Rah Ahan Tehran F.C. Explained

Ground:Shahid Derakhshan Stadium
Capacity:12,000
Current:2018–19 Rah Ahan F.C. season
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Clubname:Rah Ahan FC
Fullname:Rah Ahan Sports Club
Mgrtitle:Head Coach
League:Tehran Province league

Rah Ahan Sports Club (Persian: باشگاه ورزشی راه‌آهن, Bashgah-e Vârzeshi-ye Rahâhen), commonly known as Rah Ahan Football Club, is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran. They currently play in the Azadegan League. Rah Ahan is one of the oldest Iranian football clubs.

History

Establishment

Rah Ahan was formed in 1927 in Tehran by Iran Railways but were bought by Mehr Afarin Holding. They are one of the oldest Iranian football clubs still in existence.

In 1939 Rah Ahan participated in the Tehran Local League for the first time. Their first official match was on 4 January 1940 against Bazargani F.C.; they won the game 11–0.

Rah Ahan is currently owned by Mehrafarin Holding.

1950s

During the World War in the 1940s Rah Ahan dissolved its football operations, and did not restart its team until the 1950s. After its re-establishment the club under the name of Pirouz played on the dirt pitches near the railway station. The players of the team were railway workers. In 1955 with the arrival of Rasoul Madadnavi from Tabriz, the club was again renamed to Rah Ahan and began to attract players from outside the railway company. After achieving good results in the 1958 season Rah Ahan was promoted to the 1st Division Tehran League. However, due to new restrictions regarding private clubs in the Tehran Local Leagues, the club was denied the right to compete and eventually ceased its operations.

Pre-Revolution

In 1963 Rah Ahan was again re-established and were placed in the 2nd Division Tehran Local League. In 1966 Rah Ahan was finally promoted to the top division of the Tehran Local Leagues. In 1973 the Takht Jamshid Cup, Iran's first national league, was founded. In their first two years in the Cup, Rah Ahan finished a respectable 7th and 9th. In 1976 they were relegated to the 2nd Division. In their only season in the 2nd Division, Rah Ahan finished 1st in the league and were again promoted to the Takht Jamshid Cup. In 1978 they were again relegated to the 2nd Division, but they could not finish the 2nd Division season because of the Iranian Revolution.

Iran Pro League

After the establishment of the Iran Pro League in 2001, Rah Ahan was placed in the second tier Azadegan League. In 2005 Rah Ahan was promoted to the Iran Pro League after a second-place finish in the Azadegan League. Since then they have mostly been an average team and have finished in the mid-table, but since the arrival of Ansarifard as the chairman they have looked more stable. They finished 11th in the 2008–09 season and avoided relegation in the season after the last week.

Ali Daei

In the 2012–13 season, under Ali Daei, the team got out to an early start, and were 4th in the Iran Pro League after the opening few weeks. After that the team had an average year, dropping to 8th by the season's end. In the same year they went on tour in Turkey, beating Galatasaray A2 4–1, and losing to Super Lig side Istanbul BB 3–2. At the end of the 2012–13 season Ali Daei left Rah Ahan to sign with Persepolis.

Trouble years

Mansour Ebrahimzadeh was announced as Rah Ahan's new manager for the 2013–14 season. With him in charge Rah Ahan finished an average 11th place. At the end of the season, Ebrahimzadeh announced that he was stepping down as Rah Ahan's manager. Former Persepolis manager Hamid Estili was named as his replacement. Rah Ahan encountered severe financial problems and under Estili the club performed poorly. Estili was soon fired and replaced with former Rah Ahan player Farhad Kazemi.

In the 2015–16 season, Rah Ahan ran into financial troubles, finished 15th in the Persian Gulf Pro League and were relegated. This was the first time Rah Ahan would play in the Azadegan League in 12 years.

Season-by-season

For details on seasons, see List of Rah Ahan F.C. seasons

SeasonDiv.LeaguePositionHazfi CupNotes
2001–022Azadegan League8th
2002–032Azadegan League11th
2003–042Azadegan League11th
2004–052Azadegan League2ndPromoted
2005–061Iran Pro League13th
2006–071Iran Pro League16th1/16 Final
2007–081Iran Pro League12thQuarterfinal
2008–091Iran Pro League11thbgcolor=silverFinal
2009–101Iran Pro League14th1/16 Final
2010–111Iran Pro League15th1/16 Final
2011–121Iran Pro League11th1/16 Final
2012–131Iran Pro League8th1/8 Final
2013–141Iran Pro League11th1/4 Final
2014–151Iran Pro League12th1/8 Final
2015–161Iran Pro League15th1/16 FinalRelegated
2016–172Azadegan League15th1/32 Final
2017–182Azadegan League18th1/32 FinalRelegated
2018–193League 2Did not participateDid not participateRelegated

Reserves

The table below shows the achievements of the club's reserve team in various competitions.

SeasonLeaguePositionHazfi Cup
2010–113rd Division9th/Group 2Did not qualify
2011–12Tehran Provincial League7th/Group 1Did not qualify
2012–13Tehran Provincial League7th/Group 1Did not qualify
2013–14Tehran Provincial Leaguebgcolor=gold1st/Group 1Did not qualify

Managers

See main article: article and List of Rah Ahan F.C. managers.

IPL managers

NameNatFromTo
Firouz KarimiJune 2004February 2006
Abbas RazaviFebruary 2006November 2006
Akbar MisaghianDecember 2006February 2008
Davoud MahabadiFebruary 2008October 2008
Mahmoud YavariOctober 2008April 2009
Mehdi TartarApril 2009June 2009
Ernie BrandtsJuly 2009December 2009
Mehdi TartarDecember 2009June 2010
Rasoul KorbekandiJune 2010September 2010
Mehdi TartarSeptember 2010July 2011
Ali DaeiJuly 2011May 2013
Mansour EbrahimzadehJuly 2013June 2014
Hamid EstiliJune 2014February 2015
Ali Latifi (Interim)February 2015February 2015
Farhad KazemiFebruary 2015September 2015
Mehdi TartarSeptember 2015February 2016
Ioannis TopalidisFebruary 2016May 2016
Mehdi PashazadehJuly 2016January 2017
Sirous DinmohammadiJanuary 2017 October 2017
Mohsen BayatiniaOctober 2017 present

Coaching staff

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PositionName
Head Coach Mohsen Bayatinia
Goalkeeping Coach Niko Sternberg
Athletic Coach Dominic Palmer