Afshin Ghotbi takes over Perspolis FC’s Head Coaching job

The biggest news in Iranian football these days is no doubt involves Perspolis FC and its newly appointed coach Afshin Ghotbi (Some times spelled Qotbi). I tried to comb the Internet for a comprehensive profile but could not find any. I even visited the official Perspolis FC site, but interestingly I found most pages to be blank. I suppose their website has not managed to catch up with all the changes! So here is a very brief summary that I put together based on what I found through other sources.

Mr. Ghotbi is and Iranian-American who for big part of his life has been a resident of California. He was born in Shiraz, Iran in 1964. He left Iran with his father as a teenager and moved to southern California where he completed his studies in Electrical Engineering in UCLA.

After brief stints with US National team and LA Galaxy as an assistant his resume includes the following:

Korea Republic (December 2000 - July 2002) – Assistant Coach
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (2002 - 2004) – Assistant Coach
LA Galaxy (2004)
Korea Republic (2004 - 2007) – Assistant Coach

And now

Perspolis FC (2007 - Present) – Head Coach

For those of you who are familiar with the mess we call Perspolis Football Club, it is only a question of when Ghotbi becomes the scapegoat for two decades of neglect and incompetent and corrupt management.

Ghotbi is a genuinely nice guy. He loves Iran and cherishes the opportunity to lead his childhood favorite Perspolis. Most of us who have been following his career wish Afshin the best in his new endeavor. He will be a very busy man for the next few months.