The 2012–13 Persian Gulf Cup (also known as Iran Pro League) was the 30th season of Iran's Football League and 12th as Iran Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Sepahan were the defending champions. The season featured 15 teams from the 2011–12 Persian Gulf Cup and three new teams promoted from the 2011–12 Azadegan League: Paykan as champions, Aluminium Hormozgan and Gahar Zagros. The league started on 19 July 2012 and ended on 10 May 2013. Esteghlal won the Pro League title for the third time in their history (total eighth Iranian title).
Events
Competition format After the 2012–13 Iran Pro League season, it was planned that the number of teams would be reduced from 18 to 16 for the next season, so 4 team was directly relegated to the Azadegan League, while one team was played against the 3rd ranked team from the second division league team in a play-off. 2 teams also are directly promoted from current Azadegan league to the next pro league season and one team played against the 14th placed pro league team in a play-off.
Rules and regulations The Iranian Football Clubs who participate in 2012–13 Iran Pro League are allowed to have up to maximum 35 players (including up to maximum 4 non-Iranian players) in their player lists, which will be categorized in the following groups: Up to maximum 21 adult (over 23-year-old) players Up to maximum 6 under-23 players (i.e. the player whose birth is after 19 July 1989). Up to maximum 5 under-21 players (i.e. the player whose birth is after 19 July 1991). Up to maximum 3 under-19 players (i.e. the player whose birth is after 19 July 1993).
Based on the fact that the Season is started from 19 July 2012.
Teams
Stadia and locations
TeamCityVenueCapacityAluminium Bandar Abbas Khalij Fars 15,459 Damash Gilan Rasht Dr. Azodi 11,000 Esteghlal Tehran Azadi 84,412 Fajr Sepasi Shiraz HafeziehDastgheib 14,5607,000 Foolad Ahvaz Ghadir 50,199 Gahar Zagros Dorood Takhti Doorood 10,052 Malavan Anzali Takhti Anzali 8,000 Mes Kerman Kerman Shahid Bahonar 15,430 Naft Tehran Tehran Dastgerdi 8,250 Paykan Tehran Peykanshahr30,000 Persepolis Tehran Azadi 84,412 Rah Ahan Tehran Rah Ahan 12,922 Saba Qom Qom Yadegar Emam 10,610 Saipa Karaj Enghelab Karaj 30,000 Sanat Naft Abadan Takhti Abadan25,256 Sepahan Esfahan Foolad Shahr31,439 Tractor Sazi Tabriz Yadegar-e-Emam 66,833 Zob Ahan Esfahan Foolad Shahr31,439
Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager CaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsorPast SeasonAluminium Parviz Mazloomi Mahmood TighnavardUhlsport ParmisPromotedDamash Afshin Nazemi (caretaker) Reza MahdaviUhlsportSadra Holding7thEsteghlal Amir Ghalenoei Farhad MajidiUhlsportRefah BankChampionFajr Sepasi Mahmoud Yavari Hossein KazemiMajidHICE13thFoolad Hossein Faraki Bakhtiar RahmaniUhlsportFoolad Khuzestan14thGahar Zagros Mohammad Mayeli Kohan Majid BajelanUhlsportMahab PromotedMalavan Mohammad Ahmadzadeh Pejman NouriUhlsportSteel Azin Iranian12thMes Kerman Luka Bonačić Farzad HosseinkhaniUhlsportResalat Bank9thNaft Tehran Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Hadi ShakouriUhlsportNIOC5thPaykan Firouz Karimi Reza TahmasebiUhlsportIKCO RunnaPromotedPersepolis Yahya Golmohammadi Mehdi MahdavikiaUhlsportKavosh15thRah Ahan Ali Daei Hossein PashaeiDaeiFars Air Qeshm11thSaba Qom Samad Marfavi Morteza KashiMajidLojix4thSaipa Mojtaba Taghavi Ebrahim SadeghiUhlsportSAIPA8thSanat Naft Acácio Casimiro Hossein KaebiadidasJondi Shapour Co.10thSepahan Zlatko Kranjčar Moharram NavidkiaLottoFoolad Mobarakeh3rdTractor Sazi Hassan Azarnia (interim) Morteza AssadiUhlsportJavanan Khayyer2ndZob Ahan Farhad Kazemi Mohammad SalsaliUhlsportEsfahan Steel6th
Notes Esteghlal's captain was Mehdi Rahmati before Farhad Majidi rejoins to the team. Reza Haghighi was the captain of Fajr Sepasi until his transfer to the Persepolis. From 19 January 2013 to 18 March 2013, Ali Firouzi and from 18 March 2013, Saeed Salamaat were the caretaker head coaches of Sanat Naft due to Casimiro's illness.
Managerial changes
Before the start of the season TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Paykan Farhad Kazemi Contract expired Pre-season Abdollah Veisi Damash Mehdi Tartar End of caretaker spell Omid Harandi Foolad Majid JalaliContract expired Hossein Faraki Zob Ahan Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Rasoul Korbekandi Saba Abdollah Veisi Yahya Golmohammadi Naft Tehran Hossein Faraki Signed by Foolad Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Esteghlal Parviz Mazloomi Sacked Amir Ghalenoei Tractor Sazi Amir Ghalenoei Signed by Esteghlal Toni Gahar Zagros Davoud Mahabadi Resigned Mehdi Tartar Persepolis Mustafa Denizli Mutual agreement Manuel José de Jesus
In season TeamOutgoing head coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming head coachDate of appointment Gahar Zagros Mehdi Tartar Resigned 17th Mohammad Mayeli Kohan Damash Omid Harandi Sacked 11th Hamid Derakhshan Saba Yahya Golmohammadi Resigned 7th Samad Marfavi Sanat Naft José Alberto Costa Sacked 17th Acácio Casimiro Malavan Farhad Pourgholami Resigned 9th Mohammad Ahmadzadeh Zob Ahan Rasoul KorbekandiSacked 15th Farhad Kazemi Persepolis Manuel José de Jesus 12th Yahya Golmohammadi Mes Kerman Ebrahim Ghasempour 8th Luka Bonačić Paykan Abdollah Veisi 16th Firouz Karimi Aluminium Akbar Misaghian 14th Parviz Mazloomi Damash Hamid Derakhshan 13th Afshin Nazemi Tractor Sazi Toni 2nd Majid Jalali
Foreign players Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Asian Player Former Players Aluminium Riad Demic Luiz Fernando Éamon Zayed Mohamed Istanbali Cris Henrique Damash Gilan Arilson Boubacar Kébé Ibrahim Maaroufi Esteghlal Vicente Arze Jlloyd Samuel Januário Rodrigo Tosi Liam Reddy Fajr Sepasi Sendley Bito Diego Máximo Mahmoud Amnah Foolad Chimba Juninho Leandro Padovani Claudiu Mircea Ionescu Gahar Zagros Hamlet Mkhitaryan Saša Kolunija Grigor Meliksetyan Malavan Serghei Pașcenco Mes Kerman Milan Mijatović Ivan Petrović Stevan Bates Naft Tehran Magno Mario Ramos Goran Ljubojević Paykan Diego Máximo Fábio Carvalho Josieley Ferreira Persepolis Nilson Vlatko Grozdanoski Marko Perović Roberto Sousa Éamon Zayed Kwon Jun Rah Ahan Igor Castro Saba Qom David Wirikom Saipa Júnior Márcio Alemão Sanat Naft Valeri Aleksanyan Fousseyni Sidibé Hugo Machado Diogo Melo Marko Šimić Sepahan Ervin Bulku Xhevahir Sukaj Milan Susak Radomir Đalović Tractor Sazi Agil Etemadi Flávio Paixão João Vilela Zob Ahan Gevorg Kasparov Ismaël Béko Fofana Darko Božović Aco Stojkov Hugo Machado
League table
Results
Positions by round
Clubs season-progress
Relegation play-offs Zob Ahan as 14th-placed team faced play-off winner of 2012–13 Azadegan League, Pas Hamedan in a two-legged play-off.
Zob Ahan won 5–3 on aggregate and retained its Iran Pro League spot for the 2013–14 season.
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
PositionPlayerClubGoals1 Jalal Rafkhaei Malavan192 Mehdi Seyed Salehi Tractor Sazi163 Mohammad Reza Khalatbari Sepahan14 Mostafa Shojaei Mes Kerman5 Chimba Foolad126 Saeid Daghighi Saipa11 Reza Enayati Mes Kerman Xhevahir Sukaj Sepahan9 Arash Borhani Esteghlal10 Yaghoub Karimi Naft Tehran Flávio Paixão Tractor Sazi12 Farzad Hatami Esteghlal913 Karim Ansarifard Persepolis8 Omid Ebrahimi Sepahan Alireza Jahanbakhsh DamashTotal goals (Including technical loses) 686Total games 306Average per game Last updated: 10 May 2013 Source: IPL Stats
Clean sheets
PositionPlayerClubClean sheetsGoals conceded1 Mehdi Rahmati Esteghlal21182 Rahman Ahmadi Saipa15293 Nilson Corrêa Júnior Persepolis14214 Arman Shahdadnejad Mes Kerman13165 Sosha Makani Naft Tehran11156 Gevorg Kasparov Zob Ahan812 Hamed Lak Saba Qom238 Fábio Carvalho Paykan754 Shahab Gordan Sepahan23 Milan Mijatovic Mes Kerman5 Vahid Sheikhveisi Fajr Sepasi24 Ershad Yousefi Foolad2213 Habib Dehghani Sanat Naft634 Hamed Fallahzadeh Naft Tehran12 Luiz Fernando Aluminium20 Mojtaba Roshangar Aluminium18 Shahram Mehraban Gahar43 Mehdi Sabeti Tractor Sazi1419 Farshid Karimi Rah Ahan524 Milad Farahani Damash Gilan25 Mohammad Mohammadi Rah Ahan9 Hassan Roudbarian Damash Gilan2223 Ali Hassani Sefat Malavan411 Last Update: 10 May 2013
Scoring
First goal of the season: Mehdi Nazari for Fajr against Zob Ahan (19 July 2012) Fastest goal of the season: 12 seconds, Gholamreza Rezaei for Persepolis against Fajr Sepasi (30 December 2012) Latest goal of the season: 96 minutes and 12 seconds, Karim Ansarifard for Persepolis against Zob Ahan (19 November 2012) Largest winning margin: 6 goals Persepolis 6–0 Paykan (31 October 2012) Fajr 6–0 Aluminium (1 March 2013) Zob Ahan 6–0 Sanat Naft (5 May 2013) Highest scoring game: 8 goals Damash 5–3 Paykan (31 July 2012) Sanat Naft 2–6 Naft Tehran (6 August 2012) Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 6 goals Sanat Naft 2–6 Naft Tehran (18 August 2012) Fajr 6–1 Damash (15 September 2012) Persepolis 6–0 Paykan (31 October 2012) Fajr 6–0 Aluminium (1 March 2013) Most goals scored in a match by a losing team: 3 goals Damash 5–3 Paykan (31 July 2012) Naft Tehran 3–4 Sepahan (30 October 2012) Sepahan 4–3 Zob Ahan (13 January 2013)
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Malavan Saba Qom 3–1 Naft Tehran Sanat Naft 6–2 Fajr Sepasi Damash Gilan 6–1 Persepolis Paykan 6–0 Saba Qom Sanat Naft 3–2 Mes Gahar 5–1
Awards
Team of the Season
Goalkeeper: Mehdi Rahmati (Esteghlal) Defence: Mehrdad Jama'ati (Foolad), Pejman Montazeri (Esteghlal), Amir Hossein Sadeghi (Esteghlal), Khosro Heydari (Esteghlal) Midfield: Reza Haghighi (Perspolis), Bakhtiar Rahmani (Foolad), Moharram Navidkia (Sepahan), Yaghoub Karimi (Naft.t) Attack: Jalal Rafkhaei (Malavan), Mohammad Reza Khalatbari (Sepahan)
Player of the Season
Moharram Navidkia was awarded as the best player of the season among Mehdi Rahmati and Pejman Montazeri became second and third. Saeid Ezzatollahi was also awarded as the best young player of the season and Alireza Jahanbakhsh was ranked second.
Other awards
Amir Ghalenoei was awarded as the best coach of the season, Zlatko Kranjčar becomes second and Hossein Faraki third. Saeid Mozafarizadeh awarded best referee, Fair Play Award was given to the Fajr Sepasi and Esteghlal was the team of the season. Mehdi Mahdavikia, Ali Parvin, Homayoun Behzadi and Ali Jabari were also awarded for their service to the Iranian football.
Attendances
Average home attendances
Highest attendances Rank Home team Score Away team Attendance Date Week Stadium1 Esteghlal 0–0Persepolis 100,000 23 AzadiEsteghlal 1–2Damash 100,000 34 Azadi3 Persepolis 0–0Esteghlal 90,000 6 Azadi4 Esteghlal 1–0Tractor Sazi 75,000 29 Azadi5 Gahar Zagros 1–1Persepolis 65,000 3 AzadiPersepolis 0–2Saba Qom 65,000 4 Azadi7 Esteghlal 1–1Sepahan 60,000 30 Azadi8 Esteghlal 1–0Aluminium Hormozgan 50,000 1 AzadiTractor Sazi 2–0Esteghlal 50,000 12 Sahand10 Saipa 2–1Esteghlal 40,000 2 Azadi Notes:Updated to games played on 10 May 2013. Source: Iranleague.ir
See also 2012–13 Hazfi Cup 2012–13 Azadegan League 2012–13 Iran Football's 2nd Division 2012–13 Iran Football's 3rd Division 2012–13 Iranian Futsal Super League
Team season articles 2012–13 Persepolis F.C. season 2012–13 Sepahan F.C. season 2012–13 Esteghlal F.C. season 2012–13 Saba Qom F.C. season 2012–13 S.C. Damash season 2012–13 Fajr Sepasi F.C. season
References
https://web.archive.org/web/20150621212129/http://www.guilaneno.com/%D8%B5%D9%81%D8%AD%D9%87%20%D9%86%D8%AE%D8%B3%D8%AA
External links Iran Premier League 2014-2015 2012–13 Persian Gulf Cup at PersianLeague 2012–13 Persian Gulf Cup at Soccerway