V.League 1

V.League 1
Organising body	VPF
Founded	1980 (Semi-professional); 2000 (Professional)
First season	1980 (as Vietnam National A1 Football Cup)
Country	Vietnam
Confederation	AFC
Number of teams	14
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	V.League 2
Domestic cup(s)	Vietnamese Cup; Vietnamese Super Cup
International cup(s)	AFC Champions League; AFC Cup; ASEAN Club Championship
Current champions	Hà Nội (5th title) ; (2019)
Most championships	Hà Nội ; Thể Công (5 titles)
Top goalscorer	Hoàng Vũ Samson (190 goals)
TV partners	VTV (2 matches/ round), VTVCab (all matches), ON SPORTS (all matches), Onme (all matches), Hà Tĩnh Television (only Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh matches), Bình Dương Television (BTV2) (only Becamex Bình Dương matches)
Website	vpf.vn
	2020 V.League 1

V.League 1 (Vietnamese: Giải Bóng đá Vô Địch Quốc Gia Việt Nam), also called LS V.League 1 due to sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football league in Vietnam, controlled by the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company. It is contested by 14 clubs who play each other on a home and away basis. The team finishing at the top at the end of the season is crowned the champion and enters the AFC Champions League.

The league was founded in 1980 as the All Vietnam Football Championship, with Tổng Cục Đường Sắt emerging as the first winner. Thể Công is the most successful club in the league's history, having won the title five times. The league turned professional in the 2000–2001 season, which allowed clubs to hire foreign players. Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) was established in 2012, and the organising power was transferred from the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) to VPF.

History

Foundation and early days

The V-League 1, as it is known today, dates back to 1980 when the first semi-professional league was launched (then known as the All Vietnam Football Championship). Seventeen clubs participated in the competition which was split into three groups and conducted more like a cup competition, with the winner from each group qualifying for the Championship Stage. Công An Hà Nội, Tổng Cục Đường Sắt and Hải Quan were the three teams to qualify, with Tổng Cục Đường Sắt ultimately taking the title. That format, although the teams were split into two groups, continued until 1995 when the league reverted to a more traditional league format.

Turning professional

League football in Vietnam would turn professional in the 2000–2001 season, which saw the league change its name to its current moniker, V-League 1. In that inaugural V-League 1 season there were only ten clubs, with tighter restrictions meaning fewer teams. Over the next decade the league grew from 10 teams to the current fourteen, with the team that finishes on top of the table qualifying for the AFC Champions League. Clubs were allowed to hire foreign players from this season on.

VPF establishment

Following a season marred by accusations of refereeing corruption and a cover-up by the V.League governing body Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), six clubs (Đồng Tâm Long An, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai, Hanoi ACB, Vissai Ninh Bình, Khatoco Khánh Hòa and Lam Sơn Thanh Hóa[1]) threatened to leave the league and form an entirely new league for the 2012 season. The most outspoken club in the move was Hanoi ACB, who were going through relegation from the V.League, with its chairman Nguyen Duc Kien announcing that ACB would spearhead the move. Due to the controversy, league sponsor EximBank expressed its intention to drop its title sponsorship of the league. League officials scrambled to resolve the issues, going as far as hiring foreign referees for the 2012 season.[2][3] After a meeting on 29 September, representatives of the VFF and the 14 V.League 1 teams and 14 V.League 2 teams announced the formation of a new corporation, the VPF, Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company to manage the V-League. The VFF would hold a 36% stake in the new corporation, and the rest would be held by clubs.[1]

From the 2012 season, the organising power was transferred from the VFF to the VPF (Vietnamese Professional Football), and the V.League 1 was initially changed to the Super League, although this name was short-lived and the league was renamed back to V.League 1 later in the season. The first division was renamed the V.League 2. At the same time, many clubs found themselves in financial and sponsor issues, and many clubs withdrew, merge, bought another or failed to meet requirements for leagues. As a result, the number of clubs in each league changed dramatically.

Competition format

The V.League 1 season starts in February/March and ends in September. In each season, each club plays each of the other clubs twice, once at home and another away, for a total of 26 games.
Teams are ranked by total points, head-to-head, goal difference and goals scored.
Top team qualifies for AFC Champions League Group Stage.
For 2010 season, two bottom teams are relegated to the Vietnam First Division while third lowest placed team goes to play-off with the third highest placed team from the First Division.[4]
Starting in the 2013 season, the number of clubs participating in the V.League 1 would be decreased from fourteen to twelve after three clubs failed to register. Also in the same season, the bottom team will be relegated to the First Division while the top three teams from the First Division will be promoted into the V-League 1.[5]
Starting in the 2015 season, the league is competed by 14 teams.[6]

Sponsorship

Since the 2000–2001 season, the V.League 1 has been branded with a principal sponsor's name and logo. The following companies have acted as principal sponsors:[7]

2000–02: Strata Sport Marketing (Strata V-League)
2003: PepsiCo (Sting V-League)
2004: Kinh Đô (Kinh Đô V-League)
2005: Tan Hiep Phat (Number One V-League)
2006: Eurowindow (Eurowindow V-League)
2007–10: PetroVietnam Gas (PetroVietnam Gas V-League)
2011–14: Eximbank (Eximbank V.League 1)[nb 1]
2015–17: Toyota (Toyota V.League 1)
2018: Nutifood (NutiCafe V.League 1)
2019: Masan (Wake Up 247 V.League 1)
2020: LS Holdings (LS V.League 1)[8]

Controversies

2013 controversy

After Xuân Thành Sài Gòn was docked points for what the VFF deemed the club unsportsmanlike conduct when the club fielded a noncompetitive squad for their Matchday 20 meeting with Sông Lam Nghệ An, club officials announced that the club would withdraw from the league. On 22 August 2013, the VFF approved Xuân Thành Sài Gòn's withdrawal request. Matches where the club was involved were vacated. The VFF is still debating if the last place club will still be relegated to V.League 2, though the league charter states that the club in 12th place would be the only club relegated in the 2013 campaign.[9]

Relegation was cancelled for the 2013 campaign after Xuân Thành Sài Gòn withdrew from the V.League 1 before the conclusion of the season.[10] QNK Quảng Nam, Than Quảng Ninh and Hùng Vương An Giang, as winners, first runners-up and second runners-up respectively, were promoted from the 2013 V.League 2 season. Kienlongbank Kiên Giang failed to apply for the 2014 campaign and subsequently folded during the offseason.[11]

2014 Match-fixing scandal

Vissai Ninh Bình wrote to the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and to the Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company to be allowed to stop their participation in the league and also the AFC Cup due to 13 players being involved in match fixing. They had played eight league matches and were third from bottom at the time.[12] Following their withdrawal from the league, all their results were declared null and void.[13]

Rule Changes, due to the match fixing scandal and withdrawal of Vissai Ninh Bình, it was decided that the bottom-placed team at the end of the season will take part in a play-off match against the third-placed team in the First Division for the right to play in the V-League next season.[14]

Clubs

Current clubs

Clubs competing in 2020 season:

Becamex Bình Dương

Hà Nội

Thanh Hóa

TP Hồ Chí Minh

Locations of the 2020 V.League 1 teams

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Team	Manager	Captain	Kit manufacturer	Shirt sponsor
Becamex Bình Dương	Nguyễn Thanh Sơn	Lê Tấn Tài	Kamito	Becamex IDC
Dược Nam Hà Nam Định	Nguyễn Văn Sỹ	Lê Văn Phú	Kelme	Dược Nam Hà
Hà Nội	Chu Đình Nghiêm	Nguyễn Văn Quyết	Kappa	SCG
Hải Phòng	Phạm Anh Tuấn	Doãn Ngọc Tân	Jogarbola	Asanzo
Hoàng Anh Gia Lai	Lee Tae-hoon	Nguyễn Tuấn Anh	Mizuno	Thaco
Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh	Phạm Minh Đức	Ma Văn Tuấn	Kelme	SCG
Quảng Nam	Vũ Hồng Việt	Đinh Thanh Trung	Jogarbola	LS Group
Sài Gòn	Hoàng Văn Phúc	Nguyễn Ngọc Duy	Ari	Naga
SHB Đà Nẵng	Lê Huỳnh Đức	Hà Đức Chinh	Kamito	SHB
Sông Lam Nghệ An	Ngô Quang Trường	Trần Nguyên Mạnh	Mitre	Bac A Bank
Than Quảng Ninh	Phan Thanh Hùng	Huỳnh Tuấn Linh	Joma	Vinacomin
Thanh Hóa	Nguyễn Thành Công	Lê Văn Thắng	Jogarbola	Rapido
TP Hồ Chí Minh	Jung Hae-seong	Trần Phi Sơn	Kappa	CityLand
Viettel	Trương Việt Hoàng	Bùi Tiến Dũng	FBT	Viettel

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Becamex Bình Dương	Nguyễn Thanh Sơn	Interim over	24 October 2019	Pre-season	Carlos Oliveira	27 November 2019
Hải Phòng	Trương Việt Hoàng	Resigned	24 October 2019		Phạm Anh Tuấn	16 November 2019
Sài Gòn	Nguyễn Thành Công	Resigned	24 October 2019		Hoàng Văn Phúc	22 November 2019
Thanh Hóa	Mai Xuân Hợp	Interim over	24 October 2019		Fabio Lopez	22 November 2019
Viettel	Nguyễn Hải Biên	Interim over	24 October 2019		Trương Việt Hoàng	12 November 2019
Sông Lam Nghệ An	Nguyễn Đức Thắng	Promoted to Technical Director	16 December 2019		Ngô Quang Trường	16 December 2019

Stadiums

Primary venues used in the 2020 V.League 1:

Becamex Bình Dương	Sài Gòn	Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh	TP Hồ Chí Minh	Hà Nội
Gò Đậu Stadium	Thống Nhất Stadium	Hà Tĩnh Stadium	Thống Nhất Stadium	Hàng Đẫy Stadium
Capacity: 18,250	Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 20,000	Capacity: 25,000	Capacity: 25,000

Hải Phòng	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai	Quảng Nam	SHB Đà Nẵng	Sông Lam Nghệ An
Lạch Tray Stadium	Pleiku Stadium	Tam Kỳ Stadium	Hòa Xuân Stadium	Vinh Stadium
Capacity: 28,000	Capacity: 12,000	Capacity: 15,624	Capacity: 20,500	Capacity: 18,000

Than Quảng Ninh	Thanh Hóa	Viettel	Nam Định
Cẩm Phả Stadium	Thanh Hóa Stadium	Hàng Đẫy Stadium	Thiên Trường Stadium
Capacity: 15,000	Capacity: 14,000	Capacity: 25,000	capacity :25,000

Players

Rules on foreign players

Clubs are only allowed to register three foreign players per season.[15] In prior seasons, clubs were allowed to register two foreign players.

Starting from 2015 season, the number of foreign players allowed by clubs is reduced to 2 players plus 1 naturalised player.

From 2019 season, the rules on foreign players is change again, the number of foreign players allowed by clubs is 3 players and 1 naturalised player.[16]

Top scorers by season

Season[7]	Name	Club	Goals
1980	Lê Văn Đặng	Công an Hà Nội	10
1981–82	Võ Thành Sơn	Sở Công Nghiệp	15
1982–83	Nguyễn Cao Cường	Thể Công	22
1984	Nguyễn Văn Dũng	Nam Định	15
1985	Nguyễn Văn Dũng	Nam Định	15
1986	Nguyễn Văn Dũng Nguyễn Minh Huy	Nam Định Hải Quan	12
1987–88	Lưu Tấn Liêm	Hải Quan	15
1989	Hà Vương Ngầu Nại	Cảng Sài Gòn	10
1990	Nguyễn Hồng Sơn	Thể Công	10
1991	Hà Vương Ngầu Nại	Cảng Sài Gòn	10
1992	Trần Minh Toàn	Quảng Nam-Đà Nẵng	6
1993–94	Nguyễn Công Long Bùi Sĩ Thành	Bình Định Long An	12
1995	Trần Minh Chiến	Công an Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh	14
1996	Lê Huỳnh Đức	Công an Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh	25
1997	Lê Huỳnh Đức	Công an Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh	16
1998	Nguyễn Văn Dũng	Nam Định	17
1999 Unofficial	Vũ Minh Hiếu	Công an Hà Nội	8
1999–2000	Văn Sỹ Thủy	Sông Lam Nghệ An	14
2000–01	Đặng Đạo	Khánh Hòa	11
2001–02	Hồ Văn Lợi	Cảng Sài Gòn	9
2003	Emeka Achilefu	Nam Định	11
2004	Amaobi Uzowuru	Nam Định	15
2005	Kesley Alves	Becamex Bình Dương	21
2006	Elenildo de Jesus	Thép Miền Nam Cảng Sài Gòn	18
2007	Jose Emidio de Almeida	SHB Đà Nẵng	16
2008	Jose Emidio de Almeida	SHB Đà Nẵng	23
2009	Đỗ Merlo Lazaro de Souza	SHB Đà Nẵng Quân khu 4	15
2010	Đỗ Merlo	SHB Đà Nẵng	19
2011	Đỗ Merlo	SHB Đà Nẵng	22
2012	Timothy Anjembe	Hà Nội ACB	17
2013	Gonzalo Marronkle Hoàng Vũ Samson	Hà Nội	14
2014	Hoàng Vũ Samson	Hà Nội	23
2015	Patiyo Tambwe	QNK Quảng Nam	18
2016	Đỗ Merlo	SHB Đà Nẵng	24
2017	Nguyễn Anh Đức	Becamex Bình Dương	17
2018	Oseni Ganiyu	Hà Nội	17
2019	Pape Omar Faye Bruno Cantanhede	Hà Nội Viettel	15

Starting from the 2000 season when foreign players can played in the league, the top goalscorer are always foreign players (expect Nguyễn Anh Đức from Becamex Bình Dương in 2017 season)

Statistics

List of champions

The following is a historical list of champions and runners-up of the V.League 1 by season. Superscripts in brackets (such as ⁽²⁾) indicate a repeat win.

Season[7]	Champion	Runner-up	Third Place
1980	Tổng Cục Đường Sắt	Công An Hà Nội	Hải Quan
1981–82	Thể Công	Quân Khu Thủ đô	Công An Hà Nội
1982–83	Thể Công ⁽²⁾	Hải Quan	Cảng Hải Phòng
1984	Công An Hà Nội	Thể Công	Sở Công Nghiệp Trà Vinh
1985	Nam Định	Sở Công Nghiệp Trà Vinh	Cảng Sài Gòn
1986	Cảng Sài Gòn	Thể Công	Hải Quan
1987–88	Thể Công ⁽³⁾	Công Nhân Quảng Nam Đà Nẵng	An Giang
1989	Đồng Tháp	Thể Công	Công An Hà Nội
1990	Thể Công ⁽⁴⁾	Công Nhân Quảng Nam Đà Nẵng	Hải Quan
1991	Hải Quan	Công Nhân Quảng Nam Đà Nẵng	Cảng Sài Gòn
1992	Đà Nẵng	Công An Hải Phòng	Thể Công
1993–94	Cảng Sài Gòn ⁽²⁾	Công An Thành Phố	Thể Công
1995	Công An Thành Phố	Huế	Cảng Sài Gòn
1996	Đồng Tháp ⁽²⁾	Công An Thành Phố	Sông Lam Nghệ An
1997	Cảng Sài Gòn ⁽³⁾	Sông Lam Nghệ An	Thể Công
1998	Thể Công ⁽⁵⁾	Sông Lam Nghệ An	Công An Thành Phố
1999–2000	Sông Lam Nghệ An	Công An Thành Phố	Công An Hà Nội
2000–01	Sông Lam Nghệ An ⁽²⁾	Đạm Phú Mỹ Nam Định	Thể Công
2001–02	Cảng Sài Gòn ⁽⁴⁾	Công An Thành Phố	Sông Lam Nghệ An
2003	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai	Gạch Đồng Tâm Long An	Đạm Phú Mỹ Nam Định
2004	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai ⁽²⁾	Đạm Phú Mỹ Nam Định	Gạch Đồng Tâm Long An
2005	Long An	SHB Đà Nẵng	Becamex Bình Dương
2006	Long An ⁽²⁾	Becamex Bình Dương	Boss Bình Định
2007	Becamex Bình Dương	Gạch Đồng Tâm Long An	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai
2008	Becamex Bình Dương ⁽²⁾	Gạch Đồng Tâm Long An	Xi Măng Hải Phòng
2009	SHB Đà Nẵng ⁽²⁾	Becamex Bình Dương	Sông Lam Nghệ An
2010	Hà Nội	Xi Măng Hải Phòng	TĐCS Đồng Tháp
2011	Sông Lam Nghệ An ⁽³⁾	Hà Nội	SHB Đà Nẵng
2012	SHB Đà Nẵng ⁽³⁾	Hà Nội	Sài Gòn Xuân Thành
2013	Hà Nội ⁽²⁾	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai	SHB Đà Nẵng
2014	Becamex Bình Dương ⁽³⁾	Hà Nội	FLC Thanh Hóa
2015	Becamex Bình Dương ⁽⁴⁾	Hà Nội	FLC Thanh Hóa
2016	Hà Nội ⁽³⁾	Hải Phòng	SHB Đà Nẵng
2017	Quảng Nam	FLC Thanh Hóa	Hà Nội
2018	Hà Nội ⁽⁴⁾	FLC Thanh Hóa	Sanna Khánh Hòa BVN
2019	Hà Nội ⁽⁵⁾	TP Hồ Chí Minh	Than Quảng Ninh

Top-performing clubs

No. of championships[17]	Clubs
5	Thể Công (Viettel), Hà Nội
4	Becamex Bình Dương, Cảng Sài Gòn (TP Hồ Chí Minh)
3	Sông Lam Nghệ An, SHB Đà Nẵng
2	Hoàng Anh Gia Lai, Long An, Đồng Tháp
1	Hải Quan, Nam Định, Công An Hà Nội, Tổng Cục Đường Sắt, Công An Thành Phố, Quảng Nam

Boldface indicates clubs playing in 2019 season

All-time appearances

**Top ten players with most appearances**
Player		Period	Club(s)	Games
1	Nguyễn Thế Anh	1966–1984	Thể Công 412	412
2	Nguyễn Hồng Sơn	1988–2004	Thể Công 401	401
3	Đặng Phương Nam	1992–2007	Thể Công 388	388
4	Phan Văn Tài Em	2002–2011	Long An 305, Navibank Saigon 44, Xuân Thành Sài Gòn F.C. 27	376
5	Nguyễn Anh Đức	2006–2019	DongA Bank 9, Becamex Bình Dương 355	364
6	Dương Hồng Sơn	1998–2015	Sông Lam Nghệ An 206, Hà Nội 95	301
-	Nguyễn Cao Cường	1970–1989	Thể Công 301	301
7	Nguyễn Minh Phương	1998–2015	Cảng Sài Gòn 95, Long An 171, SHB Đà Nẵng 38,	294
8	Thạch Bảo Khanh	1998-2014	Thể Công 233, Lam Sơn Thanh Hoá 24, Hà Nội 32	289
9	Phạm Thành Lương	2005-	Hanoi ACB 144, Hà Nội 127	271
10	Lê Tấn Tài	2003-	Sanna Khanh Hoa BVN F.C. 164, Hải Phòng 11, Becamex Bình Dương 93	268

Boldface indicates a player still active in the V.League 1.

All-time top scorers

Player		Period	Clubs (mostly known as)	Goals
1	Hoàng Vũ Samson	2007–	Đồng Tháp, Hà Nội, Quảng Nam	170
2	Đỗ Merlo	2009–	SHB Đà Nẵng	135
3	Lê Công Vinh	2004–2016	Sông Lam Nghệ An, Hà Nội	116
-	Nguyễn Anh Đức	2005–2019	DongA Bank, Becamex Bình Dương	116
4	Nguyễn Văn Quyết	2011–	Hà Nội	107
5	Huỳnh Kesley Alves	2003–	Becamex Bình Dương, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai, Sài Gòn Xuân Thành, Sanna Khánh Hòa, TP Hồ Chí Minh	106
6	Antonio Carlos	2003–2015	Long An	94
7	Gonzalo Marronkle	2009–2017	Hà Nội	81
9	Lê Huỳnh Đức	1995–2007	Hồ Chí Minh City Police F.C., SHB Đà Nẵng	79
-	Timothy Anjembe	2009–2015	Hòa Phát Hà Nội, Hà Nội ACB, Hoàng Anh Gia Lai	79
10	Jose Emidio de Almeida	2006–2014	SHB Đà Nẵng	71