2020–21 Persian Gulf Pro League Explained

Competition:Persian Gulf Pro League
Dates:6 November 2020 – 30 July 2021
Winners:Persepolis
7th Pro League title
14th Iranian title
Relegated:Machine Sazi
Saipa
Continentalcup1:Champions League
Continentalcup1 Qualifiers:Sepahan
Foolad
Matches:240
Total Goals:476
League Topscorer:Sajjad Shahbazzadeh
Best Goalkeeper:Hamed Lak
(17 clean sheets)
Biggest Home Win:Sepahan 5–1 Mes
(16 May 2021)
Biggest Away Win:Aluminium Arak 1–6 Sepahan
(6 March 2021)
Highest Scoring:Aluminium Arak 1–6 Sepahan
(6 March 2021)
Longest Wins:Persepolis . Sepahan
(6 matches)
Longest Unbeaten:Persepolis
(20 matches)
Longest Winless:Machine Sazi
(14 matches)
Longest Losses:Naft Masjed Soleyman . Aluminium Arak
(5 matches)
Attendance:0
Prevseason:2019–20
Nextseason:2021–22
Season:2020–21

The 2020–21 Persian Gulf Pro League (formerly known as Iran Pro League) were the 38th season of Iran's Football League and 20th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Persepolis were the defending champions. The season featured 14 teams from the 2019–20 Persian Gulf Pro League and two new teams promoted from the 2019–20 Azadegan League: Mes Rafsanjan and Aluminium Arak.[1] [2]

The 2020–21 season started on 6 November 2020 and was ended on 30 July 2021.[3] Persepolis won their record-extending 5th consecutive title and 14th title overall (7th in the Pro League era)

Teams

Stadia and locations

TeamLocationStadiumCapacity
ArakImam Khomeini15,000
EsteghlalTehranAzadi78,116
FooladAhvazFoolad Arena30,655
Gol Gohar SirjanSirjanImam Ali
Qasem Soleimani
8,000
9,000[4]
Machine SaziTabrizQasem Soleimani12,000
Mes RafsanjanRafsanjanShohadaye Mes2,000[5]
Naft Masjed SoleymanMasjed SoleymanBehnam Mohammadi8,000
Nassaji MazandaranQaem ShahrVatani15,000
PaykanShahr-e QodsShahr-e Qods25,000
PersepolisTehranAzadi78,116
SaipaTehranDastgerdi8,250
Sanat NaftAbadanTakhti Abadan10,000[6]
SepahanIsfahanNaghsh-e-Jahan75,000
PadidehMashhadImam Reza27,700
TractorTabrizYadegar-e Emam66,833
Zob AhanFooladshahrFooladshahr15,000

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.

TeamManagerCaptain
Aluminium Arak Meysam Majidi
Esteghlal Farhad Majidi Voria Ghafouri
Foolad Javad Nekounam Ayoub Vali
Gol Gohar Amir Ghalenoei Mehran Golzari
Machine Sazi Alireza Akbarpour Habib Gordani
Mes Rafsanjan Mohammad Rabiei Hamed Noormohammadi
Naft MIS Mahmoud Fekri Abbas Asgari
Nassaji Saket Elhami Hamed Shiri
Paykan Mehdi Tartar Ali Hamoudi
Persepolis Yahya Golmohammadi Jalal Hosseini
Saipa Faraz Kamalvand Sadegh Barani
Sanat Naft Sirous Pourmousavi Hossein Baghlani
Sepahan Moharram Navidkia Ehsan Hajsafi
Shahr Khodro Mehdi Rahmati Reza Nasehi
Tractor Firouz Karimi Mohammad Reza Akhbari
Zob Ahan Mojtaba Hosseini Ghasem Haddadifar

Managerial changes

TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancywidth=60 Position in tableIncoming head coachDate of appointment
SepahanEnd of Caretaker SpellPre-season Moharram Navidkia
Machine Sazi Human AfazeliResigned Vahid Bayatloo
Naft MIS Mehdi Tartar Mojtaba Hosseini
Zob Ahan Luka BonačićSacked Rahman Rezaei
Shahr Khodro Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh Mehdi Rahmati
Gol Gohar Sirjan Majid Jalali Amir Ghalenoei
Esteghlal Farhad MajidiResigned
Tractor Saket Elhami Alireza Mansourian
Sanat Naft Behnam SerajSacked Sirous Pourmousavi
Nassaji Mahmoud FekriSigned with Esteghlal Vahid Fazeli
Paykan Abdollah VeisiResigned Mehdi Tartar

Foreign players

See also: List of foreign footballers in the Persian Gulf Pro League. 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.

ClubPlayer 1Player 2Player 3Asian PlayerFormer Player
Aluminium Arak
Esteghlal Hrvoje Milić Cheick Diabaté
Foolad Chimba Moussa Coulibaly Ayanda Patosi
Gol Gohar Godwin Mensha
Machine Sazi
Mes Rafsanjan
Naft MIS
Nassaji
Paykan
Persepolis Božidar Radošević Bashar Resan
Saipa
Sanat Naft
Sepahan Kiros Giorgi Gvelesiani
Shahr Khodro
Tractor Okacha Hamzaoui
Zob Ahan Darko Bjedov Ivan Marković

League table

Standings

Results

Positions by round

Season statistics

Top scorers

RankPlayerClubGoals
1 Sajjad ShahbazzadehSepahan20
2 Godwin MenshaGol Gohar14
3Tractor12
4 Amin GhaseminejadPadideh11
5 Hamed PakdelAluminium Arak10
Ahmad NourollahiPersepolis
7 Mehdi AbdiPersepolis9
Taleb ReykaniSanat Naft
9 Younes ShakeriGol Gohar8
10 Sasan HosseiniNaft MIS7
Amir Arsalan MotahariEsteghlal

Hat-tricks

PlayerForAgainstResultDate
Godwin MenshaGol GoharShahr Khodro3–1 (H)
Peyman BabaeiMachine SaziSepahan3–3 (H)
Younes ShakeriGol GoharMachine Sazi3–1 (H)

Clean sheets

RankPlayerClubClean sheets
1 Hamed LakPersepolis17
2 Payam NiazmandSepahan14
3 Hossein Pour HamidiAluminium Arak11
4 Rashid MazaheriEsteghlal10
5 Mohsen ForouzanFoolad9
6 Mohammad Reza AkhbariTractor8
7 Hossein Akbar MonadiSaipa6
Milad FarahaniPadideh
Alireza HaghighiGol Gohar
Farhad KermanshahiNaft Masjed Soleyman
Davoud Noushi SoufianiMes Rafsanjan

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2020-08-17 . Aluminium Arak secure promotion to IPL . 2020-09-01.
  2. Web site: 2020-08-02 . Mes Rafsanjan promoted to Iran Professional League . 2020-09-01.
  3. Web site: 2020-11-01 . 2020/21 IPL to kick off as scheduled: official . 2020-11-06.
  4. Web site: بلیت بازی گل‌گهر پرسپولیس تمام شد! .
  5. Web site: جزئیات فروش بلیط بازی مس رفسنجان-استقلال تهران . 21 May 2022 .
  6. Web site: 10 درصد ورزشگاه آبادان در اختیار استقلالی‌ها .