The Tehran derby (Persian: شهرآورد تهران Shahrāvard-e Tehrān), also known as Blue-Red derby (Persian:شهرآورد سرخابی Shahrāvard-e Sorkhābi) is a football match between the two prominent Tehran clubs Esteghlal and Persepolis. It is widely considered the major crosstown derby in the Persian Gulf Pro League. This match was declared as the most important derby in Asia and 22nd most important derby in the world in June 2008 by World Soccer magazine. It is considered one of the world's most intense derbies. Despite being a derby between two teams from Tehran, the match has been played in other Iranian cities as well. Taking place at least twice during the year via the league fixtures, this cross-town rivalry has extended to the Hazfi Cup, as well as in minor tournaments and friendlies. History The first derby match between the teams took place on April 5, 1968, at Amjadieh Stadium, where the game finished as a scoreless draw. At the time, Esteghlal was known as Taj SC. Both clubs were relatively young but Persepolis had a solid fan base, because of its close association to the once popular Shahin club. The rivalry between Shahin and Taj was transferred to its current stage when the Shahin club had to cease operations due to poor relations with the IFF. Over time, the rivalry became more heated and club fans began attaining collective identities. By the mid-1970s Persepolis was seen as a working class club, while Taj was viewed as a club close to the ruling establishment and supported by the upper class of Iranian society. Persepolis fans outnumbered Esteghlal fans by large numbers at the time. Due to the sensitive nature of the matches, fan violence has occurred several times. In minor cases, fans break chairs or throw garbage at the field, but in some cases, fans have stormed the field of play, physical fights between opposing teams and fans have broken out, and public property has been destroyed. Ever since 1995, federation officials have invited foreign referees to officiate the game to ease fan and player suspicions of referee bias. This occurred after the events of the 39th derby (see below). Azadi Stadium has been the stadium where most of the matches took place, but Amjadieh Stadium (now Shiroudi) in Tehran and Sahand Stadium in Tabriz have all hosted the game at least once. Hassan Rowshan from Esteghlal F.C., at the age of 18 years