Saipa F.C. Explained

Clubname:Saipa
سايپا
Fullname:Saipa Football Club
Nickname:Carmakers
The Foxes
Oranges
Ground:Shahid Dastgerdi Stadium
Capacity:8,250
Owner:Aihan Amerian
Chairman:Kamran Amerian
Manager:Mahmoud Fekri
League:Azadegan League
Season:2023-24
Position:Azadegan League, 5th
Current:2023-24 Azadegan League
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Website:http://www.saipasport.com/

Saipa Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال سايپا, Bashgah-e Futbal-e Saipa) is a football club from Tehran, Iran. The team is owned by SAIPA, an Iranian automobile manufacturer. The team has never had a large fanbase. In the 2006–07 season, under the guidance of Ali Daei, Saipa won their only Persian Gulf Cup title. Saipa has also won the Azadegan League twice and the Hazfi Cup once. Saipa is the football club of the multisport Saipa Cultural and Athletic Corporation.

History

Early days

In 1989, SAIPA Company decided to start its own football team. They purchased a team playing in the 4th division of Tehran's city league, and renamed it Saipa F.C. After back to back promotions starting in the first year, the Karaj based club was playing in the 2nd division by 1991. That same year they purchased the Shipping Department team's shares, and participated in the 1st division of Tehran's local league. In that year they won the Tehran city championship as well as the Tehran Super Cup, thus attaining the right to play in Iran's top league at the time, the Azadegan League.

Azadegan League

In their first year in the Azadegan League they won the championship, as well as the Hazfi Cup. They also won the league championship again in 1994. The team was relegated into the second division in 1995, but were promoted again in the following year. Since their second promotion to the top tier, the club has remained in the middle of the league table.

Persian Gulf Pro League

Ali Daei era

By 2001, the club's on-field performance remained stable, occupying mid-table position most years. Shortly following Iranian goalkeeper Ahmad Reza Abedzadeh's retirement, he was linked with the head coaching job at Saipa. It never materialized, but the club signed another Iranian, Ali Daei in a move from Saba Battery. The club had finished third in the previous season and now, with Werner Lorant as a coach, the team aimed to work for the title. Shortly after the season began though, Littbarski was fired and Ali Daei took on the role of player/coach. Daei scored the winner in the title winning game. Daei extended his contract, this time as a full-time coach. He was appointed head coach of the national team but kept his role at Saipa until the end of the season.

Return to mid-table and relocation to Tehran

Following the title winning year which saw the team play in the AFC Champions League, Saipa turned back into the mid-table places of the league again. Before the start of the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League season Saipa announced they had moved their home city from Karaj to nearby Tehran.

Season-by-season

The table below chronicles the achievements of Saipa in various competitions since 1993.

SeasonPos.Hazfi CupACL
1993–94Azadegan Leaguebgcolor=gold1stbgcolor=goldWinnersdid not qualify
1994–95bgcolor=gold1stSecond round
1995–96bgcolor=#fcc16th4th Place
1996–97Second Divisionbgcolor=#dfd2nddid not qualify
1997–98Azadegan League7thNot held
1998–994th
1999–20003rdSemifinal
2000–017thSemifinal
2001–02Pro League11th
2002–036thQuarterfinals
2003–0413thSemifinal
2004–0513thQuarterfinals
2005–063rdRound of 16
2006–07bgcolor=gold1stQuarterfinals
2007–0811thRound of 16Quarterfinals
2008–0910thRound of 16did not qualify
2009–108thThird Round
2010–1111thFourth Round
2011–128thRound of 16
2012–139thRound of 16
2013–148thRound of 16
2014–157thRound of 16
2015–168thSemifinals
2016–1713thSemifinals
2017–184thRound of 16
2018–197thSemifinalsPlay-off
2019–2014thQuarterfinalsdid not qualify
2020–21bgcolor=#fcc15thRound of 16
2021-22Azadegan League14thThird Round
2022-23

Honours

Individual Records

All Top Appearances

NameNationalityApps
1Ebrahim Sadeghi Iran452
2Majid Ayoubi Iran319
3Roozbeh Shahalidoost Iran254
4Hamed Shiri Iran166
5Mohsen Khalili Iran156
6Ali Zeinali Iran150
7Omid Sharifinasab Iran149
8Javad Ashtiani Iran143
9Hamed Fallahzadeh Iran138
10Ebrahim Shakouri Iran133

All Top Scorers

NameNationalityGoals
1Mohsen Khalili Iran62
2Karim Ansarifard Iran56
3Ebrahim Sadeghi Iran41
4Amin Manouchehri Iran25
5Hamed Shiri Iran22
6Sajjad Shahbazzadeh Iran21
7Mehdi Torabi Iran20
8Javad Kazemian Iran16
9Arman Ramezani Iran15
10Omid Sharifinasab Iran14

Manager

Coaching staff

Staff[1] Name
Head coach Faraz Kamalvand
First team coach Asghar Maziar
Assistant coach Mehdi Zarei
Kazem Borjlou
Goalkeeping coach Farshad Bakhtiarizadeh
Fitness coach Ali Asghar GhorbanaliPour
Doctor Mahyar Mortazavi
Analyzer Mohammad Palizvan
Technical Manager Asghar Hajiloo
B team Manager Kianoush Rahmati

The following managers had managed Saipa since 1993:

NamePeriodTrophies
Bijan Zolfagharnasab1993–972 Azadegan League, Hazfi Cup
Nasrollah Abdollahi1997–00
Behtash Fariba2000–01
Hamid Alidoosti2001–02
Giovanni Mei2002–03
Mohammad Mayeli Kohan2003–04
Bijan Zolfagharnasab2004–06
Werner Lorant2006
Ali Daei2006–081 Persian Gulf Cup
Pierre Littbarski2008
Mohammad Mayeli Kohan2008–11
Majid Saleh2011–12
Mojtaba Taghavi2012–13
Engin Firat2013–14
Majid Jalali2014–16
Hossein Faraki2016–17
Ali Daei2017–19
Ebrahim Sadeghi2019–21
Faraz Kamalvand2021

Notes and References

  1. Web site: سازمان لیگ فوتبال ایران.