The shortest-lived football team in history
The story of Hoa Binh club asking to transfer to Phu Tho team is both long and quick. For nearly a month, the representative of the Hoa Binh team's leadership struggled to convince Phu Tho province to accept.
Initially, local leaders had no intention of transferring, the reason came from the fact that this team had financial problems and did not have enough funding to operate in the 2025-2026 season.
It was not until a potential sponsor called for "clashes" with Hoa Binh FC that the relationship between the team and Phu Tho province was established. At the end of August, the coaching staff and players traveled to Phu Tho to practice and prepare for the new season.
On September 7, Hoa Binh FC with its new name and identity as Phu Tho FC had a debut ceremony, and was posted on the mass media.
But before they could "continue writing football history together" (the slogan shared by Phu Tho FC on social networks), this team disbanded 2 days later.
According to research, when they found a large enterprise in the province to sponsor, the team could no longer maintain unity. Therefore, Phu Tho province must find another suitable force to replace it, which is Gia Dinh club (recently renamed Xuan Thien Phu Tho).
The team wrote a document to Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company (VPF) to withdraw from the First Division, which is Hoa Binh club, not Phu Tho, because before that, the transfer and registration procedures with VPF had not been completed.
Hoa Binh FC no longer has the opportunity to represent Phu Tho province. The time on the Vietnam football map of the "Hoa Binh - Phu Tho" version also only existed for 48 hours before withdrawing from the national professional tournament system.
The coaching staff and some Hoa Binh players may be accepted by Phu Tho in the next few days. But the "pride of the Northwest" will soon pass, after a few years of establishment and operation in the National First Division.
A normal story
The news that Hoa Binh FC has withdrawn from the national professional tournament has disappointed fans. But this is also... normal in Vietnamese football, even at the professional level.
Not long before, Quang Nam club also experienced a similar story. Although successfully staying in the V.League, due to lack of funding and a sponsor accompanying, the Quang team merged with SHB Da Nang and disappeared from the national professional football system.
Last year, Dinh Huong Phu Nhuan club won a place in the First Division. Before they could start planning to build a team or transfer personnel, a series of internal controversies in the upper-level apparatus caused this team to immediately leave the game.
The reason given by Dinh Huong Phu Nhuan is that there are some difficulties such as forming a football organization operating under the corporate law.
Going back in time to 2021, Than Quang Ninh - the pride of mining football - once stopped operating because many players filed a cry for help when they had been owed salaries, bonuses, and hand-to-hand fees for nearly 2 years.
In the face of the above situation, VFF did not allow Than Quang Ninh to participate in V.League 2022 due to not meeting the criteria, especially financial issues. The club liquidated nearly 30 players before announcing the disbandment.
The Quang Ninh team currently competes in the National First Division and is not related to the old Quang Ninh Coal. They are working with a new leadership team, a new management company. However, the "traffic accident" named Than Quang Ninh is also a lesson for Quang Ninh to take a deep look at at this time.
The history of the V.League before witnessed many ups and downs of clubs. Many teams have emerged as a force and then collapsed after the incident. The common problem that is easily identified from these cases is the "impatience" of the sponsors, in addition to the Vietnam Football Federation's lack of determination in tightening professional football criteria for the team.
Without a foundation for proper and solid development, many Vietnamese clubs have therefore easily disappeared when unexpected incidents occurred.
