The 2011–12 Persian Gulf Cup (also known as Iran Pro League) was the 29th season of Iran's Football League and 11th as Iran Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Sepahan were the defending champions. The season featured 15 teams from the 2010–11 Persian Gulf Cup and three new teams promoted from the 2010–11 Azadegan League: Damash as champions, Mes Sarcheshmeh and Fajr Sepasi. The league started on 2 August 2011 and ended on 11 May 2012. Sepahan won the Pro League title for the fourth time in their history (total fourth Iranian title). Saipa's Karim Ansarifard's 21 goals made him the top scorer.
Teams
Stadia and locations
TeamCityVenueCapacity Damash Gilan Rasht Dr. Azodi 11,000 Esteghlal Tehran Azadi 95,225 Fajr Sepasi Shiraz Hafezieh 22,000 Foolad Ahvaz Takhti Ahvaz 12,000 Malavan Anzali Takhti Anzali 8,000 Mes Kerman Kerman Shahid Bahonar 12,000 Mes Sarcheshmeh Sarcheshmeh Shahid Bahonar 12,000 Naft Tehran Tehran Dastgerdi 8,250 Persepolis Tehran Azadi 95,225 Rah Ahan Shahr-e-Rey Rah Ahan 12,000 Saba Qom Qom Yadegar Emam Qom 10,610 Saipa Karaj Enghelab Karaj 14,000 Sanat Naft Abadan Takhti Abadan25,000 Sepahan Esfahan Foolad Shahr15,000 Shahin Bushehr Shahid Beheshti 14,000 Shahrdari Tabriz Tabriz Yadegar Emam Tabriz 66,833 Tractor Sazi Tabriz Yadegar Emam Tabriz 80,451 Zob Ahan Esfahan Foolad Shahr15,000
Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager CaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsorPast SeasonDamash Mehdi Tartar Reza MahdaviAdidas Damash Shahr BaranPromoted Esteghlal Parviz Mazloomi Mojtaba JabbariUhlsportCity Bank2ndFajr Sepasi Mahmoud Yavari Mehdi RajabzadehMajidHICEPromoted Foolad Majid Jalali Jalal Kameli MofradUhlsportFoolad Khuzestan Co.6thMalavan Farhad Pourgholami Babak PourgholamiMajidIran Navy8thMes Kerman Ebrahim Ghasempour Farzad HosseinkhaniUhlsportResalat Bank7thMes Sarcheshmeh Asghar Sharafi Ali SamerehUhlsportNonePromoted Naft Tehran Hossein Faraki Hamid Reza FathiUhlsportNational Iranian Oil Company13thPersepolis Mustafa Denizli Ali KarimiUhlsportOpel 4thRah Ahan Ali Daei Hossein PashaeiDaeiRefah Bank15thSaba Qom Abdollah Veisi Sohrab BakhtiarizadehMajidVegal10thSaipa Mojtaba Taghavi Ebrahim SadeghiUhlsportSAIPA11thSanat Naft José Alberto Costa Abbas MerdasiMajidNational Iranian Oil Company9thSepahan Zlatko Kranjčar Moharram NavidkiaLottoFoolad Mobarakeh ComplexChampionShahin Hamid Derakhshan Vahid TaleblooUhlsportPost Bank14thShahrdari Tabriz Ali Asghar Modir Roosta Ebrahim MirzapourMajidCity Bank12thTractor Sazi Amir Ghalenoei Morteza AssadiUhlsportHamrah-e-Avval5thZob Ahan Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Mohammad SalsaliUhlsportZob Ahan Steel Co. 3rd
Managerial changes
Before the start of the season
TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Saipa Mayeli Kohan Contract expired 11th (2010–11) Majid Saleh Sepahan Amir Ghalenoei Contract expired 1st (2010–11) Luka Bonačić Tractor Sazi Faraz Kamalvand Contract expired 5th (2010–11) Amir Ghalenoei Persepolis Ali Daei Contract expired 4th (2010–11) Hamid Estili Shahrdari Hamid Derakhshan Sacked 12th (2010–11) Miodrag Ješić Shahin Bushehr Akbar Misaghian Sacked 14th (2010–11) Hamid Derakhshan Rah Ahan Mehdi Tartar Sacked 15th (2010–11) Ali Daei
In season TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Sanat Mes Kerman Samad Marfavi Resigned 17th Miroslav Blažević Mes Sarcheshmeh Ahmad Sanjari Sacked 18th Asghar Sharafi Damash Gilan Mehdi Dinvarzadeh Sacked 16th Ebrahim Ghasempour Shahin Bushehr Hamid Derakhshan Resigned 9th Firouz Karimi Sepahan Isfahan Luka Bonacic Sacked 5th Zlatko Kranjcar Fajr Sepasi Shiraz Ali Kalantari Sacked 17th Mahmoud Yavari Sanat Naft Abadan Gholam Peyrovani Resigned 13th José Alberto Costa Persepolis Tehran Hamid Estili Resigned 9th Mustafa Denizli Shahrdari Tabriz Miodrag Ješić Sacked 13th Ali Asghar Modir Roosta Damash Gilan Ebrahim Ghasempour Resigned 7th Mehdi Tartar Shahin Bushehr Firouz Karimi Sacked 16th Hamid Derakhshan Sanat Mes Kerman Miroslav Blažević Sacked 14th Ebrahim Ghasempour Saipa Majid Saleh Sacked 10th Mojtaba Taghavi
League table
Positions by round
Results
Clubs season-progress
Statistics
Top Goalscorers
PositionPlayerClubGoals1 Karim Ansarifard Saipa212 Founéké Sy Sanat Naft203 Reza Enayati Saba Qom184 Ali Karimi Persepolis115 Saeed Daghighi Shahrdari Tabriz10 Mojtaba Jabbari Esteghlal Reza Norouzi Foolad Flávio Paixão Tractor Sazi Mehdi Rajabzadeh Fajr Sepasi10 Bahador Abdi Rah Ahan9 Omid Alishah Rah Ahan Farhad Majidi Esteghlal Emad Mohammed Ridha Sepahan149 players8237 players7307 players63713 players55016 player46624 player39045 player213592 player1_13 players 1OG_technical loses of 3–01Total goals (Including technical loses) 720Total games 306Average per game 1 Siamak Kouroshi from Naft Tehran 2 owne goals. Last updated: 16 May 2012 Source: IPL Stats
Cards PositionPlayerClubTotal1 Márcio JoséNaft Tehran1010 112 Majid GholamnejadSaipa1000 10 Hossein KaabiRah Ahan901 Ali SamerehMes Sarcheshmeh8205 Siavash AkbarpourTractor Sazi900 9 Mohammad EbrahimiTractor Sazi900 Amir MohammadiMes Sarcheshmeh900 Andranik TeymourianEsteghlal801 Maziar ZarePersepolis81010 8 player ---818 13 player ---731 25 player ---656 46 player ---5102 38 player ---4140 63 player ---3203 60 player ---2263 86 player ---1 Total Cards 1101 34 33 1168 Last updated: 16 May 2012 Source: IPL stats
Matches played Position Player Club Appearance1 Abouzar Rahimi Damash Gilan33 Mehdi Rahmati Esteghlal3 Rahman Ahmadi Sepahan32 Morteza Asadi Tractor Sazi Omid Ebrahimi Sepahan Pirouz Ghorbani Saipa Hanif Omranzadeh Esteghlal Alireza Ramezani Malavan Last updated: 16 May 2012Source: IPL stats
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Persepolis Sanat Naft Abadan3–1 Malavan Zob Ahan 3–3 Naft Tehran Malavan 3–1 Esteghlal Shahin Bushehr 3–2 Foolad Naft Tehran 3–1 Sanat Naft Persepolis 4–2 Persepolis Esteghlal 3–2 Saipa Fajr Sepasi 5–0 Sepahan Rah Ahan 3–2 Rah Ahan Persepolis 4–3 Persepolis Rah Ahan 3–4
Fastest hat-trick of the season Éamon Zayed for Persepolis against Esteghlal, 9 minutes (2 February 2012)
Scoring First goal of the season: Hossein Kazemi own goal for Zob Ahan against Rah Ahan (2 August 2011) Fastest goal of the season: 10 seconds – Pejman Shahpari for Saba against Foolad (16 October 2011) Widest winning margin: 5 goals Saipa 5–0 Fajr Sepasi (9 March 2012) Highest scoring game: 7 goals Malavan 3–4 Sepahan (16 April 2012) Persepolis 3–4 Rah Ahan (6 May 2012) Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 5 goals Tractor Sazi 5–1 Shahrdari Tabriz (25 September 2011) Saipa 5–0 Fajr Sepasi (9 March 2012) Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals Malavan 3–4 Sepahan (16 April 2012) Persepolis 3–4 Rah Ahan (6 May 2012)
Awards
Monthly awards MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthManagerClubPlayerClubAugust Abdollah VeisiSaba Qom Karim AnsarifardSaipaSeptember Hossein FarakiNaft Tehran Iman MousaviNaft TehranOctober Parviz MazloomiEsteghlal Ivan PetrovićShahin BushehrNovember Ebrahim GhasempourDamash Gilan Omid AlishahRah AhanDecember Majid SalehSaipa Founéké SySanat NaftJanuary Zlatko KranjčarSepahan Jlloyd SamuelEsteghlalFebruary Mustafa DenizliPersepolis Reza EnayatiSaba Qom March Amir GhalenoeiTractor Sazi Bruno CorreaSepahanApril Zlatko KranjčarSepahan Flávio PaixãoTractor Sazi
Annual awards
Team of the Season Goalkeeper: Rahman Ahmadi (Sepahan) Defence: Ehsan Hajsafi (Tractor Sazi), Pejman Montazeri (Esteghlal), Jalal Hosseini (Sepahan), Hossein Mahini (Zob Ahan) Midfield: Ali Karimi (Persepolis), Omid Ebrahimi (Sepahan), Mojtaba Jabbari (Esteghlal), Flávio Paixão (Tractor Sazi) Attack: Founéké Sy (Sanat Naft), Karim Ansarifard (Saipa)
Player of the Season Goal.com selected Farhad Majidi as the best player of the first half of the season and Ali Karimi as the best player of the second half. Karim Ansarifard and Omid Alishah also won the best young players of the tournament.
Attendances
Average home attendances
Highest attendances Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Week Stadium1 Persepolis 0–2Esteghlal 100,000 7 Azadi2 Esteghlal 2–3Tractor Sazi 85,000 6 Azadi3 Tractor Sazi 0–2Esteghlal 80,000 23 SahandEsteghlal 2–3Persepolis 80,000 24 AzadiTractor Sazi 0–0Fajr Sepasi 80,000 29 Sahand6 Esteghlal 2–0Fajr Sepasi 75,000 4 Azadi7 Esteghlal 1–0Damash 70,000 2 AzadiPersepolis 1–2Shahrdari Tabriz 70,000 3 Azadi9 Persepolis 1–1Malavan 65,000 1 Azadi10 Persepolis 3–1Sanat Naft 60,000 5 Azadi Notes:Updated to games played on 11 May 2012. Source: iplstats.com
See also 2011–12 Azadegan League 2011–12 Iran Football's 2nd Division 2011–12 Iran Football's 3rd Division 2011–12 Hazfi Cup Iranian Super Cup 2011–12 Iranian Futsal Super League Team season articles 2011–12 Zob Ahan 2011–12 Persepolis 2011–12 Rah Ahan 2011–12 Esteghlal 2011–12 Tractor Sazi 2011–12 Sepahan
References
External links 2011–12 Persian Gulf Cup at PersianLeague 2011–12 Persian Gulf Cup at Soccerway