The 2014–15 Persian Gulf Pro League (formerly known as Iran Pro League) was the 32nd season of Iran's Football League and 14th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Foolad were the defending champions. The season featured 13 teams from the 2013–14 Persian Gulf Cup and three new teams promoted from the 2013–14 Azadegan League: Padideh as champions, Naft Masjed Soleyman and Paykan. The league started on 1 August and ended on 15 May 2015. Sepahan won the Pro League title for the fifth time in their history (total fifth Iranian title).
Changes
Rules and regulations The Iranian Football Clubs who participated in 2014–15 Persian Gulf Pro League were allowed to have up to a maximum of 35 players (including up to maximum 4 non-Iranian players) in their player lists, which categorized in the following groups:تغییرات و اصلاحات آیین نامه نقل و انتقالات Up to maximum 18 adult (without any age limit) players Up to maximum 9 under-23 players (i.e. the player whose birth is after 1 January 1992). Up to maximum 8 under-21 players (i.e. the player whose birth is after 1 January 1994).
Teams
Stadia and locations
TeamCityVenueCapacity Esteghlal Tehran Azadi 95,225 Esteghlal Khuzestan Ahvaz Ghadir Takhti Ahvaz 38,900 15,000 Foolad Khuzestan Ahvaz Ghadir 38,900 Gostaresh Tabriz Bonyan Dizel 12,000 Malavan Anzali Takhti Anzali 8,000 Naft Masjed Soleyman Masjed Soleyman Behnam Mohammadi 8,000 Naft Tehran Tehran Takhti Tehran 30,122 Padideh Mashhad Samen 35,000 Paykan Qods Shahr-e Qods Shahid Dastgerdi 25,000 8,250 Persepolis Tehran Azadi 95,225 Rah Ahan Tehran Shahr-e Qods Rah Ahan 25,000 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 sponsorEsteghlal Amir Ghalenoei Reza Enayati MeroojPardisbanEst. Khuzestan Abdollah Veisi Mohammad Reza Mahdavi UhlsportINSIGFoolad Dragan Skočić Bakhtiar Rahmani UhlsportFoolad KhuzestanGostaresh Faraz Kamalvand Meysam Naghizadeh KelmeAta AirlinesMalavan Firouz Karimi Maziar Zare DaeiSteel Azin IranianNaft MIS Behrouz Makvandi Reza Darvishi MeroojNIOCNaft Tehran Alireza Mansourian Alireza Ezzati UhlsportNaft-GPadideh Alireza Marzban Mojtaba Roshangar MeroojPadideh Co.Paykan Samad Marfavi Mehdi Rahmati MeroojIran KhodroPersepolis Branko Ivanković Mohammad Nouri MacronBehnam Pishro Rah Ahan Farhad Kazemi Ebrahim Karimi MeroojFars Air QeshmSaba Qom Mehdi Tartar Morteza Kashi MeroojAzar KhodroSaipa Majid Jalali Ebrahim Sadeghi MeroojSAIPASepahan Hossein Faraki Hadi Aghily UhlsportFoolad MobarakehTractor Sazi Toni Mehdi Kiani KelmeHamrah-e AvalZob Ahan Yahya Golmohammadi Ghasem Hadadifar MeroojXballer
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Padideh Akbar Misaghian Resigned Pre-season Alireza Marzban Naft Tehran Yahya Golmohammadi Mutual consent Alireza Mansourian Zob Ahan Firouz KarimiEnd of contract Yahya Golmohammadi Saipa Engin Firat Majid Jalali Foolad Hossein Faraki Mutual consent Dragan Skočić Malavan Dragan Skočić Signed by Foolad Nosrat Irandoost Paykan Farhad KazemiMutual consent Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Rah Ahan Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Hamid Estili Sepahan Zlatko Kranjčar Resigned 4th Hossein Faraki Persepolis Ali DaeiSacked 9th Hamid Derakhshan Gostaresh Mehdi Tartar 13th Faraz Kamalvand Malavan Nosrat Irandoost 15th Stevan Mojsilović Paykan Mansour Ebrahimzadeh 11th Samad Marfavi Saba Qom Samad Marfavi Mutual consent 6th Mehdi Tartar Malavan Stevan Mojsilović Sacked 16th Firouz Karimi Rah Ahan Hamid Estili Resigned 14th Farhad Kazemi Tractor Sazi Rasoul KhatibiSacked رسول خطیبی برکنار شد! 5th Toni Persepolis Hamid DerakhshanResigned 9th Branko Ivanković Malavan Firouz Karimi Resigned 13th, post season Hamid Estili Esteghlal Amir Ghalenoei Sacked 5th, post season Parviz Mazloumi
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player Former Players Esteghlal Hrayr Mkoyan Karrar Jassim Rafael Hendrik Helmke ESteghlal Khuzestan Lamine Diawara Moussa Coulibaly Soumbeïla Diakité Foolad Khuzestan Aloys Nong Mathias Chago Leonard Mesarić Gostaresh Diogo Orlando Léo Pimenta Magno Rodrigo Odriozola Malavan Naft Masjed Maranhão Georgi Georgiev Alexandru Pașcenco Ruslan Melziddinov Naft Tehran Ali Ghorbani Leandro Padovani Donovan Deekman David Wirikom Padideh Igor Prahić Milan Jovanović Zoran Knežević Bahodir Nasimov Paykan Muamer Svraka Dodô Jlloyd Samuel Oybek Kilichev Mate Eterović Persepolis Fernando Gabriel Tadeu Michael Umaña Nilson Rah Ahan Igor Nenezić Martin Kayongo-Mutumba Saba Qom Ambuno Achille Ioseb Chakhvashvili Marquinho Saipa Sepahan Xhevahir Sukaj Chimba Márcio Passos Fozil Musaev Tractor Sazi Célio Santos Edinho Issa Ndoye Ditmar Bicaj Radamés Alaa Abdul-Zahra Zob Ahan Hojjat Haghverdi Carlos Ali Hamam Walid Ismail
League table
Results
Positions by round
Clubs season-progress
Relegation play-off
Esteghlal Khuzestan as 14th-placed team will faced Play-off winner of 2014–15 Azadegan League, Mes Kerman in a two-legged Play-off.
Esteghlal Khuzestan won 3–0 on aggregate and retained its place in the next edition of the Persian Gulf Pro League
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Edinho Tractor Sazi202 Sajjad Shahbazzadeh Esteghlal12 Mehdi Sharifi Sepahan4 Luciano Pereira Sepahan115 Jaber Ansari Gostaresh Foolad9 Omid Ebrahimi Esteghlal Reza Enayati Esteghlal / Padideh Masoud Hassanzadeh Zob Ahan Mohammad Reza Khalatbari Sepahan Amir Arsalan Motahari Naft Tehran Saman Nariman Jahan Tractor Sazi Aloys Nong Foolad Ramin Rezaeian Rah Ahan Last updated: 15 May 2015 Source: Soccerway.com
Hat-tricks
PlayerClubAgainstResultDate Mohammad Reza Khalatbari Sepahan Gostaresh 4–1 Kaveh RezaeiZob AhanNaft Tehran 5–3 Saman Nariman Jahan Tractor SaziEsteghlal 4–1
Clean sheets
PositionPlayerClubClean sheets1 Alireza Salimi Foolad162 Mehrdad Tahmasbi Saba Qom103 Alireza Beiranvand Naft Tehran9 Hamed Fallahzadeh Saipa Mohsen Forouzan Esteghlal Mohammad-Rashid Mazaheri Zob Ahan Mehdi Rahmati Paykan Mojtaba Roshangar Padideh9 Hamed Lak Tractor Sazi810 Shahab Gordan Sepahan5 Sosha Makani Persepolis Davoud Noushi Soufiani Gostaresh13 Rahman Ahmadi Sepahan4 Parviz Karimi Esteghlal Khuzestan Iman Sadeghi Malavan Last Update: 15 May 2015
Scoring
First goal of the season: Saman Nariman Jahan for Tractor Sazi against Foolad (1 August 2014) Fastest goal of the season: 11 seconds, Mohammad Reza Khalatbari for Sepahan against Gostaresh (10 December 2014) Latest goal of the season: 97 minutes and 5 seconds, Ahmad Hassanzadeh for Saba Qom against Padideh (14 August 2014) Largest winning margin: 4 goals Saipa 4–0 Padideh (19 September 2014) Highest scoring game: 8 goals Esteghlal Khuzestan 4–4 Esteghlal (11 December 2014) Zob Ahan 5–3 Naft Tehran (16 April 2015) Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals Zob Ahan 5–3 Naft Tehran (16 April 2015)
Awards
Team of the Season
Goalkeeper: Alireza Beiranvand (Naft Tehran) Defence: Ramin Rezaian (Rah Ahan), Leandro Padovani (Naft Tehran), Leonard Mesarić (Foolad), Vouria Ghafouri (Sepahan) Midfield: Ghasem Haddadifar (Zob Ahan), Omid Ebrahimi (Esteghlal), Andranik Teymourian (Esteghlal/Tractor Sazi)
Attack: Sajjad Shahbazzadeh (Esteghlal), Edinho (Tractor Sazi), Mehdi Taremi (Perspolis)
Player of the Season
Ghasem Haddadifar was awarded as the best player of the season among Andranik Teymourian became second. Amir Arsalan Motahari was also awarded as the best young player of the season.
Other awards
Hossein Faraki was awarded as the best coach of the season. Mehdi Taremi won the best striker award.
Attendance
Average home attendance
Attendance by round Team/Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930AverageEsteghlalA12,000A9,000A15,000AA17,000A10,000A18,000A67,0002,000A10,000A6,000A5,00017,000A12,000A11,000A35,000A16,400Esteghlal Khuzestan110A1,000A214A87A1,500A1502,150A170AA6,000A10,500A200A250A6,000AA6,000A6,0002,689FooladA11,000A3,000ANCA2,500A2,000AA2,500A2,0006,500A4,000A25,000A2,500A14,000A6,0006,200ANCA6,708GostareshA1,500A195AA250A750A500A15,000A200265A450A5003,500A1,000A370A4,751A1,000A2,015MalavanA1,987A8,000A3,000A2,000A1,334A1,800A2,500ANCA6,000A2,500A6,100A5,000A8,500A8,000A7,0004,552Naft MISANCAA4,500A6,500A5,500A6,500A6,000A5,0007,000A5,9005,000A5,000A8,000A8,000A6,000A7,000A6,136Naft TehranA300A800A220A12,000AA120A330A5,0007,000A140A300A200A190300A1,000A1,000A1,927Padideh10,500A4,50012,500A8,000A22,000A10,000A35,000A5,600AA650AA30,000A250A3,000A1,400A10,000A2,00010,360PaykanA370700A10,000A350A250A100A10,330A150400AA2,200A6,500A3,000A4,100A10,000A3,000A3,430Persepolis18,000A15,000A7,000A35,00011,000A13,246A4,500A4,000AANCA8,000A5,000AA5,000A20,000A5,000A70,00015,768Rah Ahan8,000A600A500A500A6,000400A371A150AA100A200A100A3,700AA1,235A1,000A1,0001,590Saba Qom215AA150A10,000A250A100A150A130AA200170A1,004A200A400A500A6,000A1,0001,365Saipa1,000A226A800A500A500A3,500A300A15,000A200A6,500A450A450A300A8,000A1,000A2,582Sepahan8,000A13,000A5,000A2,200A2,000A13,500ANC1,700AA1,300A2,170A7,200A1,800A3,200A5,500AA15,0005,826Tractor Sazi20,000A14,000A8,00010,400A12,000A51,500A12,700A65,000AANCA15,000AA30,178A15,000A35,050A16,000A80,00027,488Zob AhanA1,500A700A4,800A700A7,500A1,000AA600400A4,000A750A800A600A1,300A2,000NCA1,904Total65,82528,65749,02634,34536,01451,42045,38762,45033,50086,08034,37056,77152,46079,25094,95023,5658,45030,66049,57066,05427,95045,22835,20043,19034,72073,98552,45154,00048,000182,0001,585,978Average8,2284,0936,1284,2934,5027,3465,6737,8064,18810,7604,2967,0967,4949,90611,8693,3661,4083,8336,1968,2573,4945,6544,4005,3994,2849,2486,5566,7508,00022,7506,921
Notes:Updated to games played on 15 May 2015. Source: Iranleague.ir Matches with spectator bans are not included in average attendances Gostaresh played their match against Tractor Sazi at Sahand Paykan played their matches against Esteghlal and Persepolis at Takhti Tehran Rah Ahan played their matches against Esteghlal and Persepolis at Takhti Tehran
Highest attendances Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Week Stadium1 Tractor Sazi 3–3Naft Tehran 80,000 30 Sahand2 Persepolis 1–0Esteghlal 70,000 30 Azadi3 Esteghlal 1–2Persepolis 67,000 15 Azadi4 Tractor Sazi 2–2Esteghlal 65,000 14 Sahand5 Tractor Sazi 1–1Sepahan 51,500 10 Sahand6 Tractor Sazi 2–1Saipa 35,050 26 Sahand7 Persepolis 1–3Tractor Sazi 35,000 7 AzadiPadideh 0–1Persepolis 35,000 12 SamenEsteghlal 1–4Tractor Sazi 35,000 29 Azadi10 Tractor Sazi 1–0Persepolis 30,178 22 Sahand Notes:Updated to games played on 15 May 2015. Source: Iranleague.ir
See also 2014–15 Azadegan League 2014–15 Iran Football's 2nd Division 2014–15 Iran Football's 3rd Division 2014–15 Hazfi Cup Iranian Super Cup 2014–15 Iranian Futsal Super League References
External links 2014–15 Persian Gulf Cup at PersianLeague 2014–15 Persian Gulf Cup at Soccerway