Establishment Rah Ahan was formed in 1927 in
Tehran by
Iran Railways but were bought by
Mehr Afarin Holding. They are one of the oldest
Iranian football clubs still in existence. In 1939 Rah Ahan participated in the Tehran Local League for the first time. Their first official match was on 4 January 1940 against Bazargani F.C.; they won the game 11–0. Rah Ahan is currently owned by Mehrafarin Holding.
1950s During the
World War in the 1940s Rah Ahan dissolved its football operations, and did not restart its team until the 1950s. After its re-establishment the club under the name of
Pirouz played on the dirt pitches near the railway station. The players of the team were railway workers. In 1955 with the arrival of Rasoul Madadnavi from
Tabriz, the club was again renamed to
Rah Ahan and began to attract players from outside the railway company. After achieving good results in the 1958 season Rah Ahan was promoted to the 1st Division Tehran League. However, due to new restrictions regarding private clubs in the Tehran Local Leagues, the club was denied the right to compete and eventually ceased its operations.
Pre-Revolution In 1963 Rah Ahan was again re-established and were placed in the 2nd Division Tehran Local League. In 1966 Rah Ahan was finally promoted to the top division of the Tehran Local Leagues. In 1973 the
Takht Jamshid Cup, Iran's first national league, was founded. In their first two years in the Cup, Rah Ahan finished a respectable 7th and 9th. In 1976 they were relegated to the
2nd Division. In their only season in the 2nd Division, Rah Ahan finished 1st in the league and were again promoted to the
Takht Jamshid Cup. In 1978 they were again relegated to the 2nd Division, but they could not finish the 2nd Division season because of the
Iranian Revolution.
Iran Pro League After the establishment of the
Iran Pro League in 2001, Rah Ahan was placed in the second tier
Azadegan League. In 2005 Rah Ahan was promoted to the
Iran Pro League after a second-place finish in the
Azadegan League. Since then they have mostly been an average team and have finished in the mid-table, but since the arrival of
Ansarifard as the chairman they have looked more stable. They finished 11th in the 2008–09 season and avoided relegation in the season after the last week.
Ali Daei In the 2012–13 season, under
Ali Daei, the team got out to an early start, and were 4th in the
Iran Pro League after the opening few weeks. After that the team had an average year, dropping to 8th by the season's end. In the same year they went on tour in Turkey, beating
Galatasaray A2 4–1, and losing to
Super Lig side
Istanbul BB 3–2. At the end of the 2012–13 season
Ali Daei left Rah Ahan to sign with
Persepolis.
Trouble years Mansour Ebrahimzadeh was announced as Rah Ahan's new manager for the 2013–14 season. With him in charge Rah Ahan finished an average 11th place. At the end of the season, Ebrahimzadeh announced that he was stepping down as Rah Ahan's manager. Former Persepolis manager
Hamid Estili was named as his replacement. Rah Ahan encountered severe financial problems and under Estili the club performed poorly. Estili was soon fired and replaced with former
Rah Ahan player
Farhad Kazemi. In the 2015–16 season, Rah Ahan ran into financial troubles, finished 15th in the
Persian Gulf Pro League and were relegated. This was the first time Rah Ahan would play in the
Azadegan League in 12 years. ==Season-by-season==