Persian Gulf Pro League

Foundation

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

In 1970, the Local League was created. The league included teams from all Iran in different qualifying tournaments.

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 cup's five-year existence, each club winning the cup twice. 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, each winning the league twice. In spite of many 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 the Iranian prisoners of war who were released. Pas Tehran won the inaugural season of the league and Iran had a national league for the first time since the revolution. Pas Tehran, Persepolis, and Esteghlal were the league's most successful sides, with Pas and Esteghlal winning the Asian Club Championships and Persepolis winning the Asian Cup Winners' Cup. In 2001, the league was dissolved with the introduction of the new Iran Pro League.

Iran Pro League

The 2001–02 season saw the introduction of a professional football league in Iran. The first winner of the Iran Pro League was Persepolis, who beat archrival Esteghlal by one point on the final match day. In the 2002–03 season, Sepahan won the league comfortably with seven points separating them and second placed Pas Tehran. In the 2003–04 season, Pas Tehran won their first title after coming in second place the previous year; defending champion Sepahan finished in the 6th place. The 2004–05 season was a surprising one as Foolad shockingly won the title, finishing on top by six points. In the 2005–06 season, Tehran club Esteghlal won their first league title, winning on the final day as they finished one point ahead of second placed team Pas Tehran.

Persian Gulf Cup

On August 12, 2006, the Iranian Football Federation decided to change the name of the league once again; it was changed to the Persian Gulf Cup. This was done to promote the name of the Persian Gulf, instead of many variations that some nations and organizations use which Iran disputes. The logo of the league was also changed, with the winner being selected from over 130 designs and unveiled on November 14, 2006.

Saipa was the 6th team to win the new edition of the league which meant six different teams won the league title in a row. However, Persepolis regained the title after six years in 2008 by a dramatic win against rivals Sepahan in the 96th minute of the final matchday and became the first team to win two titles in the new edition of the league. The next season, Esteghlal did the same thing and won the league for the second time on the final match day.

Sepahan's domestic dominance started in the 2009–10 season, where they won the league comfortably, a feat which they did again the following season. They also won the 2011–12 edition of the league; they had a more difficult job repeating the glory of the past years, they won it on the final match day for the third time in a row. They are the first club in the history of the Iran Pro League to win the league title 3 consecutive times. Sepahan's dominance ended in the 2012–13 season, when Esteghlal cruised to a comfortable league victory.

Before the start of the 2012–13 season, the IFF, who were recommended by Iran national football team manager Carlos Queiroz, announced that for the 2013–14 season the number of the teams will be reduced from 18 to 16, to increase the competitiveness of the league.

The 2013–14 season witnessed the closest title race since the league's inception. Coming into the last match day, 5 teams had the possibility of becoming champions; in the end, Foolad became champions after beating Gostaresh 1–0; while Persepolis finished second, two points behind Foolad. Although Sepahan beat Naft Tehran 1–0 on the final matchday, Naft Tehran finished third ahead of Sepahan because of better goal difference. With Esteghlal's 1–3 loss to Tractor Sazi, Esteghlal finished 5th and missed out on a Champions League spot for the first time in four years.

In the summer of 2014, the league's name was officially changed to Persian Gulf Pro League, and a new logo was made as well.

All-time Persian Gulf Pro League standings

Since the 2001–02 season, fifteen seasons of Iranian Professional League have been completed. The table below shows the total rankings for football clubs which have competed in 15 seasons.
Teams in bold compete in 2016–17 season.

¹ Sepahan was docked 3 points in 2007–08 season issued by Iranian Football Federation.
² Persepolis was docked 6 points in 2007–08 season issued by FIFA.
³ Zob Ahan was docked 1 point in 2005–06 season issued by Iranian Football Federation.
⁴ Pas Tehran was deducted 1 point in 2006–07 season after the team illegally fielded 4 foreign players in the 20th round of the competition.
⁵ Persepolis, Esteghlal, Malavan, Damash and Tractor Sazi were deducted 1 point each in 2013–14 season due to poor fan behavior in their home matches.

Competition

There are currently 16 clubs in the league, although the competition started in 2001–02 with 14 teams. The season lasts from August to May, with each club playing the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents for a total of 30 games for each club, with a total of 240 games in each season. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw. Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference and then goals scored. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned as champion. At the end of the season, the three worst teams are relegated directly to the Azadegan League.

In the Azadegan League the top three teams are automatically promoted to the top flight.

In 2012, the league considered reducing the amount of teams to 16, for the 2012–13 season. This idea was dismissed for the 2012–13 season, but was implicated for the 2013–14 season.

Qualification for Asian competitions

As of 2008 four teams from Iran qualify for the AFC Asian Champions League annually. This includes the top three teams of the PGPL together with the winner of the Hazfi Cup. If the winner of the Hazfi Cup is also among the three top PGPL teams then the fourth best PGPL team also qualifies.

Sponsorship

The Persian Gulf Pro League has been sponsored since 2005. There have been four sponsors since the league's formation. In 2014, Irannovin Company became the League's sponsor for a record fee.

According to a November 2012 study, in the 2010–11 season Iran Pro League clubs on average obtained 15% of their income from sponsorship.

Media coverage

Channel 3 broadcast two games a week nationally and IRIB 2 broadcast two games a week internationally, however due to the immense popularity of Tehran teams Persepolis F.C. and Esteghlal F.C. only these teams' matches are shown on IRIB 2 internationally. Since the 2012–13 season IRIB Varzesh will televise a second game each week nationally. With the provincial channels broadcasting the rest of their local games. Occasionally on important match days, such as the final day, Channel 2 and Shoma broadcast games nationally.

On 20 July 2011, IRIB and the IFF came to agreement regarding TV rights of both IPL and national team matches worth $96.5 million that will run until 2014.

Transfer season

Foreigner cap

Each team is allowed as many foreign players in their squad as they desire, however there is a rule that only permits three foreign players the pitch at any one time for each side. In the past there have been breaches of this rule and in the 2006–07 season Pas Tehran were docked one point for fielding four foreigners on one occasion and handed a 3–0 loss. Shortly after the 2011–12 Iran Pro League season finished, the IFF announced that foreign goalkeepers on Iranian teams would be banned from Azadegan League, Iran Pro League, Hazfi Cup, and Asian Champions League. A few weeks later, the IFF announced that the ban of foreign goalkeepers had been lifted, and that each team is allowed 4 foreign on the field including the goalkeeper.

Ranking

As of 2014 it was ranked as the 61st strongest league in the world by the IFFHS, behind the K-League, Saudi Professional League, J.League and the Qatar Stars League. It was also ranked the third best league in Asia and the second best in Western Asia by the Asian Football Confederation in the 2015 AFC Champions League Ranking.

All-time League top scorers

last update: 24 August 2015

Players in bold are still active in the league.

Winning managers

last update: May 13, 2016

Multiple winning managers

last update: May 13, 2016

Multiple winning players

last update: May 13, 2016