Hanoi Football Club (Vietnamese: Câu lạc bộ bóng đá Hà Nội), commonly referred to as Hanoi FC, is a Vietnamese professional football club based in Hanoi, Vietnam. They play their home matches at the Hang Day Stadium and compete in V.League 1, the top division in the Vietnamese football league system. They were founded in 2006 as T&T Hanoi Football Club before being renamed to Hanoi T&T Football Club in 2010, and finally to its current name in 2016.
Domestically, Hanoi FC have won a record 6 V.League 1 titles, 3 Vietnamese Cups and a record 5 Vietnamese Super Cups. In international football, the club have played in seven Asian competitions to date, notably reaching the AFC Cup inter-zone play-off final in 2019.
History
Foundation and rise
Hanoi FC was formed in 2006 as T&T Hanoi Football Club (Vietnamese: Câu lạc bộ bóng đá T&T Hà Nội) by T&T Group. The team initially played in the lowest division of Vietnamese football, V.League 4. The first three years in its existence, from a team of mostly young players led by coach Trieu Quang Ha (former player of the Vietnamese football team and The Cong) the team was promoted three consecutive places, from V.League 4 in 2006, finished in 1st place to V.League 3 in 2007, finished in 2nd place, and finally to V.League 2 in 2008, finished in 2nd place and winning the right to compete in V-League 2009.[2]
First V.League title and establishment of a new powerhouse
Once the club established its foothold, Hanoi T&T began to emerge radically and started to feel success in its debut on the top league. The club missed out their chance to win the 2009 season, but soon got the joy when they won the 2010 season, the club's first ever title.[2]
Thanked for good management and domestic trophy in 2010, Hanoi T&T was able to participate in their first international tournament, the 2011 AFC Cup.
However, Hanoi T&T had performed poorly in their first AFC Cup tournament, finishing in third place in Group G.
In the 2012 season, Hanoi T&T won the second place. There have been many rumours said that Hanoi T&T have played defense throughout the entire last match against Xuan Thanh Saigon to help SHB Da Nang won the title, the club that also being owned by the same person who owned Hanoi T&T, despite they still have a chance to win the league. After this match, owner of Xuan Thanh Saigon have announced to dissolved the team.
The 2013 season was the season in which Hanoi T&T was crowned champion before a round after a 2-1 victory over Dong Tam Long An. This is also the season that the striker Gonzalo and Samson have played excellently with a total of 28 goals, thereby winning the title of top scorer together.
The season 2014 and 2015 marked the rise of Becamex Binh Duong, this is also the period marking the generation of the team when Duy Manh, Van Thanh, Minh Long were promoted to the first team together. With the departure of goalkeeper Le Van Nghia, midfielder Sy Cuong... In the 2014 AFC Cup, the team finished 1st place on Group F, defeated Nay Pyi Taw 5-0 in the Round of 16 but lost to Erbil of Iraq in the quarter-finals 3-0 on aggerate.
The 2016 season, which is also the 10th anniversary for the capital club, witnessed many fluctuations of Hanoi T&T when they changing coaches twice. The first time was just a week before the season when coach Phan Thanh Hung resigned and the coach of the Hanoi U21 T&T team at that time, Mr. Pham Minh Duc, was selected to replace him. However, after coach Pham Minh Duc started the season with extremely disappointing results when he only won 1 point after the first 4 matches and ranked at the bottom of the table. On March 17, 2016, the purple shirt team decided to bring assistant Chu Dinh Nghiem to take over Hanoi T&T replaced Pham Minh Duc. This change helped the team completely improve the gameplay and the results improved significantly and brought the team gradually to the top of the table when the tournament only had 2 rounds left. In the penultimate round and was forced to win to raise hopes of the championship, Hanoi T&T played bravely to win all 3 points against Than Quang Ninh with Nguyen Van Quyet's only goal to hold the right to self-determination before the match. last. A 2-0 victory over FLC Thanh Hoa thanks to Gonzalo's double in the final round helped Hanoi T&T lift the V-League championship for the third time when it was equal on points and just above Hai Phong in the sub-index. However, in the 2016 Vietnamese Cup, the purple shirt team only won the runner-up position after losing unfortunately to Than Quang Ninh at Hang Day Stadium with a score of 1-2.
Name change
In 2016, shortly after winning the 2016 season, T&T Group decided to dedicate the club to the people of Hanoi, thus retreating its stakeholder and the club was officially renamed as Hanoi FC. The City Council had also decided to grant Hàng Đẫy Stadium to the club as a tribute so the club could use and improve the facilities.[2]
The 2017 season ended disappointingly for the purple team . They finished in 3rd place in the despite of holding a huge advantage in the last round after winning 1-0 against QNK Quang Nam (the team that won the championship later) in the penultimate round, but later drew 4-4 against Than Quang Ninh in the final round. In the 2017 Vietnamese Cup, Hanoi alos displayed disappointed performances when they were eliminated from the round of 16 by Song Lam Nghe An. They also failed to reach the knockout stage in 2017 AFC Cup, after a despondent 2-6 defeat against Ceres-Negros in the last group stage game.
In the 2018 season, thanks to the strong effect from the success of the Vietnam U23 team in the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship, in which Hanoi players played a crucial role, a large number of audiences had gradually become interested in the team. The team started with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Haiphong at Hang Day's home ground and then won 5-0 over Hoang Anh Gia Lai in a match where Hang Day reached its audience limit of 25,000. The purple team then crossed the finish line and were crowned champions before 5 rounds with 64 points and 72 goals scored. However, the 2018 season ended incompletely when the purple team missed the opportunity to reach the 2018 Vietnamese Cup final after a goalless draw against Becamex Binh Duong at Gò Đậu Stadium (the aggregate score was 3-3 and Hanoi was eliminated due to away goals rule).
In 2019, Hanoi started the season with a victory at the 2019 AFC Champions League round 1 play-off match. However, in the second play-off game in AFC Champions League, Hanoi suffered a 2-4 defeat against Chinese team Shandong Luneng despite taking the lead in the first half and displayed a superior demonstration against the opponent. The defeat ascended the team to the 2019 AFC Cup group stage. The purple shirt team's domestic season started with a 2-0 victory over Becamex Binh Duong in the Super Cup match. The team started the 2019 with a remarkable 5-0 victory over Than Quang Ninh. However, the team face a more difficult title race than the previous season when having to compete in three different competitions including V.League 1, Vietnamese Cup and AFC Cup, and was also challenged by new rising side Ho Chi Minh City. The team continuously dropped points in the stoppage time against underdogs such as Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Sanna Khanh Hoa BVN or even against a direct competitor for the championship, Ho Chi Minh City. Nevertheless, the team's spectacular improvements in the following rounds helped them to break through and crowned champions 2 rounds early after the victory against Song Lam Nghe An. At the 2019 AFC Cup, the team passed the group stage as Group F leaders. In the knockout stage, they respectively overcame Ceres Negros, Becamex Binh Duong, Altyn Asyr to reach the inter-zone final, before getting bitterly eliminated by North Korean team 4.25 SC due to the away goal rule.[3] With 5 V.League 1 titles, the purple shirt team had become the team that have won the most V.League 1 titles since the league officially went into professionalization in the 2000-2001 season. At the 2019 Vietnamese Cup, Hanoi defeated Hong Linh Ha Tinh, Duoc Nam Ha Nam Dinh in turn and won 3-0 had a convincing victory against Ho Chi Minh City in the semi-final. In the final match, despite having to play away from home and in bad weather conditions due to a storm, Hanoi managed to win the 2019 Vietnamese Cup thanks to their players' being in-form. Thereby, Hanoi added the only missing major title in their trophy room after several nonsuccesses in the past.
In 2023 season, under Montenegro head coach Bozidar Bandovic, Hanoi started the season by winning the 2023 Vietnamese Super Cup after defeating Haiphong in the final. But this turned out to be their only tile during the season season as they finish as runner-up in the 2023 V.League 1, behind Hanoi Police, and they were also eliminated in the Round of 16 of the Vietnamese Cup after losing against Viettel.
AFC Champions League group stage debut
As a result of winning the 2022 V.League 1 title, Hanoi FC have made their AFC Champions League group stage debut, being drawn in Group J with Pohang Steelers, Wuhan Three Towns and Urawa Red Diamonds. In order to prepare for the first time participating in the 2023–24 AFC Champions League, Hanoi FC had reached an agreement with the National Sports Complex on the lease and would used the Mỹ Đình National Stadium as their home ground. On 20 September 2023, the club play its first game in a 2–4 home defeat against South Korean side, Pohang Steelers. The second match saw Hanoi losing 0–6 against the defending champions, Urawa Red Diamonds. As a consequence of series of poor performances, coach Božidar Bandović was sacked and was replaced by his assistant, Lê Đức Tuấn. In his debut away match against Chinese Club, Wuhan Three Towns, 9-men Hanoi FC lost 1–2. However, on the fourth group match, Hanoi FC made a comeback against the Chinese side and won 2–1 on home grounds with both goal coming from Phạm Tuấn Hải. On the fifth group match, Hanoi FC lost again against the Korean champions Pohang Steelers 0–2. However, on the last match, the club made a final success against title-holders Urawa Red Diamonds in a 2–1 victory, thus eliminating the champions from defending their title and making them suffer their first lost against an ASEAN side after 16 years.
Since its creation in 2006, the team plays at the Hàng Đẫy Stadium in Đống Đa, Hanoi. The stadium was established in 1930 as a football field for Hanoi's École d’éducation physique (EDEP - School of Physical Education). Shortly after, EDEP was renamed into Socíeté d'éducation physique du Tonkin (SEPTO - Tonkin Society of Physical Education). From 1936 to 1938, a 400-seat wooden stand as well as bordering walls were constructed, and the stadium was subsequently known as SEPTO Stadium. On February 16, 1956, the stadium was rebuilt and the new Hàng Đẫy Stadium was opened on August 24, 1958. This structure remains virtually the same until today with some upgrades being done in the 1990s.
In 2016, the stadium was handled to the club as a gesture for the club's professionalism and success. During the visit of the Communist Party of Vietnam's general secretaryNguyễn Phú Trọng in France in 2018, he and the French President Emmanuel Macron signed plenty of cooperation deals, including the rebuild and renovation of the stadium. The new stadium will cost €250 million and will be designed and built by the French company Bouygues.[4] However, due to many problems, this project has not yet scheduled an implementation date.[5]
Supporters
The club has a quite moderate, if not to say, low number of supporters despite its prestigious achievements, a legacy of previous corruption in V.League as many people lost interests to attend the league watching their clubs.[6] In order to change the image, in 2015, a group of fans decided to found the first fan base for the club, known as Contras Hanoi. After early difficulties and conflict with old fans, Contras Hanoi has had over 2,000 followers in the Contras Hanoi Facebook as of 2018 and has been expanding since, while also fought to gain official recognition with club's support.[7] Contras Hanoi have an official fan song called Ô lê! Ô lê ! Hà Nội FC!, released in 2022. Today, professionalism is also a notable factor on the improvement of Hanoi FC's fan base.
Academy
Hanoi FC, in addition to their rising football success, also has a network system of youth football academies to feed the club, which is a major difference from the other major football clubs as Hanoi FC doesn't have a centralized youth academy. The youth team is trained in Hanoi FC's academies either in Gia Lâm or Cửa Lò, the latter shares academy with Song Lam Nghe An FC.[8]
In terms of geographical factors, Hanoi and Hai Phong are the two largest cities in the North Vietnam, their people also have conflicts unrelated to football. Both clubs are also the two of the most successful clubs in the North, the confrontation with Hai Phong is therefore also known as the "Northern Derby".[9]The Portland is one of the opponents who always cause difficulties when encountering The Purple with an unpleasant play, the confrontation between the two teams is always fierce on the field, the rivalry of the fans. The culmination was the 2016 V-League season when Hanoi won the championship thanks to the difference in difference compared to the fiercely competitive team at that time, Hai Phong. In addition, the matches are "literally" hot, with flares being the specialty of the Port team every time they have to be guests at Hang Day Stadium.[10] In the 2017 season, Hai Phong club was disciplined to play at home without an audience when causing trouble in the match against Hanoi in the 6th round of the V.League. In the second leg of that season, a "rain" of flares and a series of water bottles were thrown at My Dinh Stadium (due to the renovation of Hang Day Stadium). The VFF Disciplinary Committee has banned Hai Phong fans from going to the away field at the end of the first leg. In the 2018 season, Hai Phong club was fined a record of more than 300 million VND by the VFF disciplinary committee because fans set off flares. However, by the 6th round of V.League 2019, a huge amount of flares continued to be burned. Mr. Tran Anh Tu - chairman of the board of directors and General Director of VPF said that the match between Hanoi and Hai Phong was the match with "the most firecrackers ever" that he witnessed. And Mr. Vu Xuan Thanh - Head of the VFF Disciplinary Committee said that there must be boxes of flares brought into the stadium by Hai Phong fans.
In more than 10 years of confrontation in V.League, Hai Phong vs Hanoi FC are both have scored 63 goals each. Striker Hoang Vu Samson of Hanoi FC is the highest scorer with 12 goals.
The tense nature of each confrontation has turned the "Northern Derby" match into an indispensable spice of the V-League, this is a rare true derby of the national championship.[9]
After getting promoted to the 2023 V.League 1, Công An Nhân Dân changed its name to the current Cong An Ha Noi, as the team transferred its base to Hanoi. Cong An Ha Noi also shared the same Hàng Đẫy Stadium with Hanoi FC. Shortly after its inauguration, the team made several huge signings, including Đoàn Văn Hậu from Hanoi FC.[11] Cong an Ha Noi's rapid rise challenged the dominant status of Hanoi FC in the league, which led to a rivalry between two teams.[12]
In the 21st century, Hoang Anh Gia Lai and Hanoi are widely the most supported clubs in Vietnam, so the confrontation between the two clubs is dubbed the "Vietnamese Super Derby". From 2009 to the end of 2023, They met totally 34 times in all competitions, Hanoi overwhelmed with 17 wins, 7 draws, 10 losses. But the great battle between the two teams only started to get attention from 2018, when U23 Vietnam won runner-up in 2018 AFC U-23 Championship with almost players who are playing for both of these teams. Since then, the matches with Hoang Anh Gia Lai have always been the focus of the media when the competition between the two teams is not only the happenings on the field but also the philosophy of football development and management,[13] even their owners are Đỗ Quang Hiển and Đoàn Nguyên Đức.[14] Flares and bottle-throwing scenes have appeared in the match between the two teams.[15] Hot heads not only appeared among players and fans, but once spread to the coaching staff. Due to the tense nature of the match, many times the referee's decisions were controversial, affecting the situation and the outcome of the match.[16]
Same with Cong An Hanoi, Viettel and Hanoi are the same local football club based in Hanoi. The first time the two teams officially met each other was in the 2009 season. With the revivement and rise of Red Tornado, Hanoi Derby in 2020 was tension with 2 red cards for both team.[17][18] They have met each other 16 times in their history, Hanoi dominating Viettel with 10 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses.
Nam Dinh fans began to follow Hai Phong's footsteps and set off flares at Hang Day yard to take revenge on Hanoi.[19] The culmination was in round 22 of the V-League 2019, in the second half of the match between Hanoi and Nam Dinh, a flare from stand B of Nam Dinh fans rushed towards stand A, making the crowd unable to dodge. A female fan named Huyen Anh was unfortunately hit by a cannon in her thigh, she suffered a severe sulfur burn, it affected the bone, so she will definitely need surgery.[20] This incident has stirred up the Vietnamese online community, angry at the extreme action of a part of Nam Dinh fans. Dong Da district police have prosecuted the case and summoned 14 Nam Dinh fans. Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee Nguyen Duc Chung directed the City Police to focus on investigating, clarifying and strictly handling the person who caused the incident.[21] On the BTC side, it has issued a heavy penalty to the parties involved after the above incident. Hanoi was fined 85 million dong for failing to ensure match security. Nam Dinh was also fined 85 million VND, of which 70 million VND for the error of letting fans light flares, 15 million VND for throwing strange objects on the field. In this match, Hanoi beat Nam Dinh 6–1.
Others
Song Lam Nghe An is always a difficult opponent to play even with the former Hanoi T&T and the current Hanoi Club.[22] The fights are always tense, even violent. The results are often mixed. Similar to matches with Hai Phong Club, the match is always hot both on the field and in the stands. It was Song Lam Nghe An who ended the 32 match unbeaten streak at home on the very occasion of the Hanoi club's birthday.[23]
The rivalry with Becamex Binh Duong FC is always tense in the seasons. The matches are often very dramatic. The two teams have also won many times at each other's home ground. At its peak, Becamex Binh Duong was the only team capable of surpassing Hanoi to win the championship for 2 consecutive years.[24][25]
Honours
Hanoi FC is one of the most successful clubs and currently is the most successful club in the 21st century in Vietnam in terms of their number of major titles despite only existed since 2006. The club's first trophy was the Vietnamese Third League, which they won as Hanoi T&T in 2006. In 2010, the club won their first league title. Since then, they have gone on to win a record of 6 top-division titles and a total of 3 Vietnamese Cups. Those titles have allowed the club's appearance in the Vietnamese Super Cup for a record of 8 times, having won 5.
