Goal Tehran derby تاج و پرسپولیس شهرآورد تهران Perspolis Taj Esteghlal The Tehran derby (Persian: شهرآورد تهران) known locally as the derby Tehran is a football local derby match that takes place twice a year between the two most popular clubs in Iran: Esteghlal F.C. and Persepolis F.C. This match was declared as the most important derby in Asia and 22nd most important derby in the world in June 2008 by World Soccer magazine.[2][3][4] Despite being a derby between two teams from Tehran, the match has been played in other Iranian cities as well. The first derby match between the teams took place on April 5, 1968, at Amjadieh Stadium, where the game finished as a scoreless draw. At the time, Esteghlal was known as Taj FC. Both clubs were relatively young but Persepolis had a solid fan base, because of its close association to the once popular Shahin club. The rivalry between Shahin and Taj was transferred to its current stage when the Shahin club had to cease operations due to poor relations with the IFF. Nasser Hejazi Over time, the rivalry became more heated and club fans began attaining collective identities. By the mid-1970s Persepolis was seen as a working class club, while Taj was viewed as a club close to the ruling establishment and supported by the upper class of Iranian society. Persepolis fans outnumbered Esteghlal fans by large numbers at the time and still do. Because of the sensitive nature of the matches, fan violence has occurred several times. In minor cases fans break chairs or throw garbage at the field, but more notable cases of violence have involved physical fights between opposing teams and fans, storming of the field by fans, as well as significant destruction of public property. Ever since 1995, federation officials have invited foreign referees to officiate the game to ease fan and player suspicions of referee bias. This occurred after the events of the 38th derby (see below). Azadi Stadium has been the stadium where most of the matches took place, but Amjadieh Stadium(now Shiroudi) in Tehran, Azadi Stadium in Bandar Abbas and Yadegare Imam Stadium in Tabriz have all hosted the game at least once. Persepolis 0 - Taj 3 (February 6, 1970) - The game score was 1-0 in favor of Taj until the 82nd minute when the Persepolis players left the field to protest against the match officials. The football federation later declared Taj the winner by a score of 3-0. Persepolis 0 - Taj 3 (January 17, 1971) - The game was tied 1-1 until the 75th minute when the Persepolis players left the field to protest against the match officials after several decisions went Esteghlal's way. The football federation later declared Taj the winner by a score of 3-0. This was the second time this occurred in two years. Persepolis 4 - Taj 1 (November 15, 1972) - This was the first time Persepolis won the derby match. Mahmoud Khordbin and Safar Iranpak both scored one goal each and Hossein Kalani bagged the other two goals for a decisive 4-1 win. Persepolis 6 - Taj 0 (September 7, 1973) - In a game that is still remembered to this day, Persepolis scored 6 goals to win the match with a hat-trick from Homayoun Behzadi(50,86,92) and three more goals from Soleymani(45,56) and H.Kalani(32). the game to this date, is still the highest scoring affair between the two teams. Esteghlal 1 - Persepolis 0 (October 7, 1983) - Iranian television broadcaster IRIB did not air the match so a large number of fans flocked to Azadi Stadium. An estimated 128,000 entered the 100,000-capacity stadium. So many fans were in attendance that some were forced to climb the metal base of the stadium floodlights. None of the derby matches to this date have had a higher attendance and mostly likely never will as the 2002 renovations of the stadium reduced its capacity. Esteghlal 0 (2) - Persepolis 0 (4) (February 1989) - This is one of few times the two clubs have met each other in the Hazfi Cup. The match finished scoreless in regulation time, and extra-time was eventless. Persepolis beat Esteghlal 4-2 in penalty shootouts to advance to the next stage in the Hazfi Cup. Esteghlal 3 - Persepolis 0 (January 11, 1995) - In the 38th derby Persepolis was leading in the match by a score of 2-0 until the last 10 minutes of the match. Esteghlal scored 2 goals in quick succession, including one which was a penalty. This angered the Persepolis fans and players who felt the referee was biased towards Esteghlal. Persepolis fans stormed the field, and many fights broke out on the pitch between fans and players. After this match it was decided that Iranian referees will no longer be used for the derby. Persepolis 2 - Esteghlal 2 (December 29, 2000) - One of the most exciting and heated matches in derby history.[citation needed] The game was extremely sensitive as Mehdi Hasheminasab had left Persepolis in the off-season for Esteghlal.

• published: 08 Nov 2013
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