Rah Ahan FC
Full nameRah Ahan Sports Club
Founded2 January 1927 (1927-01-02)
GroundShahid Derakhshan Stadium
Capacity12,000
LeagueTehran Province league

Rah Ahan Sports Club (Persian: باشگاه ورزشی راه‌آهن, Bashgah-e Vârzeshi-ye Rahâhen), commonly known as Rah Ahan Football Club, is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran. They currently play in the Azadegan League. Rah Ahan is one of the oldest Iranian football clubs.

History

Establishment

Rah Ahan was formed in 1927 in Tehran by Iran Railways 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 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, 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, 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 Takht Jamshid Cup. In 1978 they were again relegated to the 2nd Division, but they could not finish the 2nd Division season because of the Iranian Revolution.

Iran Pro League

After the establishment of the Iran Pro League in 2001, Rah Ahan was placed in the second tier Azadegan League. In 2005 Rah Ahan was promoted to the Iran Pro League 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, the team got out to an early start, and were 4th in the Iran Pro League 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 4–1, and losing to Super Lig side Istanbul BB 3–2. At the end of the 2012–13 season Ali Daei left Rah Ahan to sign with Persepolis.

Trouble years

Mansour Ebrahimzadeh 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 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.

In the 2015–16 season, Rah Ahan ran into financial troubles, finished 15th in the Persian Gulf Pro League 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

Season Div. League Position Hazfi Cup Notes
2001–02 2 Azadegan League 8th
2002–03 2 Azadegan League 11th
2003–04 2 Azadegan League 11th
2004–05 2 Azadegan League 2nd Promoted
2005–06 1 Iran Pro League 13th
2006–07 1 Iran Pro League 16th 1/16 Final
2007–08 1 Iran Pro League 12th Quarterfinal
2008–09 1 Iran Pro League 11th Final
2009–10 1 Iran Pro League 14th 1/16 Final
2010–11 1 Iran Pro League 15th 1/16 Final
2011–12 1 Iran Pro League 11th 1/16 Final
2012–13 1 Iran Pro League 8th 1/8 Final
2013–14 1 Iran Pro League 11th 1/4 Final
2014–15 1 Iran Pro League 12th 1/8 Final
2015–16 1 Iran Pro League 15th 1/16 Final Relegated
2016–17 2 Azadegan League 15th 1/32 Final
2017–18 2 Azadegan League 18th 1/32 Final Relegated
2018–19 3 2nd Division Did not participate Did not participate Relegated

Reserves

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

Season League Position Hazfi Cup
2010–11 3rd Division 9th/Group 2 Did not qualify
2011–12 Tehran Provincial League 7th/Group 1 Did not qualify
2012–13 Tehran Provincial League 7th/Group 1 Did not qualify
2013–14 Tehran Provincial League 1st/Group 1 Did not qualify

Managers

IPL managers

As of 23 October 2017
Name Nat From To
Firouz Karimi Iran June 2004 February 2006
Abbas Razavi Iran February 2006 November 2006
Akbar Misaghian Iran December 2006 February 2008
Davoud Mahabadi Iran February 2008 October 2008
Mahmoud Yavari Iran October 2008 April 2009
Mehdi Tartar Iran April 2009 June 2009
Ernie Brandts Netherlands July 2009 December 2009
Mehdi Tartar Iran December 2009 June 2010
Rasoul Korbekandi Iran June 2010 September 2010
Mehdi Tartar Iran September 2010 July 2011
Ali Daei Iran July 2011 May 2013
Mansour Ebrahimzadeh Iran July 2013 June 2014
Hamid Estili Iran June 2014 February 2015
Ali Latifi (Interim) Iran February 2015 February 2015
Farhad Kazemi Iran February 2015 September 2015
Mehdi Tartar Iran September 2015 February 2016
Ioannis Topalidis Greece February 2016 May 2016
Mehdi Pashazadeh Iran July 2016 January 2017
Sirous Dinmohammadi Iran January 2017 October 2017
Mohsen Bayatinia Iran October 2017 present

Coaching staff

Position Name
Head Coach Iran Mohsen Bayatinia
Goalkeeping Coach Germany Niko Sternberg
Athletic Coach Germany Dominic Palmer

References

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