Hải Phòng 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 7 major titles, including 4 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 Hải Phòng football team was established under the name Hải Phòng 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 Hải Phòng 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 Hải Phòng 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 Hải Phòng 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 Hải Phòng Police (1952–2002) Hải Phòng Vietnam – Australia Steel (2002–2004) Mitsustar Hải Phòng (2005) Mitsustar Haier Hải Phòng(2006) Van Hoa Hải Phòng (2007) Hải Phòng Cement (2008–2010) Vicem Hải Phòng (2011–2012) Vicem Cement Hải Phòng(2013) Hải Phòng 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 Hải Phòng and a Chinese team.
Kit manufacturers and shirt sponsors PeriodKit manufacturerShirt sponsor Shirt sponsor 21998 Grand SportRennienone2000–2001 AdidasHighlands Coffee (V-League) Pepsi (National Cup)
Tiger BeerSamsung SyncMaster2001–2002Strata (V-League) Samsung (National Cup)
Tiger Beer2003 Grand SportThép Việt - Úcnone2004noneVinausteel-HP2005Mitsustar2006Haier2007Vạn Hoanone2008–2015Vicem2016–2017 Mitrenone2018Asanzo2019 Jogarbolanone2020VTC32021–2024none2024–present KappaMansion SportsLPBank
+Home kits +Away kits +Third kits
Current squad
Other players under contract
Club officials
Position NameHead coach Đặng Văn ThànhAssistant coach Ngô Anh Tuấn Nguyễn Mạnh DũngGoalkeeper coach Bùi Vinh QuangDoctor Phan Thanh Hải Vũ Hồng Quang Physiotherapist Đoàn Kim ĐạiInterpreter Nguyễn Hoàng Lê
Continental record SeasonCompetitionRoundClubHomeAwayAggregate1996–97Asian Cup Winners' CupFirst round Lam Pak(w/o)1Second round Nagoya Grampus1–10–31–42023–24AFC Champions LeaguePreliminary stage HK Rangers4–1 Play-off stage Incheon United1–3 AFC CupGroup stage PSM Makassar3–01–12nd Hougang United4–01–2 Sabah3–21–4 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
SeasonPldWonDrawLostGFGAGDPTSFinal positionNotes2000–01 V-League188192830−2256th2001–02 V-League185491926−71912th2008 V-League2612864625+21443rd2009 V-League26113122935−6367th2010 V-League2614394134+7452nd2011 V-League2679102840−123012th2012 V-League2635182759−321414thInitially relegated to 2013 V.League 2, but maintained after purchasing Khanh Hoa's spot2013 V.League 1207583928+11266th2014 V.League 12256111627−112110th2015 V.League 12611873128+3416th2016 V.League 12615564732+15502nd2017 V.League 126115103533+2387th2018 V.League 126971026260346th2019 V.League 12686123344−113012th2020 V.League 1185491525−101912th2021 V.League 112426715−81412thCancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic2022 V.League 12414643926+13482ndQualified for 2023–24 AFC Champions League preliminary round2023 V.League 1206862023−3266th2023–24 V.League 1269894239+3357th2024–25 V.League 1269892927+2356th
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 2022–2026: Chu Đình Nghiêm 2026–present: Đặng Văn Thành
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 (4): 1960, 1961, 1963, 1968 Runners-up: 1967, 1974 Festival Sport Vietnam Winners (3): 1985, 1990, 1995 Hoa Lư Cup Winners: 2022
References
External links