Esteghlal FC

1945–69: early years, The Crown

On 20 September 1945, some young athletes and students including a 23-year-old military officer Parviz Khosravani (first manager of the club), Asghar Navaab (Bicycle Mechanic), Enayat Jananpour (National Sports Organisation staff member), Mirzaee (carpenter) and Khashaaei (bank guard) established a sports club on Ferdowsi Street, Tehran. Since the founders of the club were mostly interested in cycling, the club's original name was Docharkheh Savaran (Persian: دوچرخه سواران; meaning 'The Cyclists'), in 1945. Esteghlal football club played its first official match in 1946.

In the first year, the 1946 season, they stood in second place of Tehran Football League and Tehran Hazfi Cup. The 1947 season ended with the first ever Esteghlal's cup, after victories to reach the Tehran Hazfi Cup. Docharkhe Savaran founders and players agreed with the rename of the club to Taj (تاج; meaning 'The Crown'), in 1949.

From the beginning Taj or Docharkeh Savaran competed in the Tehran Local League, which at the time was the highest ranked league in Iran. On 6 March 1950, Taj played its first official game in Amjadieh Stadium against Shahin; Taj managed a 1–0 win.

Taj won seven first titles in the 1950s and 1960s; 1949–1950, 1951–1952, 1957–1958 and the three consecutive championships in 1959–1960, 1960–1961 and 1961–1962 (in the following years Taj added its first titles from the Tehran Provincial League and the Tehran Hazfi Cup) and again in 1963–1964 season.

Taj also won four Tehran Hazfi Cup in 1947, 1951, 1958 and 1959. The most successful club in Iran between that years, so far than other great teams like Daraei with three first titles and Shahin with two first titles and four-second place. The first national cup was obtained in 1957 National Football League after victory against Tabriz team by three goals. Taj represented Tehran's football in those games which were played in Bagh-e-Homayun ground.

Tehran old derby was a sensitive match which played between TAJ and Shahin in mid century, until 1967.

1970–78: champion of Asia and Iran

The 1970 Asian Club Championship was the 3rd edition of the annual Asian club football competition hosted by Asian Football Confederation. Seven clubs from seven countries competed in the tournament. The tournament was held in Tehran, Iran in April. The clubs were split in two groups and the group winners and runners-up advanced to semi-finals.

TAJ defeated Hapoel Tel Aviv of Israel 2–1 in the final to win its first ever Asian Club Championship and started new era in Iranian football with announced of professionalisation of football in Iran.Club Legend Ali Jabbari(King Ali) was the Star and Captain of the Team.

This year had another honour for TAJ, the first Iranian national league title: 1970–71 Local League under management of Rajkov. TAJ defeated PAS 2–1 in final match. TAJ have reached to third place in the 1971 Asian Club Championship, a year after the first Asian Cup of club. They were defeated ROK Army of Korea 3–2 in Third place match.

TAJ stood at second place in the 1973–74 league, with only two points less than Persepolis. Gholam Hossein Mazloumi was the top scorer of the league, with 15 goals. TAJ reached the 1974–75 Takht Jamshid Cup the next year, the second official Iranian Football League for Club. Mazloumi was still the best scorer. Social tensions came to the club, a rebellion against the system which named revolution in next years.

1979–2001: revolution and post-revolution

After the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, the club was taken over by the newly established Islamic government and put under the control of the Physical Education Organization of the Islamic republic of Iran (Persian: سازمان تربیت بدنی جمهوری اسلامی ايران), a governmental organisation, and changed its name to Esteghlal (Persian: استقلال), 'Independence' in Persian; Taj (تاج) means 'Crown' in Persian.

During the 1980s, Esteghlal won the Tehran Football League twice. The 1989–90 season was a memorable one for Esteghlal. The club finished 1st in Group B of the Qods League and advanced to the semi-finals. Esteghlal defeated Malavan 4–0 on aggregate to advance to the final against the rival: Persepolis. Esteghlal defeated Persepolis 2–1 to win the Qods League. In the following season, Esteghlal made it to the final of the Hazfi Cup only to lose to Malavan on penalties.

1990–91 Esteghlal won the Asian Club Championship for the 2nd time defeating Chinese club Liaoning 2–1. In the next year Esteghlal reached the 1991 Asian Club Championship final match again and lost in penalties to Al-Hilal FC. Esteghlal once again reached the final of the Asian Club Championship in 1999, this time losing to Japanese club Júbilo Iwata 1–2 in Tehran.

2001–present: Iran Pro League Era

2001 marked the first year of the newly founded Iran Pro League. Going into the final day, Esteghlal was on top of the league's table; however, with an Esteghlal loss and a Persepolis win, Persepolis was crowned as the league's inaugural champion. However, the 2001–02 Hazfi Cup provided some consolation for Esteghlal as they beat Fajr Sepasi 4–3 on aggregate to win the cup. The 2002–03 season was one of the worst years in club history, as they finished 9th and were eliminated in the group stage of the AFC Champions League.

In July 2003, Amir Ghalenoi was appointed manager of Esteghlal. In his first year, Esteghlal finished runner-up in the league behind the champion Pas Tehran. Ghalenoi also made it to the final of the Hazfi Cup losing 2–5 on aggregate to Sepahan. His second season proved to be less successful as Esteghlal finished 3rd and failed to qualify to the AFC Champions League. However, the 2005–06 season Esteghlal were crowned champions of the Iran Pro League for the first time in the Pro League era.