# 2020–21 Persian Gulf Pro League

The 2020–21 Persian Gulf Pro League (formerly known as Iran Pro League) were the 38th season of Iran's Football League and 20th as Persian Gulf Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Persepolis were the defending champions. The season featured 14 teams from the 2019–20 Persian Gulf Pro League and two new teams promoted from the 2019–20 Azadegan League: Mes Rafsanjan and Aluminium Arak.
The 2020–21 season started on 6 November 2020 and was ended on 30 July 2021. Persepolis won their record-extending 5th consecutive title and 14th title overall (7th in the Pro League era)

## Teams
### Stadia and locations

| Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Aluminium Arak | Arak | Imam Khomeini | 15,000 |
| Esteghlal | Tehran | Azadi | 78,116 |
| Foolad | Ahvaz | Foolad Arena | 30,655 |
| Gol Gohar Sirjan | Sirjan | Imam Ali Qasem Soleimani | 8,000 9,000 |
| Machine Sazi | Tabriz | Qasem Soleimani | 12,000 |
| Mes Rafsanjan | Rafsanjan | Shohadaye Mes | 2,000 |
| Naft Masjed Soleyman | Masjed Soleyman | Behnam Mohammadi | 8,000 |
| Nassaji Mazandaran | Qaem Shahr | Vatani | 15,000 |
| Paykan | Shahr-e Qods | Shahr-e Qods | 25,000 |
| Persepolis | Tehran | Azadi | 78,116 |
| Saipa | Tehran | Dastgerdi | 8,250 |
| Sanat Naft | Abadan | Takhti Abadan | 10,000 |
| Sepahan | Isfahan | Naghsh-e-Jahan | 75,000 |
| Padideh | Mashhad | Imam Reza | 27,700 |
| Tractor | Tabriz | Yadegar-e Emam | 66,833 |
| Zob Ahan | Fooladshahr | Fooladshahr | 15,000 |

### 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 |
| Aluminium Arak | Alireza Mansourian | Meysam Majidi |
| Esteghlal | Farhad Majidi | Voria Ghafouri |
| Foolad | Javad Nekounam | Ayoub Vali |
| Gol Gohar | Amir Ghalenoei | Mehran Golzari |
| Machine Sazi | Alireza Akbarpour | Habib Gordani |
| Mes Rafsanjan | Mohammad Rabiei | Hamed Noormohammadi |
| Naft MIS | Mahmoud Fekri | Abbas Asgari |
| Nassaji | Saket Elhami | Hamed Shiri |
| Paykan | Mehdi Tartar | Ali Hamoudi |
| Persepolis | Yahya Golmohammadi | Jalal Hosseini |
| Saipa | Faraz Kamalvand | Sadegh Barani |
| Sanat Naft | Sirous Pourmousavi | Hossein Baghlani |
| Sepahan | Moharram Navidkia | Ehsan Hajsafi |
| Shahr Khodro | Mehdi Rahmati | Reza Nasehi |
| Tractor | Firouz Karimi | Mohammad Reza Akhbari |
| Zob Ahan | Mojtaba Hosseini | Ghasem Haddadifar |

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing head coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming head coach | Date of appointment |
| Sepahan | Miguel Teixeira | End of Caretaker Spell | 10 August 2020 | Pre-season | Moharram Navidkia | 5 September 2020 |
| Machine Sazi | Human Afazeli | Resigned | 18 August 2020 | Pre-season | Vahid Bayatloo | 26 August 2020 |
| Naft MIS | Mehdi Tartar | Resigned | 13 August 2020 | Pre-season | Mojtaba Hosseini | 16 August 2020 |
| Zob Ahan | Luka Bonačić | Sacked | 15 August 2020 | Pre-season | Rahman Rezaei | 4 September 2020 |
| Shahr Khodro | Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh | Sacked | 30 August 2020 | Pre-season | Mehdi Rahmati | 31 August 2020 |
| Gol Gohar Sirjan | Majid Jalali | Sacked | 3 September 2020 | Pre-season | Amir Ghalenoei | 3 September 2020 |
| Esteghlal | Farhad Majidi | Resigned | 5 September 2020 | Pre-season | Mahmoud Fekri | 7 October 2020 |
| Tractor | Saket Elhami | Resigned | 5 September 2020 | Pre-season | Alireza Mansourian | 17 September 2020 |
| Sanat Naft | Behnam Seraj | Sacked | 22 September 2020 | Pre-season | Sirous Pourmousavi | 22 September 2020 |
| Nassaji | Mahmoud Fekri | Signed with Esteghlal | 6 October 2020 | Pre-season | Vahid Fazeli | 8 October 2020 |
| Paykan | Abdollah Veisi | Resigned | 30 October 2020 | Pre-season | Mehdi Tartar | 4 November 2020 |

## 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. In bold: Players that have been capped for their national team.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Former Player |
| Aluminium Arak | | | | |
| Esteghlal | Hrvoje Milić | Cheick Diabaté | | |
| Foolad | Chimba | Moussa Coulibaly | Ayanda Patosi | |
| Gol Gohar | Godwin Mensha | | | |
| Machine Sazi | | | | |
| Mes Rafsanjan | | | | |
| Naft MIS | | | | |
| Nassaji | | | | |
| Paykan | | | | |
| Persepolis | Božidar Radošević | | | Bashar Resan |
| Saipa | | | | |
| Sanat Naft | | | | |
| Sepahan | Kiros | Giorgi Gvelesiani | | |
| Shahr Khodro | | | | |
| Tractor | | | | Okacha Hamzaoui |
| Zob Ahan | Darko Bjedov | Ivan Marković | | |

## League table
### Standings

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Persepolis (C) | 30 | 19 | 10 | 1 | 47 | 14 | +33 | 67 | |
| 2 | Sepahan | 30 | 19 | 8 | 3 | 53 | 24 | +29 | 65 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 3 | Esteghlal | 30 | 16 | 8 | 6 | 36 | 19 | +17 | 56 | |
| 4 | Tractor | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 35 | 29 | +6 | 45 | |
| 5 | Gol Gohar | 30 | 13 | 6 | 11 | 33 | 32 | +1 | 45 | |
| 6 | Foolad | 30 | 10 | 14 | 6 | 27 | 18 | +9 | 44 | Qualification for 2022 AFC Champions League group stage |
| 7 | Paykan | 30 | 9 | 13 | 8 | 32 | 30 | +2 | 40 | |
| 8 | Mes Rafsanjan | 30 | 10 | 9 | 11 | 23 | 29 | −6 | 39 | |
| 9 | Padideh | 30 | 10 | 8 | 12 | 27 | 31 | −4 | 38 | |
| 10 | Sanat Naft | 30 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 24 | 29 | −5 | 37 | |
| 11 | Aluminium Arak | 30 | 8 | 13 | 9 | 25 | 33 | −8 | 37 | |
| 12 | Nassaji Mazandaran | 30 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 27 | 34 | −7 | 33 | |
| 13 | Naft Masjed Soleyman | 30 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 21 | 29 | −8 | 31 | |
| 14 | Zob Ahan | 30 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 28 | 39 | −11 | 26 | |
| 15 | Saipa (R) | 30 | 5 | 11 | 14 | 19 | 34 | −15 | 26 | Relegation to 2021–22 Azadegan League |
| 16 | Machine Sazi (R) | 30 | 2 | 8 | 20 | 19 | 52 | −33 | 14 | Relegation to 2021–22 Azadegan League |
* 1 2 Persepolis and Esteghlal did not obtain an AFC license. Therefore, even if they earn the right to play in Asian competitions based on league position, they will not be able to participate.
* ↑ Foolad qualified to AFC Champions League by winning the Hazfi Cup

## Results

| Home \ Away | ALU | EST | FOL | GOL | MST | MES | MIS | NSJ | PAY | PRS | SAP | SNA | SEP | SHK | TRC | ZOB |
| Aluminium Arak | — | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–6 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 |
| Esteghlal | 2–0 | — | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 |
| Foolad | 0–0 | 2–1 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Gol Gohar | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | — | 3–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 0–5 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Machine Sazi | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | 3–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 0–5 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 |
| Mes Rafsanjan | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | — | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 |
| Naft MIS | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | — | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| Nassaji | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 |
| Paykan | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | — | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Persepolis | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Saipa | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | — | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 |
| Sanat Naft | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | — | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| Sepahan | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | — | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Shahr Khodro | 2–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Tractor | 0–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | — | 1–0 |
| Zob Ahan | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | — |

### Positions by round

| 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 |
| Persepolis | 9 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sepahan | 13 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Esteghlal | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Tractor | 11 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 4 |
| Gol Gohar | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 5 |
| Foolad | 6 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
| Paykan | 12 | 7 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
| Mes Rafsanjan | 14 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 8 |
| Shahr Khodro | 2 | 5 | 8 | 11 | 8 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 |
| Sanat Naft | 5 | 8 | 10 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 10 |
| Aluminium Arak | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 11 |
| Nassaji | 1 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 12 |
| Naft MIS | 10 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 11 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 |
| Zob Ahan | 7 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 |
| Saipa | 8 | 12 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 9 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 |
| Machine Sazi | 16 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
* Leader : 2022 AFC Champions League Group stage
* 2022 AFC Champions League qualifying play-off round
* Relegation to 2021-22 Azadegan League

## Season statistics

    As of 31 July 2021

### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Sajjad Shahbazzadeh | Sepahan | 20 |
| 2 | Godwin Mensha | Gol Gohar | 14 |
| 3 | Mohammad Abbaszadeh | Tractor | 12 |
| 4 | Amin Ghaseminejad | Padideh | 11 |
| 5 | Hamed Pakdel | Aluminium Arak | 10 |
| 5 | Ahmad Nourollahi | Persepolis | 10 |
| 7 | Mehdi Abdi | Persepolis | 9 |
| 7 | Taleb Reykani | Sanat Naft | 9 |
| 9 | Younes Shakeri | Gol Gohar | 8 |
| 10 | Sasan Hosseini | Naft MIS | 7 |
| 10 | Amir Arsalan Motahari | Esteghlal | 7 |

### Hat-tricks

| Player | For | Against | Result | Date |
| Godwin Mensha | Gol Gohar | Shahr Khodro | 3–1 (H) | 18 December 2020 |
| Peyman Babaei | Machine Sazi | Sepahan | 3–3 (H) | 29 December 2020 |
| Younes Shakeri | Gol Gohar | Machine Sazi | 3–1 (H) | 5 April 2021 |

### Clean sheets

| Rank | Player | Club | Clean sheets |
| 1 | Hamed Lak | Persepolis | 17 |
| 2 | Payam Niazmand | Sepahan | 14 |
| 3 | Hossein Pour Hamidi | Aluminium Arak | 11 |
| 4 | Rashid Mazaheri | Esteghlal | 10 |
| 5 | Mohsen Forouzan | Foolad | 9 |
| 6 | Mohammad Reza Akhbari | Tractor | 8 |
| 7 | Hossein Akbar Monadi | Saipa | 6 |
| 7 | Milad Farahani | Padideh | 6 |
| 7 | Alireza Haghighi | Gol Gohar | 6 |
| 7 | Farhad Kermanshahi | Naft Masjed Soleyman | 6 |
| 7 | Davoud Noushi Soufiani | Mes Rafsanjan | 6 |