Machine Sazi F.C.

Machine Sazi Tabriz Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال ماشین‌سازی تبریز‎) more commonly known as Machine Sazi is an Iranian football club based in Tabriz, East Azerbaijan, Iran, who currently play in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Machine Sazi is the oldest team in the northwest of Iran and is owned by Mohammad Reza Zonuzi.[1]

Machine Sazi
ماشین‌سازی
Full nameMachine Sazi Tabriz Football Club
Nickname(s)Yaşıl Maşın (The Green Machine)
Founded1969; 50 years ago
GroundShahid Qasem Soleimani Stadium
Capacity12,000
OwnerMohammad Reza Zonuzi
ChairmanHoushang Nasirzadeh
Head CoachHuman Afazeli
LeaguePersian Gulf Pro League
2018–19Persian Gulf Pro League, 13rd
WebsiteClub website

Machine Sazi finished third in the 1994–95 Azadegan League under the guidance of Iranian legend Nasser Hejazi, their highest ever finish in the Iranian top flight, but were relegated to the second tier after a few years. In 2016, under Rasoul Khatibi, Machine Sazi returned to the Iranian top flight after a 20 year absence.

Club history

Establishment
Machine Sazi's players in a parade in Bagh Shomal Stadium, 1969

In 1969, Machine Sazi Tabriz Industrial Group decided to create a new football team by the name of Machine Sazi. The prototype of the team was the club Torpedo Moscow. Machine Sazi Tabriz football club played its first official match in 1970. The club became one of the most heavily supported teams in Tabriz after a couple of years.

In 1973, the Takht Jamshid Cup was established. The Takht Jamshid Cup, was Iran's first ever nationwide football league and Machine Sazi entered the league in its first year of establishment in 1973. The club participated in Takht Jamshid Cup between 1973 and 1977.

Post Revolution

1980s
Machine Sazi players with red colours during 1973–74 Takht Jamshid Cup. Later, the team's colours was changed to yellow, blue and then green

Like most sporting clubs in Iran, the Revolution and the Iran–Iraq War severely limited the team's activities. From 1979 to 1980 the club participated in almost no meaningful competitions. In 1980 the Tabriz Football League and Tabriz Hazfi Cup was established. Machine Sazi participated in the Tabriz Football League and Tabriz Hazfi Cup between 1980 and 1988. Machine Sazi was the most successful Tabriz Football League club, winning seven championship titles and finishing two times as runners-up. The club also won the Tabriz Hazfi Cup six times. After the war the local and provincial leagues were scrapped in favor of nationwide leagues.

1990s

After the war, the Azadegan League was established as Iran's national league. Machine Sazi was promoted to the Azadegan League in 1994. They stayed in the Azadegan League for two seasons and the club finished 8th the following year. But, in 1997 the club was relegated to the 2nd Division. Machine Sazi played in the 2nd Division between 1997 and 2001 until the Iran Pro League was formed.

2000s
Machine Sazi players in 1976

With the launch of Iran Pro League in 2001, Machine Sazi were placed into the Azadegan League. After a 3rd-place finish in the new Azadegan League's inaugural season, Machine Sazi had a string of mid table finishes. In the 2007–08 season the club finished 11th in the Azadegan League and was relegated to 2nd Division but following the Iranian Football Federations' decision to increase the number of teams in the league to 28, Machine Sazi remained in the Azadegan League.

The club had a mixed start to the 2008–09 season in the Azadegan League. 2008 heralded major changes for Machine Sazi, as the terrible state of the club's finances was revealed; they were unable to pay wages and had massive debts. After a drop in form, recording 10 losses in 12 matches, Asghar Etebari was sacked as manager and was replaced by Sirous Bayrami. In March 2008 Javad Shahlaei resigned as chairman and Farhad Sedaghat was elected chairman by the club council. Seyed Javad Mousavi was brought in as the new club manager. Machine Sazi finished 13th in the 2008–09 Azadegan League season. Thus, being relegated to 2nd Division.

Dabiri Takeover

On 25 April 2009 the club was bought by businessman Shahram Dabiri who invested heavily in the club. After a year in the 2nd Division, Machine Sazi bought the licence of a club in the Azadegan League and was allowed to compete in the 2010–11 edition of the league. Following a 3rd-place finish in 2012 which almost brought the club back to the Iran Pro League, the club was again relegated to the 2nd Division in 2013. Machine Sazi escaped relegation to the 3rd Division the following year via a relegation play–off.

Machine Sazi Players, 2016.

Persian Gulf Pro League

Following Machine Sazi's dismal 2013–14 season the team was taken over by the Municipality of Tabriz who introduced Gholamreza Baghabadi as the new chairman.

In June 2015 Machine Sazi replaced Shahrdari Tabriz in the 2015–16 Azadegan League as East Azerbaijan's representative. In winter of 2016 Rasoul Khatibi was named head coach of Machine Sazi and the club began the push for promotion to the Persian Gulf Pro League. On 10 May 2016 after a 3–0 win against Mes Rafsanjan, Machine Sazi confirmed their promotion to the Persian Gulf Pro League after a 19-year absence from the top flight of Iranian football. Machine Sazi managed to draw 1–1 with Iranian and Asian giants Esteghlal at the Azadi Stadium in week 5.

Khatibi was fired midway through the season for Machine's bad performances and was replaced with Farhad Kazemi. Machine Sazi finished the season in last place and were relegated to the Azadegan League once again. In the season of 2018–19, the club replaced the Gostaresh Foulad and returned to the top flight.

Players

First Team Squad

Updated as July 29, 2020 Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
1 GK  IRN Hamed Lak
2 DF  IRN Fardin Abedini
3 DF  IRN Mohammad Moslemipour U23
8 MF  IRN Shahin Saghebi
10 FW  IRN Farid Karimi
11 FW  IRN Babak Moradi
14 MF  IRN Shahin Tavakoli
16 MF  IRN Alireza Mostafaei
17 FW  IRN Ali Alekasir
18  IRN Erfan Moghadami U21
21 GK  IRN Alireza Heidari
24 DF  IRN Mohammad Sohrabnejad U21
26 DF  IRN Masih Zahedi
29 FW  IRN Erfan Afraz U21
No. Pos. Nation Player
30  IRN Hatef Naderi U21
33 DF  IRN Ali Chaharmiri U21
48 MF  IRN Mohammad Khorram Hosseini U23
56 DF  IRN Aziz Maeboodi
65 MF  IRN Milad Nouri
69  IRN Aydin Gahremani U23
72 MF  IRN Alireza Sayyar
77 MF  IRN Amin Khatibi U23
88 MF  IRN Ghaem Eslamikhah
95 MF  BRA Eduardo Mancha
98  IRN Mohammad Taher Amini U21
99 FW  IRN Mohammad Ghaderi U21
—  IRN Ata Karimpour U21
—  IRN Amir Faal U21

Loan list

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
— FW  IRN Ehsan Alvanzadeh (at Fajr Sepasi until June 2020)
— FW  IRN Peyman Babaei (at Sumgayit until January 2021)

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers winter 2018–19.

League and domestic cup history
Season League Pos. Pl. W D L GS GA P Hazfi Cup Notes
1971–72 Local League 3 3 1 1 1 3 3 3 not held 3rd place(Region A)
1973–74 Takht Jamshid Cup 12 22 1 5 16 11 48 8 Relegated
1974–75 2nd Division 6 22 8 5 10 30 29 29
1975–76 1 6 5 1 0 10 4 11 1/8 finals Promoted
1976–77 Takht Jamshid Cup 9 30 8 16 6 23 23 32 1/16 finals
1977–78 10 30 9 10 11 20 23 28 not held
1978–79 11 12 4 4 4 11 15 12 until week 12
1980–81 Tabriz Football League 2 9 6 2 1 19 10 14
1981–82 1 10 8 2 0 19 5 18
1982–83 3 11 4 4 3 17 6 12
1983–84 2 10 6 3 1 12 6 15
1984–85 1 11 10 1 0 29 10 21
1985–86 1 20 16 1 4 39 30 49
1986–87 1 20 17 2 1 30 15 53 Third Round
1987–88 1 20 16 3 1 34 26 51 1/8 finals
1988–89 1 20 14 1 5 28 28 43 1/16 finals
1989–90 Qods League 6 20 7 7 6 19 18 21 1/16 finals
1990–91 2nd Division 4 14 7 4 3 20 10 18 Third Round
1991–92 8 24 4 7 13 22 23 19 not held
1992–93 7 26 9 11 6 27 20 29 not held
1993–94 2 26 12 11 3 40 20 35 1/32 finals Promoted
1994–95 Azadegan League 3 22 9 7 6 27 26 25 1/16 finals
1995–96 8 30 11 8 11 35 38 41 1/8 finals
1996–97 13 30 10 5 15 30 52 35 1/16 finals Relegated
1997–98 2nd Division 5 18 7 6 5 19 12 27 not held
1998–99 7 16 5 4 7 19 17 19 1/32 finals
1999–00 9 34 8 12 14 35 55 36 Second Round
2000–01 5 34 12 10 12 45 50 46 1/16finals
2001–02 Azadegan League 3 20 9 5 6 28 19 32 1/16 finals
2002–03 9 30 9 11 10 40 39 38 Second Round
2003–04 7 30 11 8 11 34 32 41 Third Round
2004–05 9 22 6 8 8 18 21 24 Third Round Group B
2005–06 9 22 6 7 9 21 36 25 First Round Group B
2006–07 8 22 5 11 6 12 15 25 Second Round Group A
2007–08 11 22 3 12 7 15 25 21 Second Round Group B
2008–09 13 26 5 5 16 21 49 20 Second Round Relegated
2009–10 2nd Division 4 16 4 8 4 22 19 20 First Round Replaced
2010–11 Azadegan League 12 26 7 10 9 30 36 31 1/16 Final
2011–12 3 26 11 8 7 32 25 41 1/8 Final
2012–13 14 26 3 4 19 18 47 13 First Round Relegated
2013–14 2nd Division 11 24 6 5 13 26 33 23 Round of 32
2014–15 7 18 5 9 4 20 19 24 Third Round Replaced
2015–16 Azadegan League 2 38 16 15 7 53 36 63 Did not enter Promoted
2016–17 Persian Gulf Pro League 16 30 3 7 20 18 45 16 Round of 16 Relegated
2017–18 Azadegan League 15 8 13 13 27 32 37 34 Second Round Replaced
2018–19 Persian Gulf Pro League 13 30 4 17 9 19 26 29 Quarter-Final

Club stadium
Marzdaran Stadium for Club Academy and training ground

Before the construction of Sahand Stadium, Machine Sazi played all of its matches at Bagh Shomal Stadium, which currently has a capacity of 25,000. They occasionally play big games at Sahand Stadium. Football academy and training ground of Machine sazi is Marzdaran Stadium.[2]

Club colors
White Green

Kit evolution

Club managers

Managerial history
Name Period
Mohammad Ranjbar 1972–73
Ali Hashemi 1973–77
Garnik Mehrabian 1978–80
Hossein Fekri 1980–83
Ali Shirdel 1983–88
Yaghob Zeynali 1988–89
Hesam Golzar 1989–90
Biyok Sabaghi 1990–91
Asif Namazov 1991–92
Rahim Mehnamaye Aghdam 1994–95
Nasser Hejazi 1995–96
Adrian Szabo 1996–97
Hamid Nadimian
Majid Jahanpour 2001–02
Asghar Etebari 2002–03
Nasser Hejazi 2003
Vagif Sadygov 2003
Boyukagha Hajiyev 2003–04
Gholamhossein Karimpour 2004–05
Ahad Sheykhlari 2005–06
Gholamreza Baghabadi July 2006 – July 7
Ali Nikbakht July 2007 – Feb 08
Gholamreza Baghabadi Feb 2008 – June 8
Asghar Etebari July 2008 – Jan 09
Sirous Bayrami Jan 2009 – April 9
Seyed Javad Mousavi April 2009 – Oct 10
Ahad Sheykhlari Oct 2010 – Sept 10
Ayyoub Zolfaghari Sept 2010 – Dec 10
Zoran Smilevski Dec 2010 – June 11
Rasoul Khatibi June 2011 – July 12
Nasser Ebrahimi Aug 2012 – Sept 12
Alireza Akbarpour Sept 2012 – Nov 12
Asghar Etebari Nov 2012 – Jan 13
Hossein Khatibi Jan 2013 – March 13
Vali Hatami March 2013 – Aug 13
Amir Dadash Ziaee Aug 2013 – Sept 13
Seyed Javad Mousavi Sept 2013
Saeed Parkhideh Sept 2013 – Oct 13
Seyed Reza Sadat Oct 2013 – Jan 14
Omid Tayeri Jan 2014 – Feb 14
Amin Haml Abadi Feb 2014 – March 14
Younes Bahonar March 2014 – April 14
Amir Dadashziaei April 2014 – Sept 14
Gholamreza Baghabadi Sept 2014 – June 15
Nader Dastneshan June 2015 – Nov 15
Rasoul Khatibi Nov 2015– Dec 16
Farhad Kazemi Dec 2016– Jul 17
Rasoul Khatibi Jul 2017– Dec 17
Firouz Karimi Jul 2018– Aug 18
Mohammad Reza Mohajeri Aug 2018–

Current coaching staff
PositionNameNation
Head coachRasoul Khatibi
Assistant managersGholamreza Baghabadi
Naser farshbaf

Adel Baba Pour
Goalkeeping coachDavood faal
Fitness coachHamidreza joudaki
AnalyzerBakhtiar Hosseinzadeh
Team Manager[3]Mohammad Pirozram

References
  1. "باشگاه ماشین‌سازی تبریز رسماً زیر پوشش شهرداری تبریز قرار گرفت" [Tabriz Automobile Club Officially Under Cover of Tabriz Municipality]. وب سایت رسمی هیئت فوتبال استان آذربایجان شرقی. August 27, 2012. Archived from the original on September 9, 2014. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
  2. "استادیوم5 هزار نفری مرزداران به آکادمی ماشین سازی اختصاص یافت". Sports organizations of Tabriz municipality. 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  3. "سرپرست ماشين سازى تغییر کرد/ بازگشت محمد علوى :: سایت خبری، تحلیلی، ورزشی، بانک ورزش". www.bankvarzesh.com.
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