Vietnamese Club Unexpectedly Changes Home Stadium

From round 9 of the 2025/26 National First Division, the Thanh Niên Ho Chi Minh City Club will cease playing home games at Thống Nhất Stadium.

Instead, the young team from Ho Chi Minh City has decided to select Pleiku Stadium as their home ground for the remainder of the season, following approval from the league organizers and the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF).

This decision stems from the fact that Thống Nhất Stadium, the traditional home ground for several Ho Chi Minh City teams, is scheduled for renovation and upgrades starting in March. To avoid disruption to the match schedule and professional preparations, Thanh Niên Ho Chi Minh City proactively proposed registering Pleiku Stadium as their home venue earlier than initially planned.

According to the official announcement from the organizers of the 2025/26 First Division, Thanh Niên Ho Chi Minh City’s home matches from round 9 onward will be held at Pleiku Stadium instead of Thống Nhất, as originally scheduled. This arrangement is considered reasonable given that the facilities in Ho Chi Minh City cannot support continuous matches during the renovation period.

In round 8, scheduled for 4 PM on February 1, Thanh Niên Ho Chi Minh City will still play at Thống Nhất, but only as the away team against Văn Hiến University. It will not be until round 9, on February 6, that coach Võ Hồng Phúc’s squad will officially make their home debut at Pleiku when hosting Đồng Tháp.

The early choice to play at Pleiku is not only due to infrastructure reasons but also closely linked to the team’s training arrangements. Recently, Thanh Niên Ho Chi Minh City, mainly composed of young players from the Hoàng Anh Gia Lai system, have been living, training, and dining in Pleiku. The team usually travels back to Ho Chi Minh City or other locations just before matches, causing a tight and physically demanding travel schedule.

From a professional standpoint, Thanh Niên Ho Chi Minh City is facing a challenging phase in the 2025/26 First Division. After 7 rounds, the team has earned only 2 points, ranking last in the table and 2 points behind the team just above them, Đồng Tháp. Their home record at Thống Nhất is also disappointing, with only 1 point gained from 3 matches.

Specifically, Thanh Niên Ho Chi Minh City drew 0-0 with Bắc Ninh, lost 1-2 to Quảng Ninh, and was defeated again by Trường Tươi Đồng Nai with a score of 2-4. The move to Pleiku as their home ground is expected to help the team stabilize mentally, reduce travel stress, and improve their performance in the remainder of the season.