07 1st Quarterfinals
2007–08 11th Round of 16 Quarterfinals
2008–09 10th Round of 16 did not qualify
2009–10 8th Third Round
2010–11 11th Fourth Round
2011–12 8th Round of 16
2012–13 9th Round of 16
2013–14 8th Round of 16
2014–15 7th Round of 16
2015–16 8th Semifinals
2016–17 13th Semifinals
2017–18 4th Round of 16
2018–19 7th Semifinals Play-off
2019–20 14th Quarterfinals did not qualify
2020–21 15th Round of 16
2021-22 Azadegan League 14th Third Round
2022-23

Club Honours

Saipa FC has won several important titles:

  • Iran Pro League/First Division
    • Champions: 1993–94, 1994–95, 2006–07
  • Hazfi Cup
    • Winners: 1993–94

Current Players

Here are the players currently on the Saipa FC team.

No. Position Player
1 Iran GK Nima Alipour
2 Iran DF Moein Ghorbani
4 Iran DF Seyed Jalal Abdi
5 Iran DF Alireza Khoshkafa
6 Iran MF Mahmoud Shafiei
7 Iran MF Sadegh Barani
10 Iran FW Seyed Peyman Miri
11 Iran FW Milad Jahani
12 Iran GK Erfan Bahri
13 Iran DF Majid Ghashghaei
14 Iran MF Mehrshad Seydi
15 Iran DF Erfan Hassanpour
16 Iran FW Mohammadhossein Alipour
18 Iran FW Reza Galedar
19 Iran FW Ali Sobhani
No. Position Player
21 Iran FW Amirhossein Yahyazadeh
22 Iran GK Alireza Mokarram
23 Iran DF Navid Baadab
24 Iran GK Mohammadreza Bagheri
26 Iran DF Mahyar Zahmatkesh
28 Iran FW Amirhossein Amanipour
30 Iran MF Mehdi Karbalaei
35 Iran MF Abolfazl Karamollahi
37 Iran MF Mehdi Khodayari
40 Iran DF Ehsan Joudaki
41 Iran DF Yasin Jorjani

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77 Iran FW Ali Zare
98 Iran GK Farzad Tayebipour
99 Iran FW Alireza Maleki

Club Records

Top Players by Appearances

These players have played the most games for Saipa FC:

# Name Nationality Games Played
1 Ebrahim Sadeghi Iran Iran 452
2 Majid Ayoubi Iran Iran 338
3 Roozbeh Shahalidoost Iran Iran 254
4 Hamed Shiri Iran Iran 166
5 Mohsen Khalili Iran Iran 156

Top Goal Scorers

These players have scored the most goals for Saipa FC:

# Name Nationality Goals Scored
1 Mohsen Khalili Iran Iran 62
2 Karim Ansarifard Iran Iran 56
3 Ebrahim Sadeghi Iran Iran 41
4 Amin Manouchehri Iran Iran 25
5 Hamed Shiri Iran Iran 22

Coaching Staff

The people who manage and train the Saipa FC team are:

Role Name
Head coach Iran Faraz Kamalvand
First team coach Iran Asghar Maziar
Assistant coach Iran Mehdi Zarei
Iran Kazem Borjlou
Goalkeeping coach Iran Farshad Bakhtiarizadeh
Fitness coach Iran Ali Asghar GhorbanaliPour
Doctor Iran Mahyar Mortazavi
Analyzer Iran Mohammad Palizvan
Technical Manager Iran Asghar Hajiloo
B team Manager Iran Kianoush Rahmati

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Saipa FC para niños

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