Fajr Shahid Sepasi Shiraz Football Club (, Bashgah-e Farhangi-e Varzeshi-e Futbal-e Fajr-e Sepasi-ye Shiraz), commonly known as Fajr Sepasi Shiraz, or Fajr Sepasi, is an Iranian football club based in Shiraz, Fars, that competes in the Azadegan League. The club was founded in 1988.
The football team plays their home games at the Pars Shiraz Stadium which has a seating capacity of 50,000. The club is owned and supported by the Basij.
History
Establishment In 1988, a group of youngsters, who were from Shiraz along with Jafar Jafari, established a football team named Behzad. They started playing in the 2nd division of Shiraz's local city league. After the death of Majid Sepasi during the Iran–Iraq War, the team was renamed in Fajr Shahid Sepasi Shiraz Football Club. Shahid means martyr in Persian. The club was officially founded on 11 February 1988, the day of the Islamic revolution. In 1991 the club had been bought by Sepah Pasdaran completely.
1990s In 1995 they became champions of Fars province, and in 1996 were promoted to the Azadegan League. The club has remained in the highest level of Iranian football since then, and won the Hazfi Cup in 2001.
Takeover
In December 2006 Sepah Pasdaran sold its shares in sport to Basij, therefore all Fajr teams were renamed to Moghavemat teams. Fajr Sepasi are now officially known as Moghavemat Shahid Sepasi Shiraz, although the name is not in common use yet. Jafar Jafari is the club's chairman since the establishment of the club in 1988.
They kept the coach Gholam Hossein Peyrovani till 2009 where he was appointed as Iran's olympics team head coach and had to leave the club so Peyrovani left the club after 10 years being in charge and he was finished his last season in mid table and was replaced by Davoud Mahabadi and after poor results he was replaced by Mohammad Ahmadzadeh and got relegated in the first season without Peyrovani.
In 2010 for the first time in the club's history, the team was relegated to the Azadegan League for the 2010–2011 season. Fajr rebounded gaining promotion to the Iran Pro League in 2011.
Azadegan League At the end of the 2013–14 season Fajr Sepasi finished 14th and was relegated to the Azadegan League. In their first season back in the second tier Fajr finished 14th and missed out on promotion.
Shiraz Derby The Shiraz Derby is played between Fajr Sepasi and Bargh Shiraz, but due to Bargh's relegation to the Azadegan League and then the 2nd Division, the derby has not been played in over 5 years.
Season-by-season The table below chronicles the achievements of Fajr Sepasi in various competitions since 1995.
SeasonDivision League PositionHazfi CupNotesAFC Champions League1995–963Fars Province League1stDid not qualifyPromotedDid not qualify1996–9722nd Division1st1/16 FinalPromoted1997–981Azadegan League4thNot held1998–99110th1/16 Final1999–0013rd1/8 Final2000–0119thCup2001–021Iran Pro League10thFinalFirst round2002–0314thFinalDid not qualify2003–04111th1/8 Final2004–05111th1/16 Final2005–06110th1/8 Final2006–07110th1/16 Final2007–08114th1/8 Final2008–0919th1/16 Final2009–10116th1/16 FinalRelegated2010–112Azadegan League2nd1/32 FinalPromoted2011–121Iran Pro League13th1/8 Final2012–13112th1/4 Final2013–14114th1/16 FinalRelegated2014–152Azadegan League5th1/8 Final2015–1624thDid not enter2016–17214thRound of 642017–1824thRound of 162018–1929thRound of 64 2019–20210thRound of 162020–2121stDid not enterPromoted2021–221Iran Pro League15thRound of 32Relegated2022–232Azadegan League4thRound of 32
Honours Azadegan League Champions (2): 2020–21, 2024-25 Hazfi Cup Champions (1): 2000–01 Runners-up (2): 2001–02, 2002–03 Iranian 2nd Division Champions (1): 1997 AK Pipe International Cup Runners-up (1): 2001
Players First team squad
Other
Former players For details on former players, see .
Head coaches Mansour Pourheidari (1996–1998) Mahmoud Yavari (1998–1999) Gholam Hossein Peyrovani (1999–2009) Davoud Mahabadi (2009–2010) Mohammad Ahmadzadeh (2010) Ali Kalantari (2010–2011) Mahmoud Yavari (2011–2013) Gholam Hossein Peyrovani (2013) Mahmoud Yavari (2013–2014) Ali Kalantari (2014–2018) Majid Saleh (2018–2019) Davoud Mahabadi (2019–2020) Ali Kalantari (2020–?) Pirouz Ghorbani (2024–present)
References
External links
Match in YouTube