Tehran – When you think of Iranian football in Tehran, the first teams that pop into your head are Persepolis and Esteghlal. But for Iran’s Armenian community, FC Ararat Tehran is a very well-known club.
Ararat Tehran was founded in 1944 by Armenian-Iranians and was named after the famous mountain of the same name in Armenia.
Although never a powerhouse in Iranian football, Ararat provided famous footballers such as Andranik Eskandarian, Markar Aghajanyan, and Andranik Teymourian.
Eskandarian represented Iran at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina and became a fan favorite as a member of the New York Cosmos in the old NASL in the United States.
Aghajanyan, capped two times for Iran, has been a member of Team Melli’s staff as an assistant coach to Carlos Queiroz since 2011.
Teymourian, or “Ando” as he is known, is the current captain of TM with nearly one hundred appearances. Ando represented Iran at three Asian Cup Tournaments, the 2006 World Cup in Germany, and the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Ararat were relegated from the Azadegan League to the Iranian 2nd Division in 2009 and folded soon after due to financial problems. It was a sad moment for Ararat’s loyal supporters but thankfully the club was resurrected in 2014 and were given membership in the Tehran Provincial League: the fifth level of the Iranian football pyramid.
Ararat finished tenth in the Tehran Provincial League in 2015-16 season but this season they have higher expectations because they are now coached by Mehdi Dinvarzadeh.
Dinvarzadeh is no stranger to Iranian football, he is best known for helping Naft Tehran earn double promotion during his tenure as head coach from 2007 to 2010 and putting Naft on the map of Iranian football. Naft topped the Iranian 2nd Division in 2008-09 and finished first in the Azadegan League one year later to earn a spot in the Iranian Pro League. Naft Tehran have remained in the IPL since 2010 and are consistently one of the best teams in Iran.
Recently we caught up with Ararat starting keeper Sevak Amirian and asked him if he believes Dinvarzadeh is the best man to guide Ararat to the next level of Iranian football.
“I think he can,” said Amirian. “Dinvarzadeh knows so much, he has a lot of experience, and we want to finish top of our league.”
Dinvarzadeh helped Damash Gilan earn promotion to the IPL in 2011 and two years ago he led Shahrdari Ardabil to a first place finish in the Iranian 2nd Division.
Ararat will host Gol-e-Abrisham on 24 July. The quest has begun for Dinvarzadeh to put Ararat Tehran on the map of Iranian football.