Malavan F.C.

Malavan
ملوان
Full name	Malavan Bandar Anzali Football Club
Nickname(s)	Ghou-ye Sepid (The White Swan); Malavānān (The Sailors)
Short name	Malavan
Founded	1969; 55 years ago
Ground	Ghayeghran Stadium
Capacity	9,000
Chairman	Arash Fahmide
Manager	Maziar Zare
League	Persian Gulf Pro League
2023–24	6th of 16
Website	http://malavanfc.com
Home colours	Away colours
	Current season

Malavan Bandar Anzali Football Club (Persian: باشگاه فوتبال ملوان بندر انزلى, Bashgah-e Futbal-e Milâvan Bendâr Anzeli) is an Iranian football club based in Bandar-e Anzali, Iran. It currently won Iran's second football league, the Azadegan League and came back to Persian Gulf Pro League after they were relegated in the 2015–16 season. The team is known to have some of the most passionate fans in Iranian football, and is one of the country's most successful teams based outside Tehran. This team is one of the most successful Iranian teams in the Hazfi Cup. Malavan has reached the Hazfi Cup final 7 times and won 3 titles.

The club forms the football part of the multisport Malavan Sport and Cultural Club. Malavan was previously owned by the Iranian Navy.

History

Establishment

Bahman Salehnia created the team in 1968 along with some young athletes from the port city of Anzali. After some time, the Iranian Navy decided to become the team's main sponsor and owner.

Early years

The club never really had great success in the league but they were able to become the best non-Tehran based club and finishing third in the 1977 and 1989. Malavan has won the Hazfi Cup on 3 occasions. In 1986 Malavan participated in Asian Club Championship but after beating Saunders SC in first round they withdrew from tournament due to the Iran–Iraq War.

Iran Pro League

In 2003 Malavan was relegated to the Azadegan League, they only stayed one year in the lower league as they were immediately promoted back to the Iran Pro League. Since then, they have been one of the most stable teams of the league in recent years where they only had few coaches during their history and always finished in mid table and challenge the big teams. They finished 12th in the 2008–09 and 2009–10 season. In 2010–11 season they finished 8th and reached the final of Hazfi Cup but lost to Persepolis. In the 2013–14 Iran Pro League season Malavan achieved a surprising 7th-place finish in the league, their highest ever.

Relegation

In July 2015 Malavan hired famous Iranian coach Amir Ghalenoi who had won several league titles with Esteghlal and Sepahan. Player such as Arash Afshin, Hossein Mahini and Shahab Karami joined the squad to serve their conscription period. In Ghalenoi's first game in charge, Malavan defeated the Hazfi Cup holders, Zob Ahan 1–0. After only three games Ghalenoi left the club and was replaced by former Persepolis manager Hamid Estili.

On 13 May 2016 after a 2–0 loss to Siah Jamegan, who were behind Malavan before the match started, the clubs was relegated to the Azadegan League for the second time in their history.

Before the start of the 2016–17 season it was announced that controversial manager Mohammad Mayeli Kohan had been named Malavan's manager. Despite achieving good results and being in or near a promotion spot the entire season, Mayeli Kohan was involved in several confrontations with the supporters, which led to many supporters boycotting the team's games.

Return to Pro League with Zare

2020-2021 season marked the return of two retired homegrown players, Maziar Zare and Pejman Nouri, the former as the new head coach and the latter as the general manager of the club. In his first season, Zare lead the team to the semi-final of the domestic cup, despite failing to win promotion. In the 2021-2022 season, Zare led the team back to the Pro League by winning the Azadegan League with record points, marking the return of Malavan to the top flight after six years.

El Gilano

The match between Malavan and Damash or Sepidrood is known as the Gilan Derby or El Gilano. This match is one of Iran's most important and heated derby's. Malavan hold the record for most wins in the derby with four since the start of the Iran Pro League in 2001. Malavan also holds the largest margin of victory when they defeated Damash 3–0 in 2005 and again in 2013. The derby is also known for its fan violence.

Fans of Malavan in play of Malavan & Esteghlal semi-final in 2010–11 Hazfi Cup

Season-by-season

The table below chronicles the achievements of Malavan in various competitions since the beginning of Iranian Pro league in 2001.

Year	Division	Position	Hazfi Cup
2001–02	Pro League	12th	Quarter-finals
2002–03	Pro League	14th	Round of 16
2003–04	Azadegan League	2nd	Quarter-finals
2004–05	Pro League	7th	Quarter-finals
2005–06	Pro League	11th	Quarter-finals
2006–07	Pro League	14th	Quarter-finals
2007–08	Pro League	16th	Round of 16
2008–09	Pro League	12th	Quarter-finals
2009–10	Pro League	12th	Quarter-finals
2010–11	Pro League	8th	Final
2011–12	Pro League	15th	Fourth Round
2012–13	Pro League	13th	Round of 16
2013–14	Pro League	7th	Quarter-finals
2014–15	Pro League	13th	Round of 16
2015–16	Pro League	14th	Quarter-finals
2016–17	Azadegan League	4th	Quarter-finals
2017–18	Azadegan League	6th	Quarter-finals
2018–19	Azadegan League	11th	Fourth Round
2019–20	Azadegan League	15th	Third Round
2020–21	Azadegan League	11th	Semi-finals
2021–22	Azadegan League	1st	Third Round
2022–23	Pro League	12th	Round of 16

For details on seasons, see List of Malavan F.C. seasons

Honours

National titles

Azadegan League
- Winners (1): 2021–22
- Runner-up (1): 2003–04
Hazfi Cup
- Winners (3): 1975–76, 1986–87, 1990–91
- Runner-up (4): 1987–88, 1988–89, 1991–92, 2010–11

Minor titles

Vahdat Cup
- Third place (1): 1982
RCD Cup
- Runner-up (1): 1974

Club officials

Presidents

Sources:^[2]^[3]

Name	Years
Rashid Sazmand	1996–06
Saadollah Pourtahmasbi	2006–09
Ardeshir Pournemat	2009–11
Bahman Salehnia	2011–12
Sadegh Deroudgar	2012–14
Hossein Gholami	2014–15
Ahmad Donyamali	2015–17
Mehran Nasiri	2017–18
Pejman Nouri	2019–23
Arash Fahmide	2023–present

Current coaching staff

Source:^[4]

Position	Name
Head coach	Mehdi Tartar
Assistant coach	Eurico Pinhal
Goalkeeping coach	Mohammad Ali Hassani Sefat
Doctor	Babak Sayyad
Technical director	Ghafour Jahani
Team manager	Hossein Gholami

Head coaches

Below is a list of Malavan coaches from 1968 until the present day. Firouz Karimi carries the honor of being the first Iranian head coach to assume the title without rising from the Malavan football school.

Name	Nationality	Years
Bahman Salehnia		20 May 1968 – 5 February 1997
Nosrat Irandoost		5 February 1997 – 15 December 2000
Mohammad Ahmadzadeh		15 Dec 2000 – 2 July 2002
Bahman Salehnia		15 May 2002 – 2 July 2004
Nosrat Irandoost		2 July 2004 – 5 July 2006
Mohammad Ahmadzadeh		5 July 2006 – 1 January 2010
Farhad Pourgholami		1 January 2010 – 29 September 2012
Mohammad Ahmadzadeh		29 September 2012 – 28 May 2013
Dragan Skočić		28 May 2013 – 1 June 2014
Nosrat Irandoost		1 June 2014 – 8 October 2014
Stevan Mojsilović		8 October 2014 – 5 December 2014
Firouz Karimi		6 December 2014 – 1 June 2015
Hamid Estili		10 August 2015 – 20 February 2016
Mohammad Ahmadzadeh		1 March 2016 – 15 July 2016
Mohammad Mayeli Kohan		22 July 2016 – 27 May 2017
Nader Dastneshan		28 May 2017 – 1 June 2018
Farhad Pourgholami		1 June 2018 – 28 October 2018
Mohammad Ahmadzadeh		31 October 2018 – 7 June 2020
Akbar Misaghian		7 June 2020 – 1 September 2020
Maziar Zare		1 September 2020 – 18 May 2023
Mehdi Tartar		26 June 2023 – present

Players

First-team squad

As of 7 September 2024

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


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	IRN	Alireza Jafarpour
2	DF	IRN	Saman Touranian (on loan from Esteghlal)
3	DF	IRN	Abolfazi Alizadeh
4	DF	IRN	Amir Reza Afsordeh
5	DF	IRN	Saeed Karimi
6	MF	IRN	Omid Noorafkan (on loan from Sepahan) (captain)
7	FW	IRN	Soheil Fadakar
8	MF	IRN	Reza Mirzaei
10	MF	IRN	Mohammad Omri (on loan from Persepolis)
11	FW	IRN	Reza Jafari
12	GK	IRN	Afshar Sedaghat
14	DF	IRN	Milad Bagheri
16	MF	IRN	Farhan Jafari
17	FW	IRN	Reza Ghandipour
18	FW	IRN	Mohsen Alafi
19	DF	IRN	Jalal Maddahi
20	DF	IRN	Mohammadreza Rezaei
21	DF	IRN	Younes Akbarpour


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
23	MF	IRN	Parham Movaghari
27	DF	IRN	Mahan Taghipour
28	MF	IRN	Nima Entezari
30	FW	IRN	Ali Ramezani
33	GK	IRN	Habib Far Abbasi (on loan from Zob Ahan)
35	MF	IRN	Mahan Sadeghi
40	MF	IRN	Sajad Mosayebzadeh
44	DF	IRN	Parham Javadi
45	MF	IRN	Sina Saadatmand
47	FW	IRN	Sajjad Bazgir
55	MF	IRN	Mohammad Hossein Khosravi
77	MF	IRN	Abouzar Safarzadeh
80	FW	IRN	Ilya Imani
81	GK	IRN	Parham Ghanad
82	MF	IRN	Mohammadreza Khosrsvi
88	MF	IRN	Ghaem Eslamikhah
90	MF	IRN	Hossein Sadeghi

Loan list

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