Esteghlal F.C

 Establishment

On 26 September 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 Docharkheh Savaran meaning 'The Cyclists' in Persian. Docharkheh Savaran football club played its first official match in 1946, and in 1947 was able to win the Tehran Hazfi Cup.

 Emerging success

In 1949, the club officially changed its name to Taj. The club became the most beloved team in Iran after some years, and were able to make their fans happy by winning numerous league championships, Hazfi Cups and Asian Club Championships. The club has been able to get successful results in the past couple of years and is always looked at as a contender for the league championship. In the past two years it has finished 2nd or 3rd in the league, but Amir Ghalenoei was able to get the team its first championship in the IPL in the 2005-06 season after his third and final year as the manager.

Tehran Derby

The club's main rival and its opponent in the Tehran Derby is Persepolis F.C. The first derby match between the clubs took place on April 5, 1968 at Amjadieh Stadium. The Azadi Stadium is always sold out when the match takes place. Ali Samereh Scored the earliest goal in Tehran derby for Esteghlal F.C. against Persepolis F.C. which came less than a minute into the game. Since 1995, IRIFF 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. In the 38th derby (January 11, 1995) 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. After 13 years of foreign referees the second leg of the 2008-09 season Derby an Iranian ref once again refereed the game. The game ended a draw goals coming from Mojtaba Jabari and Maziar Zare. Over the years Esteghlal has been the more successful team with 20 wins, Persepolis having 16.

AFC Champions League

Esteghlal is the most successful club in Asian Champion's League with 2 champions titles and 2 runner up tied with Al-Hilal Riadh Saudi Arabia.

 AFC Champions League 2007

Esteghlal was dropped from the 2007 edition of the Asian Champion's League after the AFC did not receive the club's player list for the tournament in time. Despite efforts by the club management to reverse the decision, AFC upheld its decision  and the club's board resigned soon after.

The Azadi (Persian: ورزشگاه آزادی) is a football stadium in Tehran, Iran. It is the home of Esteghlal F.C. Work on the grounds started in 1971. It has an official capacity of 100,000 but has been filled over capacity several times. The Stadiums former name was Aryamehr Stadium but was changed after the Iranian Revolution. Prior to the construction of Azadi Esteghlal used to play their games at Amjadieh Stadium