Sepahan S.C. facts for kids
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| Full name | Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | Yellow Storm of Asia Yellow Lions of Isfahan |
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| Short name | Sepahan | |||
| Founded | 5 October 1953 | |||
| Ground | Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 75,000 | |||
| Owner | Mobarakeh Steel Company | |||
| President | Mahdi Azarbaijani | |||
| Manager | Hugo Almeida | |||
| League | Persian Gulf Pro League | |||
| 2023–24 | Persian Gulf Pro League, 3rd | |||
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Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club, usually called Sepahan, is a famous Iranian sports club from Isfahan. They are best known for their amazing football team. This team plays in the Persian Gulf Pro League, which is the top football league in Iran.
Sepahan made history in the 2002–03 season by winning the Pro League title. This was a big deal because it ended the long winning streak of two big clubs from Tehran, Persepolis and Esteghlal. Sepahan is also the first Iranian club to win the league three times in a row! They even reached the final of the AFC Champions League in 2007. This success helped them qualify for the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup, making them the first Iranian team to ever play in that tournament. So far, Sepahan has won five league titles and four Hazfi Cups, making them one of the most successful football clubs in Iran.
Contents
The Story of Sepahan Football Club
How Sepahan Started
The Sepahan football club began in 1953. It was first called Shahin Isfahan. A famous Iranian football player, Mahmoud Hariri, helped create the team. Shahin Isfahan was part of a bigger, more popular club called Shahin F.C. from Tehran.
In 1963, Shahin Isfahan became the champions of Iran. They represented their home, Isfahan Province, and played against a team from Tehran. Later, in 1967, the Shahin organization in Tehran had some problems. Because of this, the Isfahan team had to stop playing under the Shahin name. That's when they changed their name to Sepahan.
From 1974 to 1978, Sepahan played in a league called the Takht Jamshid Cup. In their very first season in this cup, they finished in 10th place. They even finished ahead of their city rivals, Zob Ahan.
Sepahan After the Revolution
After the Iranian Revolution in 1979, Sepahan played in local leagues in Isfahan for many years. Then, in 1993, a company called Siman-e-Sepahan (Sepahan Cement) bought the club. The team then played in the Azadegan League.
In 2000, another company, Foolad Mobarakeh (which means Mobarakeh Steel Mill), bought the team from the cement factory. This is why the team is now called Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan. With the support of this new owner, the club has grown a lot and gained many loyal fans in Isfahan.
Sepahan's Golden Years
Sepahan really showed how good they were in the 2002–03 season. They won the IPL title! This win meant they could play in the AFC Champions League tournament. A coach named Farhad Kazemi led them to this victory.
They also won the Hazfi Cup in 2004. This allowed them to play in the AFC Champions League again. However, they didn't do as well in the 2004 and 2005 tournaments.
With a new coach, Luka Bonačić, Sepahan won the Hazfi Cup again in 2006. This win helped them get a spot in the AFC Champions League 2007. They played incredibly well in this tournament! They finished first in their group and beat strong teams from Japan and the UAE. This led them to the final of the tournament for the first time ever. Even though they lost the final match, reaching it was a huge achievement. By getting to the final, Sepahan became the first Iranian club to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup.
In the first match of the FIFA Club World Cup 2007, Sepahan beat Waitakere United from New Zealand. This win took them to the quarter-finals. There, they played against Urawa Red Diamonds again. Unfortunately, Urawa Reds won, stopping Sepahan from reaching the semi-finals against AC Milan.
Sepahan won the Hazfi Cup again in 2007. This meant they qualified for the AFC Champions League 2008. But they couldn't repeat their amazing success from the year before.
They qualified for the AFC Champions League for the third time in a row in 2009. They finished second in the Persian Gulf Cup 2007-08. Sepahan lost the league title by just one point to Persepolis F.C. in the very last match of the season.
In the 2010 Season, Sepahan hired Amir Ghalenoei as their coach. Under his leadership, the club won the championship title two weeks before the season ended!
In the 2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup, Sepahan started slowly but then played very well. They won the league title again, two weeks before the season finished. They also made it to the knockout stage of the AFC Champions League. They won their group, which was a very tough one. This was their third championship, making them the most successful team in the Iran Pro League.
The Kranjčar Years
Sepahan won the league title again in the 2011–12 season. This time, their coach was Zlatko Kranjčar from Croatia. Sepahan also reached the quarter-finals of the 2012 AFC Champions League.
However, in the 2013 AFC Champions League, Sepahan struggled. They were in a tough group and couldn't make it past the group stage. They lost several games, including a big 4–1 loss to a Saudi team. This meant they had to leave the 2013 AFC Champions League early.
In the 2013–14 Iran Pro League season, Sepahan finished 4th. This meant they missed out on the AFC Champions League for the first time in five years. Coach Kranjčar decided to leave the club, but then changed his mind and stayed for another season.
The Faraki Years
Sepahan started the 2014–15 season with three wins in a row. But then they didn't win their next four matches. So, on September 8, 2014, Kranjčar resigned. He was replaced by Hossein Faraki, who used to manage another team called Foolad.
On May 15, 2015, Sepahan won their match 2–0. At the same time, another team, Tractor, drew their game. This meant Sepahan won their fifth league title! They won by just one point. With this league win, Sepahan returned to the AFC Champions League after missing out for a year.
On November 12, 2015, Hossein Faraki left Sepahan. He said things weren't working out for him.
Later Years and New Coaches
After Hossein Faraki left, the club hired Igor Štimac, a former coach for the Croatia national team. Igor Štimac won his first game. But after that, Sepahan didn't win a game for 10 weeks. This made things very difficult for the team.
Sepahan was also knocked out of the Hazfi Cup by their rivals, Zob Ahan. They also left the AFC Champions League after losing five times in the first round. Igor Štimac resigned on April 20, 2016. Sepahan, who were league champions, ended up in 11th place.
Before the 2016–17 season, Abdollah Veisi became the new manager. He had just led another team to a league title. But Sepahan's poor results continued. So, they brought back Zlatko Kranjčar as their new manager. Sepahan finished that season in 5th place.
Sepahan's Reserve Team
Sepahan is one of the few football clubs in Iran that has a senior reserve team. This team is called Foolad Sepahan Novin F.C.. As of the 2007/08 season, they play in the 3rd Division and the Hazfi Cup. The reserve team was actually promoted to the Iran Pro League from the Azadegan League. But they weren't allowed to play in the same league as the main Sepahan team. This is because of FIFA rules that say two teams from the same club cannot play in the same league.
Big Rivalries
The Isfahan Derby
The Nagsh-e Jahan derby is a special football match played every year in Isfahan, Iran. It's between the city's two main rival teams: Zob Ahan F.C. and Sepahan. Nagsh-e Jahan is a very important square in the old part of Isfahan. This match is one of the most popular football events in Iran each year.
The Isfahan derby started in the 1970s. Zob Ahan and Sepahan played against each other in the Takht Jamshid Cup seasons. Their rivalry started again in the 1990s when they played in the Azadegan League. Since then, the two teams have met twice a year.
Rivalries with Tehran Teams
Sepahan also has important rivalries with two big football clubs from Tehran: Esteghlal and Persepolis. These matches are known as the Esteghlal–Sepahan and Persepolis–Sepahan rivalries.
Playing in the FIFA Club World Cup
One of the most important achievements for Sepahan football club is playing in the Club World Cup in 2007. This makes Sepahan a very special club in Iranian football history.
For people in Isfahan and football fans, November 2nd is a day to remember Sepahan. On that day, Sepahan's name was placed alongside huge teams like AC Milan from Italy, Boca Juniors from Argentina, and Urawa Red Diamonds from Japan. To this day, Sepahan is the first and only Iranian football team to have represented Iran in the Club World Cup.
Club Stadium
The Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium is a large stadium in Isfahan. It is the home ground for Sepahan. The stadium is used for football matches. It was built in 2003 and can hold 45,000 people. The stadium was later expanded, and its final capacity will be 75,000.
Sepahan also uses another stadium called Foolad Shahr Stadium for some of its matches. This stadium is also the home ground for their rivals, Zob Ahan.
In 2024, something very important happened: female fans of the club were allowed to watch the team's match in the stadium for the first time since a ban in 1979.
Sepahan's Achievements
National League Titles
- Persian Gulf Pro League
- Winners (5 times): 2002–03, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15
- Runners-up (4 times): 2007–08, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2022–23
- 2nd Division
- Winner (1 time): 1973–74
National Cup Titles
- Hazfi Cup
- Winners (5 times): 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2012–13, 2023–24
Continental Achievements
- AFC Champions League
- Runners-up (1 time): 2007
Sepahan Players
Current Team Squad
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- U21 = Under-21 level player. U23 = Under-23 level player.
Coaches and Staff
Current Coaches
| Job | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager |  Hugo Almeida |
| Assistant coaches |  Hossein Ghadami Vahid Esfahani |
| Goalkeepers coach | Mohammadreza Farahani |
Head Coaches Through the Years
Here is a list of the main coaches who have led Sepahan since 1953:
| Name | Country | Years |
|---|---|---|
| Mahmoud Hariri |  |
1953–1960 |
| Team of Coaches | 1960–1970 | |
| Mahmoud Yavari | |
1970–1978 |
| Zdravko Rajkov |  |
1978 |
| Mahmoud Yavari | |
1978–1980 |
| Masoud Tabesh | |
1980–1993 |
| Firouz Karimi | |
1993–1994 |
| Nasser Hejazi | |
1994–1995 |
| Mahmoud Yavari | |
1995–1996 |
| Rasoul Korbekandi | |
1996–1998 |
| Mehdi Monajati | |
1998–1999 |
| Hamid Nadimian | |
1999–2001 |
| Stanko Poklepović |  |
2001–2002 |
| Farhad Kazemi | |
2002–2005 |
| Stanko Poklepović | |
2005 |
| Edson Tavares |  |
2005–2006 |
| Luka Bonačić | |
2006–2008 |
| Jorvan Vieira | |
2008 |
| Engin Firat |  |
2008 |
| Hossein Charkhabi | |
2008 |
| Farhad Kazemi | |
2008–2009 |
| Amir Ghalenoei | |
2009–2011 |
| Luka Bonačić | |
2011 |
| Zlatko Kranjčar | |
2011–2014 |
| Hossein Faraki | |
2014–2015 |
| Igor Štimac | |
2015–2016 |
| Ghasem Zaghinejad* | |
2016 |
| Abdollah Veisi | |
2016–2017 |
| Zlatko Kranjčar | |
2017–2018 |
| Mansour Ebrahimzadeh | |
2018 |
| Amir Ghalenoei | |
2018–2020 |
| Miguel Teixeira* | |
2020 |
| Moharram Navidkia | |
2020–2022 |
| José Morais | |
2022–Present |
Club Leaders
| Job | Name |
|---|---|
| President | Manouchehr Nikfar (Acting) |
| Chairman of the Board | Mojtaba Lotfi |
| Board Members | Mojtaba Lotfi Mohammad Reza Saket Karim Fakharezadeh Ali Pezeshk Alireza Afzal |
Images for kids
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The general secretary of Ahed (left) and the president of Sepahan (right) in 2009
See also
In Spanish: Sepahan Sport Club para niños
