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| Full name | Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames | Yellow Storm of Asia Yellow Lions of Isfahan | |||
| Short name | Sepahan | |||
| Founded | 5 October 1953; 72 years ago (1953-10-05) | |||
| Ground | Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 76,000 | |||
| Owner | Mobarakeh Steel Company | |||
| President | Ahmad Yousefzade | |||
| Manager | Moharram Navidkia | |||
| League | Persian Gulf Pro League | |||
| 2024–25 | Persian Gulf Pro League, 2nd | |||
| Website | www | |||
 Current season | ||||
Foolad Mobarakeh Sepahan Sport Club (Persian:باشگاه فولاد مبارکه سپاهان,Bâšgâh-e Farhangi-Varzeši-ye Fulâd-e Mobârake-ye Sepâhân), commonly known asSepahan, is an Iraniansports club based inIsfahan. It is best known for theirfootball section[1] that play in thePersian Gulf Pro League, the highest tier ofIranian football league system.
In the2002–03 season, Sepahan ended the total dominance of two Tehran-based clubs,Persepolis andEsteghlal, to win the Pro League. They are also the first Iranian club to win three consecutive league titles, reach theAFC Champions League final in2007 and qualify for the2007 FIFA Club World Cup, becoming the first-ever Iranian representative to the tournament. To date, they have won five league titles and fiveHazfi Cups, becoming one of the most successful football clubs in Iran.
In 1953, with the help ofIran national football team player Mahmoud Hariri theShahin Isfahan football club was created. This club was one of the teams attached to the more popular and successfulShahin F.C. ofTehran. In 1963, Shahin as the representative ofIsfahan Province became champions of Iran after a 1–1 draw againstTehran XI. In 1967, due to the problems that arose in theShahin F.C. organization in Tehran, theIsfahan branch was forced to cease operations. The club changed its name to Sepahan. The club participated in theTakht Jamshid Cup league from1974 to1978. In the club's first season in the Takht Jamshid Cup they finished in 10th place ahead of city rivalsZob Ahan.
After theRevolution, 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 theAzadegan League until the year 2000, whenFoolad Mobarekeh (Steel Mill of MobarekehIsfahan) 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.[citation needed]
The club was able to demonstrate its worth when it captured the league title in the2002–03 season of theIPL, and qualified for theAFC Champions League tournament withFarhad Kazemi. It also won theHazfi 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 ofACL 2004 and2005.[citation needed]
WithLuka 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 theAFC Champions League 2007. They were impressive in continental stage as they finished top of their group and defeatedKawasaki Frontale of Japan andAl Wahda of theUAE to reach the final of the newly established continental tournament for the first time. Although they lost the final toUrawa Red Diamonds on aggregate, by reaching the final, Sepahan became the first Iranian club to qualify for theFIFA Club World Cup.[citation needed]
In the opening match of theFIFA Club World Cup 2007, Sepahan defeatedWaitakere United of New Zealand to reach the quarter-final where they metUrawa Red Diamonds for a spot in the semifinal match againstAC Milan. Urawa Reds managed to defeat Sepahan for the second time in just one month, reaching the semifinals of the FIFA Club World Cup.[citation needed]
By winning theHazfi Cup once again in 2007, Sepahan also qualified for theAFC Champions League 2008, but could not repeat their success of2007.
Sepahan has qualified for theAFC Champions League for the third consecutive time in2009, coming as the Runners-up inPersian Gulf Cup 2007-08. Sepahan lost the title by only one point toPersepolis 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.[citation needed]
In the next season Sepahan hired Turkish and formerIran's assistant coachEngin Firat, but he was fired after getting poor result in the league, and Hossein Charkhabi who wasSepahan Novin head coach at that time replaced Firat. Despite getting good result with the team Charkahbi was replaced once again withFarhad Kazemi who won the league title with Sepahan in the2002–03 season. Finally Sepahan finished 4th in the league and qualified for the2010 AFC Champions League Group stage. In the next season the club hired former Iran andEsteghlal head coachAmir Ghalenoei, at the helm of Sepahan's2010 Season, the club sealed a championship title two weeks before the end of the season with a 2–2 tie againstF.C. Aboomoslem.[2]
In the2010–11 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 inIran Pro League.[citation needed]
They also repeated their league title in2011–12 season, this time with Croatian manager,Zlatko Kranjčar. Sepahan also made it to the quarter-finals of2012 AFC Champions League after defeating the fellow Iranian clubEsteghlal.[citation needed]
In 2013 however, Sepahan was placed in Group C of the2013 AFC Champions League and was unable to get past the2013 AFC Champions League group stage. Being placed in the same group asAl-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 the2013 AFC Champions League with a great win at home againstAl Nasr SC, however heading for an away game againstAl-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 hostedAl-Ahli SC atFoolad 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.[citation needed]
In the2013–14 Iran Pro League season, Sepahan finished 4th, thus missing out on theAFC Champions League for the first time in five years. At the end of the season,Croatian managerZlatko 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 toAl 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.
Sepahan started the2014–15 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 formerFoolad managerHossein Faraki.
On 15 May 2015, with a 2–0 Sepahan victory overSaipa andTractor drawing 3–3 withNaft Tehran, Sepahan won their fifth league title with a one-point margin over runner up Tractor. With the league victory, Sepahan returned to theAFC Champions League after a one-year absence.
On 12 November 2015Hossein 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,"[3][4]
AfterHossein Faraki's resignation, the club signed formerCroatia national team managerIgor Štimac. Igor Štimac won his first game againstNaft Tehran, but after not winning a game in 10 weeks made the situations harder for Sepahan. Sepahan got knocked out of theHazfi Cup by their rivals,Zob Ahan in penalties at the semi-final. Sepahan also went out of theAFC 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 ledEsteghlal Khuzestan to the league title, was announced as the new manager of Sepahan but sepahans poor results continued so they announcedZlatko Kranjčar as their new manager. Sepahan finished the season in the 5th place.
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 in3rd Division and the Hazfi Cup. The reserve team was promoted to theIran Pro League from theAzadegan League, but was not allowed to participate due to Fifa's regulations about two teams from the same club playing in the same league.
The team's primary color is yellow, but it has undergone changes throughout history.Sepahan has also used blue or red at times during theleague.
Sepahan's emblem, logo, or logotype has undergone changes throughout the club's history. The club's first emblem, when it was called Shahin Isfahan, was similar to the emblem of Shahin Tehran.
TheNagsh-e Jahan derby is afootball match played annually inIsfahan,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 ofIsfahan. The competition is one of the most popular annual football events in Iran.[5] The Isfahan derby goes back to the 1970s, whenZob Ahan F.C. and Sepahan F.C. faced each other inTakht Jamshid Cup seasons (1974/75,1975/76,1976/77,1977/78). Their rivalry resumed in the 1990s when they faced each other inAzadegan League seasons (1993/94,1996/97,1997/98) and from then on the two met each other twice a year.
Esteghlal–Sepahan andPersepolis–Sepahan rivalries are the two important Iran Football Rivalries played between Sepahan and twoTehran based football clubs:Esteghlal andPersepolis.
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 in2007.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.
On 28 January 2009, Sepahan andLebanese clubAhed signed an informal partnership deal.[6] The partnership was made official on 8 March 2021, involving training camps and friendly games between the two sides.[7]
TheNaghsh-e-Jahan Stadium is amulti-purpose stadium inIsfahan, 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 76,000. Sepahan's second home ground isFoolad Shahr Stadium that is the home ground ofZob 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.[8]
For details on seasons, seeList of Sepahan F.C. seasons
| Season | Div. | Pos. | Hazfi Cup | Asia | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001–02 | IPL | 9th | Semi-Final | - | - |
| 2002–03 | Champions | Semi-Final | - | - | |
| 2003–04 | 6th | Champions | ACL | Group stage | |
| 2004–05 | 10th | 1/8 Final | ACL | Group stage | |
| 2005–06 | 7th | Champions | - | - | |
| 2006–07 | 5th | Champions | ACL | Runner Up | |
| 2007–08 | 2nd | Quarter-Final | ACL | Group stage | |
| 2008–09 | 4th | 1/8 Final | ACL | Group stage | |
| 2009–10 | Champions | 1/8 Final | ACL | Group stage | |
| 2010–11 | Champions | Quarter-Final | ACL | Quarter-Final | |
| 2011–12 | Champions | Round of 32 | ACL | Quarter-Final | |
| 2012–13 | 3rd | Champions | ACL | Group stage | |
| 2013–14 | 4th | Round of 32 | ACL | Group stage | |
| 2014–15 | Champions | Round of 32 | - | - | |
| 2015–16 | 11th | Semi-Final | ACL | Group stage | |
| 2016–17 | 5th | Semi-Final | - | - | |
| 2017–18 | 14th | Round of 32 | - | - | |
| 2018–19 | 2nd | Semi-Final | - | - | |
| 2019–20 | 5th | Quarter-Final | ACL | Group stage | |
| 2020–21 | 2nd | Quarter-Final | - | - | |
| 2021–22 | 3rd | Round of 16 | ACL | Group Stage | |
| 2022–23 | 2nd | Round of 16 | ACL | Round of 16 | |
| 2023–24 | 3rd | Champions | - | - | |
| 2024–25 | ACLE ACL2 | Prem. Round 1 Group stage | |||
| 2025–26 | |||||
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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For recent transfers, seeList of Iranian football transfers summer 2023.
For details on former players, seeCategory:Sepahan players.
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Moharram Navidkia |
| Assistant coaches | Hossein GhadamiVahid Esfahani |
| Goalkeepers coach | Mohammadreza Farahani |
Below is a list of Sepahan coaches from 1953 until the present day.[11][12][13]
| 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 |
| 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 |
| FIFA Club World Cup History | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Score | Result | Scorers |
| 2007 | Play-off | Sepahan3 – 1 Waitakere United | Win | Emad Mohammed 3',4'Abdul-Wahab 47' |
| 2007 | Quarterfinals | Sepahan1 – 3 Urawa Red Diamonds | Loss | Karimi 80' |
| 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 KhalatbariLuciano Chimba | 4 | Luciano ChimbaMehdi Sharifi | 6 |
| 2016–17 | Mehrdad MohammadiMasoud Hassanzadeh | 7 | Mehrdad MohammadiMasoud HassanzadehJalaleddin Alimohammadi | 7 |
| 2017–18 | Sasan Ansari | 11 | Sasan Ansari | 11 |
| 2018–19 | Kiros Stanlley | 16 | Kiros Stanlley | 17 |
| Cup | Players |
|---|---|
 1978 FIFA World Cup | Ali ShojaeiBahram Mavaddat |
 2006 FIFA World Cup | Moharram NavidkiaRasoul Khatibi |
    2007 AFC Asian Cup | Hadi Aghily |
 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup | Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-HailEmad Mohammed |
 2011 AFC Asian Cup | Ehsan HajsafiHadi AghilyJalal HosseiniKhosro HeydariMehdi RahmatiMohsen BengarEmad Mohammed |
| 2014 FIFA World Cup | Ehsan HajsafiRahman Ahmadi |
 2015 AFC Asian Cup | Ehsan HajsafiVoria Ghafouri |
 2019 AFC Asian Cup | Payam Niazmand |
| 2022 FIFA World Cup | Payam NiazmandRamin Rezaeian |
| 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 | ||||
