Persian Gulf Pro League

Persian Gulf Pro League
Country	Iran
Confederation	AFC
Founded	1970 officially 2001 with current format
Divisions	1
Number of teams	16
Relegation to	Azadegan League
Level on pyramid	1
Domestic cup(s)	Hazfi Cup Iranian Super Cup
AFC cup(s)	AFC Champions League
Current champions	Persepolis (15th title) (2022–23)
TV	IRIB TV3, Jame Jam 1 & Varzesh Channel 2 & Shoma
Website	Iranleague.ir Official website
2023–24

The Persian Gulf Pro League also known as Iran Pro League (IPL) is a professional football league competition for clubs located at the highest level of the Iranian football league system. It was founded in 1970 as the Takht Jamshid Cup, but the current format was adopted in 2001. Contested by 16 teams, it is ranked by the Asian Football Confederation as the 2nd best league in Asia and the best league in Western Asia.

Foundation

Before the 1970s Iran did not have an official national league and most teams competed in their local leagues, the most popular of those leagues being the Tehran Local League, which featured teams like Pas Tehran, Persepolis, and Taj.

In 1972, the Takht Jamshid Cup was created as the national league and included teams from all over the country. Pas Tehran and Persepolis were the most successful clubs in the cups five year existence, winning the cup twice each. In 1978, the league was abandoned because of the Iranian Revolution.

Due to the revolution and the Iran–Iraq War, football was no longer a priority. In 1985, the Qods League was created and was played among provincial teams. Tehran A, and Esfahan were the most successful teams, winning the League twice each. In spite of the attempts to create a national league the most important competition in Iran in the 1980s was the Tehran Clubs Cup in which Persepolis dominated.

In 1991 the Qods League was renamed the Azadegan League in honor of Iranian prisoners of war. Pas Tehran won the inaugural edition of the league, and for the first time since the revolution, Iran had a national league. Pas Tehran, Persepolis, and Esteghlal were the leagues most successful sides, with Pas and Esteghlal winning the Asian Club Championships and Persepolis winning the Asian Cup Winners' Cup. In 2001 the league dissolved with the introduction of the new Iran Pro League.

Current clubs (2023–24)

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer
Aluminium Arak	Mojtaba Hosseini		Start
Esteghlal	Javad Nekounam	Hossein Hosseini	Yousef Jameh
Esteghlal Khuzestan	Sirous Pourmousavi	Farshad Janfaza
Foolad	Alireza Mansourian	Ayoub Vali	Merooj
Gol Gohar	Marinos Ouzounidis	Mehran Golzari	Uhlsport
Havadar	Mahmoud Fekri		Yousef Jameh
Malavan	Mehdi Tartar	Sadegh Barani	Start
Mes Rafsanjan	Saket Elhami	Mohsen Azarbad	Yousef Jameh
Nassaji	Mehdi Rahmati	Hamed Shiri	Uhlsport
Paykan	Rasoul Khatibi	Ebrahim Salehi	Merooj
Persepolis	Yahya Golmohammadi	Omid Alishah	Uhlsport
Sanat Naft	Abdollah Veisi	Taleb Reykani	Merooj
Sepahan	Jose Morais	Jalaleddin Alimohammadi	Merooj
Shams Azar	Saeid Daghighi		Merooj
Tractor	Paco Jemez	Mehdi Kiani	Start
Zob Ahan	Mohammad Rabiei	Masoud Ebrahimzadeh	Start

External links

• Persian Gulf Pro League official website
• Persian Gulf Pro League official twitter
• League at Soccerway.com

Persian Gulf Pro League seasons

2014–15 · 2015–16 · 2016–17 · 2017–18 · 2018–19 · 2019–20 · 2020–21 · 2021–22 · 2022–23 · 2023–24 · 2024–25 ·

Iranian football league champions

Persepolis (10 titles): 1971–72, 1973–74, 1975–76, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1998–99, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2007–08, 2016–17 Esteghlal (8 titles): 1970–71, 1974–75, 1989–90, 1997–98, 2000–01, 2005–06, 2008–09, 2012–13 Pas Tehran (5 titles): 1976–77, 1977–78, 1991–92, 1992–93, 2003–04 Sepahan (5 titles): 2002–03, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15 Saipa (3 titles): 1993–94, 1994–95, 2006–07 Foolad (2 titles): 2004–05, 2013–14 Esteghlal Khuzestan (1 title): 2015–16

Football in Iran

League competitions AFC Cup competitions Persian Gulf Pro League Men's · B-team Hazfi Cup Azadegan League Women's Super Cup League 2 (U-23) · (U-20) League 3 (U-17) · (U-15) Futsal League system List of clubs List of venues