Establishment The club was founded as
Taj Rasht Football Club in 1960. The club was one of
Taj Tehran branches at the time. From the beginning, Taj Rasht was able to attract some of the best players of
Guilan.
Before 1970 Before the 1970s, Iran did not have an official national football league. Most clubs participated in championships of their city or province. In addition to that Taj Rasht played in the
Guilan Province League until 1970.
1970s In 1970, the
Local League was created. The league included teams from all Iran in different qualifying tournaments. Taj Rasht finished fourth in
Group A of their qualifying tournament. The club also participated in the
1971–72 Local League season. Taj Rasht missed again qualification for the final stage after they achieved the last place in their group again. In 1972, the
Takht Jamshid Cup was founded as the national league and included teams from all over the country. However, Taj Rasht could not qualify and therefore played again in the Guilan Province League.
Abouzar Rasht In 1975 the club changed its name for the first time. Until 1983 the club was called
Abouzar Rasht Football Club. Due to the
Iranian Revolution and the
Iran–Iraq War, the Takht Jamshid Cup was dissolved and also the lower leagues were unorganized. As a result, the club took part in regional championships and cups only irregularly.
Esteghlal Rasht In 1983 Abouzar changed its name into
Esteghlal Rasht Football Club.
Esteghlal means
independence in
Persian. In 1991 the
Azadegan League was formed as the top flight of Iranian football. Esteghlal Rasht took part in the league in the
1991–92 season, but was relegated at the end of the season. Due to sponsorship, the club was known as
Esteghlal Gaz Rasht Football Club in
1992–93 Iran Football's 2nd Division. After playing many years in
Iran Football's 2nd Division, they were promoted to
Azadegan League in 2000. They finished 10th in
2000–01 season. In the summer of 2001, the
Iran Pro League was established as the professional football league of Iran, Azadegan League was declared as the second-highest professional league in the
Iranian football league system. All clubs from the 2000–01 Azadegan League season took participate in the
2001–02 Iran Pro League. Esteghlal Rasht was relegated after an embarrassingly lost 9–2 to Aboomoslem on the last matchday of the season. They finished 13th in that season.
Pegah Guilan Due to financial problems and relegation, the Pegah Dairy Company took over the club in the summer of 2002. The club was renamed as
Pegah Guilan Football Club. In 2007, however, a club called
Esteghlal Shahrdari Rasht was founded again, which could participate as a separate club in the Guilan Provincial League. Pegah managed to get promoted to the first division and finished 9th in the
2003–04 season. A year later, relegation took place again. Then the club played two years in the Azadegan League. In
2007 they were able to return to the Iran Pro League, known as the Persian Gulf Cup since 2006. With 15th place in the
2007–08 season, Pegah was able to prevent relegation. Pegah also qualified for the
Final of the
Hazfi Cup this season. After Pegah won the first leg 1–0, they lost in the second leg against
Esteghlal in front of almost 100,000 spectators at the
Azadi Stadium with 0–3. ,
Guilan Damash Guilan In the summer of 2008, Pegah Guilan was struggling with financial problems. In October of the same year, the Aria Investment Development Company, then owned by
Mahafarid Amir Khosravi, took over the club. The club was renamed
Sport Club Damash Guilan. Damash is a small historical village in
Jirandeh near Rasht.
Pro and Azadegan League played for Damash The club shuttled between the first two leagues for the following years. In the
2008–09 season, they finished 17th and had to relegate to the Azadegan League. In the
2009–10 season, Damash failed to Sanat Naft Abadan in the play-offs and missed promotion. A year later, the club won the title for it and managed to rise. Between 2011 and 2013, the club played two decent years in the Persian Gulf Cup and came in 7th in
2011–12 and 11th in
2012–13. During this time,
Alireza Jahanbakhsh also made a name for himself with good performances, 10 goals in 44 matches. In the summer of 2013, he moved to the Dutch
Eredivisie to
NEC Nijmegen. Iranian football legend
Mehdi Mahdavikia also played for Damash between 2011 and 2012. Starting in 2013, the club experienced difficult years and relegated at the end of the
2013–14 season. Then followed two disappointing years in the Azadegan League. In the
2014–15 Azadegan League season, the club only finished 6th and missed promotion. In the
2015–16 season, Damash even had to relegate to the
League 2.
2016-2026 Due to very great financial difficulties, the club was close to being dissolved in March 2016. The Guilan Football Organization, therefore, took over the rights to the club and so Damash could end the season. After relegation, the club should be renamed
Shahr-e Baran Football Club, which led to major protests from fans. Damash then kept his name. In 2019 Damash sensationally reached the
Hazfi Cup Final against
Persepolis in the
Foolad Arena in
Ahvaz. The game turned into a scandal as the stadium was filled with over 30,000
Perespolis supporters hours before kick-off. As a result, the approximately 1,000 Damash fans could not enter the stadium and the kick-off was delayed by a few hours. In the end, Damash lost to Persepolis 0–1. After three years in the
League 2, Damash returned to the Azadegan League. The club replaced
Karoon Arvand Khorramshahr for the
2019–20 season.
2026 Damash has failed to reach the promotional battle in the Persian League 2 and is currently in the relegation battles for the past few years. This might have been led by lack of player confidence, low club budget, low team chemistry, poor management and many more reasons. Many Gilanian football and Damash fans don't attend the team's matches anymore as a sign of the team losing its reputation. ==Name history==