{{Short description|Iranian footballer and coach}} {{Infobox football biography | name = Abdollah Veisi | image = Abdollah Veisi, Sepahan-Esteghlal.jpg | caption = Veisi in 2016 | fullname = Abdollah Veisi | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|03|22}} | birth_place = [[Ramhormoz]], [[Iran]] | height = {{height|m=1.78}} | position = [[Defender (association football)|Right Back]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20200204083402/https://www.iranproleague.net/index.php/the-news/1-latest-news/61-First%2010%20weeks%20of%20professional%20football%20in%20Iran Persian League]</ref> | currentclub = [[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]] (manager) | clubnumber = | years1 = 1988–1991 | clubs1 = [[Shahin Ahvaz F.C.|Shahin Ahvaz]] | caps1 = | goals1 = | years2 = 1991–1992 | clubs2 = [[Ahvaz|Jonub Ahvaz]] | caps2 = | goals22 = | years3 = 1992–1994 | clubs3 = [[Esteghlal Ahvaz F.C.|Esteghlal Ahvaz]] | caps3 = | goals33 = | years4 = 1994–1998 | clubs4 = [[Sepahan F.C.|Sepahan]] | caps4 = | goals4 = | years5 = 1998–1999 | clubs5 = [[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]] | caps5 = | goals12 = | years6 = 1999–2002 | clubs6 = [[Sepahan F.C.|Sepahan]] | caps6 = | goals6 = | years7 = 2002–2004 | clubs7 = [[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]] | caps7 = | goals7 = | nationalyears1 = 2000 | nationalteam1 = [[Iran national football team|Iran]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.teammelli.com/matchdata/details/player.php?id=503|title=Statistics: Iran [ Team Melli]|website=www.teammelli.com}}</ref> | nationalcaps1 = 1 | nationalgoals1 = 0 | manageryears1 = 2006–2007 | managerclubs1 = [[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]] (assistant) | manageryears2 = 2007 | managerclubs2 = [[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]] (interim) | manageryears3 = 2008–2009 | managerclubs3 = [[Saba Battery F.C.|Saba Qom]] (assistant) | manageryears4 = 2010–2012 | managerclubs4 = [[Saba Qom F.C.|Saba Qom]] | manageryears5 = 2012–2013 | managerclubs5 = [[Paykan F.C.|Paykan]] | manageryears6 = 2013–2016 | managerclubs6 = [[Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.|Esteghlal Khuzestan]] | manageryears7 = 2016–2017 | managerclubs7 = [[Sepahan F.C.|Sepahan]] | manageryears8 = 2017–2018 | managerclubs8 = [[Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.|Esteghlal Khuzestan]] | manageryears9 = 2018 | managerclubs9 = [[Naft Masjed Soleyman F.C.|Naft Masjed Soleyman]] | manageryears10 = 2019 | managerclubs10 = [[Shahin Bushehr F.C.|Shahin Bushehr]] | manageryears11 = 2020 | managerclubs11 = [[Paykan F.C.|Paykan]] | manageryears12 = 2021 | managerclubs12 = [[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]] | pcupdate = | ntupdate = }} '''Abdollah Veisi''' ({{langx|fa|عبدالله ویسی}}, born 22 March 1971 in [[Ramhormoz]], [[Khuzestan Province]]) is an Iranian retired [[Association football|football]] player and [[Coach (sport)|manager]], who is currently manager of [[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]] in [[Persian Gulf Pro League]].
==Playing career== Veisi spent the [[Azadegan League 1999–2000]] season and the [[Azadegan League 2000–01]] playing for [[Sepahan F.C.|Sepahan]], scoring two goals.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesi/iran01.html|title=Iran 2000/01|website=[[RSSSF]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablesi/iran00.html|title=Iran 1999/2000|website=[[RSSSF]]}}</ref> In the following season, he transferred to [[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]].<ref>[http://www.iranproleague.net/index.php/the-news/1-latest-news/625-Player%20list%20of%20Professional%20League%20clubs%20 iranproleague.net]{{dead link|date=October 2016 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>
==Managerial career==
===Early years=== In mid-2006, Veisi became assistant coach of [[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.iransportspress.com/?c=45&a=3611|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017143156/http://www.iransportspress.com/?c=45&a=3611|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 October 2006|title=IPL Preview: Foolad Khuzestan|date=17 October 2006}}</ref> After the departure of [[Mohammad Mayeli Kohan]], Veisi was appointed the manager of [[Foolad]] for the remainder of the [[2006–07 Persian Gulf Cup|season]]. He was soon replaced by [[Nenad Nikolić (footballer born 1959)|Nenad Nikolić]], in a season which saw Foolad relegated to the [[Azadegan League]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mehrnews.com/fa/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=478657|title=mehrnews}}</ref>
===Saba Qom and Paykan=== In 2009, he moved to [[Saba Battery]], becoming the team's assistant coach, under the helm of [[Rasoul Korbekandi]].<ref name="footilio">[http://www.footilio.com/search_News_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B3%DB%8C.aspx footilio.com] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711015511/http://www.footilio.com/search_News_%D8%B9%D8%A8%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B3%DB%8C.aspx |date=July 11, 2011 }}</ref> After the team moved to [[Qom]], he became the technical director<ref>[http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news-119863.aspx Hamshahri] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101104212419/http://www.hamshahrionline.ir/news-119863.aspx |date=November 4, 2010 }}</ref> and was eventually promoted to manager when [[Mahmoud Yavari]] was released from his contract.<ref name="footilio" /> He kept Saba safe from the relegation zone in [[2010–11 Iran Pro League|2010–11 season]] but went on to produce very good results with the team in [[2011–12 Iran Pro League|next season]]. This ended with the team finishing the season in 4th place and they qualified for the [[2013 AFC Champions League|AFC Champions League]]. He left the team at the end of the season. He signed a two-year contract with newly promoted [[Paykan F.C.|Paykan]] on 14 May 2012 but was sacked on 27 January 2013 after a series of bad results.
===Esteghlal Khuzestan=== On 18 May 2013, he became head coach of another newly promoted team, [[Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.|Esteghlal Khuzestan]]. He led Esteghlal Khuzestan to 12th position in his first season, three points better than the relegation zone. In the second season, Esteghlal Khuzestan bought [[Rouhollah Seifollahi]], [[Mohammad Reza Mahdavi (born 1981)|Mohammad Reza Mahdavi]], [[Soumbeïla Diakité]], [[Mehdi Seyed Salehi]], [[Meysam Baou]] and released [[Fábio Carvalho (footballer, born 1978)|Fábio Carvalho]], [[Sohrab Bakhtiarizadeh]], [[Adel Kolahkaj]] and [[Milad Meydavoudi]]. However, Veisi finished the season in the 14th position with Esteghlal Khuzestan, placing them in the relegation play-off which they faced [[Mes Kerman F.C.|Mes Kerman]]. Esteghlal Khuzestan won the play-off 3–0 on aggregate thanks to goals from [[Mehdi Momeni]] and [[Lamine Diawara (footballer)|Lamine Diawara]] (twice) and kept their [[Persian Gulf Pro League]] spot.
Veisi extended his contract until 2018 after the end of the season and started promoting young talents from the academy and [[Foolad Novin F.C.|Foolad Novin]] to the first squad. They started the season with three consecutive wins which was continued with four consecutive winning streaks in the 12th week, which made Esteghlal Khuzestan finish champions of the first half of the season.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.varzesh3.com/news/1290187/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%DA%86%DA%AF%D9%88%D9%86%D9%87-%D9%82%D9%87%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%85-%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%84-%D8%B4%D8%AF%D8%9F|title = استقلال خوزستان چگونه قهرمان نیم فصل شد؟}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jahannews.com/fa/doc/news/462050/%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%AA%D9%82%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%84-%D8%AE%D9%88%D8%B2%D8%B3%D8%AA%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%82%D9%87%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%A7%D9%86-%D9%86%DB%8C%D9%85-%D9%81%D8%B5%D9%84|title=جهان نيوز - استقلال خوزستان قهرمان نیم فصل شد|last=Behnegarsoft.com|date=18 December 2015|website=جهان نيوز}}</ref> After a great result with Veisi, Esteghlal Khuzestan managed to keep their shape at the second half of the season. On 1 January 2016, Esteghlal Khuzestan lost to [[Persepolis F.C.|Persepolis]] which made the race tighter for first place and also made Esteghlal Khuzestan fall to second place, [[Esteghlal F.C.|Esteghlal]] became first after 17th week. Veisi later said that our main goal is to take place at [[AFC Champions League]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.varzesh3.com/news/1314554/%D9%88%DB%8C%D8%B3%DB%8C-%D8%B7%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A8-%D9%84%D9%88-%D9%81%D9%88%D9%82-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AF%D9%87-%D8%A8%D9%88%D8%AF|title=ویسی: طالب لو فوق العاده بود}}</ref> On 8 May 2016, Esteghlal Khuzestan qualified to the [[AFC Champions League]] for the first time after a 1–0 win over [[Padideh F.C.|Padideh]], which led Esteghlal Khuzestan to the top of the league with one game remaining. On 13 May 2016, Veisi won [[Iran Pro League]] title with Esteghlal Khuzestan after a 2–0 win over [[Zob Ahan F.C.|Zob Ahan]]. He was named as [[Iran Pro League]] best manager of the season after the end of the tournament.
===Sepahan=== On 23 May 2016, Veisi was named as new [[Sepahan]] manager with signing a four-year contract.<ref>[http://www.varzesh3.com/news/1327717/%D9%88%D9%8A%D8%B3%D9%8A-%D8%B3%D8%B1%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A-%D8%B3%D9%BE%D8%A7%D9%87%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%B4%D8%AF از اهواز به اصفهان؛ ويسي سرمربي سپاهان شد]</ref> He was sacked on 17 March 2017 after a series of bad results, placing Sepahan in the 7th place.
===Return to Esteghlal Khuzestan=== Veisi returned to [[Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.|Esteghlal Khuzestan]] in June 2017 by signing a two-year contract.
===Statistics=== [[File:Abdollah Veisi.jpg|thumb|Veisi managing Esteghlal Khuzestan in an [[Iran Pro League|IPL]] match against [[Padideh F.C.|Padideh]], 9 February 2016]] {{updated|10 October 2019}} {| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center" |- !rowspan="2"|Team !rowspan="2"|From !rowspan="2"|To !colspan="8"|Record |- !G!!W!!D!!L!!GF!!GA!!+/-!!Win % |- |[[Foolad F.C.|Foolad]] |align="left"|July 2007 |align="left"|December 2007 {{WDL|diff=yes|12|6|5|1|for=23|against=5}} |- |[[Saba Qom F.C.|Saba Qom]] |align="left"|November 2010 |align="left"|May 2012 {{WDL|diff=yes|55|17|23|15|for=67|against=64}} |- |[[Paykan F.C.|Paykan]] |align="left"|May 2012 |align="left"|January 2013 {{WDL|diff=yes|23|5|5|13|for=18|against=46}} |- |[[Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.|Esteghlal Khuzestan]] |align="left"|May 2013 |align="left"|May 2016 {{WDL|diff=yes|132|55|47|30|for=142|against=121}} |- |[[Sepahan]] |align="left"|May 2016 |align="left"|March 2017 {{WDL|diff=yes|29|12|8|9|for=37|against=32}} |- |[[Esteghlal Khuzestan F.C.|Esteghlal Khuzestan]] |align="left"|June 2017 |align="left"|June 2018 {{WDL|diff=yes|34|10|10|14|for=37|against=48}} |- |[[Naft Masjed Soleyman F.C.|Naft MIS]] |align="left"|July 2018 |align="left"|September 2018 {{WDL|diff=yes|5|0|3|2|for=0|against=3}} |- |[[Shahin Bushehr F.C.|Shahin Bushehr]] |align="left"|February 2019 |align="left"|October 2019 {{WDL|diff=yes|18|5|7|6|for=15|against=20}} |- !colspan="3"|Total {{WDLtot|diff=yes|302|109|106|87|for=332|against=324}} |}
== Honours ==
===Manager=== ;Esteghlal Khuzestan *[[Persian Gulf Pro League]] (1): [[2015–16 Iran Pro League|2015–16]] *[[Azadegan League]] (1): [[2012–13 Azadegan League|2012–13]]
;Shahin Bushehr *[[Azadegan League]] promotion (1): [[2018–19 Azadegan League|2018–19]]
===Individual=== *[[Persian Gulf Pro League]] Best Manager (1): [[2015–16 Iran Pro League|2015–16]] *IFCA Best Manager of the Year (1): 2016 *[[Iran football award winners|IRFF Awards]] Manager of the Season (1): [[2015–16 Iran Pro League|2015–16]] *[[Iran football award winners|Iranian Manager of the Year]] (1): 2016
== Trivia == He became the subject of comparisons drawn between his likeness to famous ex [[FC Bayern Munich|Bayern München]] coach, [[Pep Guardiola]] by Iranian media.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goal.com/en|title=Football News, Live Scores, Results & Transfers - Goal.com|website=www.goal.com}}</ref><ref>[http://www.jahannews.com/vdcaomn6u49nm61.k5k4.html Jahan] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319235323/http://www.jahannews.com/vdcaomn6u49nm61.k5k4.html |date=March 19, 2011 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==External links== {{commons category|Abdollah Veisi}}
<!--Navigation boxes--> {{s-start-collapsible|header={{s-ach}}}} {{succession box|title=[[List of Iranian football league winning managers|Iran Pro League Winning Manager]]|before= [[Hossein Faraki]] |after= [[Branko Ivanković]] |years=2015–16}} {{s-end}}
{{Iran Coach of the Year}} {{Navboxes |title= Abdollah Veisi managerial positions |list1= {{Foolad F.C. managers}} {{Saba F.C. managers}} {{Paykan F.C. managers}} {{Sepahan F.C. managers}} }}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veisi, Abdollah}} [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:Iranian men's footballers]] [[Category:Sepahan S.C. footballers]] [[Category:Foolad F.C. players]] [[Category:Iranian football managers]] [[Category:1971 births]] [[Category:Paykan F.C. managers]] [[Category:Shahin Bushehr F.C. managers]] [[Category:Saba Qom F.C. managers]] [[Category:Men's association football full-backs]] [[Category:Footballers from Khuzestan province]] [[Category:Persian Gulf Pro League managers]]