Persian Gulf Pro League

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Persian Gulf Pro League
لیگ برتر خلیج فارس

Founded	2 November 2001
Country	Iran
Confederation	AFC
Number of teams	16
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	Azadegan League
Domestic cup(s)	Hazfi Cup Iranian Super Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Champions League
Current champions	Persepolis (14th title) (2020–21)
Most championships	Persepolis (14 titles)
Most appearances	Jalal Hosseini (494)
Top goalscorer	Reza Enayati (149 goals)
TV partners	IRIB TV3 IRIB Varzesh IRIB Shoma Jame Jam TV IRIB Provincial Channels Iraqiya Sports
Website	persianleague
Current: 2021–22 Persian Gulf Pro League

The Persian Gulf Pro League (Persian: لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, Lig-e Bartar-e Khalij-e Fārs), formerly known as the Iran Pro League (Persian: لیگ برتر ایران, Lig-e bartar-e Irān), is the highest division of professional football in Iran. It is the top-level football league in Iran since its foundation on 2 November 2001. Each year, its top team becomes the Iranian football champion, and the two lowest finishers are relegated to Azadegan League.

Since 2013, the league comprises 16 teams. The winner and runner-up of the Persian Gulf Pro League along with the Hazfi Cup champion are automatically qualified for the AFC Champions League group stages. The third of the Persian Gulf Pro League is qualified for the AFC Champions League Play-off round. The bottom two teams in the league are relegated to Azadegan League. In the past, the format and number of teams were changed for various times. Persepolis is the most successful club with seven titles.

History[]

To the turn of the millennium the Iranian Football Federation decided to create a new professional football league. In 2001, the Iran Pro League was founded as the new top-level football league in Iran.^[1] With the foundation of the Iran Pro League also professional football was finally established in Iran. After the Iran Pro League was established as the professional football league of Iran, Azadegan League was declared as the second-highest league in the Iranian football league system.^[1] The Iran Pro League comprised 14 clubs until the 2003–04 season.

Persian Gulf Pro League champions

Season	Champions	Runners-up
2001–02	Persepolis	Esteghlal
2002–03	Sepahan	PAS Tehran
2003–04	PAS Tehran	Esteghlal
2004–05	Foolad	Zob Ahan
2005–06	Esteghlal	PAS Tehran
2006–07	Saipa	Esteghlal Ahvaz
2007–08	Persepolis	Sepahan
2008–09	Esteghlal	Zob Ahan
2009–10	Sepahan	Zob Ahan
2010–11	Sepahan	Esteghlal
2011–12	Sepahan	Tractor
2012–13	Esteghlal	Tractor
2013–14	Foolad	Persepolis
2014–15	Sepahan	Tractor
2015–16	Esteghlal Khuzestan	Persepolis
2016–17	Persepolis	Esteghlal
2017–18	Persepolis	Zob Ahan
2018–19	Persepolis	Sepahan
2019–20	Persepolis	Esteghlal
2020–21	Persepolis	Sepahan

The first winner of the Iran Pro League was Persepolis, who beat archrival Esteghlal by one point on the final match day. Esteghlal was the leading team after 25 matchdays, but they lost their last match away against Malavan 0–1, while Persepolis could beat Fajr Sepasi with the same score at home. Esteghlal Rasht and East Azerbaijan's famous club Tractor had been relegated to the Azadegan League. Tractor took eight years to return to Iran's highest division. The first top goal scorer of the Iran Pro League was Reza Enayati of Aboomoslem with 17 goals. The next season was won by Sepahan, the most supported team of Isfahan. Sepahan was the first Iranian football champion based outside of the capital Tehran. At the end of the season three traditional teams were relegated to Azadegan League: Aboomoslem, Malavan and Sanat Naft Abadan.

The runner-up of the 2002–03 season, PAS Tehran, became the Iranian football champion of the 2003–04 Iran Pro League. It was the last Iranian championship for PAS Tehran as one of the most successful Iranian football clubs of all time. PAS Tehran's professional football team was dissolved in 2007. Ali Daei, who returned to Persepolis, became the top goal scorer with 16 goals. The 2003–04 season was the last edition of the league with 14 teams.

In 2004, the number of teams were increased from 14 to 16 teams. Foolad of Ahvaz became the first champion from Khuzestan Province after winning the 2004–05 Iran Pro League six points ahead of Zob Ahan. Reza Enayati of Esteghlal became the league's top goal scorer for the second time in his career after scoring 20 goals in 24 matches. He repeated his success with 21 goals in the 2005–06 Iran Pro League when Esteghlal celebrated their first championship since 2001. They defeated Bargh Shiraz in front of over 100,000 fans at Azadi 4–1 and won the league one point ahead of PAS Tehran. Shamoushak Noshahr and Shahid Ghandi (today known as Tarbiat Yazd) relegated to Azadegan League.

Persian Gulf Cup[]

On 12 August 2006, the Iranian Football Federation decided to give the league another name.^[2] Since then, the league had been primarily known in Iran as Persian Gulf Cup (PGC). The Football Federation decided this to promote the Persian naming. The name of the Persian Gulf has been disputed by some Arab countries since the 1960s due to political and ethnic differences between Iran and Arab countries. The football Federation decided also to change the logo of the league. The final logo was selected from over 130 designs and unveiled on 14 November 2006.^[3] Under the leadership of Iranian football legend Ali Daei, Saipa won the 2006–07 Persian Gulf Cup two points ahead of Esteghlal Ahvaz. Until 2007 six different teams won the league title successively. For the first time in history a foreign player became the league's top goal scorer. Nigerian striker Daniel Olerum scored 17 goals in 27 matches for Aboomoslem. The winner of only two seasons before, Foolad, had to relegated to Azadegan League.

Before the start of the 2007–08 season the number of teams were increased from 16 to 18 teams. The professional football team of PAS Tehran was also dissolved before the start of the season. Instead of PAS Tehran a new club was founded in Hamadan and named PAS Hamedan. This was part of the strategy by the Iranian Football Federation to locate more teams in cities outside of Tehran. In 2008, Saba Battery was also moved from Tehran to Qom. Since then, the club is known as Saba Qom. The championship of the 2007–08 season was decided on the last matchday. Persepolis defeated Sepahan in front of an incredible crowd of 110,000 fans at Azadi by the final score of 2–1. Sepehr Heidari scored the decisive goal in a dramatic match in the sixth minute of additional time. Sanat Naft and Shirin Faraz (today known as Rahian Kermanshah) relegated to Azadegan League. The next season was dominated by Perspolis archrival Esteghlal and the two surprising teams Zob Ahan and Mes Kerman. Zob Ahan was the leading team after 75 minutes on matchday 34, before they lost their match against Foolad due to three conceded goals in the last 15 minutes with 1–4. In the meantime, Esteghlal saved their 1–0 lead against Payam Mashhad and won the league due to better goal difference. Last but not least, Payam Mashhad had to relegated alongside Bargh Shiraz and Damash.

The 2009–10 Persian Gulf Cup was dominated by the two Isfahan based clubs Sepahan and Zob Ahan. Ultimately Sepahan won the league six points before Zob Ahan. Sepahan Iraqi striker Emad Mohammed became the second foreign player, who won the league's top goal scorer award. He scored 19 goals, one more than his teammate Ibrahima Touré. Sepahan repeated their success by winning the 2010–11 and 2011–12 Persian Gulf Cup. For the first time in history of Iranian football a team became the Iranian champion three times in a row. Esteghlal broke Sepahan's success finally in 2013. Esteghlal won the 2012–13 Persian Gulf Cup and became for the eight time in their history the Iranian champion. During an exciting championship battle between Esteghlal and Sepahan, they faced each other in Tehran's Azadi Stadium on week 32. Moharram Navidkia scored the opening goal for Sepahan, however Esteghlal equalized in the 94th minute due to an own goal by Sepahan defender Mohsen Irannejad. On week 33 Sepahan lost their away game against Damash 1–2, while Esteghlal could beat Foolad in Ahvaz with 1–0 and became the 2013 champion.

The League was scaled down from 18 to 16 teams before the beginning of the next season. Foolad won the 2013–14 Persian Gulf Cup after an exciting, though a very defensive season at the same time. At the end, Foolad ranged just 36 goals for the title. On the last matchday four other teams, Esteghlal, Naft Tehran, Persepolis and Sepahan, had the chance to win the championship alongside Foolad. While Esteghlal were defeated by Tractor at home with 1–3 and lost their AFC Champions League spot, Persepolis won their away game against Esteghlal Khuzestan with 1–0. Sepahan and Naft Tehran faced each other directly. Also Sepahan lost their AFC Champions League spot although they won the match with 1–0. Both teams had the same goal difference but Naft Tehran scored more goals in the season. Finally Foolad saved their championship after they defeated Gostaresh Foulad away by a goal of Mehrdad Jama'ati.

Persian Gulf Pro League[]

The league changed its name from Persian Gulf Cup to Persian Gulf Pro League in 2014. The Iranian Football Federation decided also to change the logos of the Persian Gulf Pro League and of the Azadegan League. The 2014–15 Persian Gulf Pro League was embossed by an exciting championship battle between Sepahan, Tractor and Naft Tehran. Tractor was ahead of their opponents Naft Tehran on goal difference, and a point of Sepahan. Tractor and Naft Tehran faced each other at Sahand, while Sepahan had to play Saipa at home. Tractor were in front 3–1 after an hour thanks to goals from Brazilian striker Edinho, Andranik Teymourian and Farid Karimi. But, then the game started to turn worse for Tractor. A very controversial red card for national team captain Andranik Teymourian and two goals by the visitors destroyed Tractor dreams. Furthermore, there were strange events in the stadium, including a lot of misinformation and disturbed telecommunication. Although Sepahan secured their title with a 2–0 victory over Saipa, thousands of Tractor supporters celebrated on the pitch, believing that they won the league for the first time in club's history.^[4][5]

Also the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League was not decided until the last matchday. Thanks to two goals from Rahim Zahivi at the last matchday against Zob Ahan, the Ahvaz based team Esteghlal Khuzestan won the league sensational in front of Persepolis and Esteghlal.^[6] Persepolis missed their big opportunity winning the league after eight years. They were shocked on matchday 28 as they lost their match against Naft Tehran 0–2 at a packed Azadi. However, Persepolis dominated the next season and won the 2016–17 Persian Gulf Pro League clear before Esteghlal and Tractor.^[7] Persepolis football team claimed the Iran Professional League (IPL) with three games to spare and repeated the title in 2017-18 Season. The Following Season Persepolis again were champion for three times in a row.

Format[]

In the past, the number of teams were changed for various times. Since 2013, the league comprises 16 teams. Over the course of a season, which runs annually from July to the following May, each team plays twice against the others in the league, once at home and once away, resulting in each team competing in 30 games in total. Three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and zero for a loss. The teams are ranked in the league table by points gained, then goal difference, then goals scored and then their head-to-head record for that season.

At the end of the season, the club with the most points becomes the Iranian champion. Currently, the Championand the Hazfi Cup champion qualify automatically for the group phase of the AFC Champions League, while the second and third-place teams enter the AFC Champions League at the Play-off round. The bottom two teams are relegated to Azadegan League. Furthermore, all teams in the Persian Gulf Pro League can participate in the Hazfi Cup.

Number of teams	Period
14	2001–02 until 2003–04
16	2004–05 until 2006–07, since 2013–14
18	2007–08 until 2012–13

Logo[]

Ranking[]

As of 11 March 2020

Ranking			Member Association	Club Points					Points (100%)
2020	2019	Mvmt		2017	2018	2019	2020	Points
1	3	+2	Japan	21.850	13.850	21.800	6.233	63.733	100.000
2	4	+2	Saudi Arabia	18.600	10.000	26.350	5.600	60.550	95.006
3	1	–2	China	24.567	16.200	17.350	1.350	59.467	93.306
4	2	–2	Qatar	13.400	19.850	15.900	4.250	53.400	83.787
5	6	+1	Iran	16.200	18.850	11.500	2.900	49.450	77.589
6	5	–1	South Korea	9.950	18.350	13.600	1.850	43.750	68.646
7	8	+1	Thailand	15.050	16.200	5.050	0.900	37.200	58.368
8	10	+2	Uzbekistan	5.050	9.400	9.000	6.900	30.350	47.621
9	7	–2	United Arab Emirates	11.350	8.100	7.633	1.850	28.933	45.397
10	9	–1	Iraq	8.933	8.633	8.300	1.200	27.167	42.626

Clubs (2020–21)[]

Team	Location	Stadium[8]	Capacity
Aluminium Arak	Arak	Imam Khomeini	15,000
Esteghlal	Tehran	Azadi	76,807
Foolad	Ahvaz	Foolad Arena	30,655
Gol Gohar Sirjan	Sirjan	Imam Ali	8,000
Machine Sazi	Tabriz	Bagh Shomal	12,000
Mes Rafsanjan	Rafsanjan	Shohadaye Noushabad	10,000
Naft Masjed Soleyman	Masjed Soleyman	Behnam Mohammadi	8,000
Nassaji	Qaem Shahr	Vatani	18,000
Paykan	Shahr-e Qods	Shahre Qods	25,000
Persepolis	Tehran	Azadi	76,807
Saipa	Tehran	Pas Stadium	8,250
Sanat Naft	Abadan	Takhti Abadan	22,000
Sepahan	Isfahan	Naghsh-e-Jahan	75,000
Padideh	Mashhad	Imam Reza Stadium	25,000
Tractor	Tabriz	Sahand	66,833
Zob Ahan	Fuladshahr	Foolad Shahr	20,000

Champions[]

Persian Gulf Pro League

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons
Persepolis	7	2	2001–02, 2007–08, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21
Sepahan	5	3	2002–03, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15
Esteghlal	3	5	2005–06, 2008–09, 2012–13
Foolad	2	0	2004–05, 2013–14
PAS Tehran	1	2	2003–04
Saipa	1	0	2006–07
Esteghlal Khuzestan	1	0	2015–16
Zob Ahan	0	4	–
Tractor	0	3	–
Esteghlal Ahvaz	0	1	–

Total

Club	Winners	Runners-up	Winning seasons
Persepolis	14	9	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
Esteghlal	8	10	1970–71, 1974–75, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2012–13
PAS Tehran	5	5	1976–77, 1977–78, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2003–04
Sepahan	5	3	2002–03, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15
Saipa	3	0	1993–94, 1994–95, 2006–07
Foolad	2	0	2004–05, 2013–14
Esteghlal Khuzestan	1	0	2015–16
Zob Ahan	0	4	–
Tractor	0	3	–
Bahman	0	2	–
Homa	0	1	–
Esteghlal Ahvaz	0	1	–

All-time Pro League table[]

Pos.	Club	Seasons	Matches	Win	Draw	Loss	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Champions	Runners-up	Third place	Relegated	Best rank
1	Esteghlal Tehran1	21	612	301	193	118	904	555	+349	1080	3	5	7	—	1st
2	Persepolis Tehran2 3 4	21	612	294	193	125	870	565	+305	1062	7	2	2	—	1st
3	Sepahan Esfahan5	21	612	276	200	136	879	581	+295	1025	5	3	1	—	1st
4	Zob Ahan Esfahan6	20	582	226	197	159	713	592	+121	874	—	4	1	—	2nd
5	Foolad Khuzestan	19	548	209	186	153	635	560	+75	813	2	—	2	1	1st
6	Saipa Tehran	19	582	181	206	195	641	667	−26	749	1	—	1	—	1st
7	Tractor Tabriz7	13	372	143	116	83	446	345	+101	544	—	3	1	1	2nd
8	Saba Qom/Saba Battery Tehran	13	414	128	159	127	468	460	+8	543	—	—	1	1	3rd
9	Paykan Tehran	16	428	137	132	189	478	575	−97	543	—	—	—	4	5th
10	Malavan Anzali8	14	436	121	145	170	403	502	−99	507	—	—	—	2	7th
11	Fajr Sepasi Shiraz	13	368	101	135	132	347	406	−59	438	—	—	—	2	4th
12	Rah Ahan Tehran	11	428	91	114	149	353	447	−94	387	—	—	—	1	8th
13	Naft Tehran	8	252	91	88	73	284	258	+27	361	—	—	2	1	3rd
14	Mes Kerman	8	264	85	99	80	310	292	+18	354	—	—	1	1	3rd
15	Aboomoslem Khorasan	9	270	83	90	97	295	304	−9	339	—	—	—	1	4th
16	Sanat Naft Abadan	10	282	79	85	118	298	380	−82	322	—	—	—	3	7th
17	Esteghlal Ahvaz	9	274	80	78	116	327	402	−75	318	—	1	—	2	2nd
18	PAS Tehran9	6	168	72	59	37	263	181	+82	274	1	2	—	—	1st
19	Bargh Shiraz	8	236	60	78	98	250	335	−85	258	—	—	—	1	7th
20	Damash Gilan/Pegah Gilan/Esteghal Rasht10	8	248	56	81	111	228	344	−116	248	—	—	—	2	7th
21	Padideh Khorasan15	7	180	62	61	57	173	170	+3	247	—	—	—	—	4th
22	Esteghlal Khuzestan	6	180	45	68	67	174	220	−46	197	1	—	—	1	1st
23	Gostaresh Foolad Tabriz	5	150	39	60	51	147	161	−14	177	—	—	—	—	8th
24	PAS Hamedan	4	136	38	48	50	143	165	−22	162	—	—	—	1	5th
25	Shahin Bushehr	4	132	27	48	57	122	175	−53	129	—	—	—	2	13th
26	Pars Jonoubi Jam	3	90	22	38	30	82	87	−5	104	—	—	—	1	5th
27	Naft Masjed Soleyman	4	90	13	43	34	59	95	−36	82	—	—	—	1	8th
28	Steel Azin Tehran11	2	68	19	23	26	85	112	−27	80	—	—	—	1	5th
29	Mashin Sazi Tabriz	3	90	15	31	44	65	111	−46	76	—	—	—	1	11th
30	Nassaji Mazandaran	3	60	15	29	16	59	61	−2	74	—	—	—	—	9th
31	Shamoushak Noshahr	3	86	16	26	44	64	118	−54	74	—	—	—	1	14th
32	Siahjamegan Khorasan	3	90	15	27	48	64	117	−53	72	—	—	—	1	13th
33	Shahrdari Tabriz	2	68	14	29	25	79	97	−18	71	—	—	—	1	12th
34	Sepidrood Rasht	2	60	11	17	32	48	92	−44	50	—	—	—	1	13th
35	Aluminium Hormozgan	1	34	7	14	13	26	40	−14	35	—	—	—	1	15th
36	Payam Khorasan	1	34	9	8	17	33	52	−19	35	—	—	—	1	16th
37	Gol Gohar Sirjan	2	30	7	12	11	27	34	−7	33	—	—	—	—	10th
38	Mes Sarcheshmeh	1	34	5	9	20	23	54	−31	24	—	—	—	1	18th
39	Shirin Faraz Kermanshah12	1	34	3	12	19	25	59	−34	21	—	—	—	1	18th
40	Shahid Ghandi Yazd13	1	30	4	7	19	21	43	−22	19	—	—	—	1	16th
41	Gahar Zagros Doroud14	1	34	3	10	21	24	59	−35	19	—	—	—	1	18th
42	Mes Rafsanjan	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
43	Aluminium Arak	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

	2021–22 Persian Gulf Pro League
	2021–22 Azadegan League
	Dissolved

Source: iplstats.com
Notes:
Only league matches; play-offs are not included in the all-time table.
¹ Esteghlal was deducted one point in the 2013–14 season.
² Persepolis was deducted six points in the 2005–06 season.
³ Persepolis was deducted six points in the 2007–08 season.
⁴ Persepolis was deducted one point in the 2013–14 season.
⁵ Sepahan was deducted three points in the 2007–08 season.
⁶ Zob Ahan was deducted one point in the 2005–06 season.
⁷ Tractor was deducted one point in the 2013–14 season.
⁸ Malavan was deducted one point in the 2013–14 season.
⁹ PAS Tehran was deducted one point in the 2006–07 season.
¹⁰ Damash was deducted one point in the 2013–14 season.
¹¹ Steel Azin was formerly known as Ekbatan.
¹² Rahian Kermanshah was formerly known as Shirin Faraz.
¹³ Tarbiat Yazd was formerly known as Shahid Ghandi.
¹⁴ Gahar Zagros was formerly known as Damash Lorestan.
¹⁵ Shahr Khodro was deducted six points in the 2017–18 season.

Attendances[]

Average league attendances[]

Season	Average	Highest attended club	Club average	Lowest attended club	Club average
2005–06	9,179	Esteghlal	33,467	Shamoushak Noshahr	3,542
2006–07	10,119	Esteghlal	35,000	Rah Ahan	4,073
2007–08	11,235	Persepolis	60,000	Rah Ahan	2,647
2008–09	8,954	Persepolis	40,688	PAS Hamedan	3,706
2009–10	12,298	Tractor	57,647	Paykan	2,313
2010–11	9,383	Tractor	42,000	Paykan	1,941
2011–12	9,488	Tractor	39,533	Mes Sarcheshmeh	1,706
2012–13	7,964	Esteghlal	34,250	Rah Ahan	1,942
2013–14	7,631	Persepolis	29,467	Rah Ahan	1,664
2014–15	6,921	Tractor	27,488	Saba Qom	1,365
2015–16	8,048	Persepolis	47,036	Naft Tehran	1,594
2016–17	8,086	Persepolis	48,567	Gostaresh Foulad	1,018
2017–18	9,060	Persepolis	39,786	Gostaresh Foulad	817
2018–19	12,212	Tractor	46,963	Esteghlal Khuzestan	1,507
2019–20	8,629	Persepolis	27,556	Machine Sazi	840
2020–21	0	–	–	–	–

Notes:
Matches with spectator bans are not included in average attendances.

Highest attended season matches[]

Season	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date	Week	Stadium
2005–06	Esteghlal	4–1	Bargh Shiraz	100,000	21 April 2006 (2006-04-21)	30	Azadi
2006–07	Persepolis	2–1	Esteghlal	95,000	3 November 2006 (2006-11-03)	8	Azadi
2007–08	Persepolis	2–1	Sepahan	110,000	17 May 2008 (2008-05-17)	34	Azadi
2008–09	Persepolis	2–0	Damash	90,000	25 September 2008 (2008-09-25)	8	Azadi
	Persepolis	1–1	Esteghlal	90,000	3 October 2008 (2008-10-03)	9	Azadi
	Esteghlal	1���1	Persepolis	90,000	13 February 2009 (2009-02-13)	26	Azadi
2009–10	Tractor	0–0	Moghavemat	95,000	22 January 2010 (2010-01-22)	24	Sahand
2010–11	Esteghlal	1–0	Persepolis	100,000	15 October 2010 (2010-10-15)	11	Azadi
2011–12	Persepolis	0–2	Esteghlal	100,000	16 September 2011 (2011-09-16)	7	Azadi
2012–13	Esteghlal	0–0	Persepolis	100,000	25 January 2013 (2013-01-25)	23	Azadi
	Esteghlal	1–2	Damash	100,000	10 May 2013 (2013-05-10)	34	Azadi
2013–14	Esteghlal	0–0	Persepolis	100,000	6 September 2013 (2013-09-06)	8	Azadi
2014–15	Tractor	3–3	Naft Tehran	80,000	15 May 2015 (2015-05-15)	30	Sahand
2015–16	Persepolis	4–2	Esteghlal	100,000	15 April 2016 (2016-04-15)	26	Azadi
2016–17	Persepolis	4–0	Padideh	80,000	19 April 2017 (2017-04-19)	28	Azadi
2017–18	Esteghlal	1–0	Persepolis	100,000	1 March 2018 (2018-03-01)	25	Azadi
2018–19	Persepolis	0–0	Sepahan	90,000	26 April 2019 (2019-04-26)	27	Azadi
2019–20	Tractor	2–4	Esteghlal	80,000	1 November 2019 (2019-11-01)	9	Sahand

Records[]

All-time top scorers[]

As of 22 June 2021

No.	Player	Goals	Years
1	Reza Enayati	147	2001–2017
2	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	116	2001–2018
3	Arash Borhani	115	2002–2017
4	Luciano Periera	91	2012–present
5	Fereydoon Fazli	85	2001–2010
6	Édinho	82	2008–2017
7	Jalal Rafkhaei	79	2005–2016
8	Karim Ansarifard	77	2007–2014
9	Mohammad Reza Khalatbari	76	2004–present
10	Mohammad Gholami	73	2001–2018

Players in bold are still active in the league.

All-time top appearances in Iran league[]

As of 31 July 2021

No	Player	Appearance	Years
1	Jalal Hosseini	492[9]	2002–present
2	Mehdi Rahmati	482[9]	2001–2020
3	Ebrahim Sadeghi	438[9]	2000–2017
4	Mohammadreza Khalatbari	407	2003- present
5	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	381[9]	2001–2018
6	Morteza Asadi	380[9]	2005–2018
7	Amir Hossein Sadeghi	379[9]	2003–2018
8	Mohsen Bengar	372[9]	2003–2018
9	Khosro Heydari	370[9]	2002–2019
10	Mohammad Nouri	369[9]	2000–present

Broadcasting and sponsorship[]

Broadcasting[]

The state-owned television channel IRIB has the broadcasting rights for the most matches of the Persian Gulf Pro League, Azadegan League and Hazfi Cup. Each match of Esteghlal and Persepolis is broadcasting by IRIB TV3, IRIB's popular channel. In addition to that Esteghlal and Persepolis playing not at the same time with the exception of the Sorkhabi derby and the last two matchdays of each season. IRIB Varzesh shows other important matches, while the remaining games are shown on IRIB regional channels. Furthermore, Navad, a popular weekly football program broadcast by IRIB TV3, shows highlights of all Persian Gulf Pro League and Azadegan League matches.

Sponsorship[]

The Persian Gulf Pro League has been sponsored since 2005. There have been four sponsors since the league's formation.

• 2001–2005: no sponsor
• 2005–2007: Zamzam
• 2007–2009: Padideh
• 2009–2014: Irancell
• 2014–2016: Sun Star
• 2016–present: Fanap

Ownership[]

See also[]

• Football in Iran
• Iranian football league system
• Azadegan League
• League 2
• League 3
• Hazfi Cup
• Iranian Super Cup

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Persian Gulf Pro League.

• Persian Gulf Pro League official website
• Persian Gulf Pro League at Soccerway.com
• List of Iran all-time top scorers at RSSSF