Before 1970 Before the 1970s, Iran did not have an official national football league. Most clubs participated in championships of their city or province. Therefore the champion of the
Tehran Premier League was seen as the
Iranian football champion. Due to their achievements in the Tehran Premier League,
Shahin Tehran and
Taj, today known as
Esteghlal, were the most popular teams at this time. Also
Daraei and
PAS Tehran were successful clubs in
Tehran's own league.
Takht Jamshid Cup In 1974, the
Takht Jamshid Cup was founded as the national league and included teams from all over the country. The
Iranian Football Federation had decided to create a league similar to European football leagues. The Takht Jamshid Cup comprised twelve clubs in the
1973–74 season.
Persepolis became the first champions of the Takht Jamshid Cup, two points ahead of rival
Taj. Before the beginning of the
1974–75 season, the number of teams were increased from twelve to 16 teams. Esteghlal claimed its first Takht Jamshid Cup title after winning the league ahead of Persepolis. The
1975–76 Takht Jamshid Cup was won by Persepolis with a great performance by Iranian football legend
Ali Parvin. The second place team was another
Tehran based club, Homa. The next two seasons were won by
PAS Tehran under coach
Hassan Habibi. PAS Tehran won their championships both times ahead of Persepolis. At this time the Takht Jamshid Cup was one of the strongest football leagues in Asia. The
Iran national football team won in 1976 their third successive
AFC Asian Cup and qualified 1978 for the
FIFA World Cup for the first time in the country's history.
1979 Revolution and 1980s The
1978–79 Takht Jamshid Cup season was abandoned due to the
1979 Revolution.
Shahbaz was leading the league after twelve matchdays ahead of Persepolis and Taj. Due to the
Islamic Revolution and the
Iran–Iraq War, the Takht Jamshid Cup was dissolved and also the lower leagues were unorganized. Once again the champion of the
Tehran Province League was seen as the
Iranian football champion. ==Takht Jamshid Cup Champions==