Sport Club Damash Gilan (alternatively Damash Guilan, , Bashgah-e Vârzeshi-ye Damash Guilân) is an Iranian football club based in Rasht, Gilan, that competes in the Azadegan League. The club was founded in 1960 as Taj Rasht Football Club ().
The football team plays its home games at the Sardar Jangal Stadium which has a seating capacity of 15,000. The club is also using the ShahidcDr. Azodi Stadium apacity of 15,000. The club is ow1ed and supported by Peymam Baharvand.
History Establishment The club was founded as Taj Rasht Football Club in 1960. The club was one of Taj Tehran branches at the time. From the beginning, Taj Rasht was able to attract some of the best players of Gilan province.
Before 1970 Before the 1970s, Iran did not have an official national football league. Most clubs participated in championships of their city or province. In addition to that Taj Rasht played in the Gilan Province League until 1970.
1970s In 1970, the Local League was created. The league included teams from all Iran in different qualifying tournaments. Taj Rasht finished fourth in Group A of their qualifying tournament. The club also participated in the 1971–72 Local League season. Taj Rasht missed again qualification for the final stage after they achieved the last place in their group again.
In 1972, the Takht Jamshid Cup was founded as the national league and included teams from all over the country. However, Taj Rasht could not qualify and therefore played again in the Gilan Province League.
Abouzar Rasht In 1975 the club changed its name for the first time. Until 1983 the club was called Abouzar Rasht Football Club. Due to the Iranian Revolution and the Iran–Iraq War, the Takht Jamshid Cup was dissolved and also the lower leagues were unorganized. As a result, the club took part in regional championships and cups only irregularly.
Esteghlal Rasht
In 1983 Abouzar changed its name into Esteghlal Rasht Football Club. Esteghlal means independence in Persian. In 1991 the Azadegan League was formed as the top flight of Iranian football. Esteghlal Rasht took part in the league in the 1991–92 season, but was relegated at the end of the season.
Due to sponsorship, the club was known as Esteghlal Gaz Rasht Football Club in 1992–93 Iran Football's 2nd Division. After playing many years in Iran Football's 2nd Division, they were promoted to Azadegan League in 2000. They finished 10th in 2000–01 season.
In the summer of 2001, the Iran Pro League was established as the professional football league of Iran, Azadegan League was declared as the second-highest professional league in the Iranian football league system. All clubs from the 2000–01 Azadegan League season took participate in the 2001–02 Iran Pro League. Esteghlal Rasht was relegated after an embarrassingly lost 9–2 to Aboomoslem on the last matchday of the season. They finished 13th in that season.
Pegah Gilan
Due to financial problems and relegation, the Pegah Dairy Company took over the club in the summer of 2002. The club was renamed as Pegah Gilan Football Club. In 2007, however, a club called Esteghlal Shahrdari Rasht was founded again, which could participate as a separate club in the Gilan Provincial League.
Pegah managed to get promoted to the first division and finished 9th in the 2003–04 season. A year later, relegation took place again. Then the club played two years in the Azadegan League. In 2007 they were able to return to the Iran Pro League, known as the Persian Gulf Cup since 2006. With 15th place in the 2007–08 season, Pegah was able to prevent relegation. Pegah also qualified for the Final of the Hazfi Cup this season. After Pegah won the first leg 1–0, they lost in the second leg against Esteghlal in front of almost 100,000 spectators at the Azadi Stadium with 0–3.
Damash Gilan In the summer of 2008, Pegah Gilan was struggling with financial problems. In October of the same year, the Aria Investment Development Company, then owned by Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, took over the club. The club was renamed Sport Club Damash Gilan. Damash is a small historical village in Jirandeh near Rasht.
Pro and Azadegan League
The club shuttled between the first two leagues for the following years. In the 2008–09 season, they finished 17th and had to relegate to the Azadegan League. In the 2009–10 season, Damash failed to Sanat Naft Abadan in the play-offs and missed promotion. A year later, the club won the title for it and managed to rise. Between 2011 and 2013, the club played two decent years in the Persian Gulf Cup and came in 7th in 2011–12 and 11th in 2012–13. During this time, Alireza Jahanbakhsh also made a name for himself with good performances, 10 goals in 44 matches. In the summer of 2013, he moved to the Dutch Eredivisie to NEC Nijmegen. Iranian football legend Mehdi Mahdavikia also played for Damash between 2011 and 2012.
Starting in 2013, the club experienced difficult years and relegated at the end of the 2013–14 season. Then followed two disappointing years in the Azadegan League. In the 2014–15 Azadegan League season, the club only finished 6th and missed promotion. In the 2015–16 season, Damash even had to relegate to the League 2.
2016-2026 Due to very great financial difficulties, the club was close to being dissolved in March 2016. The Gilan Football Organization, therefore, took over the rights to the club and so Damash could end the season. After relegation, the club should be renamed Shahr-e Baran Football Club, which led to major protests from fans. Damash then kept his name.
In 2019 Damash sensationally reached the Hazfi Cup Final against Persepolis in the Foolad Arena in Ahvaz. The game turned into a scandal as the stadium was filled with over 30,000 Perespolis supporters hours before kick-off. As a result, the approximately 1,000 Damash fans could not enter the stadium and the kick-off was delayed by a few hours. In the end, Damash lost to Persepolis 0–1.
After three years in the League 2, Damash returned to the Azadegan League. The club replaced Karoon Arvand Khorramshahr for the 2019–20 season.
2026 Damash has failed to reach the promotional battle in the Persian League 2 and is currently in the relegation battles for the past few years. This might have been led by lack of player confidence, low club budget, low team chemistry, poor management and many more reasons. Many Gilanian football and Damash fans don't attend the team's matches anymore as a sign of the team losing its reputation.
Name history Taj Rasht Football Club (1960–1975) Abouzar Rasht Football Club (1975–1983) Esteghlal Rasht Football Club (1983–1992) Esteghlal Gaz Rasht Football Club (1992–1993) Esteghlal Rasht Football Club (1993–2002) Pegah Gilan Football Club (2002–2008) Sport Club Damash Gilan (2008–present)
Crest The name Damash goes back to a historical village in Jirandeh near Rasht. In 2016, Damash adopted the Lilium ledebourii, a typical plant from this region, in its logo.
Stadium
Traditionally, Damash Gilan plays its home games at the Shahid Dr. Azodi Stadium which has a seating capacity of 11,000. The stadium was opened in 1990 and is owned by the club. The stadium was renovated from 2009 to 2011. It is also the traditional home venue of the local rival Sepidrood.
Furthermore, Damash plays some of its home games at the Sardar Jangal Stadium which has a seating capacity of 15,000. The stadium was opened in 2007 and is owned by Sepidrood.
Rivalries
El Guilano Matches between Malavan of Bandar-e Anzali and the two teams from Rasht, Damash Gilan, and Sepidrood Rasht are known as El Guilano.
Further rivalries Within Rasht, Damash has a minor rivalry with PAS Guilan. Damash then has a bigger rivalry with Nassaji Mazandaran from Qaem Shahr.
Seasons
The table below chronicles the achievements of Damash Gilan in various competitions since 1970.
SeasonDivision League PositionHazfi CupNotes1970–711Local League4th (Region C)Not held1971–721Local League3rd (Region A)1991–921League 111thRelegated1992–932League 28th1995–962League 27th (Group A)1996–972League 21997–982League 25th (2nd Round)1998–992League 22nd (Group 1)1999–002League 22nd (2nd Round)Promoted2000–011League 110th2001–021IPL13thRound of 16Relegated2002–032League 12ndPromoted2003–041IPL9thQuarter-Final2004–051IPL16thQuarter-FinalRelegated2005–062League 11st (Group A)2006–072League 11st (Group A)Round of 32Promoted2007–081PGC15thFinal2008–091PGC17thRound of 32Relegated2009–102League 12nd (Group B)Quarter-Final2010–112League 11st (Group A)Quarter-FinalPromoted2011–121PGC7thQuarter-Final2012–131PGC11thSemi-Final2013–141PGC15thQuarter-FinalRelegated2014–152League 16th (Group B)Round of 322015–162League 119thRound of 64Relegated2016–173League 25th (2nd Round)did not enter2017–183League 23rd (2nd Round)Quarter-Final2018–193League 22nd (Group A)FinalPromoted2019–202League 112thRound of 322020–21–No Participation2021–224League 33rddid not enterPromoted2022–233League 2 3rddid not enterPromoted2023–242League 1 14thdid not enter Notes:The Persian Gulf Pro League was formerly known as Iran Pro League (IPL) and Persian Gulf Cup (PGC) The Azadegan League was the highest division between 1991 and 2001 The League 2 was formerly known as Iran 2nd Division The League 3 was formerly known as Iran 3rd Division
Honours Domestic Azadegan League Champions (1): 2010–11 Hazfi Cup Runners-up (2): 2007–08, 2018–19 Rasht League Champions (1): 1973
First-team squad
For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers winter 2018–19.
Club managers SeasonsManagerNationalityOct 2008–Nov 08Bijan ZolfagharnasabNov 2008–Jan 09Hossein AbdiJan 2009–Apr 09Stanko PoklepovićJul 2009–Jun 10Firouz KarimiJun 2010–Jul 10Markar AghajanianJul 2010–Nov 10Marijan PušnikNov 2010–Dec 10Afshin NazemiDec 2010–Sep 11Mehdi DinvarzadehSep 2011–Jan 12Ebrahim GhasempourJan 2012–May 12Mehdi TartarJun 2012–Sep 12Omid HarandiSep 2012–Mar 13Hamid DerakhshanMar 2013–Jan 14Afshin NazemiJan 2014–Sep 14Ali NazarmohammadiSep 2014–Mar 15Omid HarandiAug 2015–Apr 16Majid Jahanpour SeasonsManagerNationalityAug 2015–Apr 16Majid JahanpourApr 2015–July 16Afshin NazemiAug 2016–Nov 16Ramiz MammadovNov 2016–Jun 17Hadi TabatabaeiJun 2017–18Vahid RezaeiJun 2018–Sep 21Siamak FarahaniOct 2021 –Apr 22Mohammad MokhtariApr 2022–May 22Esmaeil ZahedvishgahiJun 2022–Sep 23Behzad DadashzadehSep 2022–Mar 23Akbar MisaghianMar 2023–Jul 23Farshad PiousSep 2023–Oct 23Siamak FarahaniOct 2023–Jul 24Ali NazarmohammadiAug 2024–Oct 23Hamid DerakhshanDec 2024–Ali Nazarmohammadi
Records
Top goalscorers
#Pos.NameCareerLeagueCupTotal1ForwardAfshin Chavoshi2008–092010–15403432MidfielderReza Mahdavi2008–092010–142016–163193DefenderAli Nazifkar2008–092010–14171184MidfielderAli Amiri2009–11123155ForwardAmin Motevaselzadeh2012–1413114
Top appearances
#Pos.NameCareerLeagueCupTotal1MidfielderMostafa Hajati2008–142015–15271592MidfielderReza Mahdavi2008–092010–142016–14781553MidfielderHadi Sohrabi2008–112012–12591344DefenderAli Nazifkar2008–092010–1412171285ForwardAfshin Chavoshi2008–092010–151116117 Last updated: May 16, 2016. Bolded players are currently on the Damash squad.
See also Damash Tehran Gahar Zagros
References
External links
Soccerway profile WorldFootball profile