The club was owned by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports until April 2024 when, due to Asian Football Confederation licensing regulations, an 85% majority ownership stake was transferred to a consortium of six Iranian banks.

They contest the Tehran Derby against rival team Esteghlal, a match that is closely followed by Iranian football fans and considered to be one of the biggest in Asia.

[22][23] Ekrami founded the club with the help of his young students and adopted the motto: "اول اخلاق، دوم درس، سوم ورزش" (transl.

[25] League attendance dropped and other clubs, including Pas, Rah Ahan and Oghab, attempted to sign Shahin players.

[30] Persepolis is the most successful club in the Takht Jamshid Cup league, clinching two championship titles and finishing three times as runner-up.

[citation needed] The 1990s were a successful decade for the team, with four league championships, two Hazfi Cups, a strong roster and renewed support.

In the same year they were stopped by the Korean Pohang Steelers in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions' Cup.Persepolis finished third, defeating Iraq's Al-Zawraa in the third place match in 1996–97 ACC.

Persepolis did not have much luck in the Asian Champion's cup either, as they were once again stopped in the semi-finals, this time by Chinese club, Dalian Wanda; they lost the third place match to Al-Hilal.

Persepolis finished third in the 2002–03 season; they also failed to advance out of the group stage in the newly created AFC Champions League.

Arie Haan was brought in as the new manager,[36][37] helping the team make it to the 2005–06 Hazfi Cup final, but he was fired by the club just before the 2006–07 season began.

Habib Kashani became the club chairman in June 2007 and selected Afshin Ghotbi as head coach of Persepolis for the 2007–08 season.

[42] On 9 January 2008, the disciplinary committee of the FFIRI penalized Sepahan with a five-point deduction because its fans had seriously injured a security soldier.

[47][48] Persepolis, Ghotbi, and Mohsen Khalili won the Team, Manager and Player of the year titles at the 2007–2008 Golden Ball awards.

[51][52] His assistant, Hamid Estili, was very close to management but Kashani and other club officials resigned because of conflicts between them and the Iran Physical Education Department.

[59] After the resignation of Ghotbi, his assistant Afshin Peyrovani was named as interim head coach of the club; he led the team in 11 matches in Iran Pro League, and was replaced with former Portugal and Saudi Arabia manager, Nelo Vingada.

After Vingada was fired as head coach of the club, former Croatia and Dinamo Zagreb manager Zlatko Kranjčar was hired as his successor, but he was quickly replaced with former Persepolis and Iran national football team captain, Ali Daei.[when?]

After Daei's resignation, Hamid Estili, Mustafa Denizli, Manuel José and Yahya Golmohammadi managed Persepolis, for a record[clarify] four head coaches over two seasons.

Persepolis won the following week's match against Gostaresh Foolad and moved into second place, behind Esteghlal Khuzestan on goal difference.

A final day win on 13 May 2016 against Rah Ahan was not enough for Persepolis, as Esteghlal Khuzestan also won their game and were crowned champions of Persian Gulf Pro League 2015–16.

They set records for the lowest number of goals conceded and most points accumulated after 17 weeks in a Persian Gulf Pro League season.

[citation needed] Persepolis defended its championship in the Persian Gulf Pro League 2017–18 and won Super cup.

On 30 May 2017, Persepolis advanced to the quarterfinals in the AFC Champions League, for the first time in its current format, after defeating Qatari club Lekhwiya 1–0 in the Round of 16.

The first design of Persepolis' crest used the Faravahar, an ancient Persian and Zoroastrian symbol depicting a man with three-feathered falcon wings.

[67] This version was used until 2004,[67] when the team restored the Olympic rings and replaced the bulls with the Homa, a mythological bird and symbol used in the architecture of Persepolis.

[citation needed] When Persepolis was founded, the football team did not have a stadium, although it had gymnasiums, swimming pools and bowling alleys.

Rouyanian negotiated an agreement with "Iran Seda" to air live commentary of the 77th Tehran derby, commentated by Eskandar Koti.

[citation needed] After the departure of Shahin players to Persepolis, the club became popular and its archrival Taj (meaning "crown" in Persian) was supported by the Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza.

Hall of Fame:[105][106][107][108] The table below shows Persepolis managers who have won noteworthy titles or had a great impact[clarify] on the team.

Privatisation of both Persepolis and Esteghlal, has failed, most likely due to the government's lack of interest to bequeath the enormous social (and potentially financial) capital of the two clubs to private entities.

[citation needed] A second much anticipated bid in May 2015 was called null and void after Persepolis fan and tycoon Hossein Hedayat was found unqualified by Iranian Privatization Organization.