2016–17 Persian Gulf Pro League

Persian Gulf Pro League
Season	2016–17
Champions	Persepolis; 3rd Pro League title; 10th Iranian title
Relegated	Saba Qom ; Machine Sazi
Champions League	Persepolis ; Esteghlal ; Tractor Sazi ; Zob Ahan
Matches played	240
Goals scored	504 (2.1 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mehdi Taremi; (18 goals)
Best goalkeeper	Alireza Beiranvand (17 clean sheets)
Biggest home win	Persepolis 4–0 Padideh; (19 April 2017)
Biggest away win	Foolad 0–3 Persepolis; (18 January 2017) ; Sanat Naft 0–3 Esteghlal; (22 January 2017)
Highest scoring	Paykan 4–3 Esteghlal Khuzestan; (15 February 2017)
Longest winning run	6 matches ; Persepolis
Longest unbeaten run	13 matches ; Persepolis ; Tractor Sazi
Longest winless run	19 matches ; Machine Sazi
Longest losing run	9 matches ; Machine Sazi
Highest attendance	80,000 ; Persepolis – Padideh ; (19 April 2017)
Lowest attendance	0 (spectator ban) ; Esteghlal – Naft Tehran ; (25 July 2016) ; Est. Khuzestan – Siah Jamegan ; (24 November 2016) ; Est. Khuzestan – Foolad ; (9 December 2016) ; Tractor Sazi – Sanat Naft ; (17 January 2017) ; Esteghlal – Est. Khuzestan ; (17 January 2017) ; Sanat Naft – Naft Tehran ; (3 February 2017) ; Sanat Naft – Paykan ; (3 March 2017)
Total attendance	1,884,144
Average attendance	8,086
	← 2015–16 2017–18 →

The 2016–17 Persian Gulf Pro League (formerly known as Iran Pro League) was the 34th season of Iran's Football League and 16th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Esteghlal Khuzestan were the defending champions. The season featured 13 teams from the 2015–16 Persian Gulf Pro League and three new teams promoted from the 2015–16 Azadegan League: Paykan as champions, Machine Sazi and Sanat Naft. The league started on 25 July 2016 and ended on 4 May 2017. Persepolis won the Pro League title for the third time in their history (total 10th Iranian title).

Teams

Stadia and locations

Saba Qom

Sepahan
Zob Ahan

Foolad
Est. Khuzestan

Sanat Naft

Tractor Sazi
Machine Sazi
Gostaresh

Siah Jamegan
Padideh

Esteghlal
Persepolis
Naft Tehran
Paykan
Saipa

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Locations of clubs in 2016–17 Persian Gulf Pro League

Note: Table lists in alphabetical order

Team	City	Venue	Capacity
Esteghlal	Tehran	Azadi	78,116
Esteghlal Khuzestan	Ahvaz	Ghadir	38,900
Foolad	Ahvaz	Ghadir	38,900
Gostaresh	Tabriz	Bonyan Diesel	12,000
Machine Sazi	Tabriz	Yadegar-e Emam	66,833
Naft Tehran	Tehran	Takhti Tehran	30,122
Padideh	Mashhad	Samen	35,000
Paykan	Tehran	Shahr-e Qods	25,000
Persepolis	Tehran	Azadi	78,116
Saba Qom	Qom	Yadegar-e Emam	10,610
Saipa	Tehran	Shahid Dastgerdi	8,250
Sanat Naft	Abadan	Takhti Abadan	8,000
Sepahan	Isfahan	Naghsh-e-Jahan	75,000
Siah Jamegan	Mashhad	Samen	35,000
Tractor Sazi	Tabriz	Yadegar-e Emam	66,833
Zob Ahan	Isfahan	Foolad Shahr	15,000

Number of teams by region

	Region	Number of teams	Teams
1	Tehran	5	Esteghlal, Persepolis, Naft Tehran, Paykan, Saipa
2	East Azerbaijan	3	Tractor Sazi, Machine Sazi, Gostaresh
2	Khuzestan	3	Esteghlal Khuzestan, Foolad, Sanat Naft
4	Khorasan	2	Mashhad, Padideh
4	Isfahan	2	Sepahan, Zob Ahan
6	Qom	1	Saba Qom

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	Captain	Kit manufacturer
Esteghlal	Alireza Mansourian	Mehdi Rahmati	Li-Ning
Est. Khuzestan	Sirous Pourmousavi	Mohammad Tayyebi	Joma
Foolad	Naeim Saadavi	Mehrdad Jamaati	Uhlsport
Gostaresh	Faraz Kamalvand	Morteza Asadi	Merooj
Machine Sazi	Farhad Kazemi	Andranik Teymourian	Merooj
Naft Tehran	Ali Daei	Alireza Ezzati	Legea
Padideh	Mohammad Reza Mohajeri	Reza Nasehi	Yousef Jame
Paykan	Majid Jalali	Rahman Ahmadi	Yousef Jame
Persepolis	Branko Ivanković	Jalal Hosseini	Joma
Saba Qom	Samad Marfavi	Reza Enayati	Merooj
Sanat Naft	Firouz Karimi	Hassan Houri	Merooj
Saipa	Hossein Faraki	Ebrahim Sadeghi	Givova
Sepahan	Zlatko Kranjčar	Ehsan Hajsafi	Uhlsport
Siah Jamegan	Akbar Misaghian	Meysam Hosseini	Merooj
Tractor Sazi	Amir Ghalenoei	Mehdi Kiani	Fitcom
Zob Ahan	Mojtaba Hosseini	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	Joma

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing head coach	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming head coach	Date of appointment
Naft Tehran	Alireza Mansourian	Contract expired	15 May 2016	Pre-season	Ali Daei	5 July 2016
Foolad	Dragan Skočić	Contract expired	16 May 2016		Naeim Saadavi	25 May 2016
Esteghlal Khuzestan	Abdollah Veisi	Mutual contest	23 May 2016		Sirous Pourmousavi	25 May 2016
Esteghlal	Parviz Mazloumi	Sacked	1 June 2016		Alireza Mansourian	1 June 2016
Saba Qom	Ali Daei	Signed by Naft Tehran	3 July 2016		Samad Marfavi	3 July 2016
Zob Ahan	Yahya Golmohammadi	Resigned	24 September 2016	14th	Mojtaba Hosseini	24 September 2016
Siah Jamegan	Farhad Kazemi		27 October 2016	13th	Khodadad Azizi	28 October 2016
Machine Sazi	Rasoul Khatibi		8 December 2016	16th	Farhad Kazemi	11 December 2016
Sanat Naft	Nader Dastneshan	Sacked	5 January 2017	11th	Firouz Karimi	5 January 2017
Siah Jamegan	Khodadad Azizi	Resigned	25 February 2017	15th	Akbar Misaghian	25 February 2017
Sepahan	Abdollah Veisi	Sacked	16 March 2017	7th	Zlatko Kranjčar	17 March 2017

Foreign players

The number of foreign players is restricted to four per Persian Gulf Pro League team, including a slot for a player from AFC countries. A team can use four foreign players on the field in each game, including at least one player from the AFC country.

Club	Player 1	Player 2	Player 3	Asian Player
Esteghlal	Hrayr Mkoyan	Róbson Januário	Leandro Padovani
Esteghlal Khuzestan	Aloys Nong
Foolad	Mathias Chago	Ernest Nfor
Gostaresh	Fernando	Magno Batista	Chimba
Machine Sazi	Edson	Kakhaber Kakashvili		Aziz Ibragimov
Naft Tehran	Igor Prahić
Padideh	Varazdat Haroyan	Drissa Diarrassouba	David Wirikom
Paykan	Levon Hayrapetyan	Godwin Mensha	Jérémy Manzorro	Faysal Shayesteh
Persepolis	Božidar Radošević	Volodymyr Pryyomov	Oleksiy Polyanskyi	Antony Golec
Saba Qom
Saipa	Júnior Lopes	Alessandro	Bogdan Milić
Sanat Naft	Bruno Matos	Rasheed Alabi		Kim Gwi-hyeon
Sepahan	Lee Oliveira	Moussa Coulibaly		Server Djeparov
Siah Jamegan	Andrey	Moussa Traoré	Goran Jerković
Tractor Sazi	Edinho			Karrar Jassim
Zob Ahan Esfahan F.C.	Jerry Bengtson	Rabih Ataya		Ali Hamam

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Persepolis	841,000	80,000	9,500	48,567	+3.3%^†
2	Esteghlal	360,000	77,000	0	27,692	−8.3%^†
3	Tractor Sazi	150,700	45,000	0	10,764	+21.3%^†
4	Sepahan	127,350	38,000	700	8,490	+182.1%^†
5	Sanat Naft	72,400	10,000	0	5,569	+53.5%^†
6	Foolad	81,430	31,000	300	5,429	+33.7%^†
7	Siah Jamegan	350	100	150	4,157	−2.7%^†
8	Est. Khuzestan	47,120	30,000	0	3,625	−28.9%^†
9	Padideh	787	000	150	3,386	−13.0%^†
10	Saipa	36,501	16,500	100	2,433	−59.6%^†
11	Paykan	33,727	8,750	100	2,248	+505.9%^†
12	Zob Ahan	32,550	12,500	250	2,170	+3.8%^†
13	Saba Qom	32,800	13,000	120	2,187	−5.9%^†
14	Naft Tehran	31,222	17,000	50	2,081	+30.6%^†
15	Machine Sazi	20,935	9,500	30	1,396	−60.1%^†
16	Gostaresh	15,272	4,810	25	1,018	−56.5%^†
	League total	1,884,144	80,000	0	8,086	+0.5%^†

Team/Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	Average
Esteghlal	NC	A	55,000	A	15,000	A	35,000	A	25,000	A	10,000	A	55,000	6,000	A	A	NC	A	7,000	A	77,000	A	10,500	A	25,000	A	15,000	A	A	25,000	27,692
Esteghlal Khuzestan	A	10,000	A	500	A	A	300	A	30,000	A	NC	A	NC	A	300	1,300	A	1,500	A	500	1,000	A	300	A	1,000	A	300	A	120	A	3,625
Foolad	2,000	A	2,000	A	300	300	A	980	A	25,000	A	4,000	A	5,800	A	A	31,000	A	1,300	A	A	1,100	A	3,500	A	3,000	A	800	A	350	5,429
Gostaresh	1,200	A	4,050	A	526	A	300	110	A	3,500	A	150	A	50	A	A	200	A	120	A	100	A	A	100	A	4,810	A	31	A	25	1,018
Machine Sazi	A	2,050	A	5,000	A	700	A	315	A	300	A	A	250	A	260	1,300	A	200	A	450	A	100	A	330	A	150	9,500	A	30	A	1,396
Naft Tehran	A	322	200	A	1,000	A	400	A	300	A	50	A	200	A	3,700	7,000	A	A	200	A	150	A	17,000	A	300	A	250	A	150	A	2,081
Padideh	A	3,100	A	A	800	A	600	A	1,000	A	150	A	19,000	A	617	850	A	270	500	A	250	A	1,200	A	1,200	A	6,250	A	14,000	A	3,386
Paykan	A	100	A	8,360	A	500	A	3,000	A	A	8,750	A	700	A	1,232	750	A	4,200	A	873	A	975	A	1,000	1,500	A	850	A	937	A	2,248
Persepolis	A	50,000	A	50,000	A	75,000	A	16,000	A	65,000	A	25,000	A	A	43,000	50,000	A	30,000	A	78,000	A	67,000	A	45,000	A	45,000	A	80,000	9,500	A	48,567
Saba Qom	400	A	300	A	200	A	150	A	200	120	A	7,000	A	250	A	A	180	A	13,000	A	1,000	A	1,000	A	A	7,000	A	1,500	A	1,500	2,187
Saipa	16,500	A	A	220	A	400	A	2,300	A	455	A	1,000	A	173	A	A	473	100	A	1,000	A	400	A	12,000	A	300	A	680	A	500	2,433
Sanat Naft	A	4,000	A	8,000	A	8,000	A	A	5,000	A	5,500	A	4,500	A	4,000	2,050	A	10,000	A	NC	A	1,800	NC	A	6,550	A	9,000	A	4,000	A	5,569
Sepahan	2,250	A	3,500	A	1,200	A	11,900	A	700	A	3,000	A	4,000	A	38,000	A	12,000	A	5,000	A	3,500	A	7,000	A	10,000	A	10,000	A	15,300	A	8,490
Siah Jamegan	1,600	A	1,450	2,500	A	1,000	A	15,700	A	1,200	A	630	A	620	A	A	1,000	A	A	150	A	4,000	A	4,000	A	1,500	A	3,000	A	24,000	4,157
Tractor Sazi	5,000	A	7,200	A	7,000	A	6,900	A	5,000	A	4,500	7,000	A	6,000	A	A	NC	A	13,000	A	6,050	A	25,000	A	4,050	A	A	45,000	A	9,000	10,764
Zob Ahan	A	600	A	500	A	1,500	A	3,000	A	700	A	300	A	12,500	A	700	A	700	A	250	A	10,000	A	400	A	750	A	300	A	350	2,170
Total	28,950	70,672	73,700	75,080	26,026	87,400	55,550	41,405	67,200	96,275	31,950	45,080	83,650	31,393	91,109	63,950	44,853	46,970	40,120	81,223	89,050	85,375	62,000	66,330	49,600	62,510	51,150	131,311	44,037	60,725	1,884,144
Average	4,136	8,834	9,213	9,385	3,253	10,925	6,944	5,176	8,400	12,034	4,564	5,635	11,950	3,924	11,389	7,994	7,476	5,871	5,015	11,603	11,131	10,672	8,857	8,291	6,200	7,814	6,394	16,414	5,505	7,591	8,086

Teams

Stadia and locations

Number of teams by region

Personnel and kits

Managerial changes

Foreign players

League table

Results

Positions by round

Clubs season-progress

Season statistics

Top Goalscorers

Top Assistants

Clean Sheets

Hat-tricks

Scoring

Attendances

Average home attendances

Attendances by round

Highest attendances

See also

References