Esteghlal Tehran
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| Full name | Esteghlal Tehran Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | S.S. |
| Founded | September 26, 1945 as Docharkheh Savaran |
| Ground | Azadi Stadium |
| Capacity | 78,116 |
| Chairman | Reza Eftekhari |
| Manager | Alireza Mansourian |
| League | Persian Gulf Pro League |
| 2016–17 | Persian Gulf Pro League, 2nd |
| Website | Club home page |
Esteghlal Tehran Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال استقلال تهران, meaning independence) until 1979 known as Taj Tehran Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال تاج تهران, meaning Crown) is an Iranian professional football club based in Tehran that plays in the Persian Gulf Pro League. Esteghlal F.C. is the football club of the multisport Esteghlal Athletic and Cultural Club (Persian:باشگاه فرهنگی ورزشی استقلال تهران).
Founded in 1945 initially as Docharkhe Savaran (دوچرخه سواران) meaning "The Cyclists" in Persian and later in 1949, the name of the club was first changed to Taj (تاج) which means "Crown" in Persian. The name of the club was finally modified into Esteghlal (Persian: استقلال) which is the current name of the club, meaning "Independence", subsequent to the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
In 1970, under the management of Zdravko Rajkov, Esteghlal Tehran became the first Iranian football club to win the Asian Club Championship.
They have won several official titles on the national and international stage since 1970, including eight Iranian League (1st tier) titles and a record 6 Hazfi Cups. There are two golden stars above the team's official badge to represent winning two titles in the Asian Club Championship (1970 and 1991).
On September 20, 1945 three Iranian military officers—Mirzani, Jananpour and Navab—started a sports club on Ferdowsi Street, Tehran. Since the founders of the club were mostly interested in cycling, the club's original name was Docharkhe Savaran (Persian: دوچرخه سواران), meaning 'The Cyclists' in Persian. The Esteghlal football club played its first official match in 1946.
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