Poya Asbaghi

Poya Asbaghi

Personal information
Date of birth	(1985-07-17) 17 July 1985 (age 39)
Place of birth	Karaj, Iran
Managerial career
Years	Team
2016–2017	Dalkurd FF
2017	Gefle IF
2018–2020	IFK Göteborg
2021	Sweden U21
2021–2022	Barnsley
2023–2024	Al-Shamal
2024	Al-Rayyan

Poya Asbaghi (Persian: پویا اسبقی; [puːjɒː æsbæɣiː]; born 17 July 1985) is a football manager who was most recently the head coach of Qatar Stars League side Al-Rayyan. Born in Iran, he represents Sweden internationally.

Early life

Asbaghi has stated that his family fled from Iran when he was one year old because of political persecution and for being advocates of freedom and opponents of the Islamic regime.^[1][2] He grew up in Uppsala where his parents lived as of June 2020.^[1][2]

Managerial career

Dalkurd FF

During Asbaghi's time as assistant manager of Swedish side Dalkurd FF, he and his team narrowly avoided embarking on Germanwings Flight 9525 in their scheduled return trip from Barcelona.^[2][3]

IFK Göteborg

Asbaghi was appointed as manager of Swedish Allsvenskan side IFK Göteborg before the start of the 2018 Allsvenskan season.^[4][5][6] On 25 July 2019, IFK extended his contract until 2022.^[7] After the 2019 season, Poya Asbaghi was nominated as the manager of the year in Allsvenskan.^[8] He was subsequently offered the manager role at English Championship side Barnsley which he turned down.^[9]

Asbaghi led Göteborg to the 2019–20 Swedish Cup final after a win over IF Elfsborg on 9 July 2020.^[10] On 30 July 2020, Asbaghi and Göteborg won the 2020 Swedish Cup Final after a 2–1 extra time win over Malmö FF, qualifying the team to the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League qualifying rounds.^[11]

Asbaghi was relieved of his duties on 3 September 2020 during the 2020 season.^[12]

Sweden U21

On 24 November 2020, Asbaghi was appointed as manager of the Sweden U21 national team, with his contract running until summer 2023.^[13] He left in November 2021 to join Barnsley as their new head coach.

Barnsley

In November 2021, Asbaghi was appointed head coach of bottom side Championship club Barnsley after the sacking of former head coach Markus Schopp who had lost seven games in a row.^[14] Ferran Sibila became Asbaghi's assistant.^[14] Following relegation to League One for the 2022–23 season, Asbaghi left Barnsley by mutual agreement.^[15]

Red Star Belgrade

In September 2022, Asbaghi became assistant manager of Red Star Belgrade alongside manager Miloš Milojević.^[16] In April 2023, Asbaghi and Milojević became champions of the 2022–23 Serbian SuperLiga.^[17] In May 2023, Asbaghi and Red Star won the Serbian Cup during Red Star's 2022–23 season.^[18]

Managerial record

As of 24 April 2022^[19]

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	From	To	Record					Ref
			M	W	D	L	Win %
Dalkurd FF	1 January 2016	14 May 2017	41	20	15	6	048.78
Gefle IF	29 May 2017	31 December 2017	21	10	4	7	047.62
IFK Göteborg	1 January 2018	3 September 2020	78	24	24	30	030.77
Sweden U21	24 November 2020	17 November 2021	7	5	2	0	071.43
Barnsley	21 November 2021	24 April 2022	27	4	8	15	014.81
Total			174	63	53	58	036.21	—

Honours

IFK Göteborg^[20]

• Svenska Cupen: 2019–20

Red Star Belgrade

• Serbian SuperLiga: 2022–23
• Serbian Cup: 2022–23

References

1. Wagner, Michael (13 June 2020). "Poya Asbaghi drömmer om att resa obehindrat till Iran" [Poya Asbaghi dreams of unhindered travel to Iran]. Aftonbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 9 May 2023.
2. Fisher, Ben (4 March 2022). "Barnsley's Poya Asbaghi: 'I still think about the people that died. It was just chance'". The Guardian.
3. "Asbaghi: "Då skäms man nästan över att vara vid liv"".
4. "Vändningen: Han tar över IFK Göteborg". 18 November 2017.
5. "Blåvitt-tränaren Asbaghi: "Jag skäms inte över min bakgrund"". 20 November 2017.
6. Radio, Sveriges (19 December 2017). "Poya Asbaghi ska leda blåvitt mot toppen - P4 Göteborg". Sveriges Radio.
7. "Poya Asbaghi förlänger med IFK Göteborg". www.aftonbladet.se. 25 July 2019.
8. "De kan vinna pris som "allsvenskans bästa"". www.aftonbladet.se. November 2019.
9. "Poya Asbaghi: Gothenburg coach turns down Barnsley job". Sky Sports.
10. "Asbaghi: "Man kan skriva en bok om Wernerssons vecka"". fotbollskanalen.
11. "TV: IFK Göteborg cupmästare - Farnerud stor hjälte i förlängningsdrama mot MFF". fotbollskanalen.
12. "Blåvitts transferintressenter bakom Poyas uttåg och flera värvningar: "För mycket att säga till om"". fotbollskanalen.
13. "Poya Asbaghi näste U21-förbundskapten". www.svenskfotboll.se. 24 November 2020.
14. Whitehead, Jacob (17 November 2021). "Barnsley appoint Poya Asbaghi as new head coach". The Athletic. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
15. "Poya Asbaghi: Barnsley part company with head coach following relegation to League One". BBC Sport. 24 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
16. "AVSLÖJAR: Asbaghis nya tränarjobb – blir assisterande åt Milos Milojevic". 4 September 2022.
17. "Milojevic och Asbaghi mästare med Röda Stjärnan". 24 April 2023.
18. "Ghana winger Osman Bukari shares excitement after winning Serbian Cup with Red Star Belgrade - Ghana Latest Football News, Live Scores, Results - GHANAsoccernet".
19. "Poya Asbaghi - Stats and titles won".
20. "IFK Göteborg cupmästare". www.svenskfotboll.se. 30 July 2020.