Esteghlal Khuzestan Football Club (, Bašgâh-e Futbâl-e Esteqlâl-e Xuzestân), commonly known as Esteghlal Khuzestan, is an Iranian football club based in Ahvaz, Iran. The club currently competes in the Persian Gulf Pro League after being promoted from the Azadegan League in the 2022–23 season.
This football club should not be confused with Esteghlal Ahvaz. In 2011 they bought Esteghlal Jonub's licence to compete in the Azadegan League. They finished the 2012–13 season in 2nd place in their group and qualified to the promotion play-off. However, they were awarded the direct promotion IRIFF after the group's winner, Shahrdari Tabriz, was relegated due to match-fixing. They won the Persian Gulf Pro League title in the 2015–16 season.
History
Founding and early years Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C. was established just before the start of the 2011–2012 season by acquiring the license of Esteghlal Jonub Tehran F.C. who has just been promoted to the Azadegan League (Iran's 1st division). After an average 6th-place finish in the team's inaugural year in the Azadegan League in 2011–2012, the next season (2012–13) turned out to be a different year, with a 2nd-placed finish in group B, the club was promoted to the Iran Pro League for the first time in their history.
Promotion to the Pro League In Esteghlal Khuzestan's first year in the top flight, it finished 12th, escaping relegation play-off by better goal difference. In the Hazfi Cup Esteghlal Khuzestan exited the competition in the Round of 32 after a shock defeat to Azadegan League side Alvand Hamedan. Esteghlal finished the 2014–15 season 14th, meaning it would have to play in a relegation play-off against the winner of the Azadegan League promotion play-off winner. Esteghlal Khuzestan defeated Mes Kerman 3–0 on aggregate meaning it had secured a spot in the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League season.
2015–16 season
Before the start of the 2015–16 season Esteghlal Khuzestan signed many of Foolad Novin's players and was a major surprise, as it started well in the season. Esteghlal Khuzestan had four consecutive winning streak at the 12th week, which made Esteghlal Khuzestan finished champion of the first half of the season. After a great result with Abdollah Veisi, Esteghlal Khuzestan managed to keep its shape at the second half of the season. On January 1, 2016, Esteghlal Khuzestan lost to Persepolis which made the race tighter for first place, and also made Esteghlal Khuzestan fall to second place, Esteghlal became first after 17th week. The head coach Abdollah Veisi later said that their main goal was to take place at AFC Champions League. Esteghlal Khuzestan qualified to the AFC Champions League on 8 May, for the first time in its history. Esteghlal Khuzestan won the league title on 13 May after a 2–0 win over Zob Ahan.
Relegation Following a poor start to the following season, 6 points were deduced from Esteghlal Khuzestan by FIFA. Dariush Yazdi was sacked and Karim Boostani replaced the coach. Results ultimately did not improve under Boostani and he was replaced with Mohammad Alavi. Esteghlal Khuzestan were relegated from the Persian Gulf Pro League to Azadegan League on 3 May 2019.
Individual Records All Top Appearances # Name Nationality Position Apps1Mohammad Tayyebi IranDefender1332Hossein Bahrami IranMidfielder107Meysam Doraghi IranDefensive midfielder1074Ali Helichi IranMidfielder1005Aghil Kaabi IranDefender956Moussa Coulibaly MaliDefender927Vahid Sheikhveisi IranGoalkeeper878Mehdi Momeni IranForward839Hadi Khanifar IranMidfielder8210Mojtaba Rashidi IranForward75
All Top Scorers # Name Nationality Position Goals 1Mojtaba Rashidi IranForward232Hassan Beyt Saeed IranForward223Ehsan Alvanzadeh IranForward214Farshad Janfaza IranStriker185Javad Aghaeipour IranForward166Ali vaziri Panah IranStriker157Mehdi Momeni IranForward14Rahim Zahivi IranForward14 9Hadi Khanifar IranMidfielder9Ali Kiani Far IranMidfielder9
Stadium
After the takeover of the club in 2011, the club played its home matches in Ahvaz's Takhti Stadium. After the club promoted to the Iran Pro League, it was decided that club continuing to play at Takthi, while big games like Persepolis, Esteghlal and Foolad playing at newly built Ghadir Stadium. In 2015, the club moved to Ghadir permanently, as city rivals Foolad set to move to its private ground.
Rivals The team competes in Ahvaz derby against two-times Iran Pro League winner Foolad.
Honours
Domestic competitions
League Persian Gulf Pro League: Winners (1): 2015–16 Azadegan League: Winners (1): 2012–13
Cup Super Cup Runners-up (1): 2016
Season-by-season The table below shows the achievements of the club in various competitions.
Season League PositionHazfi CupAsia Notes2011–12Azadegan League6thRound of 32did not qualify2012–132nd?Promoted2013–14Persian Gulf Pro League12thRound of 322014–1514thRound of 16Relegation play-off2015–161stRound of 16Super Cup2016–177thRound of 64Round of 162017–1812thSemi-Finaldid not qualify2018–1916thRound of 16Relegated2019–20Azadegan League9thDid not participate2020–216thDid not participate2021–2213thThird Round2022–232ndRound of 32Promoted
Continental record Season Competition Round Club Home Away Aggregate2017AFC Champions LeagueGroup B Al-Fateh1–01–12nd Al-Jazira1–11–0 Lekhwiya1–11–2Round of 16 Al-Hilal1–21–22–4
Players
First-team squad
U19
U21 U23
Out on loan
Officials
Coaching staff StaffNameHead coach Miodrag Božović Assistant coach Behrouz MakvandiGoalkeeping coach Karim BoostaniFitness coach Rafael BispoInternational manager Behdad BayatDoctor Jalal HeydariPhysiotherapist Sadegh NorouziAnalyzer Habib EslamiB Team Manager Behrouz MakvandiTeam manager Afshin Komaei
List of managers PeriodNameGWDLGFGAGDHonours2011–2013 Majid Bagherinia52221515 5241 +11Promotion to the Persian Gulf Cup2013–2016 Abdollah Veisi132554730142131 +21Azadegan LeaguePersian Gulf Pro League2016–2017 Sirous Pourmousavi30101193634 +22017–2018 Abdollah Veisi30810122936 -72018 Dariush Yazdi12246818 -102018–2019 Karim Boostani8026511 -62019 Karim Ghanbari (caretaker) 410336 -3
Players in International Tournaments Players who were a member of their national team at International Competitions while playing for Esteghlal Khuzestan.
CupPlayers 2015 Africa Cup of Nations Soumbeïla Diakité
See also
References
External links
Official website (archived 19 May 2016)