Hải Phòng FC

Haiphong Football Club (), simply known as Hải Phòng, is a Vietnamese professional football club based in Haiphong. Haiphong is one of the most successful football teams in Vietnam with 13 major titles, including 10 North Vietnam national titles and 3 Vietnamese Cup titles. They are currently playing in V.League 1 and their home ground is Lach Tray Stadium.

The club is considered to have originated from its predecessor, the Haiphong Port Football Team. It is the only team in the city of Haiphong that survived after government subsidies were removed.

History

In 1906, football was brought to North Vietnam by the French during the colonization. Hai Phong at that time was one of the first localities to have football clubs, including Olympique Haiphong, Arrow (La Flèche)., High School (Radium), Youth of Tonkin (La Jeunesse Tonkinoise) and The Sea Golden Elephant (Voi Vàng Đất Cảng).

It was reported that in 1909 two teams Haiphong included ''Le Duong Dap Cau'' (Legion Dap Cau) and ''Olympique Haiphong'' faced each other. In the first leg, Olympique Haiphong won 2-1 but the second match lost 1–8. In the 1930s, Haiphong football was known for the Nguyen Lan and Nguyen Thong duo, whose brought much success to the city's team. However, after the Vietnamese August Revolution of 1945, all precedent Haiphong teams were disbanded.

In 1952, a new Haiphong football team was established under the name Hai Phong Police Football Club, being under the management of the Haiphong Municipal Police. Before the Vietnamese reunification in 1975, Haiphong played in the North Vietnam A1 League and managed to win the league 10 times. After the reunification, they were a regular member of the Vietnamese top flight but failed to win a national league title. In 1995, the club won their first Vietnamese Cup.

After the 2001–02 season, when the team promoted to the Vietnamese First Division, the team's model was no longer suitable for the new professional football system that was newly formed in Vietnam, Hai Phong Municipal Police had decided to transfer the team to the Sports Department of Haiphong city. In the early years under the new management, the team's name has changed over the seasons due to sponsorship reasons, a result of frequent swifts in the team's main sponsor. This model was not a success as the team was financially unstable and consistently got relegated from the top tier after their promotions.

On 16 October 2007, the Sports Department of Haiphong transferred the team's ownership to the Haiphong Cement company, renaming the club Haiphong Cement. Under the new owner, the club had a larger budget and became a more competitive side in the Vietnamese top flight as they finished in the third place. In the following season, the team gained wide attention after successfully in sign Brazilian World Cup 2002 winning member Denílson to compete for the title. In the 2011 V-League season, Haiphong Cement was renamed Vicem Hai Phong following the club's sponsorship deal with the Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation.

At the end of the 2012 V-League season, the team finished at the bottom of the table, suffering a relegation to the 2013 V.League 2. However, the team purchased Khatoco Khanh Hoa's spot in the top division as the latter disbanded due to financial difficulties, thus maintain the top flight in the 2013 season.

In 2014, the team's owner Vicem company transferred the club to the Haiphong People's Committee, changing the team name to the current Hai Phong Football Club. Despite the lack of financial strength as the previous seasons, the team won the 2014 Vietnamese Cup, their second title since 1975 despite poor results in the league.

In the 2016 season, Haiphong led the league for most of the season but couldn't maintain their good form at the end of the season and lost their title race to rival Hanoi T&T, with both having the same number of points and Haiphong only lost on goal differences.

In 2022, Haiphong once again finished as league runner-up, gaining them a qualification to the 2023–24 AFC Champions League preliminary round. There where they defeated Hong Kong Rangers 4–1 in the preliminary round before but lost to Korean club Incheon United 1–3 in the play-off round. This defeat however transferred them to the 2023–24 AFC Cup, marking their first participation in a main phase of a continental competition.

Name

* Haiphong Police (1952–2002)
* Haiphong Vietnam – Australia Steel (2002–2004)
* Mitsustar Haiphong (2005)
* Mitsustar Haier Haiphong (2006)
* Van Hoa Hai Phong (2007)
* Haiphong Cement (2008–2010)
* Vicem Haiphong (2011–2012)
* Vicem Cement Haiphong (2013)
* Haiphong Football Club (2014–present)

Stadium

The Lạch Tray Stadium is a multi-use stadium in Hai Phong, Vietnam. The stadium holds approximately 17,400 spectators. The stadium was built in 1957 from a horse farm (a yard belong to the Lach Tray Horse Club). A year later, on 1 January 1958, the first international football match took place at Lạch Tray Stadium, between Hai Phong and a Chinese team.

Kit suppliers and shirt sponsors

Current squad

Unregistred players

Club officials

Continental record

''¹ Lam Pak withdrew before 1st leg''

Performance in AFC competitions

* AFC Champions League: 1 appearance
:: 2023–24: Play-off round
* AFC Cup: 1 appearance
:: 2023–24: Group stage
* Asian Cup Winners' Cup: 1 appearance
:: 1996–97: Second round

Record in the V.League 1

Head coaching history

* 1952–1968: Nguyễn Lan
* 1968–1974: Nguyễn Trọng Lộ
* 1974–1992: --unknown--
* 1992–1998: Trần Bình Sự
* 1998–2001: Mai Trần Hải
* 2001–2004: Trần Văn Phúc
* 2005: Luis Alberto
* 2006: Laszlo Kleber
* 2007: Luis Alberto
* 2007–2008: Vương Tiến Dũng
* 2008–2009: Alfred Riedl
* 2009: Đinh Thế Nam
* 2009–2011: Vương Tiến Dũng
* 2011–2012: Nguyễn Đình Hưng
* 2012: Lê Thụy Hải
* 2013–2014: Hoàng Anh Tuấn
* 2014: Dylan Kerr
* 2014–2019: Trương Việt Hoàng
* 2019–2022: Phạm Anh Tuấn
* 2022–present: Chu Đình Nghiêm

Honours

National competitions

League
* V.League 1/ A1 National League
**Runners-up: 1992, 2010, 2016, 2022
* V.League 2
**Winners (2): 1995, 2003
**Runners-up: 2007
Cup
*Vietnamese National Cup
**Winners (2): 1995, 2014
**Runners-up: 2005
*Vietnamese Super Cup
**Winners (1): 2005
**Runners-up: 2014, 2022

Other competitions

* North Vietnam A1 League
**Winners (10): 1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970
* Festival Sport Vietnam
**Winners (3): 1985, 1990, 1995
* Hoa Lư Cup
**Winners: 2022

References

External links

*

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hai Phong F.C.
Football clubs in Vietnam
Haiphong
Police association football clubs in Vietnam
Haiphong FC