Rayka Babol Football Club (
Persian: باشگاه فوتبال رایکا بابل, Bashgah-e Futbal-e Raika Babol) is an Iranian
football based in
Babol,
Mazandaran.[1][2]
History
In 2013,
Mazanichain store company from
Babol, Khooneh Be Khooneh bought
Bahman's certificate to take part in 3rd Division Football League. Previously, Khooneh Be Khooneh had successful experiences with their team in
wrestling. With
Farshad Pious as their manager they got their first promotion in their first season.[3]
After appointing
Hamid Derakhshan midway through the season as manager in their first season at
second tier of Iranian football, the team went on a disastrous run and missed out on promotion. However at the end of the season,
Alireza Marzban the coach of
Azadegan League champions
Paykan announced he had taken over as manager.[4]
In
2016–17 season following high hopes with Marzban as the coach, after suffering from some weak results, specially their 3–0 defeat against their rival
Baadraan, club and manager decided to take separate ways from about middle of the season. Then
Levon Stepanyan and
Alireza Emamifar took over and co-managed the team against
Pars Jonoubi Jam and
Sepidrood as caretakers.[5] After a little while
Nader Dastneshan managed the team for the rest of the season and failed to promote to upper division.[6]
In 2017–18, they chose former
national team captain and assistant manager
Javad Nekounam as their manager. Being under
Carlos Queiroz for a few months, Nekounam started his first season as manager with brilliant vision and strong ideas. He got great results with the team in the league and led them to the
Hazfi Cup semi-final.[7][8] Just after losing the first game of his season with Khooneh Be Khooneh, he resigned from his position and soon after losing his second game of the season he left the club. He later signed for the other
Mazani club
Nassaji and later led them into the
Persian Gulf Pro League after 24 years out of it.[9][10] Later the club replaced Nekounam with
Croatian coach
Dragan Skočić. Although Skočić got great results with the team and even went on an unbeaten streak for 11 games and also led the team to the
Hazfi Cup final, he failed to promote the team in the last week because of goal difference and with Nassaji in the table after Nassaji crushed
Rah Ahan 6–0 in
Tehran.[11][12]
As of December 17, 2020[13]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under
FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.