Esteghlal’s Father: “I, Esteghlal, and the life are the same one.”
The last attendance on Esteghlal F.C bench
Late Mansour Pourheidari (1946-2016)
He started his football career at Daraei, before joining Taj (currently known as Esteghlal) in 1965. He played for ten years for Taj; between 1965 and 1975. Pourheidari returned to Daraei in 1975 to play his final career for two years at the club. He also played for Iran albeit earning three caps only. After retiring from playing football, Pourheidari started his coaching career, becoming assistant manager of Esteghlal. He was promoted to the first team manager in 1983. He was the head coach of the club for 9 years overall, managing them in 309 games. He is also the only Iranian who has won the AFC Champions League as both a player and coach. He began his managerial career in 1980 as assistant coach to Abbas Razavi and Asghar Sharafi. He was promoted as the club’s head coach in 1983 after the resignation of Sharafi. After three years, he resigned and became head coach of UAE Pro-League side, Al-Ahli, and led the team until 1989. He was re-appointed as Esteghlal manager in 1989 and won the league in the following season. He also led Esteghlal to their second Asian trophy in 1991. He left the team in the next year but was returned again as head coach in 1995 and led the team for one season. After that, he became head coach of Fajr Sepasi for two seasons but was unable to earn any trophy. He became head coach of Iran’s national football team in 1998 and led it until 2000. Pourheidari was also a member of the Board of Directors of Esteghlal for decades. He was team manager of Esteghlal from 2010 to 2012 and from 2012, he was technical manager of the club. He was the Head Coach of the Iran national football team in the 1998 Asian Games where they won first place and gold medals. He died on 4 November 2016 of cancer. He was a technical manager and a member of the board of directors of Esteghlal at the time of his death.
