2006–07 Persian Gulf Cup

The 2006–07 Persian Gulf Cup (also known as Iran Pro League) was the 24th season of Iran's Football League and sixth as Iran Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Esteghlal were the defending champions. The season featured 14 teams from the 2005–06 Iran Pro League and two new teams promoted from the 2005–06 Azadegan League: Mes Kerman as champions and Paykan as runner-up. The league started on 9 September 2006 and ended on 28 May 2007. Saipa won the Pro League title for the first time in their history (total third Iranian title).

Persian Gulf Cup

Season	2006–07
Champions	Saipa 1st Pro League title 3rd Iranian title
Relegated	Foolad Rah Ahan
Champions League	Saipa Sepahan (Hazfi Cup champions)
Matches played	240
Goals scored	561 (2.34 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mehdi Rajabzadeh Daniel Olerum (17 goals)
Biggest home win	Persepolis 4–0 Est. Ahvaz (28 September 2006) Sepahan 4–0 Est. Ahvaz (4 May 2007)
Biggest away win	Paykan 0–4 Sepahan (29 March 2007)
Highest scoring	Zob Ahan 4–3 Rah Ahan (8 January 2007)
Longest winning run	5 matches Persepolis
Longest unbeaten run	10 matches Persepolis
Longest winless run	15 matches Rah Ahan
Longest losing run	3 matches Bargh Shiraz
Highest attendance	95,000 Persepolis – Esteghlal (3 November 2006) Esteghlal – Persepolis (30 March 2007)
Lowest attendance	0 (spectator ban) Esteghlal – PAS Tehran (5 January 2007) Persepolis – Aboumoslem (25 January 2007) Malavan – Foolad (6 April 2007)
Total attendance	2,378,000
Average attendance	10,119
← 2005–06 2007–08 →

Teams

Pas

Paykan

Persepolis

Rah Ahan

Saipa

Malavan

Saba Battery

Sepahan

Aboomoslem

Esteghlal

Fajr Sepasi

Mes Kerman

Bargh Shiraz

Esteghlal Ahvaz

Foolad

Zob Ahan

Participating in international competitions

2007 AFC Champions League

• Esteghlal
• Sepahan

Final classification

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Saipa (C)	30	15	11	4	45	31	+14	56	AFC Champions League 2008 Group stage
2	Est. Ahvaz	30	16	6	8	33	28	+5	54
3	Persepolis	30	14	11	5	49	33	+16	53
4	Esteghlal	30	14	10	6	39	30	+9	52
5	Sepahan	30	14	7	9	41	28	+13	49	AFC Champions League 2008 Group stage
6	Aboomoslem	30	11	10	9	40	36	+4	43
7	Paykan	30	11	8	11	37	42	−5	41
8	Zob Ahan	30	10	9	11	39	42	−3	39
9	Mes Kerman	30	8	12	10	35	39	−4	36
10	Fajr Sepasi	30	7	13	10	29	32	−3	34
11	PAS Tehran	30	7	13	10	36	36	0	33[lower-alpha 1]	Disbanded
12	Bargh	30	8	9	13	35	45	−10	33
13	Saba Battery	30	7	11	12	28	31	−3	32
14	Malavan	30	7	11	12	21	30	−9	32
15	Foolad (R)	30	5	13	12	24	33	−9	28	Relegation play-offs
16	Rah Ahan (R)	30	2	14	14	30	45	−15	20

Updated to match(es) played on May 27, 2007. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champion; (R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. PAS had one point was subtracted after the team illegally fielded 4 foreign players in the 20th round of the competition.

Champions
Saipa FC

Results table

Home \ Away	SAP	ESA	PRS	EST	SEP	ABU	PAY	ZOB	MES	FJR	PAS	BGH	SAB	MLV	FOL	RAH
Saipa		0–1	2–2	3–1	4–2	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	3–1
Est. Ahvaz	2–0		1–0	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	3–1	0–0	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–0
Persepolis	2–2	4–0		2–1	2–1	3–4	3–4	3–1	4–1	2–2	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–2
Esteghlal	1–2	1–1	1–1		2–1	1–0	0–1	2–1	0–0	3–2	2–1	3–0	1–1	2–1	3–2	1–1
Sepahan	1–0	4–0	0–0	1–0		1–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	1–2	1–0	3–1	3–2	2–0	2–1	1–0
Aboumoslem	1–1	3–4	3–2	1–1	2–0		2–1	4–1	1–1	1–0	3–2	1–0	2–0	3–2	1–0	1–3
Paykan	2–0	3–2	0–2	2–1	0–4	2–2		2–1	4–2	2–2	2–1	1–3	0–0	1–1	0–1	0–0
Zob Ahan	0–2	0–1	2–3	0–0	2–1	1–0	2–2		2–1	1–1	3–2	1–1	1–0	2–0	3–0	4–3
Mes Kerman	2–2	3–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	0–0	1–1	1–1		2–0	0–1	2–1	2–3	1–0	1–1	1–1
Fajr Sepasi	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–0	1–0	0–0		0–2	1–3	1–1	2–0	0–0	2–2
PAS Tehran	1–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	3–0	1–1	0–1	1–1		2–2	2–1	1–2	1–0	2–2
Bargh Shiraz	1–2	1–0	1–2	1–2	2–1	1–1	2–1	2–2	1–4	1–1	1–0		0–0	0–1	2–4	3–1
Saba Battery	1–2	1–0	0–1	2–3	0–0	1–1	0–1	1–2	4–1	0–1	0–0	3–0		1–0	0–0	1–1
Malavan	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	0–2	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	1–0	2–2	2–1	2–3		1–1	2–1
Foolad	1–2	0–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	0–1	1–1	2–1	0–3	1–1	1–2	0–1	0–0		3–1
Rah Ahan	0–0	1–3	1–2	1–2	1–1	0–0	1–2	1–2	1–2	1–1	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–0	1–1

Updated to match(es) played on May 27, 2007. Source: http://www.iplstats.com/
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Player statistics

Top goalscorers

Mehdi Rajabzadeh

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Daniel Olerum	Aboumoslem	17
	Mehdi Rajabzadeh	Zob Ahan
3	Abbas Aghaei	Pas	13
	Fereydoon Fazli	Est. Ahvaz
5	Mohsen Bayatinia	Paykan	11
6	Ali Daei	Saipa	10
	Mehrzad Madanchi	Persepolis
	Robert Markosi	Bargh Shiraz
9	Emad Mohammed	Sepahan	9
10	Hadi Asghari	Rah Ahan	8
	Mohsen Khalili	Saipa
	Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht	Persepolis

Goal assistants

Ivan Petrović (left) and Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht (right)

8

• Ivan Petrović (Aboomoslem)
• Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht (Persepolis)

7

• Mehdi Rajabzadeh (Zob Ahan)

6

• Mehrdad Karimian (Bargh Shiraz)
• Omid Sharifinasab (Saipa)

Cards

Player				Team
Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh	9	1	2	Saba Battery
Mohammad Matouri	12	0	0	Bargh Shiraz
Saber Mirghorbani	10	0	0	Mes Kerman
Ahmad Momenzadeh	10	0	0	Saipa
Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht	9	1	0	Persepolis
Reza Niknazar	9	1	0	Malavan
Majid Noormohammadi	8	0	1	Aboomoslem
Mohsen Bayat	9	0	0	Saba Battery
Gholamreza Rezaei	9	0	0	Fajr Sepasi
Maziar Zare	9	0	0	Malavan

Matches played

30

• Morteza Asadi (Saba Battery)
• Ali Yahyanejad (Rah Ahan)

Attendance

Average home attendance

Pos	Team	Total	High	Low	Average	Change
1	Esteghlal	490,000	95,000	0	35,000	+4.6%^†
2	Persepolis	472,000	95,000	0	33,714	+11.1%^†
3	Malavan	151,000	15,000	0	10,786	+40.2%^†
4	Saipa	160,000	60,000	1,000	10,667	+128.6%^†
5	Aboumoslem	143,000	35,000	2,000	9,533	+29.6%^†
6	PAS Tehran	119,000	85,000	1,000	7,933	+105.1%^†
7	Mes Kerman	90,000	15,000	5,000	6,923	n/a^†
8	Foolad	101,000	20,000	1,000	6,733	+1.0%^†
9	Paykan	95,000	50,000	1,000	6,333	+78.8%^†
10	Est. Ahvaz	94,000	15,000	1,000	6,267	+10.6%^†
11	Sepahan	91,000	30,000	1,000	6,067	+17.4%^†
12	Fajr Sepasi	85,000	20,000	1,000	5,667	+4.9%^†
13	Bargh Shiraz	83,500	20,000	1,000	5,567	+13.6%^†
14	Saba Battery	81,000	30,000	1,000	5,400	−6.9%^†
15	Zob Ahan	61,500	15,000	1,000	4,100	−19.1%^†
16	Rah Ahan	61,100	25,000	100	4,073	+12.1%^†
	League total	2,378,000	95,000	0	10,119	+10.2%^†

Updated to games played on 28 May 2007
Source: iplstats.com
Notes:
Matches with spectator bans are not included in average attendances
Mes Kerman and Paykan played last season in Azadegan League

Highest attendance

Rank	Home team	Score	Away team	Attendance	Date	Week	Stadium
1	Persepolis	2–1	Esteghlal	95,000	3 November 2006 (2006-11-03)	8	Azadi
1	Esteghlal	0–0	Persepolis	95,000	30 March 2007 (2007-03-30)	23	Azadi
2	PAS Tehran	1–1	Persepolis	85,000	27 October 2006 (2006-10-27)	7	Azadi
2	Esteghlal	1–1	Esteghlal Ahvaz	85,000	27 April 2007 (2007-04-27)	27	Azadi
5	Esteghlal	1–2	Saipa	65,000	20 May 2007 (2007-05-20)	29	Azadi
6	Saipa	2–2	Persepolis	60,000	2 March 2007 (2007-03-02)	21	Azadi
7	Persepolis	2–2	Saipa	55,000	17 October 2006 (2006-10-17)	6	Azadi
7	Persepolis	1–1	PAS Tehran	55,000	17 March 2007 (2007-03-17)	22	Azadi
9	Paykan	0–2	Persepolis	50,000	2 October 2006 (2006-10-02)	5	Azadi
9	Persepolis	2–1	Sepahan	50,000	9 February 2007 (2007-02-09)	18	Azadi

Notes:
Updated to games played on 28 May 2007. Source: iplstats.com

References

• Iran Pro League Statistics: 2006–2007 Season
• Persian League
• Persian Football
• Pars Football (in Persian)