In the "storm wave" of Vietnamese football in the early second decade of the 21st century, Mr. Vo Quoc Thang was the first Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF).
It is also understandable, because compared to the rugged and dusty appearance of Bau Duc (Doan Nguyen Duc) or Bau Kien (Nguyen Duc Kien), Bau Thang has the true image of a politician. He was once a National Assembly Deputy of the 11th term (term 2002-2007).
The common point he has with Bau Duc is doing beautiful football, decent football, only slightly different in methods.
Getting acquainted with the family business from a young age (Dong Tam brick brand was formed just nearly 2 years after he was born), struggling with the profession, both producing, selling goods, and being a boss, creating a management mindset in him. So that when he became the boss of Dong Tam Long An Brick Club, he also applied that management method.
And if Bau Duc failed the university entrance exam 4 times, Mr. Vo Quoc Thang has a Bachelor of Advanced Business Administration degree from Quebec University Montreal, Canada.
Bau Duc can create a "blockbuster" with Thai football stars, with Kiatisak Semnamuang as the leader, but Bau Thang is different, his "star" is Henrique Calisto in the coaching chair.
Bau Thang does football with the calmness, discipline and organizational principles of a leading business manager. He sees football as an "industry" that needs civilization, transparency and sustainability.
His approach is to delegate full professional authority to the coach, building a highly combative team based on cohesion. He only always reminds players of clean, dedicated, and decent football.
Thanks to that, with the Portuguese coach, Dong Tam Long An Brick, with "2/3 mid-range squads, repeating what Hoang Anh Gia Lai of Bau Duc once did - winning the V.League 2 consecutive seasons (2005, 2006). Including the National Cup (2005) and the National Super Cup (2006).
Calisto himself later became the coach of the Vietnamese national team that won the 2008 AFF Cup.
Bau Thang's philosophy of decent football is the shaping for Dong Tam Long An Brick, to become the reason why this team is loved by quite a few people.
In a story about his life, in 2007, he went to Japan to study improving business management skills. There, he heard the theory of breakthrough thinking. Simply put, if we dare to break through, go beyond ordinary thinking and are determined to achieve it, we can achieve unexpected successes.
A few years later, in the chaotic context of domestic football in terms of organization, that thinking - combined with bosses with common views - was the premise for the "steel fist" for VPF to be established in 2011.
That is the breakthrough, not allowing the sole administrative unit, the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF), but having the participation of clubs in the role of shareholders.
That is the business model, opening up many changes, including the story of television rights, helping clubs have a certain income.
There are many opinions on evaluating Bau Thang's term as Chairman of VPF, but from any perspective, people still always see in him the core thing is "living truthfully".
Bau Thang has been attached to football for about 2 decades, but even if he stops, football is still a concern, a topic in stories and also an important part of the coffee project combined with Bau Duc (creating the Bau Ong Coffee brand with the slogan "Living Really - Real Coffee"), with each glass sold, 1,000 VND will be deducted into the young talent support fund (in all fields, including football).
And not only the story of doing football properly, the name Dong Tam that Bau Thang's father chose is also a message for the country's football: Must be united, must work together to solve problems, bring the ship of career to success.
