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| Full name | Tractor Cultural Sports Club | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname | The Red Wolves (Azerbaijani:Qızıl qurdlar) | |||
| Founded | 1970; 55 years ago (1970)[1] | |||
| Stadium | Yadegar-e Emam Stadium | |||
| Capacity | 80,000 | |||
| Owner | Mohammad Reza Zonuzi | |||
| President | Saeid Mozaffarizadeh | |||
| Head coach | Dragan Skočić | |||
| League | Persian Gulf Pro League | |||
| 2024–25 | Persian Gulf Pro League, 1st of 16 (Champions) | |||
| Website | www | |||
 Current season | ||||
Tractor Cultural Sports Club (Persian:باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی تراکتور,Bâšgâh-e Farhangi Varzeši-e Terâktor), commonly known asTractor, formerlyTractor Sazi,[2] is an Iranian professionalfootball club based inTabriz,East Azerbaijan, that competes in thePersian Gulf Pro League. The club was founded in 1970 by theIran Tractor Manufacturing Company.
Since the beginning of the1996–97 season, Tractor has played its home games at theSahand which has aseating capacity of 80,000 though it is able to hold more people during important matches. Tractor holds the attendance record for a promoted team in Iranian football when they had an estimated average attendance about 57,000 during the2009–10 season.[3] The club is owned and supported by the businessmanMohammad Reza Zonuzi since 2018.
Tractor is one of the most successful clubs in Tabriz, having clinched the championship of the2024–25 Persian Gulf Pro League, as well as having won twoHazfi Cups and oneAzadegan League title. The club's color is red and The club is known as the Red Wolves among its own fans and around the world.
Tractor Sazi was formed in 1969 in support of theTractor Manufacturing Company in Tabriz. They played in thePasargad League for five years until 1975. They finished 1975–76 as the winner of the Pasargard League and were promoted to theTakht Jamshid Cup (now theIran Pro League). In theirfirst season in the Takht Jamshid Cup, they were in poor form, and as a result they were relegated to the Pasargard League after just one year in the first division. They also lost theHazfi Cup final toMalavan in the cup's inaugural edition. After their relegation,Hossein Fekri remained as the club's manager and led them to a return to the first division for the1977–78 season, which they finished in 5th place. In the1978–79 season, which never finished due to theIranian Revolution, they were in 8th place with twelve matches played. Their rival at the time wasMachine Sazi, who are also based inTabriz.
In the 1980s the national league was suspended due to theIran–Iraq War, therefore Tractor were forced to compete in the Tabriz Local Leagues for many years. In the 1986–87Qods League the East Azerbaijan Provincial team, with a mix of players from Tractor and rivalsMachine Sazi, made it to the final, but were defeated in the final by the Isfahan Provincial team.
Romanian coachVasile Godja was in charge of Tractor's youth teams from 1986. He was also a worker at theTractor Company and discovered various talents as the B team's coach. He also discovered and trained various talented players likeKarim Bargheri,Sirous Dinmohammadi, Alireza Nikmer and Hossein Khatibi which, in time, played forIran's national team. In 1990, he was promoted to first team coach and led the club in the1992–93 season, finishing third place in the national competition.Esmail Halali was their star in this period. Under his leadership in 1994, Tractor made the finals of theHazfi Cup again, this time losing toBahman in the final, and won the MILLS International cup in India in 1995.
Godja left the team in 1997 after eight years in charge of the club.Mohammad Hossein Ziaei then became the player-coach of Tractor. At this time, notable players of the team started their migration to the other clubs. 1998 to 2001 they finished the league in mid-table.
In 2001,IRIFF formed theIran Pro League as the professional league. The inaugural2001–02 season underReza Vatankhah andMahmoud Yavari's management, saw Tractor relegated to theAzadegan League after the club finished bottom of the league.
Tractor spent seven seasons in theAzadegan League (Iran's second division) and were unable to climb to theIran Pro League. Tractor qualified for the promotion play-off in the2006–07 season but lost toShirin Faraz 4–2. After the appointment ofFaraz Kamalvand as the manager before the 2008–09 season, Tractor were promoted to the Iran Pro League for the first time in 8 years.
In the2011–12 season and underAmir Ghalenoei's management, Tractor finished as runners-up, securing a spot for the2013 AFC Champions League. This was the first time Tractor had qualified for the competition, subsequently qualifying for the2014 and2015 editions as well. In July 2012, formerBenfica andSevilla coach,Toni (Oliveira) was named as the club's manager. He led the club to a runners up finish in theIran Pro League.
After a fall out between Oliveira and the club chairman, Oliveira was sacked andMajid Jalali was brought in for the2013–14 season. After a poor run of results, Jalali was fired andToni returned, almost immediately leading Tractor to aHazfi Cup Championship, and a place in the2015AFC Champions League. They also finished the season in the 6th place, after they defeatedEsteghlal 3–1 in the last match atAzadi Stadium. Tractor were also unable to qualify for the knock-out stage of theAFC Champions League for the second consecutive year, after they finished 4th in their group in both the2013 and2014 editions. In2015, Tractor again were eliminated in the group stage of the AFC Champions League for the third straight time.
On 15 May 2015, the final match of the season was played between Tractor andNaft Tehran. The match took place atSahand Stadium inTabriz. After communication issues at the stadium, Tractor staff mistakenly thought thatSepahan was losing toSaipa, which would mean Tractor would win the league with a draw. Tractor tied the game, believing that a 3–3 draw with Naft had won them the title. While they were celebrating with their fans on the field, they found out that the actual result of the parallel game was 2–0 for Sepahan and that Sepahan were league champions. Tractor finished as runners-up for the third time, withAmir Ghalenoi in2011–12 andToni in2012–13 and2014–15.[4][5]
Midway through the 2015–16 season, Tractor head coachToni was once again sacked and replaced byAmir Ghalenoi. On 24 February 2016 Tractor won their first match of the2016 AFC Champions League in a 4–0 win against Emirati clubAl Jazira. Tractor won the return leg 1–0 on 2 March 2016 inAbu Dhabi as well. After the first two games, Tractor surpassed the most points they ever gained in the AFC Champions League group stage. Tractor qualified for the knock-out stages of the Champions League for the first time in their history on 19 April 2016 after defeating Saudi clubAl-Hilal 2–0. Tractor eventually lost in the Round of 16 to Emirati clubAl Nasr.
In the 2016–17 season, Tractor defeatedZob Ahan in the semi-final of theHazfi Cup to reach the final againstNaft Tehran. In January 2017, it was revealed that Tractor had been suspended from two transfer windows byFIFA, due to outstanding debts to former players. This led to the club terminating the contract ofSajjad Shahbazzadeh, whom they had signed days earlier.
In July 2024, Tractor appointedDragan Skocic as manager.[6][7] In his first season with the team, Skocic won the Iranian league for the first time in Tractor's history[8].. Tractor followed this up by also winning the Iranian Super Cup in 2025.[9]
There are a lot of popular marches for Tractor, but 'Tiraxtur iftixarımız' ('Tractor is our pride'), created and implemented in 2012, was chosen as the official anthem. The table below shows the lyrics of the Tractor fans anthem:[citation needed]
ظفر مارشین چالان بیزیک
قهرمانلیق بیزیمکی دیر
آذربایجان دیاریمیز
ادب، شرف شوعاریمیز
بیرلیک گۆجون اینانمیشیق
چوخ مئیدانلار دوْلانمیشیق
آذربایجان دیاریمیز
ادب، شرف شوعاریمیز
دونیا بوْیو قالان بیزیک
ایرانا باش اوْلان بیزیک
تیراختور ایفتیخاریمیز
تیراختور ایفتیخاریمیز(۲)
داغلار کیمی دایانمیشیق
ایفتیخارلار قازانمیشیق
تیراختور ایفتیخاریمیز
تیراختور ایفتیخاریمیز(۲)
{{{2}}}
[10] Some supporters also carry theflag of the Republic of Azerbaijan inside the stadium.[11] In a match on November 1, 2019, in response to Turkey'srecent military operation against the Syrian Kurds, the ethnicAzerbaijani Tractor fans chanted "Death to Kurds!" throughout the match and carried banners stating "Either Czechoslovakia or Yugoslavia!", in reference to theYugoslav Wars.[12]
A percentage of fans do not care much about the football game and its results, and are looking for a safe gathering place to express political separatist tendencies, as some Tractor fans compare their club andPan-Turkism with Barcelona andCatalanism ideology.[13][14] These movements mainly include chanting slogans and carrying ethnic writings, and sometimes they have themes in support of Turkey and the Republic of Azerbaijan political acts.[15][16]
During the transfer of the 16th Persian Gulf Pro League, the CEO of Tractor club,Mostafa Ajorlu announced a two-year contract withVarazdat Haroyan, the central defender of the Armenian national team. But twelve hours after this incident, the CEO of Tractor published an article on his Instagram and announced that they gave up recruiting Haroyan.[17] Ajorlu stated that the reason for this action was theunity of the Turks and in response to the protest of some of the team's fans, the fans' protest was due to the occupation of Karabagh by Armenians, and they consider Israel and Armenia to be the occupiers.[18] This action was criticized by the media due to suspicions about racism and the involvement of politics in sports. Also, on 10 March 2017, during the match between Tractor and Sepahan teams that was held at Yadgar-e Imam Stadium in Tabriz, some Tractor fans set on fire the Armenian flag inside the stadium in protest of the incidents that occurred during the visit of the prime minister of Armenia to Tehran.[19]
From its foundation, the team used a red crest. On the exterior circle, the name of the club and the date of its foundation were written. The second crest was white until 2013, when the club changed the colour of the crest to black.
They were previously sponsored by theHamrah-e Aval (Mobile Telecommunication Company). In July 2018, the club signed a contract withMerooj, starting from2017–18 Iran Pro League season.
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The official matches of the club inIran Pro League,Hazfi Cup andAFC Champions League are broadcast fromSahand TV (The club's city owned TV station),Varzesh andShoma channels. Online viewing is also available on the official site of the club and three above TV channels sites. Important matches are also broadcast fromIRIB TV3,Jame Jam andSAHAR TV.
The club is owned by theTractor Manufacturing Company since its establishment in 1970. Since 2011, it has been owned byKowsar Foundation (51%),[20] with 30% of the club belonging to theEast-Azerbaijan Province.[21] In addition, the Iranian Mehr Institute is an affiliate of Kowsar Foundation and other stakeholders and custodians of the club. Kowsar Foundation is part ofSepah Pasdaran – with the club enabling its players to complete their military service. Since 2018, the club has been owned byMohammad Reza Zonouzi, an Iranian businessman and shareholder.
Tractor has most rivalry with two big Iranian football clubs,Esteghlal andPersepolis.
Persepolis–Tractor rivalry started in 2009, when Tractor returned to first tier of Iranian football league after eight years, and their fans were passionate about this event.Mustafa Denizli is one of the club's most popular coaches in this rivalry. In 2019, Tractor defeated Persepolis after more than five years, when Denizli was the head coach.[22][23]
This rivalry started in 2009, and in the past years this rivalry has taken a violent turn, making it one of the most important sport events in the country. On 10 May 2015, Tractor defeated Esteghlal with four goals.[24] On 1 November 2019, they were beaten 4–2 by Esteghlal inYadegar-e Emam Stadium.[25]
Tractor has brotherly relationship withMachine Sazi (another football club from Tabriz). During the 1970s, both Tractor and Machine Sazi met regularly in the Takht Jamshid Cup, and both teams had some memorable successes in the fixture. Following the creation of the Azadegan League, Machine Sazi and Tractor met twice in the 1996–97 Azadegan League.
Machine Sazi's promotion to theIran Pro League in 2016 saw fans eagerly anticipating the first league derbies in seven years. However, in 2021, after a transfer of ownership and multiple relegations, Machine Sazi was on the verge of dissolving due to financial issues.[26]
Tractor played their home matches from 1979 until 1996 in the 20,000 capacityBagh Shomal Stadium (Takhti Stadium),1976 AFC Asian Cup stadium.Sahand Stadium (Yadegar-e Emam Stadium) was replaced with Bagh-e Shomal Stadium after it was completed in January 1996. The stadium is the second biggest stadium in Iran with 66,833 seats. The stadium is also part ofTabriz Olympic Complex.
During Sahand Stadium's renovation from 2005 to 2006, Bakeri Stadium was the club's home ground in theAzadegan League matches. The stadium has a 10,000 seater capacity.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
For recent transfers, seeList of Iranian football transfers summer 2025.
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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The table below chronicles the achievements of Tractor in various competitions.
| Season | League | Position | Hazfi Cup | ACL | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971–72 | Local League | 4th | Not held | Not held | Region C |
| 1972–73 | 2nd Division | 4th | Group B | ||
| 1973–74 | 2nd Division | 2nd | |||
| 1974–75 | 2nd Division | 1st | Promoted | ||
| 1975–76 | Takht Jamshid Cup | 16th | Runner Up | Relegated | |
| 1976–77 | 2nd Division | 2nd | 1/8 Final | Promoted | |
| 1977–78 | Takht Jamshid Cup | 5th | Not held | ||
| 1978–79 | Takht Jamshid Cup | Did not finish | |||
| 1980–81 | Tabriz Football League | 10th | Did not qualify | Relegated | |
| 1981–82 | Tabriz Football League's 2nd Div. | 1st | Promoted | ||
| 1982–83 | Tabriz Football League | 6th | |||
| 1983–84 | 5th | ||||
| 1984–85 | 1st | ||||
| 1985–86 | 2nd | ||||
| 1986–87 | 3rd | ||||
| 1987–88 | 2nd | ||||
| 1988–89 | 2nd | ||||
| 1989–90 | Qods League | 4th | Quarter-finals | ||
| 1990–91 | 2nd Division | 3rd | 1/8 final | Promoted | |
| 1991–92 | Azadegan League | 10th | Not held | ||
| 1992–93 | 3rd | Not held | |||
| 1993–94 | 8th | Runner Up | |||
| 1994–95 | 9th | First round | Relegated | ||
| 1995–96 | 2nd Division | 2nd | Second Round | Promoted | |
| 1996–97 | Azadegan League | 11th | Second round | ||
| 1997–98 | 9th | Not held | |||
| 1998–99 | 11th | Second round | |||
| 1999–00 | 6th | 1/16 final | |||
| 2000–01 | 12th | Second round | |||
| 2001–02 | Iran Pro League | 14th | Third round | Relegated | |
| 2002–03 | Azadegan League | 3rd | Second round | ||
| 2003–04 | 8th | Third round | |||
| 2004–05 | 7th | Third round | |||
| 2005–06 | 2nd | Second round | |||
| 2006–07 | 1st | Second round | Promoted to Play Off | ||
| 2007–08 | 4th | 1/16 final | |||
| 2008–09 | 1st | Quarter-finals | Promoted | ||
| 2009–10 | Persian Gulf Cup | 7th | Second round | ||
| 2010–11 | 5th | 1/8 final | |||
| 2011–12 | 2nd | 1/16 final | |||
| 2012–13 | 2nd | 1/8 final | Group stage | ||
| 2013–14 | 6th | Champion | Group stage | ||
| 2014–15 | 2nd | 1/16 final | Group stage | ||
| 2015–16 | 4th | Semi-final | 1/8 final | ||
| 2016–17 | 3rd | Runner Up | did not qualify | ||
| 2017–18 | 10th | Quarter-finals | Group stage | ||
| 2018–19 | 5th | Round of 32 | did not qualify | ||
| 2019–20 | 4th | Champion | |||
| 2020–21 | 4th | 1/8 final | 1/8 final | ||
| 2021–22 | 13th | 1/16 final | Did not qualify | ||
| 2022–23 | 4th | 1/16 final | Did not qualify | ||
| 2023–24 | 4th | Quarter-finals | Did not qualify | ||
| 2024–25 | 1st | 1/16 final | Quarter-finals |
Winner (1):2008–09 Winner (1):1992 Winner (1): 1984–85 Winner (1): 1981–82
Sardaran Shahid International Cup Winner (2):1995, 1996Shohada Cup Winner (2):2014, 2017| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Vjekoslav Miletic |
| Assistant coaches |  Sanel KonjevićDino Žižka |
| Goalkeeper coach | Mladen Žganjer |
| Fitness coach | Hamidreza Joudaki |
| Technical manager | Yousef Bakhshi Zadeh |
| Team manager | Khodadad Azizi |
| Translator | Hamidreza Hedayati |
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Owner | Mohammad Reza Zonouzi |
| President | Saeid Mozaffarizadeh |
| Board chairman | Abbas Elyasi |
| Board members | Alireza Navin |
| Fans club president | Esmaeil Ghilichkhani |
| Academy manager | Sadegh Pourhossein |
| Concept | Times |
|---|---|
| Seasons inIran 1st Tier League | 23 |
| Seasons inIran 2nd Tier League | 12 |
| Promotions toIran 1st Tier League | 4 |
| Participations in theHazfi Cup | 27 |
| Participations in Asian competitions | 5 |
| All-time best position inPersian Gulf Pro League | 2nd * |
* They are assured first place in the2024–25 Persian Gulf Pro League, but the season is still in progress.
| Competition | Played | Won | Drew | Lost | GF | GA | GD | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFC Champions League | 40 | 9 | 11 | 20 | 40 | 58 | −18 | 022.50 |
| AFC Champions League Two | 8 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 23 | 10 | +13 | 050.00 |
Legend: GF = Goals For. GA = Goals Against. GD = Goal Difference.
| Asian Club Championship / AFC Champions League | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Competition | Round | Rival | Home | Away | Agg. |
| 2013 | AFC Champions League | Group stage (Group A) |  Al-Jazira | 3–1 | 0–2 | – |
 El Jaish | 2–4 | 3–3 | ||||
 Al-Shabab | 0–1 | 0–1 | ||||
| 2014 | AFC Champions League | Group stage (Group C) | Al-Ittihad | 1–0 | 0–2 | – |
| Lekhwiya | 0–1 | 0–0 | ||||
| Al-Ain | 2–2 | 1–3 | ||||
| 2015 | AFC Champions League | Group stage (Group D) |  Nasaf Qarshi | 1–2 | 1–2 | – |
| Al-Ahli | 1–0 | 2–3 | ||||
| Al-Ahli | 2–2 | 0–2 | ||||
| 2016 | AFC Champions League | Group stage (Group C) | Al-Jazira | 4–0 | 1–0 | – |
| Pakhtakor | 2–0 | 0–1 | ||||
| Al-Hilal | 1–2 | 2–0 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Al-Nasr | 3–1 | 1–4 | 4–5 | ||
| 2018 | AFC Champions League | Group stage (Group A) | Al-Jazira | 1–1 | 0–0 | – |
| Al-Ahli | 0–1 | 0–2 | ||||
| Al-Gharafa | 1–3 | 0–3 | ||||
| 2021 | AFC Champions League | Group stage (Group B) | Pakhtakor | 0–0 | 3–3 | – |
| Sharjah | 0–0 | 0–2 | ||||
 Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya | 1–0 | 0–0 | ||||
| Round of 16 | Al-Nassr | 0–1 | - | |||
| 2023–24 | AFC Champions League | Play-off round | Sharjah | 1–3 | – | |
| 2024–25 | AFC Champions League Two | Group stage (Group A) |  Mohun Bagan SG | Withdrawn | – | |
 Ravshan Kulob | 3–1 | 7–0 | ||||
| Al-Wakrah | 3–0 | 3–3 | ||||
| Round of 16 |  Al-Khaldiya | 2–1 | 3–3 | 5–4 | ||
| Quarterfinals | Al Taawoun | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2(2–4p) | ||
| Rank | Player | Goals | Seasons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh | 8 | 1 |
| 2 | Mohammad Abbaszadeh | 4 | 1 |
| Farzad Hatami | 4 | 2 | |
| 3 |  Geílson Soares | 3 | 1 |
| Tomislav Štrkalj | 3 | 1 | |
| Bakhtiar Rahmani | 3 | 1 | |
| 4 | Mehdi Seyed-Salehi | 2 | 1 |
| Edinho | 2 | 1 | |
 Aloys Nong | 2 | 1 | |
| Augusto | 2 | 1 | |
| Farshad Ahmadzadeh | 2 | 2 | |
| Mohammad Iranpourian | 2 | 4 | |
| 4 | Ashkan Dejagah | 1 | 1 |
| Mehdi Tikdari | 1 | 1 | |
| Karim Ansarifard | 1 | 1 | |
| Saeed Daghighi | 1 | 1 | |
 Flávio Paixão | 1 | 1 | |
| Mehdi Sharifi | 1 | 1 | |
| Saeid Aghaei | 1 | 1 | |
| Shoja' Khalilzadeh | 1 | 1 | |
| Shahin Saghebi | 1 | 2 | |
| Javad Kazemian | 1 | 2 | |
| Masoud Ebrahimzadeh | 1 | 2 | |
| Milad Fakhreddini | 1 | 3 |
Lists of the players with the most caps and top goalscorers for the club, as of 3 June 2019.Mohammad Ebrahimi is the club's all-time most capped player and top scorer with 31 goals in 180 games. This list includes goals from all competitive matches.
.jpg)
| # | Name | Nationality | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahad Sheykhlari | Iran | 111 |
| 2 | Mohammad Ebrahimi | Iran | 34 |
| Mohammad Abbaszadeh | Iran | 34 | |
| 4 | Farzad Hatami | Iran | 31 |
| 5 | Edinho | Brazil | 29 |
| 6 | Mohammad Iranpourian | Iran | 28 |
| 7 | Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh | Iran | 23 |
| 8 | Flavio Lopes | Brazil | 21 |
| 9 | Mehdi Seyed-Salehi | Iran | 19 |
| 10 | Reza Asadi | Iran | 18 |
| 11 | Saman Nariman Jahan | Iran | 17 |
| 12 | Mehdi Hashemnejad | Iran | 15 |
| # | Name | Nationality | Apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ahad Sheykhlari | Iran | 452 |
| 2 | Mehdi Kiani | Iran | 296 |
| 3 | Mohammad Ebrahimi | Iran | 216 |
| 4 | Mohammad Reza Akhbari | Iran | 174 |
| 5 | Mohammad Iranpourian | Iran | 165 |
| 6 | Masoud Ebrahimzadeh | Iran | 159 |
| 7 | Morteza Asadi | Iran | 142 |
| 8 | Mohammad Nosrati | Iran | 123 |
| 9 | Ehsan Haji Safi | Iran | 117 |
| 10 | Farzad Hatami | Iran | 113 |
| 11 | Ricardo Alves | Portugal | 94 |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)