# 2005–06 Iran Pro League

The 2005–06 Iran Pro League was the 23rd season of Iran's Football League and fifth as Iran Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Foolad were the defending champions. The season featured 14 teams from the 2004–05 Iran Pro League and two new teams promoted from the 2004–05 Azadegan League: Shahid Ghandi as champions and Rah Ahan as runner-up. The league started on 2 September 2005 and ended on 21 April 2006. Esteghlal won the Pro League title for the first time in their history (total sixth Iranian title). A total of 240 matches in the Pro League yielded 538 goals during the season.

## Teams

Sixteen teams competed in the league – the top fourteen teams from the previous season and the two teams promoted from the Azadegan League. The promoted teams were Shahid Ghandi Yazd and Rah Ahan Tehran. They replaced Paykan and Pegah, who were relegated to the Azadegan League.
| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Aboomoslem | Mashhad | Samen Stadium | 27,000 |
| Esteghlal | Tehran | Azadi Stadium | 95,225 |
| Esteghlal Ahvaz | Ahvaz | Takhti Ahvaz | 10,000 |
| Fajr Sepasi Shiraz | Shiraz | Hafezieh Stadium | 50,000 |
| Foolad | Ahvaz | Foolad Arena | 30,655 |
| Malavan | Bandar-e Anzali | Sirous Ghayeghran Stadium | 15,559 |
| PAS Tehran | Tehran | Shahid Dastgerdi Stadium | 8,250 |
| Persepolis | Tehran | Azadi Stadium | 95,225 |
| Rah Ahan Tehran | Tehran | Shahid Derakhshan Stadium | 12,000 |
| Saipa | Tehran | Shahid Dastgerdi Stadium | 8,250 |
| Saba Battery | Teheran | Shahid Derakhshan Stadium | 12,000 |
| Sepahan | Isfahan | Naghsh-e Jahan Stadium | 75,000 |
| Shahid Ghandi Yazd | Yazd | Shahid Nassiri Stadium | 15,000 |
| Shamoushak Noshahr | Nowshahr | Shohada-ye Nowshahr Stadium | 6,000 |
| Zob Ahan Esfahan | Fuladshahr | Foolad Shahr Stadium | 20,000 |

## Final classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Esteghlal (C) | 30 | 16 | 11 | 3 | 44 | 17 | +27 | 59 | |
| 2 | PAS Tehran | 30 | 16 | 10 | 4 | 54 | 29 | +25 | 58 | |
| 3 | Saipa | 30 | 13 | 13 | 4 | 41 | 21 | +20 | 52 | |
| 4 | Saba | 30 | 13 | 11 | 6 | 35 | 31 | +4 | 50 | |
| 5 | Aboumoslem | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 46 | |
| 6 | Zob Ahan | 30 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 41 | 30 | +11 | 45 | |
| 7 | Sepahan | 30 | 12 | 7 | 11 | 38 | 32 | +6 | 43 | Qualification for the 2007 AFC Champions League |
| 8 | Foolad | 30 | 11 | 8 | 11 | 30 | 41 | −11 | 41 | |
| 9 | Fajr Sepasi | 30 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 27 | 33 | −6 | 36 | |
| 10 | Malavan | 30 | 10 | 6 | 14 | 29 | 38 | −9 | 36 | |
| 11 | Esteghlal Ahvaz | 30 | 9 | 8 | 13 | 42 | 44 | −2 | 35 | |
| 12 | Rah Ahan | 30 | 9 | 7 | 14 | 27 | 43 | −16 | 34 | |
| 13 | Persepolis | 30 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 40 | −1 | 32 | |
| 14 | Bargh | 30 | 6 | 10 | 14 | 23 | 37 | −14 | 28 | |
| 15 | Shamoushak (R) | 30 | 4 | 11 | 15 | 19 | 39 | −20 | 23 | Relegation to the 2006–07 Azadegan League |
| 16 | Shahid Ghandi (R) | 30 | 4 | 7 | 19 | 21 | 43 | −22 | 19 | Relegation to the 2006–07 Azadegan League |
* ↑ AFC disqualified Esteghlal Tehran from Group B for failing to register their players in time.
* ↑ Zob Ahan was deducted 1 point in issued by Iranian Football Federation.
* ↑ As cup winner.
* ↑ Persepolis was deducted 6 points in issued by FIFA.
* Champions
* Esteghlal

## Results table

| Home \ Away | EST | PAS | SAP | SAB | ABU | ZOB | SEP | FOL | PRS | FJR | MLV | ESA | RAH | BGH | SHM | GHA |
| Esteghlal | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| PAS Tehran | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 4–4 | 7–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Saipa | 0–0 | 1–3 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 6–1 | 6–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Saba Battery | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 |
| Aboumoslem | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 1–3 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Zob Ahan | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–3 |
| Sepahan | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–0 |
| Foolad | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Persepolis | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–3 | | 2–4 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Fajr Sepasi | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–2 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 |
| Malavan | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Est. Ahvaz | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 3–2 |
| Rah Ahan | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Bargh Shiraz | 1–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Shamoushak | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 1–0 |
| Shahid Ghandi | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | |

## Player statistics
### Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Reza Enayati | Esteghlal | 21 |
| 2 | Fereydoon Fazli | Esteghlsl Ahvaz | 17 |
| 3 | Mehdi Rajabzadeh | Zob Ahan | 14 |
| 4 | Siavash Akbarpour | Esteghlal | 11 |
| 4 | Ali Daei | Saba Battery | 11 |
| 4 | Javad Kazemian | Persepolis | 11 |
| 7 | Hossein Badamaki | Aboomoslem | 10 |
| 7 | Rasoul Khatibi | Sepahan | 10 |
| 9 | Ali Ansarian | Persepolis | 9 |
| 10 | Hadi Asghari | Rah Ahan | 8 |
| 10 | Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh | Saba Battery | 8 |
| 10 | Arash Borhani | PAS Tehran | 8 |
| 10 | Mohammad Gholamin | Malavan | 8 |
| 10 | Emad Reza | Foolad | 8 |

### Cards

| Player | | | Team |
| Mohammad Matouri | 11 | 2 | Bargh Shiraz |
| Masoud Shojaei | 11 | 0 | Saipa |
| Siavash Akbarpour | 10 | 0 | Esteghlal |
| Yahya Golmohammadi | 9 | 0 | Saba Battery |
| Pejman Jamshidi | 9 | 0 | Pas Tehran |
| Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht | 9 | 0 | Esteghlal |
| Amir Hossein Sadeghi | 7 | 2 | Esteghlal |

### Matches played
#### 30

* Mehdi Sabeti (Aboomoslem)

#### 29

* Reza Enayati (Esteghlal)
* Alireza Pourmand (Aboomoslem)

#### 28

* Morteza Asadi (Saba Battery)
* Jalal Hosseini (Saipa)
* Pejman Montazeri (Foolad)
* Hassan Roudbarian (Pas Tehran)
* Almir Tolja (Saba Battery)
* Ali Yahyanejad (Malavan)

#### 27

* Sepehr Heidari (Zob Ahan)
* Pejman Nouri (Persepolis)
* Mehdi Rajabzadeh (Zob Ahan)
* Mojtaba Shiri (Est. Ahvaz)
* Mehdi Tartar (Rah Ahan)

## Attendance
### Average home attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Esteghlal | 502,000 | 100,000 | 15,000 | 33,467 | n/a$^†$ |
| 2 | Persepolis | 455,000 | 95,000 | 5,000 | 30,333 | n/a$^†$ |
| 3 | Shahid Ghandi | 192,000 | 30,000 | 2,000 | 12,800 | n/a$^†$ |
| 4 | Malavan | 100,000 | 17,000 | 0 | 7,692 | n/a$^†$ |
| 5 | Aboumoslem | 103,000 | 30,000 | 0 | 7,357 | n/a$^†$ |
| 6 | Foolad | 100,000 | 22,000 | 3,000 | 6,667 | n/a$^†$ |
| 7 | Saba Battery | 87,000 | 20,000 | 1,000 | 5,800 | n/a$^†$ |
| 8 | Est. Ahvaz | 85,000 | 14,000 | 1,000 | 5,667 | n/a$^†$ |
| 9 | Fajr Sepasi | 81,000 | 20,000 | 2,000 | 5,400 | n/a$^†$ |
| 10 | Sepahan | 77,500 | 17,000 | 2,000 | 5,167 | n/a$^†$ |
| 11 | Zob Ahan | 76,000 | 15,000 | 1,000 | 5,067 | n/a$^†$ |
| 12 | Bargh Shiraz | 73,500 | 18,000 | 1,000 | 4,900 | n/a$^†$ |
| 13 | Saipa | 70,000 | 25,000 | 500 | 4,667 | n/a$^†$ |
| 14 | PAS Tehran | 58,000 | 25,000 | 1,000 | 3,867 | n/a$^†$ |
| 15 | Rah Ahan | 54,500 | 20,000 | 1,000 | 3,633 | n/a$^†$ |
| 16 | Shamoushak | 42,500 | 7,000 | 0 | 3,542 | n/a$^†$ |
| | League total | 2,157,000 | 100,000 | 0 | 9,179 | n/a$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 21 April 2006 Source: iplstats.com Notes: Matches with spectator bans are not included in average attendances Rah Ahan and Shahid Ghandi played last season in Azadegan League

### Highest attendance

| Rank | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Date | Week | Stadium |
| 1 | Esteghlal | 4–1 | Bargh Shiraz | 100,000 | 21 April 2006 (2006-04-21) | 30 | Azadi |
| 2 | Persepolis | 0–0 | Esteghlal | 95,000 | 10 March 2006 (2006-03-10) | 25 | Azadi |
| 3 | Esteghlal | 1–0 | Persepolis | 80,000 | 4 November 2005 (2005-11-04) | 10 | Azadi |
| 4 | Persepolis | 0–0 | Saipa | 50,000 | 9 September 2005 (2005-09-09) | 2 | Azadi |
| 5 | Persepolis | 2–2 | Saba Battery | 40,000 | 27 October 2005 (2005-10-27) | 9 | Azadi |
| 5 | Esteghlal | 4–1 | Foolad | 40,000 | 6 April 2006 (2006-04-06) | 28 | Azadi |
| 7 | Esteghlal | 4–1 | Saba Battery | 35,000 | 2 September 2005 (2005-09-02) | 1 | Azadi |
| 7 | Persepolis | 1–0 | PAS Tehran | 35,000 | 29 November 2005 (2005-11-29) | 3 | Azadi |
| 7 | Esteghlal | 0–0 | PAS Tehran | 35,000 | 6 January 2006 (2006-01-06) | 17 | Azadi |
| 10 | Persepolis | 1–0 | Shahid Ghandi | 33,000 | 30 September 2005 (2005-09-30) | 5 | Azadi |
Notes: Updated to games played on 21 April 2006. Source: iplstats.com