The 2016–17 Persian Gulf Pro League (formerly known as Iran Pro League) was the 34th season of Iran's Football League and 16th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Esteghlal Khuzestan were the defending champions. The season featured 13 teams from the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League and three new teams promoted from the 2015–16 Azadegan League: Paykan as champions, Machine Sazi and Sanat Naft. The league started on 25 July 2016 and ended on 4 May 2017. Persepolis won the Pro League title for the third time in their history (total 10th Iranian title).
Teams
Stadia and locations
TeamCityVenueCapacity Esteghlal Tehran Azadi 78,116 Esteghlal Khuzestan Ahvaz Ghadir 38,900 Foolad Ahvaz Ghadir 38,900 Gostaresh Tabriz Bonyan Diesel 12,000 Machine Sazi Tabriz Yadegar-e Emam 66,833 Naft Tehran Tehran Takhti Tehran 30,122 Padideh Mashhad Samen 35,000 Paykan Tehran Shahr-e Qods 25,000 Persepolis Tehran Azadi 78,116 Saba Qom Qom Yadegar-e Emam 10,610 Saipa Tehran Shahid Dastgerdi 8,250 Sanat Naft Abadan Takhti Abadan 10,000 Sepahan Isfahan Naghsh-e-Jahan 75,000 Siah Jamegan Mashhad Samen 35,000 Tractor Sazi Tabriz Yadegar-e Emam 66,833 Zob Ahan Isfahan Foolad Shahr 15,000
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 manufacturerEsteghlal Alireza Mansourian Mehdi Rahmati Li-NingEst. Khuzestan Sirous Pourmousavi Mohammad Tayyebi StartFoolad Naeim Saadavi Mehrdad Jamaati UhlsportGostaresh Faraz Kamalvand Morteza Asadi MeroojMachine Sazi Farhad Kazemi Andranik Teymourian MeroojNaft Tehran Ali Daei Alireza Ezzati LegeaPadideh Mohammad Reza Mohajeri Reza Nasehi Yousef JamePaykan Majid Jalali Rahman Ahmadi Yousef JamePersepolis Branko Ivanković Jalal Hosseini JomaSaba Qom Samad Marfavi Reza Enayati MeroojSanat Naft Firouz Karimi Hassan Houri MeroojSaipa Hossein Faraki Ebrahim Sadeghi GivovaSepahan Zlatko Kranjčar Ehsan Hajsafi UhlsportSiah Jamegan Akbar Misaghian Meysam Hosseini MeroojTractor Sazi Amir Ghalenoei Mehdi Kiani FitcomZob Ahan Mojtaba Hosseini Mehdi Rajabzadeh Merooj
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Naft Tehran Alireza MansourianContract expired Pre-season Ali Daei Foolad Dragan Skočić Naeim Saadavi Esteghlal Khuzestan Abdollah Veisi Mutual contest Sirous Pourmousavi Esteghlal Parviz Mazloumi Sacked Alireza Mansourian Saba Qom Ali Daei Signed by Naft Tehran Samad Marfavi Zob Ahan Yahya GolmohammadiResigned 14th Mojtaba Hosseini Siah Jamegan Farhad Kazemi 13th Khodadad Azizi Machine Sazi Rasoul Khatibi 16th Farhad Kazemi Sanat Naft Nader Dastneshan Sacked 11th Firouz Karimi Siah Jamegan Khodadad AziziResigned 15th Akbar Misaghian Sepahan Abdollah VeisiSacked 7th Zlatko Kranjčar
Foreign players
The number of foreign players is restricted to four per Persian Gulf Pro League team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team can use four foreign players on the field in each game, including at least one player from the AFC country. In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team. Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player Former Player Esteghlal Hrayr Mkoyan Róbson Januário Leandro Padovani Esteghlal Khuzestan Aloys Nong Rafael Roballo Deyvid Sacconi Foolad Mathias Chago Ernest Nfor Gostaresh Fernando Magno Batista Chimba Machine Sazi Edson Kakhaber Kakashvili Aziz Ibragimov Manu Naft Tehran Igor Prahić Padideh Varazdat Haroyan Drissa Diarrassouba David Wirikom Paykan Levon Hayrapetyan Godwin Mensha Jérémy Manzorro Faysal Shayesteh Halisson Persepolis Božidar Radošević Antony Golec Volodymyr Pryyomov Oleksiy Polyanskyi Saba Qom Saipa Júnior Lopes Bogdan Milić Alessandro Reinaldo Sanat Naft Bruno Matos Ali Salah Rasheed Alabi Kim Gwi-hyeon Danny Santoya Sepahan Lee Oliveira Moussa Coulibaly Server Djeparov Pedro Henrique Siah Jamegan Andrey Goran Jerković Moussa Traoré Tractor Sazi Edinho Karrar Jassim Zob Ahan Jerry Bengtson Rabih Ataya Ali Hamam
League table
Results
Positions by round
Clubs season-progress
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Mehdi Taremi Persepolis182 Sasan Ansari Foolad163 Godwin Mensha Paykan15 4 Mohammad Ghazi Naft Tehran12 5 Hassan Beyt Saeed Esteghlal Khuzestan10 Luciano Pereira Gostaresh Foolad Morteza Tabrizi Zob Ahan8 Mehdi Rajabzadeh Zob Ahan9 9 Jerry Bengtson Zob Ahan8 Masoud Hassanzadeh Sepahan Last updated: 4 May 2017 Source: Soccerway.com Source: PersianLeague.com
Hat-tricks
PlayerClubAgainstResultDate Mehdi Rajabzadeh Zob Ahan Sanat Naft 3–0 (A) Sasan Ansari Foolad Naft Tehran 4–2 (H) Morteza Tabrizi Zob Ahan Paykan 3–0 (H)
Clean sheets
RankPlayerClubClean sheets1 Alireza Beiranvand Persepolis172 Mohammadreza Akhbari Tractor Sazi11 Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri Zob Ahan4 Fernando de Jesus Gostaresh Foulad85 Hamed Lak Saipa7 Mehdi Rahmati Esteghlal7 Rahman Ahmadi Paykan6 Vahid Talebloo Foolad Last Update: 4 May 2017 Source: varzesh3.com
Attendances
Average home attendances
Attendances by round Team/Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930AverageEsteghlalNCA55,000A15,000A35,000A25,000A10,000A55,0006,000AANCA7,000A77,000A10,500A25,000A15,000AA25,00027,692Esteghlal KhuzestanA10,000A500AA300A30,000ANCANCA3001,300A1,500A5001,000A300A1,000A300A120A3,625Foolad2,000A2,000A300300A980A25,000A4,000A5,800AA31,000A1,300AA1,100A3,500A3,000A800A3505,429Gostaresh1,200A4,050A526A300110A3,500A150A50AA200A120A100AA100A4,810A31A251,018Machine SaziA2,050A5,000A700A315A300AA250A2601,300A200A450A100A330A1509,500A30A1,396Naft TehranA322200A1,000A400A300A50A200A3,7007,000AA200A150A17,000A300A250A150A2,081PadidehA3,100AA800A600A1,000A150A19,000A617850A270500A250A1,200A1,200A6,250A14,000A3,386PaykanA100A8,360A500A3,000AA8,750A700A1,232750A4,200A873A975A1,0001,500A850A937A2,248PersepolisA50,000A50,000A75,000A16,000A65,000A25,000AA43,00050,000A30,000A78,000A67,000A45,000A45,000A80,0009,500A48,567Saba Qom400A300A200A150A200120A7,000A250AA180A13,000A1,000A1,000AA7,000A1,500A1,5002,187Saipa16,500AA220A400A2,300A455A1,000A173AA473100A1,000A400A12,000A300A680A5002,433Sanat NaftA4,000A8,000A8,000AA5,000A5,500A4,500A4,0002,050A10,000ANCA1,800NCA6,550A9,000A4,000A5,569Sepahan2,250A3,500A1,200A11,900A700A3,000A4,000A38,000A12,000A5,000A3,500A7,000A10,000A10,000A15,300A8,490Siah Jamegan1,600A1,4502,500A1,000A15,700A1,200A630A620AA1,000AA150A4,000A4,000A1,500A3,000A24,0004,157Tractor Sazi5,000A7,200A7,000A6,900A5,000A4,5007,000A6,000AANCA13,000A6,050A25,000A4,050AA45,000A9,00010,764Zob AhanA600A500A1,500A3,000A700A300A12,500A700A700A250A10,000A400A750A300A3502,170Total28,95070,67273,70075,08026,02687,40055,55041,40567,20096,27531,95045,08083,65031,39391,10963,95044,85346,97040,12081,22389,05085,37562,00066,33049,60062,51051,150131,31144,03760,7251,884,144Average4,1368,8349,2139,3853,25310,9256,9445,1768,40012,0344,5645,63511,9503,92411,3897,9947,4765,8715,01511,60311,13110,6728,8578,2916,2007,8146,39416,4145,5057,5918,086
Notes:Updated to games played on 4 May 2017. Source: Iranleague.ir Matches with spectator bans are not included in average attendances Machine Sazi played their matches against Esteghlal Khuzestan and Gostaresh at Bonyan Dizel Machine Sazi played their matches against Paykan, Saipa, Sepahan, Tractor Sazi and Zob Ahan at Shahid Bakeri Saipa played their match against Esteghlal at Azadi Saipa played their match against Persepolis at Takhti Tehran Sepahan played their matches against Esteghlal Khuzestan, Padideh, Paykan, Persepolis and Siah Jamegan at Foolad Shahr Tractor Sazi played their matches against Esteghlal Khuzestan, Foolad, Padideh, Paykan, Persepolis, Saba Qom, Sepahan and Siah Jamegan at Shahid Bakeri
Highest attendances Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Week Stadium1 Persepolis 4–0Padideh 80,000 28 Azadi2 Persepolis 3–0Tractor Sazi 78,000 20 Azadi3 Esteghlal 3–2Persepolis 77,000 21 Azadi4 Persepolis 0–0Esteghlal 75,000 6 Azadi5 Persepolis 2–1Sepahan 67,000 22 Azadi6 Persepolis 1–0Sanat Naft 65,000 10 Azadi7 Esteghlal 1–2Sanat Naft 55,000 3 AzadiEsteghlal 1–2Tractor Sazi 55,000 13 Azadi9 Persepolis 1–1Foolad 50,000 2 AzadiPersepolis 1–0Saba Qom 50,000 4 Azadi Notes:Updated to games played on 4 May 2017. Source: Iranleague.ir
See also Azadegan League 2016–17 Iran Football's 2nd Division 2016–17 Iran Football's 3rd Division 2016–17 Hazfi Cup 2016–17 Iranian Super Cup Futsal Super League 2016–17
References