2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League Explained

Competition:	Persian Gulf Pro League
Season:	2015–16
Winners:	Esteghlal Khuzestan 1st Pro League title 1st Iranian title
Relegated:	Malavan Rah Ahan Esteghlal Ahvaz
Continentalcup1:	Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:	Esteghlal Khuzestan Persepolis Esteghlal Zob Ahan (Hazfi Cup champions)
Matches:	240
Total Goals:	502
League Topscorer:	Mehdi Taremi (16 goals)
Best Goalkeeper:	Fernando de Jesus (17 clean sheets)
Biggest Home Win:	Rah Ahan 5–0 Est. Ahvaz (16 October 2015) Tractor Sazi 5–0 Est. Ahvaz (13 May 2016)
Biggest Away Win:	Foolad 0–3 Zob Ahan (15 September 2015) Sepahan 0–3 Esteghlal (26 October 2015) Est. Ahvaz 0–3 Saba Qom (27 December 2015)
Highest Scoring:	Tractor Sazi 4–4 Zob Ahan (27 October 2015)
Longest Wins:	5 matches Persepolis
Longest Unbeaten:	21 matches Persepolis
Longest Winless:	20 matches Est. Ahvaz
Longest Losses:	6 matches Est. Ahvaz
Highest Attendance:	100,000^[1] Persepolis – Esteghlal (15 April 2016)
Lowest Attendance:	0 (spectator ban) Foolad – Zob Ahan^[2] (15 September 2015) Tractor Sazi – Saipa^[3] (10 October 2015) Foolad – Naft Tehran^[4] (13 December 2015) Malavan – Naft Tehran^[5] (3 February 2016) Tractor Sazi – Foolad^[6] (10 March 2016) Persepolis – Siah Jamegan^[7] (3 April 2016) Est. Ahvaz  – Saipa^[8] (8 May 2016)
Attendance:	1,875,293
Average Attendance:	8,048
Prevseason:	2014–15
Nextseason:	2016–17

The 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League (formerly known as Iran Pro League) was the 33rd season of Iran's Football League and 15th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Sepahan were the defending champions. The season featured 14 teams from the 2014–15 Persian Gulf Cup and two new teams promoted from the 2014–15 Azadegan League: Siah Jamegan and Esteghlal Ahvaz. The league started on 30 July 2015 and ended on 13 May 2016. Esteghlal Khuzestan won the Pro League title for the first time in their history (total first Iranian title). Mehdi Taremi of Persepolis was the top scorer with 16 goals.

Teams

Stadia and locations

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order

Team	City	Venue	Capacity
			95,225
			10,000
			38,960
			38,960
			12,000
		Takhti Anzali	8,000
			30,122
			35,000
			95,225
			25,000
			10,610
			8,250
			15,000
			35,000
			66,833
			15,000

Personnel and kits

See main article: List of Iranian Football League managers. Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

width=100	Team	width=250	Manager	width=190	Captain	Kit manufacturer
Esteghlal	Parviz Mazloumi	Mehdi Rahmati	361 Degrees
Est. Ahvaz	Siavash Bakhtiarizadeh	Adel Kolahkaj	Givova
Est. Khuzestan	Abdollah Veisi	Mohammad Tayyebi	Start
Foolad	Dragan Skočić	Leonard Mesarić	Uhlsport
Gostaresh	Faraz Kamalvand	Morteza Asadi	Merooj
Malavan	Mohammad Ahmadzadeh	Pejman Nouri	Givova
Naft Tehran	Alireza Mansourian	Alireza Ezzati	Uhlsport
Padideh	Mohammad Reza Mohajeri	Hossein Badamaki	Peak
Persepolis	Branko Ivanković	Alireza Nourmohammadi	Uhlsport
Rah Ahan	Ioannis Topalidis	Bahador Abdi	Givova
Saba Qom	Ali Daei	Abolfazl Ebrahimi	Daei Sport
Saipa	Saeid Rajabi (caretaker)	Ebrahim Sadeghi	Givova
Sepahan	Ghasem Zaghinejad (interim)	Moharram Navidkia	Joma
Siah Jamegan	Farhad Kazemi	Reza Enayati	Givova
Tractor Sazi	Amir Ghalenoei	Mehdi Kiani	Kelme
Zob Ahan	Yahya Golmohammadi	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	Legea

Managerial changes

width=100	Team	width=220	Outgoing head coach	width=100	Manner of departure	width=100	Date of vacancy	width=60	Position in table	width=220	Incoming head coach	width=100	Date of appointment
Padideh	Alireza Marzban^[9]	Resigned		Pre-season	Mohammad Reza Mohajeri^[10]
Saba Qom	Mehdi Tartar	Sacked			Ali Daei^[11]
Siah Jamegan	Rasoul Khatibi^[12]	Resigned		15th	Farhad Kazemi^[13]
Rah Ahan	Farhad Kazemi^[14]	Sacked		13th	Mehdi Tartar^[15]
Esteghlal Ahvaz	Siavash Bakhtiarizadeh^[16]	Sacked		15th	Ali Hanteh^[17]
Sepahan	Hossein Faraki^[18]	Mutual consent		6th	Igor Štimac^[19]
Tractor Sazi	Toni^[20]	Mutual consent		9th	Amir Ghalenoei^[21]
Esteghlal Ahvaz	Ali Hanteh^[22]	Mutual consent		16th	Siavash Bakhtiarizadeh^[23]
Malavan	Hamid Estili^[24]	Resigned		12th	Mohammad Ahmadzadeh^[25]
Rah Ahan	Mehdi Tartar^[26]	Sacked		15th	Ioannis Topalidis^[27]
Sepahan	Igor Štimac^[28]	Resigned		11th	Abdollah Veisi^[29]
Saipa	Majid Jalali^[30]	Sacked		10th	Hossein Faraki^[31]

Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to four per Iran 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
Esteghlal	Hrayr Mkoyan	Pero Pejić	Adil Chihi
Esteghlal Ahvaz	Luiz Fernando	Sandi Šahman
Esteghlal Khuzestan	Fernando	Moussa Coulibaly	Eduardo Ferreira	Fellipe Bertoldo
Foolad	Leonard Mesarić	Mathias Chago	Dorge Kouemaha
Gostaresh	Magno Batista	Leo Pimenta	Georgi Georgiev
Malavan
Naft Tehran
Padideh
Persepolis	Luka Marić	Michael Umaña	Jerry Bengtson	Alexander Lobanov
Rah Ahan	Athos Solomou	Sebastian Strandvall
Saba Qom	Filipe Machado
Saipa	Ratko Dujković
Sepahan	Leandro Padovani	Luciano Pereira	Senijad Ibričić	Fozil Musaev
Siah Jamegan	Kyle Konwea	Alagie Sosseh	Korede Aiyegbusi
Tractor Sazi	Augusto	Carlos Cardoso	Aloys Nong
Zob Ahan	Ali Hamam			Walid Ismail

League table

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mehdi Taremi	Persepolis	16
2	Mohammad Ebrahimi	Gostaresh Foulad	11
3	Omid Ebrahimi	Esteghlal	10
Mehrdad Mohammadi	Rah Ahan
5	Sasan Ansari	Foolad	9
Hassan Beyt Saeed	Esteghlal Khuzestan
7	Jaber Ansari	Esteghlal	7
Jerry Bengtson	Persepolis
Mohammad Iranpourian	Tractor Sazi
Aloys Nong	Tractor Sazi
Gholamreza Rezaei	Saipa
Sajjad Shahbazzadeh	Esteghlal
Morteza Tabrizi	Zob Ahan
Mohsen Yousefi	Padideh
Rahim Zohaivi	Esteghlal Khuzestan

Last updated: 13 May 2016
Source: Soccerway.com
Source: Iplstats.com

Hat-tricks

Player	Club	Against	Result	Date
Mohammad Ebrahimi	Gostaresh	Zob Ahan	4–3
Sasan Ansari	Foolad	Est. Ahvaz	3–2

Clean sheets

Rank	Player	Club	Clean sheets
1	Fernando de Jesus	Esteghlal Khuzestan	17
2	Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri	Zob Ahan	13
3	Mohammadreza Akhbari	Tractor Sazi	12
4	Mehdi Rahmati	Esteghlal	11
5	Alireza Beiranvand	Naft Tehran	9
6	Hamed Lak	Saba Qom	8
Sosha Makani	Persepolis
Mojtaba Roshangar	Padideh
9	Mohsen Forouzan	Rah Ahan	7
Georgi Georgiev	Gostaresh Foulad
11	Hamed Fallahzadeh	Saipa	6
Shahab Gordan	Sepahan
Serghei Pașcenco	Malavan

Last Update: 13 May 2016
Source: Iplstats.com

Scoring

• First goal of the season: Sajjad Shahbazzadeh for Esteghlal against Siah Jamegan (30 July 2015)
• Fastest goal of the season: 56 seconds,^[32] Jalaleddin Alimohammadi for Saba Qom against Naft Tehran (6 August 2015)
• Latest goal of the season: 96 minutes,^[33] Mohammad Ghazi for Saba Qom against Esteghlal Khuzestan (14 September 2015)
• Largest winning margin: 5 goals
  • Rah Ahan 5–0 Esteghlal Ahvaz (16 October 2015)
  • Tractor Sazi 5–0 Esteghlal Ahvaz (13 May 2016)
• Highest scoring game: 8 goals
  • Tractor Sazi 4–4 Zob Ahan (27 October 2015)
• Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals
  • Gostaresh Foulad 4–3 Zob Ahan (31 March 2016)

Awards

Team of the Season

Goalkeeper: Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri (Zob Ahan)
Defence: Sadegh Moharrami (Perspolis), Majid Hosseini (Esteghlal), Jalal Hosseini (Perspolis), Mohammad Ansari (Perspolis)
Midfield: Server Djeparov (Esteghlal), Omid Ebrahimi (Esteghlal), Mohammad Reza Hosseini (Zob Ahan)
Attack: Mehdi Torabi (Saipa), Ali Alipour (Perspolis), Vahid Amiri (Perspolis)

Player of the Season

Mehdi Torabi was awarded as the best player of the season. Ali Gholizadeh was also awarded as the best young player of the season.

Other awards

Branko Ivankovic was awarded as the best coach of the season.Mohammad Rashid Mazaheri won the best Goalkeeper award.Jalal Hosseini won the best Defender award.Omid Ebrahimi won the best Midfielder award.Ali Alipour won the best Striker award.

Attendances

Attendances by round

Team/Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	Average
Esteghlal	A	30,000	35,000	A	14,000	A	11,000	A	2,500	A	90,000	A	11,000	A	6,500	5,000	A	A	12,000	A	70,000	A	28,000	A	38,000	A	15,000	A	85,000	A	30,200
Esteghlal Ahvaz	A	1,100	A	6,000	A	A	370	A	200	A	500	A	1,500	A	500	600	A	200	A	550	800	A	200	A	1,500	A	10,800	A	NC	A	1,773
Esteghlal Khuzestan	A	6,000	A	300	A	200	A	350	A	210	A	450	A	250	A	2,000	A	5,000	A	5,000	A	1,100	A	17,000	A	3,250	A	350	A	35,000	5,097
Foolad	3,100	A	2,000	A	13,000	NC	A	1,200	A	400	A	18,000	A	NC	A	A	200	A	6,000	A	A	4,000	A	2,500	A	2,000	A	350	A	50	4,062
Gostaresh	A	6,500	A	520	A	2,000	A	214	A	A	60	A	650	A	225	100	A	186	A	528	A	624	A	2,000	2,500	A	4,000	A	15,000	A	2,340
Malavan	4,656	A	4,200	A	1,600	A	2,832	A	5,000	A	700	A	5,000	A	1,200	A	5,300	A	NC	A	2,000	A	3,200	A	10,000	A	5,000	A	7,221	A	4,136
Naft Tehran	A	500	A	990	A	100	A	A	200	A	200	A	12,200	A	200	1,200	A	100	A	7,650	A	130	70	A	100	A	200	A	70	A	1,594
Padideh	A	2,500	A	5,000	A	3,000	A	22,000	A	550	A	700	A	A	1,500	18,000	A	1,500	A	2,000	A	351	A	230	A	250	A	200	586	A	3,891
Persepolis	18,000	A	A	25,000	A	11,000	A	35,000	A	9,000	A	9,000	A	4,500	A	A	40,000	77,000	A	80,000	A	80,000	A	NC	A	100,000	A	80,000	A	90,000	47,036
Rah Ahan	A	525	A	1,000	A	500	A	250	A	250	A	A	500	A	11,800	200	A	2,500	A	300	A	35,000	A	47	A	250	123	A	57	A	3,553
Saba Qom	890	A	200	A	1,500	A	4,000	A	350	A	2,500	2,500	A	200	A	A	1,000	A	100	A	1,850	A	15,000	A	500	A	A	250	A	4,000	2,323
Saipa	250	A	300	A	500	A	300	300	A	350	A	500	A	210	A	A	289	A	70	A	77,000	A	A	950	A	200	A	9,000	A	80	6,020
Sepahan	2,200	A	12,500	3,500	A	3,500	A	1,500	A	8,500	A	2,200	A	800	A	A	3,500	A	A	3,500	A	600	A	1,400	A	500	A	700	A	250	3,010
Siah Jamegan	25,000	A	2,000	A	1,500	A	1,830	A	18,000	A	120	A	450	200	A	A	268	A	900	A	3,580	A	600	A	411	A	1,250	A	A	8,000	4,274
Tractor Sazi	20,000	A	8,200	A	7,000	A	20,000	A	NC	2,500	A	9,500	A	7,000	A	A	1,350	A	5,000	A	10,000	A	NC	A	A	10,800	A	2,000	A	12,000	8,873
Zob Ahan	A	6,000	A	A	1,500	A	800	A	400	A	520	A	500	A	1,900	350	A	6,500	8,000	A	1,000	A	200	A	2,300	A	1,000	A	400	A	2,091
Total	74,096	53,125	64,400	42,310	40,600	20,300	41,132	60,814	26,650	21,760	94,600	42,850	31,800	13,160	23,825	27,450	51,907	92,986	32,070	99,528	166,230	121,805	47,270	24,127	55,311	117,250	37,373	92,850	108,334	149,380	1,875,293
Average	9,262	6,641	8,050	5,289	5,075	2,900	5,142	7,602	3,807	2,720	11,825	5,356	3,975	1,880	2,978	3,431	6,488	11,623	4,581	12,441	20,779	15,226	6,753	3,447	6,914	14,656	4,672	11,606	15,476	18,673	8,048

Notes:
Updated to games played on 13 May 2016. Source: Iranleague.ir
Matches with spectator bans are not included in average attendances
Esteghlal Ahvaz played their matches against Esteghlal and Siah Jamegan at Ghadir
Foolad played their match against Gostaresh at Takhti Ahvaz
Gostaresh played their matches against Persepolis and Tractor Sazi at Sahand
Rah Ahan played their match against Esteghlal at Azadi
Saipa played their match against Esteghlal at Takhti Tehran
Saipa played their match against Persepolis at Azadi

Highest attendances

Rank	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date	Week	Stadium
align=center	1	Persepolis	align=center	4–2	Esteghlal	align=center	100,000		26	Azadi
align=center rowspan="2"	2	Esteghlal	align=center	1–1	Persepolis	align=center	90,000		11	Azadi
Persepolis	align=center	2–1	Rah Ahan	align=center	90,000		30	Azadi
align=center	4	Esteghlal	align=center	2–3	Tractor Sazi	align=center	85,000		29	Azadi
align=center rowspan="3"	5	Persepolis	align=center	1–0	Foolad	align=center	80,000		20	Azadi
Persepolis	align=center	1–1	Tractor Sazi	align=center	80,000		22	Azadi
Persepolis	align=center	0–2	Naft Tehran	align=center	80,000		28	Azadi
align=center rowspan="2"	8	Persepolis	align=center	2–2	Sepahan	align=center	77,000		18	Azadi
Saipa	align=center	1–1	Persepolis	align=center	77,000		21	Azadi
align=center	10	Esteghlal	align=center	2–1	Gostaresh	align=center	70,000		21	Azadi

Notes:
Updated to games played on 13 May 2016. Source: Iranleague.ir

See also

• 2015–16 Azadegan League
• 2015–16 Iran Football's 2nd Division
• 2015–16 Iran Football's 3rd Division
• 2015–16 Hazfi Cup
• Iranian Super Cup
• 2015–16 Iranian Futsal Super League

Notes and References

1. Web site: لیگ برتر : پرسپولیس تهران - استقلال تهران. iranleague.ir. 2016-09-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20161010071120/http://iranleague.ir/MatchDetails/8742. 2016-10-10. dead.
2. Web site: Iranian Premier League Stats: 2015-2016 Season. https://web.archive.org/web/20150926032117/http://www.iplstats.com/Week06/FOL_ZOB_06.htm. dead. 2015-09-26. 2016-09-28.
3. Web site: لیگ برتر : تراکتورسازي تبریز - سايپـا تهران. iranleague.ir. 2016-09-28. https://web.archive.org/web/20160919055334/http://iranleague.ir/MatchDetails/8578. 2016-09-19. dead.
4. Web site: Archived copy . 2015-12-17 . https://web.archive.org/web/20151222110153/http://www.iplstats.com/Week14/FOL_NFT_14.htm . 2015-12-22 . dead .
5. Web site: ملوان 0 - نفت تهران 0؛ سردترین بازی فصل :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
6. Web site: پیروزی دراماتیک تراکتور در یادگار :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
7. Web site: چرا بازی پرسپولیس بدون تماشاگر شد؟ :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
8. Web site: استقلال اهواز-سایپا؛ بدون تماشاگر در غدیر :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
9. Web site: متن نامه مرزبان پس از جدایی از پدیده - سایت خبری تحلیلی تابناك|اخبار ایران و جهان|TABNAK. tabnak.ir. 2016-09-28.
10. Web site: محمدرضا مهاجری سرمربی تیم فوتبال پدیده مشهد شد - خبرگزاری مهر | اخبار ایران و جهان | Mehr News Agency | مهاجری سرمربی پدیده مشهد شد . mehrnews.com. 2016-09-28. 2015-07-05.
11. Web site: علی دایی سرمربی صبای قم شد - خبرگزاری مهر | اخبار ایران و جهان | Mehr News Agency. mehrnews.com. 2016-09-28. 2015-07-16.
12. Web site: پایان کار خطیبی و سیاه جامگان :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
13. Web site: 90tv.ir | وبسایت رسمی برنامه ۹۰ - اختصاصی/کاظمی رسما سرمربی سیاه جامگان شد. 90tv.ir. 2016-09-28.
14. Web site: فرهاد کاظمی برکنار شد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
15. Web site: مهدی تارتار سرمربی راهآهن شد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
16. Web site: برکناری سیاوش بختیاریزاده از استقلال :: ورزش 3 | برکناری بختیاریزاده از استقلال . varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
17. Web site: علی حنطه سرمربی استقلالاهواز شد(عکس) :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
18. Web site: پایان کار حسین فرکی در سپاهان :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
19. Web site: استیماچ سرمربی سپاهان شد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
20. Web site: جدایی رسمی تونی از تراکتورسازی :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
21. Web site: قرارداد یک و نیم ساله قلعهنویی با تراکتور :: ورزش 3 | قلعهنویی سرمربی تراکتورسازی شد . varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
22. Web site: حنطه به طور توافقی از استقلال اهواز جدا شد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
23. Web site: بختیاری زاده سرمربی استقلال اهواز شد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
24. Web site: حمید استیلی از ملوان کنار رفت :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
25. Web site: احمدزاده در مسیر اردبیل به انزلی :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
26. Web site: تارتار از راه آهن اخراج شد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
27. Web site: یوهانس توپالیدیس سرمربی راهآهن شد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
28. Web site: استیماچ از هدایت سپاهان استعفا داد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
29. Web site: ويسي سرمربي سپاهان شد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
30. Web site: آغاز دوران بازنشستگی جلالی :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
31. Web site: رسمی : فرکی سرمربی سایپا شد :: ورزش 3. varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
32. Web site: ویدیو ورزش 3 | نفت تهران ۱-۱ صبای قم + حواشی. video.varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.
33. Web site: ویدیو ورزش 3 | استقلال خوزستان ۱-۱ صبای قم. video.varzesh3.com. 2016-09-28.

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