V.League 2026-2027 has taken the first steps with new and promising things in both organization and professional factors.
In the effort to upgrade and improve through each season of Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF), one cannot fail to remember the starting point, with football bosses who are passionate and enthusiastic.
But even when VPF was not yet formed, many of them left a strong mark in the V.League in many aspects, from perspectives, philosophy to working style and famous statements.
Let's start with Mr. Doan Nguyen Duc, or simply "Bau Duc", who thinks of things that no one thinks of, does things that no one does. He does football with the mentality of a pioneer.
Starting with football when he was nearly 40 years old, his academic path was not smooth (4 times he failed the university entrance exam), but he had sharp business thinking and strategic vision.
While V.League teams focused on buying European, African foreign players or from strong Asian football backgrounds like South Korea, he chose Kiatisak Senamuang – then captain of the Thai national team, and Chukiat Noosarung in February 2002.
Thai newspapers at that time also published large headlines full of sarcasm such as "Who is Hoang Anh? Where is Gia Lai?", while Vietnamese media also expressed skepticism, especially in the context of rivalry between the two football backgrounds in Southeast Asia.
Time quickly responded. Gia Lai was promoted to V.League 1 and then renamed Hoang Anh Gia Lai Football Club, becoming one of the first professional football clubs in Vietnam. The Mountain Town team made a miracle when they won the V.League 2003 right in the promotion season and successfully defended the throne in the following season.
Winning 2 more National Super Cups, turning the team into a Dream Team, Bau Duc's way of investing in personnel for what may still be true for the current V.League: "hunting" suitable players - not necessarily relying on physique, can be successful.
While everyone is imagining an "armed race", Bau Duc's vision has changed direction: Combining with the famous Arsenal club, building a training academy, developing internal strength.
Transfers help the flow of professional football operate, but training is the foundation. His training philosophy is "training people before training players" - players must have culture, know English, and must not have bad habits.
And Bau Duc once again left his mark with that strategy, when the first generation of HAGL Arsenal JMG academy made important contributions to the U23 team and the national team.
Loyal to beautiful football, building a beautiful image, unfortunately, in the fierce battlefield of V.League, Bau Duc is like a lonely person. In the most sublimated season (2021) – led by Kiatisak – V.League was canceled halfway due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
But at least, his Hoang Anh Gia Lai still always receives the attention of a significant number of V.League fans.
However, until now, when Vietnamese youth football is still mentioned every year with its own issues, Bau Duc's early choice proves the path that professional football must take.
Doing football with strong intuition, pride, and a bit of arrogance, but Bau Duc's football must always be associated with kindness and dedication, as one of the things he once said: "I do football not to make money, but to make Vietnamese people hold their heads high".
He is willing to pay coach Park Hang-seo salaries in the first 2 years of leading the Vietnamese national team, or most recently, to apply to take over the Dak Doa women's amateur football team for management and training towards participating in the National Championship... are 2 of many decisions affirming that people open the way to dare to think, dare to speak, dare to do things that no one else does.
