Sepahan S.C.

Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club (Persian: باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی فولاد مبارکه سپاهان, Bâšgâh-è Farhangi-ye Varzeši-ye Fulâd-è Mobârake-ye Sepâhân), commonly known as Sepahan, is an Iranian sports club based in Isfahan. It is best known for their football section that play in the Persian Gulf Pro League, the highest tier of Iranian football league system.

Sepahan

Full name	Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club
Nickname(s)	Yellow Storm of Asia Yellow Lions of Isfahan
Short name	Sepahan
Founded	5 October 1953 (1953-10-05)
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
Website	http://www.sepahansc.com/
Home colours Away colours Third colours

In the 2002–03 season, Sepahan ended the total dominance of two Tehran-based clubs, Persepolis and Esteghlal, to win the Pro League. They are also the first Iranian club to win three consecutive league titles, reach the AFC Champions League final in 2007 and qualify for the 2007 FIFA Club World Cup, becoming the first-ever Iranian representative to the tournament. To date, they have won five league titles and four Hazfi Cups, becoming one of the most successful football clubs in Iran.

Club history

Before the revolution

Shahin Isfahan Club

In 1953, with the help of Iran national football team player Mahmoud Hariri the Shahin Isfahan football club was created. This club was one of the teams attached to the more popular and successful Shahin F.C. of Tehran. In 1963, Shahin as the representative of Isfahan Province became champions of Iran after a 1–1 draw against Tehran XI. In 1967, due to the problems that arose in the Shahin F.C. organization in Tehran, the Isfahan branch was forced to cease operations. The club changed its name to Sepahan. The club participated in the Takht Jamshid Cup league from 1974 to 1978. In the club's first season in the Takht Jamshid Cup they finished in 10th place ahead of city rivals Zob Ahan.

Post Revolution

After the Revolution, they played in the local Isfahan leagues for many years until 1993. That year the club was purchased by the Siman-e-Sepahan (Sepahan Cement) factory of Isfahan. It participated in the Azadegan League until the year 2000, when Foolad Mobarekeh (Steel Mill of Mobarekeh Isfahan) bought the team from the Siman factory. The team now plays under the name of Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan, and enjoys very good support by the club board, and has been able to attain a respectable fan base in its hometown.

Success years

The club was able to demonstrate its worth when it captured the league title in the 2002–03 season of the IPL, and qualified for the AFC Champions League tournament with Farhad Kazemi. It also won the Hazfi Cup in 2004 and was able to qualify for another season of the ACL competition, though the club did not have much success in the continental tournaments of ACL 2004 and 2005.

Sepahan in a match against Homa during 1975–76 season

With Luka Bonačić, Sepahan was able to once again win the Hazfi Cup on 22 September 2006. With this win, they gained Iran's final and second spot in the AFC Champions League 2007. They were impressive in continental stage as they finished top of their group and defeated Kawasaki Frontale of Japan and Al Wahda of the UAE to reach the final of the newly established continental tournament for the first time. Although they lost the final to Urawa Red Diamonds on aggregate, by reaching the final, Sepahan became the first Iranian club to qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup.

In the opening match of the FIFA Club World Cup 2007, Sepahan defeated Waitakere United of New Zealand to reach the quarter-final where they met Urawa Red Diamonds for a spot in the semifinal match against AC Milan. Urawa Reds managed to defeat Sepahan for the second time in just one month, reaching the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup.

By winning the Hazfi Cup once again in 2007, Sepahan also qualified for the AFC Champions League 2008, but could not repeat their success of 2007.

Sepahan has qualified for the AFC Champions League for the third consecutive time in 2009, coming as the Runners-up in Persian Gulf Cup 2007-08. Sepahan lost the title by only one point to Persepolis F.C., who beat them 2–1 in the last match of the season with a winner six minutes into second half injury time. They tried to improve the team by sacking the Brazilian coach Viera and replacing him with the German coach Firat but they had a difficult season where they could not win anything in the 2008–09 season and changed the coach three times.

In the next season Sepahan hired Turkish and former Iran's assistant coach Engin Firat, but he was fired after getting poor result in the league, and Hossein Charkhabi who was Sepahan Novin head coach at that time replaced Firat. Despite getting good result with the team Charkahbi was replaced once again with Farhad Kazemi who won the league title with Sepahan in the 2002–03 season. Finally Sepahan finished 4th in the league and qualified for the 2010 AFC Champions League Group stage. In the next season the club hired former Iran and Esteghlal head coach Amir Ghalenoei, at the helm of Sepahan's 2010 Season, the club sealed a championship title two weeks before the end of the season with a 2–2 tie against F.C. Aboomoslem.

In the 2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup, Sepahan dominated the league after a slow start and practically won the title two weeks before the season end. They also advanced to the knock out stage of the ACL competition, after finishing on top of the table in the group stage. Their group was arguably the group of death, consisting of Al-Hilal, Al Gharafa and Al-Jazira. They won their third championship and became the most successful team in Iran Pro League.

Kranjčar Era

They also repeated their league title in 2011–12 season, this time with Croatian manager, Zlatko Kranjčar. Sepahan also made it to the quarter-finals of 2012 AFC Champions League after defeating the fellow Iranian club Esteghlal.

In 2013 however, Sepahan was placed in Group C of the 2013 AFC Champions League and was unable to get past the 2013 AFC Champions League group stage. Being placed in the same group as Al-Gharafa Sports Club of Qatar, Al-Ahli SC of Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates' Al Nasr SC, they could not qualify as one of the top two teams of their group. Sepahan started the 2013 AFC Champions League with a great win at home against Al Nasr SC, however heading for an away game against Al-Gharafa Sports Club in Qatar, Sepahan only returned home humiliated by the Qatari team in a 3–1 lost game. That was not the end of Sepahan's poor performance in the AFC Champions League. About three weeks after their loss in Qatar, Sepahan hosted Al-Ahli SC at Foolad Shahr Stadium, losing poorly once again but this time with a score of 4–2. Sepahan still had a chance after those two losses, but all hopes were lost once they lost in front of the Saudi giants again, this time with a score of 4–1 thus having them bid farewell to the 2013 AFC Champions League.

Sepahan players celebrating their fifth league title in 2015

In the 2013–14 Iran Pro League season, Sepahan finished 4th, thus missing out on the AFC Champions League for the first time in five years. At the end of the season, Croatian manager Zlatko Kranjčar announced that he would not be returning for the 2014–2015 season. Sepahan also struggled in the Champions League as well, failing to make it past the group stage with a 1–0 loss to Al Hilal on the final match day. After originally announcing he was leaving the club, Sepahan announced that they had extended the contract of Kranjčar for another season.

Faraki years

Sepahan started the 2014–15 season with three wins in a row. However, Sepahan did not win their next four matches. Kranjčar resigned on 8 September 2014 and was replaced with former Foolad manager Hossein Faraki.

On 15 May 2015, with a 2–0 Sepahan victory over Saipa and Tractor drawing 3–3 with Naft Tehran, Sepahan won their fifth league title with a one-point margin over runner up Tractor. With the league victory, Sepahan returned to the AFC Champions League after a one-year absence.

On 12 November 2015 Hossein Faraki left Sepahan for personal problems. Faraki left by saying "Things just don't seem to be working out for me and I decided to quit my job in the team, I have nothing more to say because I think Sepahan needs concentration at the moment since they will play in Iran's Hazfi Cup on Thursday,"

Štimac and Veisi years

After Hossein Faraki's resignation, the club signed former Croatia national team manager Igor Štimac. Igor Štimac won his first game against Naft Tehran, but after not winning a game in 10 weeks made the situations harder for Sepahan. Sepahan got knocked out of the Hazfi Cup by their rivals, Zob Ahan in penalties at the semi-final. Sepahan also went out of the AFC Champions League after losing five times in the first round. Igor Štimac resigned as Sepahan head coach on 20 April 2016, after a run of unsuccessful results which led the league champions Sepahan to end up in 11th place and out of both season's cups, Hazfi Cup and AFC Champions League.

Before the start of the 2016–17 season, Abdollah Veisi who had led Esteghlal Khuzestan to the league title, was announced as the new manager of Sepahan but sepahans poor results continued so they announced Zlatko Kranjčar as their new manager. Sepahan finished the season in the 5th place.

Reserve team

Sepahan is also one of the clubs in Iranian football to have a senior reserve team, Foolad Sepahan Novin F.C., that as of the 2007/08 season, participates in 3rd Division and the Hazfi Cup. The reserve team was promoted to the Iran Pro League from the Azadegan League, but was not allowed to participate due to Fifa's regulations about two teams from the same club playing in the same league.

Rivalries

Isfahan Derby

Main article: Esfahan derby

The Nagsh-e Jahan derby is a football match played annually in Isfahan, Iran, between the two rival professional teams of the city: Zob Ahan F.C. and Sepahan. Naqsh-e Jahan is an important square in old centrum of Isfahan. The competition is one of the most popular annual football events in Iran. The Isfahan derby goes back to the 1970s, when Zob Ahan F.C. and Sepahan F.C. faced each other in Takht Jamshid Cup seasons (1974/75, 1975/76, 1976/77, 1977/78). Their rivalry resumed in the 1990s when they faced each other in Azadegan League seasons (1993/94, 1996/97, 1997/98) and from then on the two met each other twice a year.

Tehran rivalries

Main articles: Esteghlal–Sepahan rivalry and Persepolis–Sepahan rivalry

Esteghlal–Sepahan and Persepolis–Sepahan rivalries are the two important Iran Football Rivalries played between Sepahan and two Tehran based football clubs: Esteghlal and Persepolis.

FIFA Club World Cup

One of the most important titles of Sepahan football club, which makes this club a special club in Iranian football, is the participation in the Club World Cup in 2007. For the people of Isfahan and those interested in football, especially the fans of Sepahan and of course Iranian football, the second day of November is undoubtedly a reminder of the name of Sepahan. On the day when the club was born, Sepahan's name was placed next to big teams such as AC Milan of Italy, Boca Juniors of Argentina, Pachuca of Mexico, Whiteacres United of New Zealand, Sahil Tunis and Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan. Until today, Sepahan is the first and last representative of Iranian football who has hoisted the Iranian flag in the Club World Cup.

Partnerships

The general secretary of Ahed (left) and the president of Sepahan (right) in 2009

On 28 January 2009, Sepahan and Lebanese club Ahed signed an informal partnership deal. The partnership was made official on 8 March 2021, involving training camps and friendly games between the two sides.

Stadium

Sepahan female fans entered the stadiums for the first time after 1979 ban in 2024.

The Naghsh-e-Jahan Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium in Isfahan, Iran that is home ground of Sepahan. It is currently used for football matches. The stadium was built in 2003 and holds 45,000 in a three-tier configuration. The first phase finished in 2003 and they have decided to finish the second phase which is the first floor of the stadium. It was started in 2007 and was meant to be finished by 2008, but construction continued until summer 2016. The final capacity of the stadium will be 75,000. Sepahan's second home ground is Foolad Shahr Stadium that is the home ground of Zob Ahan too. Some of Sepahan's matches are held in that stadium.

In 2024, Female supporters of the club watched the team's match in stadium for the first time after the 1979 ban.

Season-by-season

For details on seasons, see List of Sepahan F.C. seasons

Season	Div.	Pos.	Hazfi Cup	Asia
2001–02	IPL	9th	Semi-Final	-	-
2002–03	IPL	Champions	Semi-Final	-	-
2003–04	IPL	6th	Champions	ACL	Group stage
2004–05	IPL	10th	1/8 Final	ACL	Group stage
2005–06	IPL	7th	Champions	-	-
2006–07	PGC	5th	Champions	ACL	Runner Up
2007–08	PGC	2nd	Quarter-Final	ACL	Group stage
2008–09	PGC	4th	1/8 Final	ACL	Group stage
2009–10	PGC	Champions	1/8 Final	ACL	Group stage
2010–11	PGC	Champions	Quarter-Final	ACL	Quarter-Final
2011–12	PGC	Champions	Round of 32	ACL	Quarter-Final
2012–13	PGC	3rd	Champions	ACL	Group stage
2013–14	PGC	4th	Round of 32	ACL	Group stage
2014–15	PGPL	Champions	Round of 32	-	-
2015–16	PGPL	11th	Semi-Final	ACL	Group stage
2016–17	PGPL	5th	Semi-Final	-	-
2017–18	PGPL	14th	Round of 32	-	-
2018–19	PGPL	2nd	Semi-Final	-	-
2019–20	PGPL	5th	Quarter-Final	ACL	Group stage
2020–21	PGPL	2nd	Quarter-Final	-	-
2021–22	PGPL	3rd	Round of 16	ACL	Group Stage

Honours

Domestic

League

• Persian Gulf Pro League
  • Winners (5): 2002–03, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15
  • Runners-up (4): 2007–08, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2022–23
• 2nd Division
  • Winner (1): 1973–74

Cup

• Hazfi Cup
  • Winners (5): 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2012–13, 2023–24

Continental

• AFC Champions League
  • Runners-up (1): 2007

Players

First-team squad

As of 19 September 2024

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	IRN	Payam Niazmand (vice-captain)
2	DF	IRN	Hadi Mohammadi
3	DF	IRN	Hossein Goudarzi
5	MF	IRN	Reza Asadi
6	MF	BFA	Bryan Dabo
7	FW	IRN	Mehdi Limouchi
8	MF	IRN	Mohammad Karimi (captain)
9	FW	IRN	Kaveh Rezaei
10	MF	IRN	Reza Shekari
11	FW	IRN	Javad Aghaeipour
14	DF	IRN	Aria Yousefi U23
15	MF	FRA	Steven Nzonzi
17	MF	IRN	Esmaeil Gholizadeh U21
22	DF	IRN	Saleh Hardani
23	MF	IRN	Mohammad Mehdi Mohebi

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
24	DF	IRN	Mehdi Hosseini
33	GK	IRN	Seyed Pouria Rafiei U21
44	GK	IRN	Nima Mirzazad
47	FW	MTN	Aboubakar Kamara
55	DF	IRN	Amin Hazbavi U23
58	DF	IRN	Mohammad Daneshgar
66	DF	TJK	Vahdat Hanonov
80	MF	IRN	Arshia Sarshogh U23
88	MF	IRN	Abbas Habibi U21
90	DF	IRN	Esmaeil Falamarzi U21
93	MF	IRN	Ali Ahmadi U21
95	DF	IRN	Mohammad Amini U21
99	DF	IRN	Siavash Yazdani
—	MF	IRN	Mohamadreza Bordbar

• U21 = Under-21 level player. U23 = Under-23 level player. SPE = Special group player. INJ = Out of main squad due to injury.

Loan list

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

No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
—	MF	IRN	Omid Noorafkan (at Malavan until 30 June 2025)

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers summer 2023.

Former players

For details on former players, see Category:Sepahan players.

Notable players

See: List of Sepahan players

Managerial staff

Current managerial staff

Position	Name
Manager	Hugo Almeida
Assistant coaches	Hossein Ghadami Vahid Esfahani
Goalkeepers coach	Mohammadreza Farahani

Head coaches

Below is a list of Sepahan coaches from 1953 until the present day.

Name	Nationality	Years
Mahmoud Hariri		1953–1960
Technical Commission		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 officials

Position	Name
President	Manouchehr Nikfar (Acting)
Chairman of the Board	Mojtaba Lotfi
Board Members	Mojtaba Lotfi Mohammad Reza Saket Karim Fakharezadeh Ali Pezeshk Alireza Afzal

List of Sepahan records

FIFA Club World Cup participation

FIFA Club World Cup History
Year	Round	Score	Result	Scorers
2007	Play-off	Sepahan 3 – 1 Waitakere United	Win	Emad Mohammed 3', 4' Abdul-Wahab 47'
2007	Quarterfinals	Sepahan 1 – 3 Urawa Red Diamonds	Loss	Karimi 80'

Top scorers by season

Season	Player	in League	Player	in whole season
2001–02	Edmond Bezik	6
2002–03	Edmond Bezik	13
2003–04	Rasoul Khatibi	8	Rasoul Khatibi	14
2004–05	Rasoul Khatibi	14	Rasoul Khatibi	17
2005–06	Rasoul Khatibi	10	Rasoul Khatibi	11
2006–07	Emad Mohammed Ridha	9	Emad Mohammed Ridha	12
2007–08	Mahmoud Karimi	9	Mahmoud Karimi	13
2008–09	Emad Mohammed Ridha	14	Emad Mohammed Ridha	16
2009–10	Emad Mohammed Ridha	19	Ibrahima Touré	20
2010–11	Ibrahima Touré	18	Ibrahima Touré	24
2011–12	Emad Mohammed Ridha	9	Bruno Correa	12
2012–13	Mohammad Reza Khalatbari	13	Xhevahir Sukaj	16
2013–14	Mehdi Sharifi	8	Mehdi Sharifi	12
2014–15	Mehdi Sharifi	12	Mehdi Sharifi	12
2015–16	Mohammad Reza Khalatbari Luciano Chimba	4	Luciano Chimba Mehdi Sharifi	6
2016–17	Mehrdad Mohammadi Masoud Hassanzadeh	7	Mehrdad Mohammadi Masoud Hassanzadeh Jalaleddin Alimohammadi	7
2017–18	Sasan Ansari	11	Sasan Ansari	11
2018–19	Kiros Stanlley	16	Kiros Stanlley	17

Players on international cups

Cup	Players
1978 FIFA World Cup	Ali Shojaei Bahram Mavaddat
2006 FIFA World Cup	Moharram Navidkia Rasoul Khatibi
2007 AFC Asian Cup	Hadi Aghily
2009 FIFA Confederations Cup	Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail Emad Mohammed
2011 AFC Asian Cup	Ehsan Hajsafi Hadi Aghily Jalal Hosseini Khosro Heydari Mehdi Rahmati Mohsen Bengar Emad Mohammed
2014 FIFA World Cup	Ehsan Hajsafi Rahman Ahmadi
2015 AFC Asian Cup	Ehsan Hajsafi Voria Ghafouri
2019 AFC Asian Cup	Payam Niazmand
2022 FIFA World Cup	Payam Niazmand Ramin Rezaeian

Sponsorship

Shirt sponsors and manufacturers

Sepahan League Sponsors

Period	Kit Manufacturer		Shirt Sponsor
2007–08	Uhlsport		Mobarakeh Steel Company
2008–09
2009–10	Lotto
2010–11
2011–12
2012–13
2013–14	Uhlsport
2014–15
2015–16	Joma
2016–17	Uhlsport
2017–18	Peak		Mobarakeh Steel Company / Snapp
2018–19	Start		Mobarakeh Steel Company / Taban Air / Hamrah-e-Avval
2019–20	Uhlsport
2020–21			Mobarakeh Steel Company / Iran Insurance Company
2021–22
2022-23	Merooj		Mobarakeh Steel Company / Bahonar Brokerage / GERAD Clothing
2023-24	Start		Mobarakeh Steel Company

External links

• Official website
• Sepahan S.C. at Soccerway
• Sepahan S.C. on PersianLeague.com