The 2013–14 Persian Gulf Cup (also known as Iran Pro League) was the 31st season of Iran's Football League and 13th as Iran Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Esteghlal were the defending champions. The season featured 14 teams from the 2012–13 Persian Gulf Cup and two new teams promoted from the 2012–13 Azadegan League: Esteghlal Khuzestan and Gostaresh both as champions. The league started on 24 July 2013 and ended on 11 April 2014. Foolad won the Pro League title for the second time in their history (total second Iranian title). Tractor Sazi's Karim Ansarifard's was the top scorer with 14 goals.
Changes
Number of the teams 2013–14 Iran Pro League were the first season since 2006 that 16 teams participated in the competition. In the previous season, 18 teams participated in the league.
Rules and regulations The Iranian football clubs who participate in 2013–14 Iran Pro League were allowed to have up to maximum 38 players (including up to maximum 4 non-Iranian players) in their player lists, which will be categorized in the following groups: Up to maximum 21 adult (without any age limit) players Up to maximum 9 under-23 players (i.e. the player whose birth is after 21 March 1990). Up to maximum 5 under-21 players (i.e. the player whose birth is after 1 January 1993). Up to maximum 3 under-19 players (i.e. the player whose birth is after 1 January 1995).
Teams
Stadia and locations
TeamCityVenueCapacity Damash Gilan Rasht Dr. Azodi 11,000 Esteghlal Tehran Azadi 84,412 Esteghlal Khuzestan Ahvaz Ghadir Takhti Ahvaz 38,900 15,000 Fajr Sepasi Shiraz Hafezieh 14,000 Foolad Khuzestan Ahvaz Ghadir 38,900 Gostaresh Tabriz Sahand Gostaresh Foolad 66,833 12,000 Malavan Anzali Takhti Anzali 8,000 Mes Kerman Kerman Shahid Bahonar 15,430 Naft Tehran Tehran Takhti Tehran Dastgerdi 30,122 8,250 Persepolis Tehran Azadi 84,412 Rah Ahan Tehran Takhti Tehran Rah Ahan 30,122 12,000 Saba Qom Qom Yadegar Emam 10,610 Saipa Karaj Enghelab Karaj 15,000 Sepahan Esfahan Foolad Shahr15,000 Tractor Sazi Tabriz Sahand 66,833 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 sponsorDamash Ali Nazarmohammadi Reza Mahdavi UhlsportLoushanEsteghlal Amir Ghalenoei Mehdi Rahmati MeroojBazar Mobl Iran, Mahan AirEst. Khuzestan Abdollah Veisi Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh DaeiINSIGFajr Mahmoud Yavari Mehrdad Karimian MeroojHICEFoolad Hossein Faraki Bakhtiar Rahmani UhlsportFoolad KhuzestanGostaresh Mehdi Tartar Meysam Naghizadeh UhlsportAta AirlinesMalavan Dragan Skočić Maziar Zare UhlsportSteel Azin IranianMes Kerman Luka Bonačić Farzad Hosseinkhani UhlsportResalat BankNaft Tehran Yahya Golmohammadi Alireza Ezzati MeroojNIOCPersepolis Ali Daei Mohammad Nouri UhlsportTourism Bank Rah Ahan Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Bahador Abdi DaeiFars Air QeshmSaba Qom Samad Marfavi Morteza Kashi MeroojHi clean!Saipa Engin Firat Ebrahim Sadeghi UhlsportSAIPASepahan Zlatko Kranjčar Hadi Aghily UhlsportFoolad MobarakehTractor Sazi Toni Morteza Assadi MeroojHamrah-e AvalZob Ahan Firouz Karimi Mehdi Rajabzadeh MeroojEsfahan Steel
Managerial changes
Before the start of the season TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Persepolis Yahya GolmohammadiEnd of caretaker spell Pre-season Ali Daei Saipa Mojtaba Taghavi End of contract Engin Firat Malavan Mohammad Ahmadzadeh Sacked Dragan Skočić Naft Tehran Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Mutual consent Yahya Golmohammadi Rah Ahan Ali Daei Signed by Persepolis Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Fajr Sepasi Mahmoud Yavari Resigned Gholam Peyrovani Saba Qom Samad Marfavi End of contract Mohammad Mayeli Kohan Mes Kerman Luka Bonačić Sacked Mahmoud Yavari Zob Ahan Farhad Kazemi End of contract Luka Bonačić
During the season TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Fajr Sepasi Gholam PeyrovaniResigned 15th Mahmoud Yavari Mes Kerman Mahmoud Yavari 16th Parviz Mazloomi Saba Qom Mohammad Mayeli Kohan Sacked 12th Samad Marfavi Zob Ahan Luka Bonačić Mutual consent 14th Mojtaba Taghavi Gostaresh Rasoul Khatibi Resigned 11th Mehdi Tartar Tractor Sazi Majid Jalali Sacked 6th Toni Mes Kerman Parviz Mazloomi Resigned 16th Luka Bonačić Damash Afshin NazemiSacked 12th Ali Nazarmohammadi Zob Ahan Mojtaba Taghavi 15th Firouz Karimi Tractor Sazi Toni Mutual consent 6th, post-season Rasoul Khatibi
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player Former Players Damash Gilan Boubacar Kébé Esteghlal Tony Boubacar Kébé Jlloyd Samuel Goran Lovre Esteghlal Khuzestan Fábio Carvalho Idrissa Traoré Moussa Coulibaly Fajr Sepasi Samir Bekrić Foolad Khuzestan Chimba Leandro Chaves Sérgio Rafael Leandro Padovani Gostaresh Diego Chávarri Malavan Serghei Pașcenco Ivor Weitzer Mes Kerman Edinho Juninho Tardelli David Opoku Iain Fyfe Samir Bekrić Naft Tehran Ali Ghorbani Persepolis Nilson Marko Šćepanović Rah Ahan David Wirikom Valeri Aleksanyan Marcão Saba Qom Saipa Cosmin Vancea Sepahan Ervin Bulku Xhevahir Sukaj Sergio van Dijk Radomir Đalović Tractor Sazi Rodrigo Pimpão Marko Basara Zob Ahan Carlos Víctor Guazá Milan Mijatović Gevorg Kasparov
League table
Results
Positions by round
Clubs season-progress
Relegation play-offs Fajr Sepasi as 14th-placed team faced play-off winner of 2013–14 Azadegan League, Paykan in a two-legged play-off.
Paykan won 1–0 on aggregate and promoted to the next season of Iran Pro League, Fajr Sepasi also relegated to the Azadegan League.
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Karim Ansarifard Tractor Sazi142 Reza Enayati Saba Qom133 Mehrdad Bayrami Gostaresh124 Mehdi Daghagheleh Malavan11 Reza Norouzi Naft Tehran5 Chimba Foolad9 Jalal Rafkhaei Malavan Mehdi Rajabzadeh Zob Ahan Sajjad Shahbazzadeh Saipa8 Edinho Mes Kerman8 Amin Motevaselzadeh Damash Gilan Mehdi Sharifi Sepahan10 Mohammad Ghazi Esteghlal7 Farid Karimi Saba QomTotal goals (Including technical loses) 504Total games 239Average per game Last updated: 11 April 2014 Source: FIFA.com
Hat-tricks
PlayerClubAgainstResultDate Karim Ansarifard Tractor SaziEsteghlal Khuzestan 4–1
Clean sheets
RankPlayerClubClean sheetsGoals concededMatch played1 Nilson Persepolis1815302 Rahman Ahmadi Sepahan1516273 Mehdi Rahmati Esteghlal1425304 Sosha Makani Foolad1314205 Alireza Beiranvand Naft Tehran1212216 Hamed Fallahzadeh Rah Ahan1123227 Mohammad Bagher Sadeghi Saipa930268 Mohsen Foroozan Gostaresh Foolad83025 Last Update: 11 April 2014
Scoring
First goal of the season: Adel Kolahkaj for Esteghlal Khuzestan against Zob Ahan (24 July 2013) Fastest goal of the season: 17 seconds, Kaveh Rezaei for Saipa against Mes Kerman (4 January 2014) Latest goal of the season: 95 minutes and 12 seconds, Ali Karimi for Tractor Sazi against Mes Kerman (24 December 2013) Largest winning margin: 6 goals Mes Kerman 0–6 Persepolis (13 December 2013) Highest scoring game: 6 goals Fajr 2–4 Esteghlal (6 August 2013) Zob Ahan 2–4 Tractor Sazi (6 August 2013) Esteghlal Khuzestan 2–4 Naft Tehran (16 August 2013) Damash 5–1 Zob Ahan (24 October 2013) Mes Kerman 0–6 Persepolis (13 December 2013) Saipa 3–3 Tractor Sazi (11 January 2014) Malavan 4–2 Esteghlal (19 February 2014) Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 6 goals Mes Kerman 0–6 Persepolis (13 December 2013) Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 2 goals Fajr 2–4 Esteghlal (6 August 2013) Zob Ahan 2–4 Tractor Sazi (6 August 2013) Esteghlal Khuzestan 2–4 Naft Tehran (16 August 2013) Foolad 3–2 Esteghlal Khuzestan (23 August 2013) Zob Ahan 3–2 Naft Tehran (31 August 2013) Esteghlal Khuzestan 3–2 Rah Ahan (17 October 2013) Saba Qom 3–2 Damash (26 January 2014) Malavan 4–2 Esteghlal (19 February 2014)
Awards
Team of the Season
Goalkeeper: Nilson Corrêa Júnior (Persepolis) Defence: Vahid Amiri (Naft), Jalal Hosseini (Persepolis), Hanif Omranzadeh (Esteghlal), Ali Hamoudi (Sepahan) Midfield: Bakhtiar Rahmani (Foolad), Andranik Teymourian (Esteghlal), Amir Hossein Feshangchi (Malavan), Payam Sadeghian (Perspolis), Esmaeil Sharifat (Foolad) Attack: Karim Ansarifard (Tractor Sazi)
Player of the Season
Andranik Teymourian was awarded as the best player of the season among Payam Sadeghian became second. Mohammad Abbaszadeh was also awarded as the best young player of the season.
Other awards
Hossein Faraki was awarded as the best coach of the season.
Attendances
Average home attendances
Highest attendances Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Week Stadium1 Esteghlal 0–0Persepolis 100,000 8 Azadi2 Persepolis 0–0Esteghlal 95,000 23 Azadi3 Esteghlal 1–2Sepahan 65,000 2 Azadi4 Tractor Sazi 1–1Esteghlal 62,000 15 Sahand5 Persepolis 1–0Tractor Sazi 50,000 1 AzadiTractor Sazi 0–0Mes Kerman 50,000 5 SahandEsteghlal 1–3Tractor Sazi 50,000 30 Azadi8 Foolad 0–1Esteghlal 49,500 29 Ghadir9 Tractor Sazi 2–2Foolad 45,000 13 SahandTractor Sazi 1–0Persepolis 45,000 16 Sahand Notes:Updated to games played on 11 April 2014. Source: Iranleague.ir
See also 2013–14 Hazfi Cup 2013–14 Azadegan League 2013–14 Iran Football's 2nd Division 2013–14 Iran Football's 3rd Division 2013–14 Iranian Futsal Super League
Team season articles 2013–14 S.C. Damash season 2013–14 Esteghlal F.C. season 2013–14 Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C. season 2013–14 Foolad F.C. season 2013–14 Persepolis F.C. season 2013–14 Saba Qom F.C. season 2013–14 Sepahan F.C. season
References
External links 2012–13 Persian Gulf Cup at PersianLeague 2012–13 Persian Gulf Cup at Soccerway