Coach Mai Duc Chung shared that, in his memories as a player, the trip to the South with the Railway General Department team at the end of 1976 was always the most memorable milestone for him.
It was the time when the Vietnam Railway General Department was sent to the friendly competition with the southern teams. For the first time since the country reunited April 30, 1975, people have the opportunity to watch the match of the two -region football representative.
As a result of that trip, the General Department of Railway played 5 matches and won 4 matches, losing only 1 match to Hai Quan with a score of 1-2 when returning to play the second match in Saigon, the rest won against Saigon Port (2-0), Tay Ninh (2-0), Dong Thap (2-0), Can Tho (3-1)".
Football in the subsidy period
In 1977, the National Championship system began to be organized in the following regions: Hong Ha (North), Truong Son (China) and Jiuzhaigou (South). The top teams in each region will participate in the Final Round in Hanoi.
In the following years, football in Vietnam continuously changed, the system also gradually switched to two rounds. Recalling those miserable days, coach Mai Duc Chung recalled: "In the past, eating miserable, not enough quality, the yard was hard, and the shoes also had any kind of kindness that stone. The shoes that day were" processed "by the leather nails, forming 6 shoes and then adding 3 feces, continuing to take the sharp knife. Sometimes stabbing nails stabbed up, puncturing the legs, blood flowing out.
At that time, the ball was also very heavy, every time the head was finished, he was stunned, and he leaned away. Every day it rained and shot the ball even heavier, even more painful. Clothes are winter -spring knitting clothes, at first wearing it, but the ice washing once sometimes the fabric is over through the navel. The pants are similar, making us out the pitch, just kicking and pulling down. "
Meanwhile, the former player Vu Manh Hai - as the coach of the Military Area Football Team of the Capital Region in the period of 1984-1986 recalled: "Our team goes to kick the tournament from the North to the South without aircraft, but the car does not have air conditioning. Get in the car to go a while, the whole sweating, unable to stand, have to take off all the bare.
3 meters of fabric, 30 billion VND and the transformation of V.League
Vietnamese football has a big shift when the V.League was born in the season 2000-2001. For the first time, the teams with foreign soldiers, and the management unit was transferred from local to business. The bosses "pour money" to help many teams of makeover, and players also have a high income.
After more than 13 years of professional competition, Le Cong Vinh has a pocket of nearly 30 billion VND in signing fees and a monthly salary of hundreds of millions. Or most recently, Pham Tuan Hai, Nguyen Hoang Duc... also received 20-30 billion VND for new contracts with their home team. These figures are a huge change compared to football in the subsidy period.
Of course, our generation has suffered much more than now. It is not necessary to wholeheartedly eat and exercise every day. There are only 3 training sessions a week, the rest of the time I have to go to work. When it is almost the tournament, they can focus and concentrate all their efforts to practice. The team consists of many brothers from different departments, but the diet is only 3 groups/day.
However, even though he works and plays football, his salary is still the same. For example, in 1980, the General Department of Railway won the National Championship, people thought we were awarded one car for the other, but that was not the case. The salary was also only increased slightly, by 10 VND, increasing from 64 to 74 VND. In addition to the salary increase, each of us was rewarded with 3 meters of protective fabric for workers. That was it, nothing more - coach Mai Duc Chung recounted.
Looking back on the 50-year journey since the day of national reunification, Vietnamese football has also gradually changed with the progress of the times. From the subsidy period competition system, V.League appeared, bringing with it major changes, contributing to creating a foundation for the success of national team levels over the years.
Of course, problems still exist, from refereeing, organization... All are still in need of the cooperation of management levels, the Vietnam Football Federation, Vietnam Professional Football Joint Stock Company, clubs and many related parties for the country's football to truly rise.
