Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.

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Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.
Esteghlal Khuzestan FC logo.png
Full nameEsteghlal Khuzestan Football Club
Founded2011; 10 years ago (2011)
GroundTakhti Stadium (Ahvaz)
Capacity15000
OwnerIran National Steel Industrial Group
ManagerAmir khalife asl
LeagueAzadegan League
2020–21Azadegan League, 6th
WebsiteClub website
Current season

Esteghlal Khuzestan Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال استقلال خوزستان, Bashgah-e Futbal-e Esteqlâl Xuzestan), commonly known as Esteghlal Khuzestan, is an Iranian football club based in Ahvaz, Iran. They currently compete in the Azadegan League after being relegated from Persian Gulf Pro League in the 2018–19 season.

This football club is different from Esteghlal Ahvaz.[1] In 2011 they bought Esteghlal Jonub's licence to compete in the Azadegan League. They finished 2012–13 season in 2nd place of their group and qualified to the promotion play-off. However, they were awarded the direct promotion IRIFF after group's winner, Shahrdari Tabriz's relegation due to match-fixing. They won the Persian Gulf Pro League title in 2015–16 season.

History[]

Founding and early years[]

Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C. was established just before the start of the 2011–2012 season by acquiring the license of Esteghlal Jonub Tehran F.C. who have just been promoted to the Azadegan League (Iran's 1st division). After an average 6th-place finish in the team's inaugural year in the Azadegan League in 2011–2012, the next season (2012–13) turned out to be a different year, with a 2nd-placed finish in group B, the club was promoted to the Iran Pro League for the first time in their history.

Promotion to the Pro League[]

In Esteghlal Khuzestan's first year in the top flight they finished 12th, escaping relegation play-off by better goal difference. In the Hazfi Cup Esteghlal Khuzestan exited the competition in the Round of 32 after a shock defeat to Azadegan League side Alvand Hamedan. Esteghlal finished the 2014–15 season 14th, meaning they would have to play in a relegation play-off against the winner of the Azadegan League promotion play-off winner. Esteghlal Khuzestan defeated Mes Kerman 3–0 on aggregate meaning they had secured a spot in the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League season.

2015–16 season[]

Esteghlal Khuzestan players celebrating after winning league title in 2015–16 season

Before the start of the 2015–16 season Esteghlal Khuzestan signed many of Foolad Novin's players and were a major surprise, as they started well in the season. Esteghlal Khuzestan had four consecutive winning streak at the 12th week, which made Esteghlal Khuzestan finished champions of the first half of the season.[2][3] After a great result with Abdollah Veisi, Esteghlal Khuzestan managed to keep their shape at the second half of the season. On January 1, 2016 Esteghlal Khuzestan lost to Persepolis which made the race tighter for first place, and also made Esteghlal Khuzestan fall to second place, Esteghlal became first after 17th week. The head coach Abdollah Veisi later said that our main goal is to take place at AFC Champions League.[4] Esteghlal Khuzestan qualified to the AFC Champions League on 8 May, for the first time in their history. Esteghlal Khuzestan won the league title on 13 May after a 2–0 win over Zob Ahan.

Relegation[]

Following a poor start to the following season, 6 points were deduced from Esteghlal Khuzestan by FIFA. Dariush Yazdi was sacked and Karim Boostani replaced the coach. Results ultimately did not improve under Boostani and he was replaced with Mohammad Alavi. Esteghlal Khuzestan were relegated from the Persian Gulf Pro League to Azadegan League on 3 May 2019, after a 4–2 loss to Esteghlal.

Stadium[]

Main article: Ghadir Stadium
See also: Takhti Stadium (Ahvaz)

After the takeover of the club in 2011, the club played its home matches in Ahvaz's Takhti Stadium. After the club promoted to the Iran Pro League, it was decided that club continuing to play at Takthi, while big games like Persepolis, Esteghlal and Foolad playing at newly built Ghadir Stadium. In 2015, the club moved to Ghadir permanently, as city rivals Foolad set to move to its private ground.

Rivals[]

The team competes in Ahvaz derby against two-times Iran Pro League winner Foolad. The teams play against each other usually two times a year. The first time the teams met each other was in season 2013–14 which Esteghlal Khuzestan lost that game.

The derby became more Serious after Esteghlal Khuzestan finished on top of the league in 2015–16 half season in a big surprise for all teams and the week performance of Foolad. Because of Foolad fans as they were worried about becoming the second team of Ahvaz and since then the derby is more important than it used to be.

Honours[]

Domestic competitions[]

League[]

Cup[]

Season-by-season[]

The table below shows the achievements of the club in various competitions.

Season League Position Hazfi Cup Asia Notes
2011–12 Azadegan League 6th Round of 32 Did not qualify
2012–13 2nd Round of 32 Promoted
2013–14 Persian Gulf Pro League 12th Round of 32
2014–15 14th Round of 16 Relegation play-off
2015–16 1st Round of 16 Super Cup
2016–17 7th Round of 32 Round of 16
2017–18 12th Semi-Final Did not qualify
2018–19 16th Round of 8 Relegated

Continental record[]

Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate
2017 AFC Champions League Group B Saudi Arabia Al-Fateh 1–0 1–1 2nd
United Arab Emirates Al-Jazira 1–1 0–1
Qatar Lekhwiya 1–1 2–1
Round of 16 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal 1–2 1–2 2–4

Players[]

First-team squad[]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK Iran IRN Mohammadreza Ghavidel
2 DF Iran IRN Jalal Abdi
3 MF Iran IRN
4 DF Iran IRN
6 MF Iran IRN Hossein Bahrami
7 MF Iran IRN Milad Safaei
8 MF Iran IRN
9 FW Iran IRN
10 FW Iran IRN Farshad Janfaza (Captain)
14 DF Iran IRN
15 FW Iran IRN
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 MF Iran IRN
21 MF Iran IRN
23 DF Iran IRN
28 DF Iran IRN
36 DF Iran IRN Behrouz Afshar
40 DF Iran IRN Ali Helichi
66 MF Iran IRN Ali Badavi
77 FW Iran IRN
78 MF Iran IRN

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers winter 2018–19.

Officials[]

Coaching staff[]

Staff[5] Name
Head coach Iran
Assistant coach Iran Behrouz Makvandi
Goalkeeping coach Iran Karim Boostani
Fitness coach Brazil Rafael Bispo
International manager Iran Behdad Bayat
Doctor Iran Jalal Heydari
Physiotherapist Iran Sadegh Norouzi
Analyzer Iran Habib Eslami
B Team Manager Iran Behrouz Makvandi
Team Manager Iran Afshin Komaei

List of managers[]

Period Name G W D L GF GA GD Honours
2011–2013 Iran Majid Bagherinia 52 22 15 15 52 41 +11 Promotion to the Persian Gulf Cup
2013–2016 Iran Abdollah Veisi 132 55 47 30 142 131 +21 Azadegan League
Persian Gulf Pro League
2016–2017 Iran Sirous Pourmousavi 30 10 11 9 36 34 +2
2017–2018 Iran Abdollah Veisi 30 8 10 12 29 36 -7
2018 Iran Dariush Yazdi 12 2 4 6 8 18 -10
2018–2019 Iran Karim Boostani 8 0 2 6 5 11 -6
2019 Iran Karim Ghanbari (caretaker) 4 1 0 3 3 6 -3

2020 |Iran (caretaker)

Players in International Tournaments[]

Players who were member of their national team squad at International Competitions while playing for Esteghlal Khuzestan.

Cup Players
Equatorial Guinea 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Mali Soumbeïla Diakité

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ اهواز صاحب دومین استقلال شد/ امتیاز استقلال جنوب به اهواز انتقال یافت (in Persian). Goal.com. 2011-07-31. Retrieved 2013-11-10.
  2. ^ http://www.varzesh3.com/news/1290187/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%82%D9%87%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%85-%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%B4%D8%AF%D8%9F
  3. ^ "استقلال خوزستان قهرمان نیم فصل شد". 18 December 2015.
  4. ^ http://www.varzesh3.com/news/1314554/%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8-%D9%84%D9%88-%D9%81%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF
  5. ^ "اعلام رقم قرارداد بازیکنان و کادر فنی استقلال خوزستان". 22 July 2014.

External links[]

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