Büyük Vatankhah

Buyuk Vatankhah

Personal information
Full name	Ezatollah Vatankhah
Date of birth	February 1, 1943
Place of birth	Tabriz, Iran
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
1957–1958	Rah Ahan
1958–1960	Taj
1960–1967	Shahin
1967–1974	Persepolis
National team
1973–1974	Iran	6	(0)
Teams managed
1974–1975	Persepolis U-20
1975–1976	Persepolis
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Buyuk Vatankhah (Persian: بیوک وطنخواه‎‎) or Ezzatollah Vatankhah (Persian: عزت الله وطنخواه‎‎) (born February 1, 1943 in Tabriz, Iran) is a retired Iranian football player and currently a scouter. He has played in Rah Ahan F.C., Taj, Shahin F.C. and Persepolis F.C..^[1] After he retired in 1972, he became manager of Persepolis F.C. U20 team and then selected as first-team manager in 1976. He is the first Iranian manager that could win Iranian top division league. His younger brother, Reza, was a team mate at Persepolis for many years.^[2]

Buyuk Vatankhah is part of the first generation of contemporary Iranian football players. According to interviews he has given to Iranian press, football was his passion from an early age, a sentiment which angered his traditional father who wanted his son to pursue more "mainstream" activities. In the early 1950s in Iran, playing football beyond a certain age was very much stigmatised. He was only 17 when he first played for the Iranian national team, and it was only then he told his family about his great passion. His career took off after he began to play for Shahin and then played for Paykan only to later return to Shahin and soon thereafter join the start-up Persepolis. He is one of the original Persepolisis. He continues to live in his beloved Tehran, although he has made many visits to Europe and the Persian Gulf States.

Buyuk has a son, Alex Vatanka (الکس وطن خواه), currently a Senior Fellow at Middle East Institute and Jamestown Foundation.

Notes

1. "FIFA.com – Classic club". www.fifa.com. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
2. http://www.jjtvn.ir/display_full.aspx?data_id=4369