From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Saeid Sadeghi breaks a bone — 124 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 124 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Loan watch2 Nov 2026
“I did not go to Esteghlal Khuzestan to sit and watch. I want to come back to Foolad and fight for my place.” 1 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Ali Nemati is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 7.15 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Foolad had the best player on the pitch.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ashkan Hajsafi was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Foolad dressing room was either.
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Marked 4.52, and generously at that. Nothing came off, and by the end the crowd had stopped expecting it to.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Alireza Amirkhani, and the manager let it.
Match31 Oct 2026
Point won or two lost for Foolad?
Ninety minutes, no goals, and the argument started before the car park emptied: a point gained, or two thrown away against Esteghlal Khuzestan? Both sides of it will still be going on Thursday.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Age has not caught Sasan Ansari yet — 7.87
At 35 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market26 Oct 2026
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alireza Amirkhani will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Foolad the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad26 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Foolad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammad Reza Soleimani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match24 Oct 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Sasan Ansari’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Foolad.
Loan watch26 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Esteghlal Khuzestan to sit and watch. I want to come back to Foolad and fight for my place.” 0 appearances in 11 matches say the rest.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Ashkan Hajsafi kept it short after the 1‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Nobody at Foolad is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad19 Oct 2026
A row about effort at Foolad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammad Reza Soleimani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match17 Oct 2026
A bad afternoon for Foolad against Zob Ahan
0‑2 to Zob Ahan, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words exchanged at Foolad
Matheus Costa and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Sina Moridi gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Loan watch19 Oct 2026
“I did not go to Zob Ahan to sit and watch. I want to come back to Foolad and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 10 matches say the rest.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑2 defeat, delivered by Ashkan Hajsafi to a room that had heard them before.
Player ratings19 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 14. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Looking ahead19 Oct 2026
Padideh next, and one man in the Foolad dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Foolad may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad12 Oct 2026
A falling-out at Foolad
Ali Nemati and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Somebody watched every match in the division at the weekend and decided he was the best thing in any of them. A small honour, and most careers end without one.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Mohammad Reza Soleimani’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Foolad needing him to play as if none of it matters.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Sina Moridi has been promised minutes
A conversation in the manager’s office, and a commitment that came out of it. Promises like that are cheap to make and expensive to break, and Sina Moridi has written the date down.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
Matheus Costa knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matheus Costa trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Foolad will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
Looking ahead12 Oct 2026
Looking ahead: the trip to Zob Ahan
Position 7 for the hosts, a long journey for the away end, and a fixture that will look ordinary on paper right up until it is not.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match3 Oct 2026
94 minutes played. Gustavo Blanco Leschuk found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Saba went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.97, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Player ratings5 Oct 2026
At 38 every good afternoon gets called a throwback, and this one was: 8.00, and nobody on the pitch better.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Hamed Lak in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Foolad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match3 Oct 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Gustavo Blanco Leschuk. 3‑2 against Saba, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad5 Oct 2026
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
Loan watch5 Oct 2026
“I watch every Foolad game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Esteghlal Khuzestan runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Hamed Lak is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Foolad have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market28 Sep 2026
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Foolad they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Tempers go at Foolad
Hamed Lak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
Sina Asadbeigi falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market28 Sep 2026
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Foolad has been clear about where Mohammad Ghoreishi stands, which is more than many ever get.
Loan watch28 Sep 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Foolad, and 0 appearances in 7 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
The dugout28 Sep 2026
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Squad28 Sep 2026
One booking too many, and Milad Sarlak sits out. Foolad lose him for the sort of avoidable reason that makes a manager's week longer.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Foolad this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Saeid Sadeghi ran the middle of the pitch — 6.87
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 9 combined actions and a mark of 6.87, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
Loan watch21 Sep 2026
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Foolad, and 2 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
Market21 Sep 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Yousef Mazrae has his answer from Foolad; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Match19 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Market21 Sep 2026
The shop window has Ali Nemati in it
Foolad have let the market know Ali Nemati can be had. No price in the advert, but everyone in the trade knows roughly what it says.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Ashkan Hajsafi was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Foolad dressing room was either.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Foolad, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Match9 Sep 2026
Foolad bow out of the cup
Malavan go through and Foolad go home, 0‑4 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Market14 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Foolad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market14 Sep 2026
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. Foolad have lost him in all but the paperwork.
The terraces14 Sep 2026
A cup embarrassment at Malavan follows Foolad home
0-4. Going out of a cup is one afternoon; going out like that is a week of phone-ins, and the manager will hear every one of them.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Ali Nemati goes up and wins it — 7.99
A defender on the scoresheet, which happens rarely enough that everybody in the ground remembers who took the corner. 1 for him, and a mark of 7.99 for the rest of it.
Squad14 Sep 2026
Words at Foolad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Mohammad Reza Soleimani is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets14 Sep 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Santos have kept their man, and Foolad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Match12 Sep 2026
It finished 1‑0, and it was Ali Nemati’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Foolad.
Player ratings14 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 18. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
Window shuts: 11 in, 7 out at Foolad
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 11 arrived, 7 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Market7 Sep 2026
Tractor come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Foolad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Foolad asked and Al-Riyadh said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Transfer targets7 Sep 2026
Gostaresh Foulad wanted more than $640.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Market7 Sep 2026
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Foolad have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sina Moridi, and the manager let it.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Four or five weekends of consistency, measured against everybody else in the division. A quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
The dugout7 Sep 2026
The manager has not finished forgetting Saeid Sadeghi's mistake
Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Foolad, and it is not being withdrawn.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Fredrikstad have kept their man, and Foolad go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
$630.0K on the table at Gostaresh Foulad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
Gostaresh Foulad wanted more than $800.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Foolad
Mohammad Reza Soleimani was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match29 Aug 2026
Gostaresh Foulad left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Market31 Aug 2026
Business is business: Ali Hassani goes
Esteghlal Ahvaz paid $34.0K and Foolad took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ali Nemati, and the manager let it.
The dugout31 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 2‑3, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.27, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Foolad offered $3.8M; Esteghlal said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Foolad asked and Persepolis said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at Foolad
Ali Nemati and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad24 Aug 2026
A row about effort at Foolad
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Mohammad Reza Soleimani was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Match22 Aug 2026
Siah Jamegan made Foolad work for it, but the scoreboard read 2‑0 at the end and the table does not ask how.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Ashkan Hajsafi, on a 2‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market17 Aug 2026
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Siah Jamegan had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
Esteghlal wanted more than $1.9M and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
$800.0K on the table at Gostaresh Foulad. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad17 Aug 2026
A falling-out at Foolad
Hamed Lak and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
The approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Market17 Aug 2026
Rah Ahan pay $130.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Market17 Aug 2026
The phone has started ringing about Alireza Amirkhani again, and this time the name on the line is Zob Ahan. Foolad are listening politely and promising nothing.
Squad17 Aug 2026
Words at Foolad training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sina Asadbeigi is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Transfer targets17 Aug 2026
A loan enquiry to Red Bull Salzburg: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$4.8M was the most the club would pay and DAC Dunajska Streda were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Foolad have gone to Esteghlal with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The offer went to Esteghlal this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Market10 Aug 2026
Naft Tehran come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Foolad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad10 Aug 2026
Tempers go at Foolad
Hamed Lak was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
Foolad asked and Al Ahli said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Market10 Aug 2026
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Saman Hajsafi has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
Market10 Aug 2026
One of our own: Majid Vafaei joins the Foolad first team
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Majid Vafaei is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
Market10 Aug 2026
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. Hossein Ebrahimi is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
From our football correspondent
Triumph
Match1 Aug 2026
7‑0, and Abolfazl Zadehattar took the headlines on an afternoon when everything Foolad tried came off. Days like this are retold all winter.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Marked 9.86 at 19, in a side that makes no allowances for age. He did not need any, and he looked the least nervous man on the pitch.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.57, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Squad3 Aug 2026
The match ball belongs to Abolfazl Zadehattar, whose 3 goals turned a difficult afternoon into a procession.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Sina Moridi has been here 13 seasons
172 appearances across 13 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.
Transfer targets3 Aug 2026
$3.5M on the table at DAC Dunajska Streda. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Player ratings3 Aug 2026
Age has not caught Vahid Amiri yet — 8.35
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.35 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
Market3 Aug 2026
Rah Ahan come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Foolad did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad3 Aug 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Ramin Rezaeian and Foolad agree another 2 years.