kids encyclopedia robot

Saipa F.C. facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
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 SAIPA
Chairman Rasoul Khatibi
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 is part of a larger sports group called Saipa Cultural and Athletic Corporation.

Even though they are a strong team, Saipa has never had a huge number of fans. In the 2006–07 season, a famous player and coach named Ali Daei led them to win their only Persian Gulf Cup title. Saipa has also won the Azadegan League twice and the Hazfi Cup once.

History of Saipa Football Club

How Saipa FC Started

In 1989, the SAIPA car company decided to create its own football team. They bought a team that was playing in the 4th division of Tehran's city league. They renamed it Saipa F.C.

The team quickly moved up through the leagues. By 1991, the club, which was based in Karaj at the time, was playing in the 2nd division. That same year, they joined the 1st division of Tehran's local league. They won the Tehran city championship and the Tehran Super Cup. This allowed them to play in Iran's top league, the Azadegan League.

Winning in 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 got promoted back to the top league the very next year. Since then, the club has usually stayed in the middle of the league table.

Playing in the Persian Gulf Pro League

The Ali Daei Years

By 2001, Saipa usually finished in the middle of the league. In 2006, the club signed Ali Daei, a famous Iranian football star, from another team. Saipa had finished third the season before. With a new coach, Werner Lorant, the team hoped to win the title.

However, Lorant was fired early in the season. Ali Daei then became both a player and the coach. Daei scored the winning goal in the game that secured the title for Saipa. He then became the full-time coach. He also coached the national team but stayed with Saipa until the end of the season.

Moving Back to Tehran

After winning the title, Saipa played in the AFC Champions League. But then they went back to finishing in the middle of the league table. Before the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League season, Saipa announced they had moved their home city from Karaj to nearby Tehran.

Saipa Football Club T3
Saipa Football Club training in February 2019

Club Achievements

Saipa Football Club has won several important titles:

  • Iran Pro League/First Division
    • Champions: 1993–94*, 1994–95, 2006–07
  • Hazfi Cup
    • Winners: 1993–94*
  • Tehran Super Cup
    • Champions: 1993
  • Tehran Province League
    • Champions: 1992-1993
  • * Won League title and Hazfi Cup (double)

Players

Current Squad

Here are the players currently on the Saipa 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
9 Iran FW Peyman Ranjbari
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
26 Iran DF Mahyar Zahmatkesh
27 Iran FW Mehdi Kiani Dehkiani
30 Iran MF Mehdi Karbalaei
33 Iran GK Mohammadreza Bagheri
35 Iran MF Abolfazl Karamollahi
36 Iran DF Iliya Kameli
37 Iran MF Mehdi Khodayari
40 Iran DF Ehsan Joudaki
41 Iran DF Yasin Jorjani
66 Iran MF Ali Dehghan
77 Iran FW Ali Zare
98 Iran GK Farzad Tayebipour
99 Iran FW Alireza Maleki

Players on Loan

These players are currently playing for other teams:

No. Position Player
Iran FW Amirhossein Amanipour (at Mes Rafsanjan until 30 June 2026)

Player Records

Most Appearances

These players have played the most games for Saipa:

# 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
6 Ali Zeinali Iran Iran 150
7 Omid Sharifinasab Iran Iran 149
8 Javad Ashtiani Iran Iran 143
9 Hamed Fallahzadeh Iran Iran 138
10 Ebrahim Shakouri Iran Iran 133

Top Scorers

These players have scored the most goals for Saipa:

# 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
6 Sajjad Shahbazzadeh Iran Iran 21
7 Mehdi Torabi Iran Iran 20
8 Javad Kazemian Iran Iran 16
9 Arman Ramezani Iran Iran 15
10 Omid Sharifinasab Iran Iran 14

Club Management

Coaching Staff

Here are the people who help manage and coach the Saipa team:

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

Past Managers

Many different managers have led Saipa since 1993:

Name Time Period Trophies Won
Iran Bijan Zolfagharnasab 1993–97 2 Azadegan League, Hazfi Cup
Iran Nasrollah Abdollahi 1997–00
Iran Behtash Fariba 2000–01
Iran Hamid Alidoosti 2001–02
Italy Giovanni Mei 2002–03
Iran Mohammad Mayeli Kohan 2003–04
Iran Bijan Zolfagharnasab 2004–06
Germany Werner Lorant 2006
Iran Ali Daei 2006–08 1 Persian Gulf Cup
Germany Pierre Littbarski 2008
Iran Mohammad Mayeli Kohan 2008–11
Iran Majid Saleh 2011–12
Iran Mojtaba Taghavi 2012–13
Turkey Engin Firat 2013–14
Iran Majid Jalali 2014–16
Iran Hossein Faraki 2016–17
Iran Ali Daei 2017–19
Iran Ebrahim Sadeghi 2019–21
Iran Faraz Kamalvand 2021

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Saipa FC para niños

kids search engine
Saipa F.C. Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.