Moharram Navidkia

Moharram Navidkia (; born 1 November 1982) is an Iranian football manager and former player who last coached Sepahan in Persian Gulf Pro League.

He played for Sepahan for 18 years and was its captain. He usually played as a midfielder. During his career, he dealt with consecutive injuries, which made him unable to regain his top form.

As an international player, he was the former captain of the Iran under-23 team and collected 25 caps for the senior team of Iran, before bidding his farewell in December 2009.

His brother, Rasoul Navidkia is also a professional footballer who plays for Sepahan.

Early years Navidkia was born in Isfahan, Iran. His original last name was Ghara Gozlu which he changed later to Navidkia. He is an ethnic Azeri originally from Marand, East Azerbaijan.

Club career

Navidkia began his career at Sepahan in 1998. From 1998 to 2002 he played as the defensive midfielder, while from 2002 and by the suggestion of Farhad Kazemi his playing post has been changed to attacking midfielder. He managed to attract attention during the 2002–03 Iran Premier League season while playing for a team many at first thought to be average, but they won the championship title at the end.

He was selected the best player of IPL for the 2003–04 season and was considered one of the best Iranian players despite his young age. Due to his potential talent, young age, and impressive performances, he was transferred to VfL Bochum even though he was injured at the time of the signing.

He was not able to recover his old form, and went back to Sepahan in 2006 on loan. After the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Navidkia signed a contract with Sepahan again. He had difficulties with the injuries during his career in Sepahan and finally in the 2009–10 season he had his most stable season after a few years. He retired from football on 17 October 2016, after playing 16 years at Sepahan.

International career Navidkia was first selected to the Iran national team during the West Asian Football Federation tournament in 2002, which was held in Syria. He made his debut for Iran against Jordan in August 2002. His biggest achievement was winning the gold medal of the 2002 Asian Games with Iran U-23 in Busan, where he continued his impressive display during the games. He played in the 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification for Team Melli.

Having been selected among Iran's reserve men for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, he was called up to join the team in Germany to replace injured Sattar Zare. He bid his farewell to national team in December 2009.

Career statistics

Club

International Scores and results list Iran's goal tally first. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 27 October 2003 Kim Il-Sung Stadium, Pyongyang 3–1 3–1 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification

Managerial record

Awards and honours Player Sepahan Iran Pro League (5): 2002–03, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2014–15 Hazfi Cup (4): 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2012–13 AFC Champions League Runner-up: 2007

Iran U-23 Asian Games: 2002

Iran WAFF Bronze medal: 2002

Individual Football Iran News & Events Player of the season: 2002–03, 2012–13 Iranian Footballer of the Year: 2003, 2013

Manager Sepahan Persian Gulf Pro League: Runner-up 2020–21

Mes Rafsanjan Hazfi Cup: Runner-up 2023–24