Sanat Naft Abadan F.C.

Establishment and Early years

Prior to the establishment of the Takhte Jamshid League in 1972, The people of Abadan mostly followed two clubs, Kargar FC and Jam FC. Kargar had been established by workers from Abadan's oil refinery. Ten years later, Parviz Dehdari along with some of his class mates at Razi School established Jam FC. These teams had a large number of fans until 1972. When the Takhte Jamshid League was established, the city of Abadan was given one spot. The club was to be managed by Iran's oil industry. Fans were immediately drawn to the team, as it would be competing in Iran's top football league. Many of the better players from Kargar and Jam moved to Sanat Naft. The club's original kit colors were white, blue and black. The city of Abadan and the Khūzestān Province had very technical players and the club adapted a style of play similar to the Brazil of the 1970s after Parviz Dehdari became the chairman of the club. To emphasize their admiration for Brazilian football, the club changed its team colors to yellow, blue and white, similar to that of the Brazilian national team. The clubs nickname, Iran's Brazil, soon appeared.

Post Revolution

Football was extremely popular in Abadan, and the number of fans was growing everyday, but everything stopped when the Iranian Revolution took place in 1978. Football was no longer a priority, and it was shoved even farther out of the limelight when the Iran–Iraq War began in 1980. Abadan and Khuzestan were heavily hit during the war. Abadan's massive refinery was shut down, and hundreds of thousands left the city. From 1980 to 1988 the club was based in Shiraz. Once in Shiraz, the club had to start from Iran's third division, but was able to make it back to the top flight with the help of its players. Since many natives of Abadan had left the city during the war for other cities, fan support for the club was always good no matter where the team was playing.

After the war the club went back to Abadan, but due to the war's negative effects on the city and poor management in the football club, Sanat Naft has not been able to have any major success.

Iran Pro League

Sanat Naft were present in Iran's Azadegan League until the 2001–02 season when they were relegated. They made it back to the Iran Pro League in 2002, but the club was relegated the same season.

Portuguese coach Acácio Casimiro signed a one–year deal as head coach of Sanat Naft on 18 June 2006 but was later replaced by Ebrahim Ghasempour. After Sanat Naft was promoted to the Iran Pro League they were immediately relegated the same season under head coach Ahmad Tousi. Tousi took over for Ghasempour as he was sacked after 20 games. The club was in last place with only 16 point to show under Ghasempour with a record of 4 wins 4 ties and 12 losses. In the next 14 games under Tousi the club went 5 wins with 4 ties and 5 losses with a total of 19 point.

Return to the Persian Gulf Pro League

After spending two years in the Azadegan League the club was again promoted to the Iran Pro League in 2010. In their first year Sanat Naft finished a respectable ninth place. The following year the club again finished in a respectable 10th place. Before the 2012–13 Iran Pro League season there were high expectations for Sanat Naft. The club was a major disappointment and finished 16th and was relegated back to the Azadegan League.

After a few seasons in the lower division, in the 2015–16 season after a last day 2–1 win against third place team Fajr Sepasi, Sanat Naft returned to the top flight after a three year absence.

First-team squad

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Shahab Gordan 2 DF Hossein Saki U23 3 DF Sirvan Ghorbani 4 DF Aghil Kaabi 6 MF Akbar Imani 7 FW Behnam Barzay 10 MF Taleb Reykani 11 MF Milad Jahani 12 GK Mohammad Deris U23 13 MF Karrar Jassim 14 MF Mohammad Reza Ghobishavi U19 15 DF Hossein Baghlani

No. Position Player 17 FW Hamed Pakdel 18 FW Reza Jabireh U21 20 MF Mostafa Ahmadi 89 FW Jonathan Balotelli 23 MF Moslem Mojademi U23 25 FW Jafar Salmani U21 26 MF Mohammad Javad Kerdouni U21 69 DF Vafa Hakhamaneshi DF Fardin Abedini FW Fakher Tahami U23 DF Mohammad Amin Omidfar U23 DF Hamed Nashouri U21

Reserves

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

No. Position Player 41 DF Mohsen Mirzaei U21 42 MF Mehdi Fayyazi U21 43 DF Mohammad Amin Omidifar U21 45 FW Hossein Mousavi U21 47 MF Mohammad Reza Ashian U21

No. Position Player 48 MF Amir Abbas Shameli U19 49 MF Mohammad Ali Mohseni U18 50 Armin Baghlani U19 51 Morteza Nobakht U19 53 Reza Farhani U19

Loan list

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

No. Position Player 21 FW Milad Mousavi U23 (at Shahrdari Mahshahr)

For recent transfers, see List of Iranian football transfers summer 2018.

Club management

Position	Nation
Manager	Paulo Sérgio
First team coach	Behnam Seraj
Assistant coach	Peyman Saheb Jami
Assistant coach	Mojtaba Kheirandish
Goalkeeping coach	Kazem Farhani
Fitness coach	Alireza Jalili
Fitness coach	William Markozy
Analyzor	Babak Ebadi
Analyzor	Amir Mohebi
Doctor	Reza Rahmani
Physiotrapist	Farid Shiyasi
Masseur	Karapet Israelian
Logisitics	Karim Rikani
Technical Manager	Gholamreza Aminifar

Top goalscorers

	Name	Nationality	Position	Goals
1	Mohannad Mahdi Al-Nadawi	Iraq	Forward	38
2	Rouhollah Arab	Iran	Forward	33
3	Founéké Sy	Mali	Forward	20
4	Luciano Pereira	Brazil	Forward	13
5	Leonardo Pimenta	Brazil	Forward	12
6	Rasoul Navidkia	Iran	Midfielder	11
	Karrar Jassim	Iraq	Midfielder	11
8	Levon Pachajyan	Armenia	Forward	10
9	Saber Mirghorbani	Iran	Forward	9
10	Ali Mombaini	Iran	Midfielder	9

Official

• Official club website (in Persian)
• Player and Results