Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C.

Zob Ahan

Full name	Zob Ahan Esfahan Football Club
Nickname(s)	Gandos (The Marsh Crocodiles)
Short name	Zob Ahan
Founded	6 July 1969; 55 years ago (1969-07-06)
Ground	Foolad Shahr Stadium
Capacity	15,000[1]
Owner	Isfahan Steel Company
Chairman	Nima Nakisa[2]
Head Coach	Mohammad Rabiei
League	Persian Gulf Pro League
2023–24	Persian Gulf Pro League, 5th
Website	http://zobahanclub.com/
Home colours Away colours
Current season

Zob Ahan Esfahan Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فرهنگى ورزشى ذوب‌آهن اصفهان, Bâšgâhé Futbâlé Zobâhané Esfahân) is an Iranian football club based in Fuladshahr, Iran. It competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League. The team is sponsored by the Isfahan Steel Company, which also goes by the name Zob Ahan. The club's main rival is fellow Isfahani team Sepahan, which is sponsored by the rival steel mill Mobarakeh Steel Company.

Zob Ahan club also has a basketball team, sponsored by the same Isfahan Steel Company, which is one of the teams in the Iranian Super League.

In the 2010 AFC Champions League. Zob Ahan finished as runners-up losing 3–1 to South Korean club Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma in the final.

Zob Ahan has won the Hazfi Cup on four occasions (2002–03, 2008–09, 2014–15 and 2015–16) and have finished as runners-up one time (2000–01). The club has also finished as League runners-up three times (2004–05, 2008–09 and 2009–10) and has won the Iranian Super Cup once (2016).

Mohammad Ali Taghizadeh Farahmand established the club in 1969. They entered the Takht Jamshid Cup in 1973 and end season in the 10th place. They promoted to the quarterfinals of the Hazfi Cup in 1976. Their best results in Takht Jamshid Cup was earned in 1977–78 in the 8th place.

The team has participated in the highest division of the Iranian league system since 1973, except for the 1995 season when they played in the 2nd division. After Iranian Revolution in 1979, Takht Jamshid Cup was suspended due to Iran–Iraq War. After the end of the war, league began again in the title of Azadegan League. They were once again promoted to the 1st division the year after.

Zob Ahan currently play in the IPL starting from 2001. The club's first honor, remains the winning of the Hazfi Cup in 2003, after defeating the Shiraz-based team Moghavemat Sepasi in the finals.^[3] This feat was repeated in the 2008–09 Hazfi Cup, when the club beat Rah Ahan to re-claim the title after 6 years.^[3] The club made its first appearance in the AFC Champions League in 2004, as the winners of the 2003 Hazfi Cup, but were eliminated in the group stages.

Having missed out on winning their first-ever domestic league title in the 2008–09 season, Zobahan were one of the title contenders once again in the 2009–10 season. However, at the end, they had to settle for second place once again after finishing six points behind their city rivals Sepahan. They also lost their grip on the Hazfi Cup after a shock 0–2 loss to a second-division side Gostaresh Foulad in the semi-finals.^[4]

In the 2010 AFC Champions League Zob Ahan finished first on the group stage that included FC Bunyodkor, Al-Wahda and Al-Ittihad. By finishing first they qualified for the first time for the Knockout stages. On the Round of 16 they draw country neighbours Mes Kerman winning 1–0. The club then qualified to the quarter-finals and were drawn with title holders Pohang Steelers, Zob Ahan won 2–1 at home and draw 1–1 on Korea, knocking-out the title holders. Zob Ahan played against Saudi powerhouse Al Hilal which they won 1–0 at home, and won 1–0 on Saudi Arabia leading the club to an Asian Champions League final where they face Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. On 13 November, in the final Zob Ahan lost 1–3 to Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma. Zob Ahan couldn't be the champions on their 2nd Asian Champions League participation always being under-dogs. The following year the club made it to the quarter-finals but lost to Korean club Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

After the 2011 Champions League, a 6th place league finish in 2012 meant that the club failed to retain its spot in the Champions League. The following year, the club finished 14th in the league, narrowly avoiding relegation through a play-off. Fan attendance started to dip and Zob Ahan had another sub par year in the 2013–14 Iran Pro League season, finishing 13th, changing three managers during the course of the season and again narrowly avoiding relegation.

In summer of 2014 Zob Ahan announced Yahya Golmohammadi as the club's new manager. After a poor start to the season, Zob Ahan when on a six match unbeaten run which placed them 6th in week 23. On 5 December 2015 Zob Ahan defeated Persepolis 2–1 in the Hazfi Cup semi-final to advance to the final for the fourth time in club history. On 15 May 2015 after a 0–0 draw against Padideh, Zob Ahan finished fourth and returned to the AFC Champions League after five years. Zob Ahan also won their third Hazfi Cup title after defeating Naft Tehran 3–1 in the final.

On 23 February 2016 Zob Ahan won its first match AFC Champions League since 2011, defeating Lekhwiya of Qatar 1–0. Zob Ahan qualified for the Round of 16 of the AFC Champions League on 20 April 2016 after defeating Saudi club Al Nassr 3–0 in match day 5. However, Zob Ahan were defeated 3–1 on aggregate by Emirati club Al Ain in the Round of 16. Zob Ahan once again qualified for the final of the 2016 Hazfi Cup to defend their crown against Esteghlal. Zob Ahan defeated Esteghlal in penalties and won the Hazfi Cup for the fourth time in the club's history. Zob Ahan won the Iranian Super Cup after beating Esteghlal Khuzestan 4–2 in extra time. This was the first trophy that Zob Ahan won in Foolad Shahr Stadium.

In the beginning of the 2016–17, after poor results, Golmohammadi was fired as manager of the team and was replaced by Assistant coach Mojtaba Hosseini. Hosseini led Zob Ahan to the semi-finals of the Hazfi Cup, where they lost to Tractor.

One of Zob Ahan's nicknames is Sabzpoushan ("The Greens", Persian: سبز پوشان), stemming from their traditional kit, which is predominantly green. From the foundation of the club, the common home kit includes a green shirt, black or white shorts, and white or yellow socks. White and black colours are also seen in the kit. The away kit of the club is commonly with a white background.

The home stadium of the club is Foolad Shahr Stadium located in Fooladshahr, Isfahan. The stadium had 20,000 capacity but was renovated to hold about 30,000 people in 2011. The stadium was built in 1998.

Zob Ahan is part of the Esfahan derby or Naghsh-e-Jahan derby. The Esfahan derby goes back to the 1970s, when Zob Ahan and Sepahan 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.

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 Parsa Jafari 2 DF  IRN Amirhossein Jeddi 3 DF  IRN Hesam Nafari 4 DF  IRN Mohammad Ghoreishi (Captain) 5 DF  IRN Ramtin Soleimanzadeh 6 MF  IRN Fardin Yousefi 7 FW  IRN Majid Aliyari 9 MF  IRN Mehdi Mamizadeh 10 FW  IRN Morteza Tabrizi 11 MF  IRN Kamal Kamyabinia 12 GK  IRN Davoud Noushi Soufiani 14 MF  IRN Pouya Mokhtari 16 DF  IRN Pouria Aria Kia 17 MF  IRN Ahmad Shariatzadeh 18 MF  IRN Mehran Nafari 19 DF  IRN Pedram Ghazipour

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 FW  IRN Hadi Baghban 23 FW  IRN Mohsen Azarbad 26 DF  IRN Abolfazl Hosseinifar 28 FW  BDI Bonfils-Caleb Bimenyimana 30 FW  IRN Ali Eslami 33 GK  IRN Mohammad Sadegh Salehi 35 DF  GEO Grigol Chabradze 40 DF  IRN Fariborz Gerami 55 DF  IRN Hossein Shaverdi 63 DF  IRN Danial Eiri 69 DF  IRN Shayan Mosleh 70 FW  IRN Omid Latifi 77 DF  IRN Davoud Rajabi 79 MF  IRN Sobhan Khaghani 88 MF  IRN Hassan Shoushtari

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers summer 2022.

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

No. Pos. Nation Player — GK  IRN Habib Far Abbasi (at Malavan until June 2025)

No.	Player	Position	Zob Ahan debut	Last match	ref
30	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	AM	June 2003	15 May 2018	[5]

On 18 June 2018, the club decided to retire the squad number 30 in memory of Mehdi Rajabzadeh.

This list of former players includes those who received international caps while playing for the team, made significant contributions to the team in terms of appearances or goals while playing for the team, or who made significant contributions to the sport either before they played for the team, or after they left. It is clearly not yet complete and all inclusive, and additions and refinements will continue to be made over time.

For notable players see List of Zob Ahan F.C. players.
For details on former players see Category:Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C. players.

Cup	Players
1978 FIFA World Cup	Rasoul Korbekandi
1996 AFC Asian Cup	Ali Akbar Ostad-Asadi
1998 FIFA World Cup	Ali Akbar Ostad-Asadi
2007 AFC Asian Cup	Mehdi Rajabzadeh
2011 AFC Asian Cup	Shahab Gordan Ghasem Haddadifar Mohammad Reza Khalatbari Farshid Talebi
2014 FIFA World Cup	Ghasem Haddadifar
2018 FIFA World Cup	Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri

#	Name	Nat	Career in Zob Ahan	Captaincy	Shirt Num
1	Rasoul Korbekandi		1969–80	1970–80	1
2	Mahmood Ebrahimzadeh		1976–86	1980–86	7
3	Rahman Rezaei		1996–01	1997–00	10
4	Ali Akbar Ostad-Asadi		1995–03	2000–03	15
5	Sepehr Heidari		2000–07 2012–14	2003–07	3
6	Mohammad Salsali		2004–14	2007–14	7
7	Mehdi Rajabzadeh		2003–07 2010–11 2012–18	2014–18	30
8	Ghasem Haddadifar		2003–2021	2018–2021	8
9	Masoud Ebrahimzadeh		2018–2023	2021–2023	7

Only IPL matches are counted.

Last updated 10 August 2021.

Name	Nat	From	To	Record
				P	W	D	L	Win %	Final Position
Nasser Hejazi		Jul 2001	Dec 2001	20	8	6	4	40%	3rd (until week 20)
Bahram Atef		Dec 2001	Jul 2002	6	2	3	3	33.4%	(01–02) 6th
Samvel Darbinyan		Jul 2002	May 2003	52	21	11	20	40%	(02-03) 8th (03-04) 4th
Rasoul Korbekandi		May 2003	Jun 2007	90	39	26	25	43.4%	(04-05) 2nd, (05-06) 6th, (06-07) 8th
Zoran Đorđević		Jun 2007	Oct 2007	10	3	4	3	30%	17th (until week 10)
Bijan Zolfagharnasab		Oct 2007	May 2008	24	8	11	5	33.4%	(07-08) 6th
Mansour Ebrahimzadeh		Jul 2008	Jun 2012	134	62	48	24	46.3%	(08-09) 2nd, (09-10) 2nd,(10–11) 3rd, (11-12) 6th
Rasoul Korbekandi		Jun 2012	Oct 2012	11	3	1	7	27.3%	15th (until week 11)
Farhad Kazemi		Oct 2012	Jul 2013	23	6	10	7	26%	(12–13) 14th
Mahmoud Yavari		Jun 2013	Jul 2013	2	1	1	0	50%	Win in the Relegation play-offs
Luka Bonačić		Jul 2013	Jan 2014	20	3	7	10	15%	14th (until week 20)
Mojtaba Taghavi		Jan 2014	Feb 2014	7	1	4	2	14.3%	15th (until week 27)
Firouz Karimi		Feb 2014	Jun 2014	4	3	0	1	75%	(13–14) 13th
Yahya Golmohammadi		Jun 2014	Sep 2016	67	26	26	15	38.8%	(14–15) 4th (15–16) 6th (16–17) 14th (until week 7)
Mojtaba Hosseini		Sep 2016	Jun 2017	23	11	7	5	47.8%	(16–17) 4th
Amir Ghalenoei		Jun 2017	Jun 2018	30	15	10	5	50.0%	(17-18) 2nd
Omid Namazi		Jun 2018	Nov 2018	11	2	5	4	18.1%	(18–19) 11th (until week 11)
Alireza Mansourian		Nov 2018	Dec 2019	35	10	14	11	36.8%	(18-19) 6th (19–20) 11th (until week 16)
Miodrag Radulović		Jan 2020	Jun 2020	5	2	1	2	40%	(19–20) 11th (until week 21)
Luka Bonačić		Jun 2020	Aug 2020	9	2	2	5	22.2%	(19–20) 12th
Rahman Rezaei		Sep 2020	Feb 2021	15	1	8	6	6.6%	(20–21) 14th (until week 15)
Mojtaba Hosseini		Mar 2021	Aug 2021	12	3	3	6	25%	(20–21) 14th
Mehdi Tartar		Aug 2021	Present	30	10	7	13	30%	(21–22) 7th

Source:^[6]

Position	Name
Head coach	Mehdi Tartar
Assistant coaches	Hossein Pashaei Mohammad Salsali Mohammad Nouri
Goalkeeping coach	Hossein Inanlou
Fitness coach	Amir Jamali
Analyst	Kianoush Forouzesh
Physiotherapist	Abbas Moradi Behzad Moradi
Doctor	Amir Hossein Sharifianpour
Logistics	Mahmoud Mehruyan
Team Manager	Mahmoud Yazdkhasti
B team Head Coach	Mehdi Rajabzadeh
Media Officer	Ehsan Baeedi

Chairperson	Tenure
Mohammad Mehdi Taghizadeh	July 1969 – July 1977
Mostafa Ghanei	July 1977 – February 1979
Asghar Nilchian	May 1979 – May 1984
Fazollah Omranian	May 1984 – May 1988
Heydar Taheri	May 1988 – May 1992
Nematollah Zargar	May 1992 – June 1996
Alireza Shogi	June 1996 – June 2004
Saeed Azari	June 2004 – June 2009
Asghar Dalili	June 2009 – August 2011
Khosro Ebrahimi	August 2011 – September 2013
Saeed Azari	September 2013 – August 2019
Javad Mohammadi	August 2019 – January 2020
Ahmad Jamshidi	January 2020 – September 2020
Javad Mohammadi	September 2020 – January 2021
Mojtaba Fereydouni	January 2021 – July 2023
Nima Nakisa	July 2023 – present

For details on seasons, see List of Zob Ahan F.C. seasons

The table below chronicles the achievements of Zob Ahan since 1973.

Season	League	Position	Hazfi Cup	ACL	Notes
1973–74	Takht Jamshid Cup	10th	Not held	did not qualify
1974–75		11th
1975–76		9th	1/8 Final
1976–77		15th	1/16 Final
1977–78		8th	Not held
1978–79		N/A			did not finish
1981–82	Isfahan's 2nd Division	1st			Promoted
1983–84	Isfahan League	3rd
1984–85		2nd
1991–92		5th
1993–94	Azadegan League	4th	1/8 Final
1994–95		8th	1/16 Final		Relegated
1995–96	2nd Division	2nd	1/8 Final		Promoted
1996–97	Azadegan League	10th	1/8 Final
1997–98		3rd	Not held
1998–99		12th	Third Round
1999–00		5th	First Round
2000–01		4th	Final
2001–02	Iran Pro League	6th	Quarterfinal
2002–03		8th	Cup
2003–04		4th	Semi-Final	First Round
2004–05		2nd	1/8 Final	did not qualify
2005–06		6th	1/8 Final
2006–07		8th	1/16 Final
2007–08		6th	1/8 Final
2008–09		2nd	Cup
2009–10		2nd	Semi-Final	Runner-up
2010–11		3rd	1/16 Final	1/4 Final
2011–12		6th	1/8 Final	Play-off
2012–13		14th	1/4 Final	did not qualify
2013–14		13th	1/4 Final
2014–15		4th	Cup
2015–16		6th	Cup	1/8 Final	Super Cup
2016–17		4th	Semi-Final	First Round
2017–18		2nd	1/16 Final	1/8 Final
2018–19		6th	1/16 Final	1/8 Final
2019–20		12th	1/16 Final	did not qualify
2020–21		14th	1/16 Final	did not qualify
2021–22		7th	1/16 Final	did not qualify

Lists of the players with the most caps and top goalscorers for the club, (players in bold signifies current Zob Ahan player). This list includes goals from Iran Premier League.

As of 6 May 2020

	Name	Nationality	position	total
1	Ghasem Haddadifar	Iran	Midfielder	410
2	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	Iran	Forward	348
3	Rasoul Korbekandi	Iran	Goalkeeper	308
4	Esmaeil Farhadi	Iran	Forward	303
5	Mohammad Salsali	Iran	Defender	235
6	Sepehr Heidari	Iran	Defender	183
7	Morteza Tabrizi	Iran	Forward	178
8	Rashid Mazaheri	Iran	Goalkeeper	175
9	Mohammad Mansouri	Iran	Midfielder	163
	Sina Ashouri	Iran	Midfielder	163

As of 6 May 2019

Player		Appearances	Goals
1	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	348	106
2	Morteza Tabrizi	178	54
3	Reza Sahebi	147	49
4	Esmaeil Farhadi	303	47
5	Mohammad Reza Khalatbari	160	44
6	Igor Castro	153	42
7	Mohammad Ghazi	111	28
8	Mohammad Hosseini	111	25
9	Ghasem Haddadifar	410	22
10	Mohsen Mosalman	157	21

Season	Player	Goals
2001–02	Reza Sahebi	7
2002–03	Reza Sahebi	6
2003–04	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	9
2004–05	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	8
2005–06	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	14
2006–07	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	17
2007–08	Esmaeil Farhadi	9
2008–09	Igor Castro	16
2009–10	Mohammad Reza Khalatbari	11
2010–11	Seyed Mohammad Hosseini	12
2011–12	Mohammad Ghazi	7
2012–13	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	8
2013–14	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	9
2014–15	Masoud Hassanzadeh	9
2015–16	Morteza Tabrizi	7
2016–17	Morteza Tabrizi	11
2017–18	Morteza Tabrizi	13
2018–19	Amir Arsalan Motahari	6

Asian Club Championship / AFC Champions League

Season	Round	Rival	Home	Away	Rank/Agg.	Notes
2004	Group stage (Group A)	Pakhtakor	1–0	2–0	2
		Qatar SC	3–3	0–0
		Riffa	–	–
2010	Group stage (Group B)	Al-Wahda	1–0	1–0	1	Runners-up
		Al-Ittihad	1–0	2–2
		Bunyodkor	3–0	0–1
	Round of 16	Mes Kerman	1–0	–	1–0
	Quarter-finals	Pohang Steelers	2–1	1–1	3–2
	Semi-finals	Al-Hilal	1–0	0–1	2–0
	Final	Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma	–	–	1–3
2011	Group stage (Group D)	Emirates	2–1	0–1	1
		Al-Shabab	0–1	0–0
		Al-Rayyan	1–0	1–3
	Round of 16	Al-Nassr	4–1	–	4–1
	Quarter-finals	Suwon Samsung Bluewings	1–2	1–1	2–3
2012	Qualifying play-off	Esteghlal	–	2–0	2–0	Not Qualify
2016	Group stage (Group B)	Lekhwiya	0–0	0–1	1
		Bunyodkor	5–2	0–0
		Al-Nassr	3–0	0–3
	Round of 16	Al-Ain	0–2	1–1	1–3
2017	Group stage (Group C)	Al-Ain	0–3	1–1	3
		Al-Ahli	1–2	2–0
		Bunyodkor	2–1	0–2
2018	Qualifying play-off	Aizawl	3–1	–	3–1	Qualify
	Group stage (Group B)	Al Wahda	2–0	3–0	2
		Lokomotiv	2–0	1–1
		Al-Duhail	0–1	3–1
	Round of 16	Esteghlal	1–0	3–1	3–2
2019	Preliminary round 2	Al-Kuwait	1–0	–	1–0	Qualify
	Qualifying play-off	Al-Gharafa	–	2–3	3–2
	Group stage (Group A)	Al-Zawraa	0–0	2–2	1
		Al-Wasl	2–0	1–3
		Al-Nassr	0–0	2–3
	Round of 16	Al-Ittihad	3–4	2–1	4–6

• 1st Division/Persian Gulf Pro League
  • Runners-up (4): 2004–05, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2017–18
• Hazfi Cup
  • Winners (4): 2002–03, 2008–09, 2014–15, 2015–16
  • Runners-up (1): 2000–01
• Super Cup
  • Winners (1): 2016

• AFC Champions League
  • Runners-up (1): 2010

The owner of the Zob Ahan FC is Isfahan Steel Company. Company is the first Iranian steel maker opened in late 1960, based close to the cities of Fooladshahr and Zarrinshahr, Isfahan Province.

Zob Ahan-e Esfahan and Iran's first car manufacturer, Iran National (renamed Iran Khodro after the Iranian revolution) were parts of a move from mainly agriculture-based economy toward industrialization by the pre-revolutionary government of Amir Abbas Hoveida.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C..

• Official website (in Persian)
• Player statistics (archived 12 February 2010)