# 2007–08 Persian Gulf Cup

The 2007–08 Persian Gulf Cup (also known as Iran Pro League) was the 25th season of Iran's Football League and seventh season of Iran Pro League since its establishment in 2001. Saipa were the defending champions. The season featured 13 teams from the 2006–07 Persian Gulf Cup and three new teams promoted from the 2006–07 Azadegan League: Shirin Faraz as champions, Pegah and Sanat Naft. PAS Hamedan replaced PAS Tehran. The league started on 16 August 2007 and ended on 17 May 2008. Persepolis won the Pro League title for the first time in their history (total ninth Iranian title).

## Teams

| Team | City | Stadium | Manager | Past season |
| Aboomoslem | Mashhad | Samen | Parviz Mazloomi | 6th |
| Bargh | Shiraz | Hafezieh | Mahmoud Yavari | 12th |
| Esteghlal | Tehran | Azadi | Firouz Karimi | 4th |
| Esteghlal | Ahvaz | Takhti Ahvaz | Majid Jalali | 2nd |
| Malavan | Anzali | Takhti Anzali | Mohammad Ahmadzadeh | 14th |
| Mes | Kerman | Shahid Bahonar | Amir Ghalenoei | 9th |
| Pas | Hamedan | Ghods | Vinko Begovic | N/A |
| Paykan | Tehran | Iran Khodro | Ali Asghar Modir Roosta | 7th |
| Pegah | Rasht | Sardar Jangal | Nader Dastneshan | Qualifier |
| Persepolis | Tehran | Azadi | Afshin Ghotbi | 3rd |
| Rah Ahan | Tehran | Rah Ahan | Davoud Mahabadi | 16th |
| Saba Battery | Tehran | Shahid Derakhshan | Yahya Golmohammadi | 13th |
| Saipa | Karaj | Enghelab Karaj | Ali Daei | Champion |
| Sanat Naft | Abadan | Takhti Abadan | Ahmad Tousi | Qualifier |
| Sepahan | Esfahan | Naghsh Jahan | Jorvan Vieira | 5th |
| Sepasi | Shiraz | Hafezieh | Gholam Peyrovani | 10th |
| Shirin Faraz | Kermanshah | Azadi Kermanshah | Shahram Mehrpeyma | Qualifier |
| Zob Ahan | Esfahan | Foolad Shahr | Bijan Zolfagharnasab | 8th |
Below is the list of coaches who left their teams after the start of the season.
| Team | Name |
| Aboomoslem | Khodadad Azizi |
| Esteghlal Ahvaz | Firouz Karimi |
| Esteghlal | Nasser Hejazi |
| Mes | Farhad Kazemi |
| Paykan | Samvel Darbinyan |
| Pegah | Majid Jahanpour |
| Rah Ahan | Akbar Misaghian |
| Saba Battery | Mohammad Hossein Ziaei |
| Sanat Naft | Ebrahim Ghasempour |
| Sepahan | Luka Bonačić |
| Shirin Faraz | Marco Octavio |
| Zob Ahan | Zoran Đorđević |

### Participating in international competitions
#### 2008 AFC Champions League

* Persepolis
* Sepahan

## Foreign players

| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Former Players |
| Aboomoslem | Rodrigo Teixeira | Daniel Olerum | Ivan Petrović | Franck Atsou | Ivan Savorjest |
| Bargh Shiraz | Mohammed Nasser | Freddy Freire | Martín Barlocco | | |
| Esteghlal Ahvaz | Carlos Soto | Fabrício Ceará | | | |
| Esteghlal Tehran | Srđan Urošević | | | | |
| Malavan | | | | | |
| Mes Kerman | Edinho | Paulo Zaltron | Sékou Fofana | Uche Iheruome | Gerardo Morales |
| PAS Hamedan | Emir Obuća | Faruk Ihtijarević | Sandro Tomić | Vladimir Mićović | |
| Paykan | Guillaume N'Kendo | Ronny Kockel | Ibrahima Touré | | Taribo West |
| Pegah | Joël Tchami | William Esenjo | Akvsenti Gilauri | Saša Ilić | Martin Abena |
| Persepolis | Jacques Elong Elong | Mate Dragičević | Jorge Gaona | | |
| Rah Ahan | Gevorg Kasparov | Hamlet Mkhitaryan | Thiago Junio | César Pellegrín | |
| Saba Battery | Alen Avdić | Almir Tolja | Marinko Mačkić | | |
| Saipa | Adriano Alves | Evandro | Alou Traoré | Issa Traoré | |
| Sanat Naft | Léo | Renato Medeiros | Marcelo de Souza | | |
| Sepahan | Abdul-Wahab Abu Al-Hail | Emad Mohammed | Haitham Khadim Taher | Kabir Bello | Jaba Mujiri |
| Sepasi | | | | | |
| Shirin Faraz | Alou Badra Djakité | Ivan Dragičević | | | Nenad Stojaković |
| Zob Ahan | Armen Tigranyan | Fábio Carvalho | Mohammed Martin | Issa Ndoye | Armen Ghazaryan |

## Final classification

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Persepolis (C) | 34 | 18 | 11 | 5 | 55 | 34 | +21 | 59 | Qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League |
| 2 | Sepahan | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 53 | 38 | +15 | 58 | Qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League |
| 3 | Saba | 34 | 13 | 13 | 8 | 41 | 37 | +4 | 52 | Qualification for the 2009 AFC Champions League |
| 4 | Aboumoslem | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 37 | 37 | 0 | 50 | |
| 5 | Pas Hamedan | 34 | 11 | 16 | 7 | 36 | 28 | +8 | 49 | |
| 6 | Zob Ahan | 34 | 11 | 15 | 8 | 39 | 32 | +7 | 48 | |
| 7 | Bargh | 34 | 11 | 14 | 9 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 47 | |
| 8 | Est. Ahvaz | 34 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 61 | 51 | +10 | 46 | |
| 9 | Paykan | 34 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 41 | 42 | −1 | 46 | |
| 10 | Mes | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 36 | 34 | +2 | 45 | |
| 11 | Saipa | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 33 | 35 | −2 | 45 | |
| 12 | Rah Ahan | 34 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 45 | 40 | +5 | 44 | |
| 13 | Esteghlal | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 43 | Qualification for 2009 AFC Champions League |
| 14 | Fajr | 34 | 9 | 15 | 10 | 37 | 41 | −4 | 42 | |
| 15 | Pegah | 34 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 26 | 35 | −9 | 38 | |
| 16 | Malavan | 34 | 8 | 12 | 14 | 32 | 41 | −9 | 36 | |
| 17 | Sanat Naft (R) | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 37 | 46 | −9 | 35 | Relegation to the 2008–09 Azadegan League |
| 18 | Shirin Faraz (R) | 34 | 3 | 12 | 19 | 25 | 59 | −34 | 21 | Relegation to the 2008–09 Azadegan League |
* ↑ Persepolis was deducted 6 points in issued by FIFA.
* ↑ Sepahan was deducted 3 points in issued by Iranian Football Federation.
* ↑ Esteghlal qualified to AFC Champions League by winning the Hazfi Cup
* Champions
* Persepolis F.C.

## Results table

Last updated March 17, 2008
| Home \ Away | PRS | SEP | SAB | ABU | PAS | ZOB | PAY | BGH | ESA | MES | SAP | RAH | EST | FJR | PEG | MLV | SNA | SFZ |
| Persepolis | | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 5–0 |
| Sepahan | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Saba Battery | 1–4 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–2 |
| Aboumoslem | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| PAS Hamedan | 1–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | | 1–1 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Zob Ahan | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 |
| Paykan | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Bargh Shiraz | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 |
| Est. Ahvaz | 4–1 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 |
| Mes Kerman | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 |
| Saipa | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 4–2 |
| Rah Ahan | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 5–0 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 |
| Esteghlal | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 |
| Fajr Sepasi | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Pegah | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Malavan | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Sanat Naft | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 2–1 |
| Shirin Faraz | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | |

## Player statistics
### Top goalscorers
#### 18

* Hadi Asghari (Rah Ahan)
* Mohsen Khalili (Persepolis)

#### 13

* Ibrahima Touré (Paykan)

#### 12

* Ruhollah Bigdeli (Est. Ahvaz)
* Fereydoon Fazli (Saba Battery)
* Leo (Sanat Naft)

#### 10

* Davoud Haghi (Est. Ahvaz)
* Milad Meydavoodi (Est. Ahvaz)

#### 9

* Esmail Farhadi (Zob Ahan)
* Seyed Mohammad Hosseini (Aboomoslem)
* Mahmoud Karimi (Sepahan)
* Saber Mirghorbani (Sanat Naft)
* Mohammad Nasser (Bargh Shiraz)
* Bahman Tahmasebi (Fajr Sepasi)
* Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht (Pesepolis)
* Zaltron (Mes Kerman)

#### 8

* Arash Borhani (Esteghlal)
* Mohammad Gholamin (Pas Hamedan)
* Mehdi Karimian (Bargh Shiraz)
* Emir Obuća (Pas Hamedan)
* Jalal Rafkhaei (Malavan)
* Emad Reza (Foolad)

### Top goalassistants
#### 8

* Davoud Haghi (Est. Ahvaz)
* Mojtaba Jabari (Esteghlal)

#### 7

* Khosro Heidari (Pas Hamedan)
* Mehdi Shiri (Bargh Shiraz)
* Alireza Vahedi Nikbakht (Persepolis)

#### 6

* Abbas Aghaei (Persepolis)
* Ehsan Hajsafi (Sepahan)
* Reza Nasehi (Aboomoslem)
* Mohammad Navazi (Esteghlal)
* Ahmad Taghavi (Rah Ahan)

### Cards

| Player | | | | Team |
| Hossein Pashaei | 13 | 0 | 0 | Rah Ahan |
| Ali Haghdoost | 10 | 2 | 0 | Aboomoslem |
| Alou Badra Djakité | 11 | 1 | 0 | Shirin Faraz |
| Mohsen Bengar | 11 | 0 | 0 | Sepahan |
| Morteza Kashi | 10 | 1 | 0 | Saba Battery |
| Saber Mirghorbani | 11 | 0 | 0 | Sanat Naft |
| Abouzar Rahimi | 10 | 1 | 0 | Rah Ahan |
| Hossein Memar | 9 | 0 | 1 | Paykan |
| Hanif Omranzadeh | 9 | 0 | 0 | Pas Hamedan |
| Ivan Petrović | 8 | 0 | 1 | Aboomoslem |
| Mehrdad Pooladi | 8 | 1 | 0 | Esteghlal |

### Matches played
#### 34

* Mojtaba Shiri (Est. Ahvaz)

## Attendances
### Average home attendances

| Pos | Team | Total | High | Low | Average | Change |
| 1 | Persepolis | 960,000 | 110,000 | 0 | 60,000 | +78.0%$^†$ |
| 2 | Esteghlal | 590,000 | 90,000 | 5,000 | 34,706 | −0.8%$^†$ |
| 3 | Sanat Naft | 200,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 12,500 | n/a$^†$ |
| 4 | Malavan | 169,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 10,563 | −2.1%$^†$ |
| 5 | Pegah | 145,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 9,063 | n/a$^†$ |
| 6 | Saipa | 143,000 | 60,000 | 1,000 | 8,412 | −21.1%$^†$ |
| 7 | Mes Kerman | 139,000 | 15,000 | 2,000 | 8,176 | +18.1%$^†$ |
| 8 | Est. Ahvaz | 127,000 | 20,000 | 0 | 7,938 | +26.7%$^†$ |
| 9 | Saba Battery | 126,000 | 90,000 | 1,000 | 7,412 | +37.3%$^†$ |
| 10 | Aboumoslem | 118,000 | 35,000 | 1,000 | 6,941 | −27.2%$^†$ |
| 11 | PAS Hamedan | 116,000 | 10,000 | 3,000 | 6,824 | −14.0%$^†$ |
| 12 | Sepahan | 69,000 | 15,000 | 0 | 6,273 | +3.4%$^†$ |
| 13 | Bargh Shiraz | 89,000 | 20,000 | 1,000 | 5,235 | −6.0%$^†$ |
| 14 | Shirin Faraz | 76,000 | 7,000 | 0 | 4,750 | n/a$^†$ |
| 15 | Fajr Sepasi | 73,000 | 20,000 | 1,000 | 4,294 | −24.2%$^†$ |
| 16 | Paykan | 64,000 | 30,000 | 1,000 | 3,765 | −40.5%$^†$ |
| 17 | Zob Ahan | 54,000 | 15,000 | 1,000 | 3,176 | −22.5%$^†$ |
| 18 | Rah Ahan | 45,000 | 20,000 | 1,000 | 2,647 | −35.0%$^†$ |
| | League total | 3,303,000 | 110,000 | 0 | 11,235 | +11.0%$^†$ |
Updated to games played on 17 May 2008 Source: iplstats.com Notes: Matches with spectator bans are not included in average attendances Pegah, Sanat Naft and Shirin Faraz played last season in Azadegan League PAS Hamedan replaced PAS Tehran

### Highest attendances

| Rank | Home team | Score | Away team | Attendance | Date | Week | Stadium |
| 1 | Persepolis | 2–1 | Sepahan | 110,000 | 17 May 2008 (2008-05-17) | 34 | Azadi |
| 2 | Esteghlal | 1–1 | Persepolis | 90,000 | 14 October 2007 (2007-10-14) | 9 | Azadi |
| 2 | Saba Battery | 1–4 | Persepolis | 90,000 | 14 May 2008 (2008-05-14) | 33 | Azadi |
| 4 | Persepolis | 0–0 | Rah Ahan | 85,000 | 16 September 2007 (2007-09-16) | 5 | Azadi |
| 5 | Persepolis | 1–1 | Esteghlal | 80,000 | 4 April 2008 (2008-04-04) | 26 | Azadi |
| 6 | Persepolis | 3–2 | Esteghlal Ahvaz | 70,000 | 19 October 2007 (2007-10-19) | 10 | Azadi |
| 6 | Persepolis | 1–0 | Mes Kerman | 70,000 | 4 November 2007 (2007-11-04) | 12 | Azadi |
| 6 | Persepolis | 1–0 | Saipa | 70,000 | 18 November 2007 (2007-11-18) | 14 | Azadi |
| 6 | Persepolis | 1–1 | Bargh Shiraz | 70,000 | 11 May 2008 (2008-05-11) | 32 | Azadi |
| 10 | Persepolis | 2–1 | Paykan | 65,000 | 7 September 2007 (2007-09-07) | 4 | Azadi |
Notes: Updated to games played on 17 May 2008. Source: iplstats.com