Ghayeghran, Sirous

Sirous Ghayeghran (سیروس قایقران) was a commanding midfielder from Anzali and an inspirational captain for both club and national team. Commonly known as Sia Sia by the Anzali locals, he controlled the midfield, blasted long range shots at goal, threaded pinpoint passes for forwards, crossed from both flanks, encouraged his teammates, hustled and tackled.

As a teenager he joined and rose to prominence with Malavan of Anzali where he would spend the bulk of his career. With Malavan he managed a Hazfi Cup 1^st place finish in addition to a Gilan State championship. The 1986 Hazfi Cup triumph led to participation in the Asian Club Championship in which Malavan demolished its first-round opponents by scoring 21 goals (8 of which were scored by Ghaheghran), although further honors would elude them as they would withdraw from the subsequent round. During this time he also represented the Mazandaran selection in the Qods League.

Ghayeghran would later join Al-Ittehad (currently Al-Gharrafa) of Qatar. He would return to Iran and Anzali in the form of Esteghlal before once again joining Malavan. During the 1991 Hazfi Cup, Malavan faced Persepolis in the semifinal round.  The return leg in Tehran had ended 2-1 in favor of Persepolis, thus a 1-0 victory would have been sufficient for Malavan to advance.  Early in the 1st half Malavan earned a freekick that was clearly in Ghayeghran’s territory.  The calm and collected run-up towards the ball and the placement in the upper corner of the goal beyond Ghilich’s outstretched hand was pure magic.  The one goal lead would have been enough for Malavan but not Ghayeghran.  Shortly afterwards the Malavan and Persepolis players tangled outside the box for a loose ball that ended up bouncing ahead of Ghayeghran.  He charged at it and fired it one touch with one of his trademark thunderous shots that once again ended up in the back of the net.  Malavan would win the match 2-0 and advance to the final against Esteghlal, a game Malavan would win in a shootout where once again Ghayeghran emerged as a winner on PKs by converting his team’s first kick after a 0-0 draw.  However, going back to the semifinal, after the game Ghayeghran truly showed his class and humility.  When asked how he managed to nail those picture perfect long range shots, rather than boast about his skills or bash his opponent’s weaknesses, he simply shrugged, smiled and said, “it was luck.” 

In 1991 Ghayeghran would join newly established Tehrani team Keshavarz and play out the rest of his career there until his retirement in 1995.

Ghayeghran got his first national team call up in 1985 against Yugoslavia. He played with the national team in the 1986 Asian Games, scoring against Bangladesh, before elimination by host South Korea in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks. Following the mass resignation of players in protest to the management of the team, it was rumored that he was originally penciled in as one of the many players whose name was on the list, however, he never actually put his signature on it, thus leaving him with enough leverage to lean either way, depending on what would work out best. After the mass exodus of the established players and the emergence of young and inexperienced players such as Abedzadeh, Zarrincheh and Namjoo Motlagh, Ghayeghran took charge and became the gel that kept the individuals together as a unit.  He was part of the group that unsuccessfully attempted to qualify for the 1988 Olympics, being eliminated on away goals. He masterfully captained the team during the 1988 Asian Championship to a bronze medal.  It was during the ill-fated game against South Korea, a 3-0 loss, that Ghayeghran emerged as one of the few bright spots demonstrating his thunderous long-range shots, forcing the Korean keeper into three acrobatic saves.  It was only fitting for Iran to end the tournament with Ghayeghran’s perfectly placed spot kick to give Iran win on PKs for a 3^rd place finish.

The national team suffered a major setback as a result of his absence from the crucial 1990 World Cup qualifiers against China due to an IFF suspension (allegedly for going out for a drink while in the Soviet Union) and part of the reason for the elimination in the first round of the 1990 World Cup qualifiers could be attributed to the apparent lack of a midfield maestro. Taking away the captaincy is a major blow to any soccer player, yet in early 1990 when Parvin brought Panjali back to the national team as captain, Sirous made no fuss and accepted his new role.  He played a major part in the march to Asian Gold in 1990 and avenged the 1988 loss to the Koreans.  In the semifinals in overtime, a perfectly timed run and chip of the Korean keeper enabled Sirous to get the only goal of the game.  Once again he took part in the deciding PKs and scored the first of four goals in the shootout victory over North Korea in the Final.

Ghayeghran captained the national team in the 1992 Asian Championship and scored against North Korea although that campaign ended in disaster with the many unjust calls and cards against Japan in the final group game. 

Ghayeghran would last represent Iran in a friendly in 1993 against Bosnia and Herzegovina. Towards the end of his career Ghayeghran acted as player-coach for Keshavarz and continued it following retirement. He would then coach in Hormozgan in spite of expressing interest in guiding Malavan. In April of 1988 while driving towards Tehran during the Norooz holiday, Ghayeghran’s vehicle collided with a truck, taking the life of him and his young son. In 2022 at the request of the team's fans, the name of the Malavan’s stadium was changed to Sirous Ghayeghran Stadium in order to honor the club legend.