The V-League monuments are fading into the past

The LPBank V-League 2025/26 is in its final stage, featuring a nail-biting fight to avoid relegation. But aside from the figures on the table, the competition also reveals a deeper truth: not a few values that were once iconic for Vietnamese football are slowly eroding, and some have even plummeted uncontrollably.

Looking at the current bottom group of the table, fans can easily find names that were once the pride of a whole generation.

SLNA is the most typical example. The team from Nghe An was the first champion of the V-League era 25 years ago. It was once a symbol of Vietnamese football with a model youth training system that produced a series of famous players like Van Quyen, Cong Vinh, Huy Hoang, and Trong Hoang. But now, SLNA almost every season enters the competition with its primary objective being... survival.

The victory over Becamex TP.HCM helped SLNA officially stay in the V-League, but the image of a former champion who once stood at the top having to live in the fear of relegation for many consecutive years is a stark contrast to its glorious past.

HAGL is not much better. Two consecutive championships in 2003 and 2004 once ushered in a golden period for the Mountain City team. The HAGL Arsenal JMG academy later created a youth training revolution for Vietnamese football.

However, at present, Mr. Duc's team is holding its breath in the battle to stay in the V-League. After 24 rounds, HAGL has only 23 points and sits in 11th place. A slip-up against Ha Noi FC in the penultimate round could completely push the Pleiku home team into the most dangerous zone.

More notably, SHB Da Nang, the champion of the 2009 and 2012 seasons, is also struggling in second-to-last place with 20 points. The Han River team was relegated in 2023 and this season faces a similar threat again. Although there have been signs of revival, Coach Le Duc Tuan's team is actually still in the bottom second position, and a single moment of carelessness will cost the Central region team dearly.

The situation of Becamex TP.HCM is even more alarming. The team once dubbed the "Chelsea of Vietnam" with four championships in 2007, 2008, 2014, and 2015 is now in 12th place with 21 points.

The team from Thu Dau Mot holds the record for changing coaches but has not seen a change in fortune. Becamex TP.HCM has the most conceded goals in the league (40) and has not won any match in the last eight. The successive changes of leadership from Nguyen Anh Duc, Dang Tran Chinh, Ueno Nobuhiro to Hua Hien Vinh have only made fans shake their heads. A once dominant force in the V-League is now just a shadow of its former self.

Another former champion no longer in the V-League but in the First Division, Long An, is also witnessing the harsh law of elimination. The V-League champion in 2005 and 2006 is now second-to-last in the First Division. The team that once made wonders with players like Minh Phuong, Tai Em, Viet Thang is now almost forgotten in the country's top-tier football circle.

What is noteworthy is that the decline of these former champions is not a temporary phenomenon. It is the result of many years of lacking long-term strategy, unstable management, or not having sufficient resources to compete in the increasingly harsh professional football environment.

On the flip side, new forces are emerging strongly. CAHN Club has won two championships in just four seasons since returning to the V-League. Nam Dinh also dominated the league for two consecutive seasons before slowing down this season. The rise of these well-invested teams shows that professional football has no place for past glory.

Ha Noi FC also feels this pain as the club holding a record six V-League titles has not returned to the throne since 2022. Mr. Hien's team has seen many changes in leadership and coaching staff, along with competition from CAHN and Nam Dinh, causing Ha Noi FC to no longer maintain its dominant position. The Cong Viettel has also not tasted another championship since winning it in 2020.

The V-League today thus reflects the harshest law of elite sports. There is no concept of living on tradition. No team is guaranteed a position solely because of past titles.

SLNA, HAGL, SHB Da Nang, Becamex TP.HCM, and Long An were once monuments of Vietnamese football. But time waits for no one. When old values are no longer able to adapt, decline is inevitable.

And perhaps never before has the V-League witnessed such a fierce transfer of power as now, where the former monuments have to struggle to survive amidst the relentless flow of modern football.