FC Ararat (, Ârarat Tehran) is an Armenian diaspora football team based in Tehran, Iran who play in the Tehran Province League. Ararat football club is the football club of the multisport Ararat Club in Iran.
Ararat has a policy of signing only players who have an Armenian heritage.
Club history Establishment The club was established in 1944 by a group of Armenian-Iranians. They named the club after the famous mountain of the same name. The club was run by an Armenian athletic organization and was one of few clubs in Iranian football to have its own private stadium and training facilities. The club has never had spectacular results, but has always provided talented players for Iranian football. It was heavily supported by the Armenian minority in Iran.
Drop to the lower leagues The last time the club played in the top level of Iranian football was the 1995–96 season of the Azadegan League (current IPL). Due to the poor decisions of the club management, Ararat FC has spent most of the past few years playing in the 1st Division and 2nd Division of Iran's football leagues. Until recently the club had a policy of only employing Armenian staff and players, but with the team's poor form in the past few years, this decision has been overturned and non-Armenians have coached the team. The players though are all Armenian-Iranians. In the 2005–06 season the club came very close to promotion into the Azadegan League, but fell short in the last few weeks of the season.
In 2007–08 season they took the last place in their group and relegated to 3rd division but in July 2008, Iran Football Federation increased number of 2nd Division teams to 28 and Ararat still remained in 2nd Division.
A major changes heralded for Ararat in 2008, as the terrible state of the club's finances was revealed, they were unable to pay wages and had major debts. The club's owner, Armenian-Iranians, were able to raise some more money, but even this soon proved to be insufficient resources to sustain the club. They finished last in the 2nd Division (group A) standings of the 2008–09 season. Thus, being relegated to 3rd Division. After the club's relegation, Arrarat was dissolved by its owners.
Refounding Arrarat was reopened on 9 October 2014 after a five years of absence. They also played a friendly match at the same day with Esteghlal XI. The club was placed in the Tehran Provincial League Division 1 and lost their first match 2–1. In 2015 the club was promoted to the Tehran Provincial League.
Season-by-season
The table below chronicles the achievements of Ararat in various competitions since 1965.
SeasonLeagueHazfi CupNotesLeagues Top goalscorerManagerDivisionPWDLFAPtsPosNameGoals1965–66TFL12327142889thMansour Amirasefi1966–67TFL11434138127thMansour Amirasefi1967–68TFL Mansour Amirasefi1968–69TFL Mansour Amirasefi1969–70TFL158161822175thGarnik Mehrabian1970–71TFL Garnik Mehrabian1971–72TFL148061818166thGarnik Mehrabian1972–73TFL1536610141211thGarnik Mehrabian1973–74TFL11551115153rdGarnik Mehrabian1974–75TFL13823179182ndMansour Amirasefi1975–76TJC308101223312612thMansour Amirasefi1976–77TJC306131123322512thMansour Amirasefi /Thomas Certish1977–78Div 22291013219283rdNot heldHamlet Asefi1978–79Div 2Not Completed Due to Iranian RevolutionNot held1979-8SEC Arshavil Maleki1981–82TFL13382108147thArshavil Maleki1982–83TFL1748513201612thMansour Amirasefi1983–84TFL175841912186thMansour Amirasefi1984–85TFLDid not finishMansour Amirasefi1985–86TFL9135713510thMansour Amirasefi1986–87TFL210424129105thHassan Habibi1987–88TFL2174941312179thHassan Habibi1988–89TFL217962187333rdHassan Habibi1989–90TFL214950308232ndNot heldHassan Habibi1990–91TFL176651110187thHassan Habibi1991–92TFL15663118185thHassan Habibi1992–93TFL2681082220267thNot heldHassan Habibi1993–94TFL1812422813282ndHassan Habibi1994–95Div 1228953119255thHassan Habibi1995–96Div 130871527393112thVazgen Safarian1996–97Div 230891332423314th1997–98Div 2186931814274thNot held1998–99Div 2166462517226th1999-00Div 2167272325235th 2000–01Div 2162212163489th2001–02Div 1205781218229th2002–03Div 2102531110114th2003–04Div 22266102224249th2004–05Div 21810532511352nd2005–06Div 22211563124383rd2006–07Div 226115103237387th2007–08Div 226422016511414th2008–09Div 200000009th2009–10Div 3000000012th2010–11TPLAbsence2011–12TPL.Div 1Absence2012–13TPL.Div 1Absence2013–14TPL.Div 1Absence2014–15TPL.Div 110811225251stDid not qualify2016–17TPL.Div 12614755238495th
Key
P = Played W = Games won D = Games drawn L = Games lost F = Goals for A = Goals against Pts = Points Pos = Final position
TJC = Takht Jamshid Cup TFL = Tehran Football League SEC = Shahid Espandi Cup TFL2 = Tehran Football League's 2nd Div. Div 1 = Azadegan League Div 2 = 2nd Division Div 3 = 3rd Division TPL = Tehran Province league TPL.Div 1 = Tehran Province league's 1st Div.
ChampionsRunners-up
Current Management Team
Position NameHead coach Mehdi DinvarzadehAssistant coach Robert MargosiAssistant coach Vazgen SafarianTechnical manager Mais MinasianTeam Manager Vazgen Safarian
Head coaches
Garnik Mehrabian (1963–1973) Mansour Amirasefi (c.1980s) Hassan Habibi (c.1980s) Mehdi Dinvarzade (c.2015s)
References
External links
Official Official sports section of the Ararat Armenian Cultural Organization of Iran (archived)
Fan site Ararat FC Fan Blog
official instagram blog