Rah Ahan Sports Club ( fa, باشگاه ورزشی راه‌آهن, ''Bashgah-e Vârzeshi-ye Rahâhen''), commonly known as Rah Ahan Football Club, is an Iranian professional football club based in

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

. They currently play in the Azadegan League. Rah Ahan is the oldest Iranian football club.

History

Establishment

Rah Ahan was formed in 1937 in

Iran Railways , majoroperators =RAI, Tooka rail, Samand rail , ridership =21 million , passkm =13 billion , freight =31 million tonnes , tonkm =22 billion tonnes , infrastructure = , length = , doublelength = 142 ...

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 the businessman Mehrafarin Holding.

1950s

During the

World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

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 Tabriz ( fa, تبریز ; ) is a city in northwestern Iran, serving as the capital of East Azerbaijan Province. It is the List of largest cities of Iran, sixth-most-populous city in Iran. In the Quri Chay, Quru River valley in Iran's historic Aze ...

, 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 The Takht Jamshid Cup ( fa, جام تخت جمشید, Jâm-e Taxt-e Jamšid) was a national football league based in Iran which lasted from 1973 to 1978. History Before 1970 Before 1970s, the tournament was called the Iranian Championship 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

. In 1978 they were again relegated to the 2nd Division, but they could not finish the 2nd Division season because of the

Iranian Revolution The Iranian Revolution ( fa, انقلاب ایران, Enqelâb-e Irân, ), also known as the Islamic Revolution ( fa, انقلاب اسلامی, Enqelâb-e Eslâmī), was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dyna ...

Iran Pro League

After the establishment of the

Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

in 2001, Rah Ahan was placed in the second tier Azadegan League. In 2005 Rah Ahan was promoted to the

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 Ali Daei ( fa, ; born 21 March 1969) is an Iranian football manager and former player. A striker, he was the captain of the Iranian national team between 2000 and 2006 and played in the German Bundesliga for Arminia Bielefeld, Bayern Munich ...

, the team got out to an early start, and were 4th in the

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 Galatasaray S.K. U21, commonly known as Galatasaray S.K. B is a football club based in Istanbul, Turkey. It is the reserve team of Galatasaray and the club play in the U21 Ligi. History They have been members of the Turkish Youth league forme ...

4–1, and losing to Super Lig side Istanbul BB 3–2. At the end of the 2012–13 season

left Rah Ahan to sign with

Persepolis , native_name_lang = , alternate_name = , image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg , image_size = , alt = , caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis. , map = , map_type ...

Trouble years

Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Mansour Ebrahimzadeh ( fa, منصور ابراهیم‌زاده; born 29 May 1956 in Isfahan) is an Iranian retired football player and former manager of Sepahan. Early life He was born on 29 May 1956 in Isfahan, Iran. He graduated from Isfah ...

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 Hamid Reza Estili ( fa, حميد استيلی; born 1 April 1967) is an Iranian football coach and former player. Estili was a member of the Iran national team and is mostly remembered for his memorable goal and goal celebration against the Uni ...

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 Farhad Kazemi ( fa, فرهاد کاظمی; born 1 July 1959 in Tehran) is an Iranian football coach With many professional clubs in his résumé, Kazemi has established himself as one of the top coaches in a country which has many enthusiastic f ...

. In the 2015–16 season, Rah Ahan ran into financial troubles, finished 15th in the

Persian Gulf Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

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

Reserves

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

First-team squad

''As of 19 January 2016''2013–14 squad

^U23 (died)

Loan list

''For recent transfers, see '' List of Iranian football transfers winter 2015–16''.

Former players

''For details on former players, see :Rah Ahan players.''

Managers

IPL managers

Last updated 23 October 2017.

Coaching staff

References

External links

{{Football in Iran Football clubs in Tehran Association football clubs established in 1937 1937 establishments in Iran