About

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Updated January 2014

Another season following  Hà Nội T&T! Still living in Vietnam and now somewhat hooked on the V Leagues take of the beautiful game. I’ll be following the exploits of current league champions Ha Noi T&T once again.

This season sees three new teams join the VLeague 1; a team from north, central and southern Vietnam;  Than Quảng Ninh, QNK Quảng Nam and  Hùng Vương An Giang respectively.

I’ll be looking to get to as many games as possible; consuming more bowls of phở , copious cups of Vietnamese coffee, a fair amount of ice cold beers and meeting some more great people throughout Vietnam. One other, possibly stupid idea, is my desire to cycle (yes, on a bicycle) to some of the away game.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………..

I’ve decided to embark on a season following Hanoi T&T FC throughout Vietnam in the 2013 V League.

I’ve been living overseas for a few years now, currently based in Hanoi and being a big football fan I’ve really begun missing the excitement of going to live games and having a local team to really get to follow and understand.

I’ve previously linked my two passions of travel and football when following Arsenal on overseas European adventures in the Champions League and the UEFA Cup, plus by taking a road trip to Portugal for the Euro’s in 2004, in a 1989 Renault 5!  I’m also an avid  Stevenage FC fan, following the Boro to such glorious destinations as Eastbourne, Barnet and Yeovil.

Its about time I started another little adventure.

So my plan is to travel to all of the Hanoi T&T FC games in the Vleague for the 2013 season. This is not so much of a little adventure seeing as half of the teams are based in the South around Ho Chi Minh City, some 700 miles away.

I’m particularly excited about away games in Hai Phong, Thanh Hoa and Pleiku; all places I’ve never visited and probably would never have visited without this plan. Oh, and my grasp of the Vietnamese language is terrible, so could be interesting travel.

“Xin chào toàn thể người hâm mộ bóng đá Việt Nam. Tôi là một người Anh và đang trong hành trình theo chân Hà Nội T&T trong tất cả các trận đấu của họ ở mùa giải 2013, cả sân nhà lẫn sân khách. Dưới đây là blog của tôi viết về giải đấu tuyệt vời này. Chủ Nhật tuần tới tôi sẽ đến Bình Dương và nếu có fan nào muốn gặp mặt để giao lưu thì làm ơn gửi tin nhắn đến FB của tôi. Rất vui được gặp gỡ tất cả các bạn”.

Tóm tắt Blog của anh chàng này thì anh đã từng theo chân Arsenal ở các trận đấu sân khách trong khuôn khổ Champion Leauge và UEFA cup. Anh cũng là một fan của đội bóng Stevenage FC và đã từng đến Bồ Đào Nha trong kỳ Euro 2004 với chiếc xe Renault đời 89 của mình. Việt Nam là hành trình tiếp theo trong cuộc đời của anh và anh hi vọng sẽ được giao lưu với những người hâm mộ bóng đá Việt Nam trong cả nước trong hành trình này. Anh cũng chia sẻ rằng khả năng tiếp thu tiếng Việt của anh không được tốt cho nên những fan nào có khả năng giao tiếp tiếng Anh nếu có lòng thì liên lạc giúp đỡ trong chuyến đi hơn 1000 cây số từ nam chí bắc lần này.

Bill George – 2013
JL dịch,

59 responses to “About”

  3. It’s great to have you in our soccer community. I hope you enjoy the soccer’s quality in Vietnam. There is Ha Noi T&T fan club who can help you to become a true Hanoi fan more faster and that you can, with them, travel thousands of kilometers for matches which will surely be more fun and enjoyable. Look forward to your upcoming articles!

  4. Yeah!!! V-league..i am also a fan of V-league ..Hope to see you in a nearest day at Thong Nhat stadium !! 🙂

    • Hey Trung Dung,

      thanks for contacting me, I’ve sent you an email. have a great day

  6. Love your blog, especially since I never made it to watch a game while being in Vietnam. Cheers from Germany.

  7. Hi there, I would like to know if there is any official store of Hanoi T&T football club in the city of Hanoi, so that I could buy a scarf or a shirt of the club. Thank you for your help.

    • By the way, if you know about any particular club shop in Hanoi it would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your help.

      • Hi,

        Unfortunately there are no club shops in Hanoi, and official replica shirts or other merchandise are not for sale. Even the unofficial ‘fake’ football shirt shops do not produce copies of the VLeague teams, only the national team.

        I recently visited the Nike store to try to purchase the official National team shirt but they didn’t stock it. But that may be due to a dispute with the FA and Nike, not sure.

  8. Nice to see someone supporting the lesser followed leagues in world football. Anyway, after having watched a season of Hanoi T&T, do you think Samson Kayode is good enough to play regularly in a top european league? Watched his goals throughout the season and looks a quality finisher even if the defences are average. Are there reports coming out of Vietnam he is leaving for Europe? Hope he moves there eventually.

    • Hello,
      Samson Kayode is an interesting player, obviously an excellent goalscorer and physically very strong.

      There’s not been any serious talk recently of a move. he did sign for Athletico Madrid on a free transfer in 2011, but the move fell through as, I believe, he was under contract here in Vietnam and the transfer didn’t recognise his existing contract.

      I hope he gets the chance soon to move up a league too, it’s rare at the moment that players move up from the VLeague and a European league would be a big jump. Here’s hoping though.
      Thanks for taking the time to read the blog.

  9. Hi. I am staying in Hanoi at the moment. Could you give me some Information about when the supercup Match between hanoi and ninh binh will take place? I found several information in the internet, e.g. 1st or 4th of january 2014. thanks for your help.

    • Hi,
      The supercup will take place on Saturday 4th January, at Ninh Binh stadium. (Ninh Binh is 100km south of Hanoi). 4pm k/o.

      The first match in Hanoi takes place on saturday 11th January, 4pm k/o, versus Binh Duong.

      hope this helps

    • Hi, thanks for the message. My facebook is: BillI George. I hope to travel to Dong Nai in March for the Ha Noi T&T match.

  12. Hi Bill, thanks for your blog, finally I found useful information about VLeague in English. I’m travelling to Vietnam on Saturday and will stay for 3 weeks. As I’m a football fun, I definitely want to visit at least one match in Vietnam. Could you please recommend me a club/stadium/match to visit? It would be probably Hà Nội T&T, but I would appreciate any advice. Thanks.

    • Hi,thanks for reading the blog. If in Hanoi come and watch HaNoi T&T, who I think play the best football with some very good players. Or Binh Duong, based just outside of HCMC, they’re a good team, nice stadium too. Any game involving Song Lam Nghe An (from Vinh city) will attract a big crowd, they have lots of fans, home or away.This Sunday SLNA play at Binh Duong (last season I went to this game, great experience: https://vietnamfootball.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/in-pictures-becamex-binh-duong-2-v-1-song-lam-nghe-an-04082013/ .You could check the fixtures at soccerway.com to see what matches fit your travel plans. I hope this helps. I’m at all T&T matches now (home & away) so feel free to contact me. thanks, Bill

      • Also, the final AFC Cup group game takes place on Wednesday 23rd April in Hanoi. T&T play Arema of Indonesia.. The winner will win the group, should be a good game.

  13. Hi Bill, thanks for the quick answer. I’ll try to catch one of the games in Hanoi. AFC Cup sounds good, but I’m not sure, if I can make it. Thanks again and keep up with good work on your blog. You’ve just got a follower.:) Cheers.

  14. Hi Bill, great blog. I’m going to be in Hanoi this weekend and intend to go to the T&T game. I was just wondering if you could confirm the kick-off time for me (local time) and how much a ticket will cost?
    Many thanks,

    Craig

    • Hi Craig, The game is at 5pm, sunday 27th. Tickets costs 50,000 VND ($2.5). two tables set up outside the main stand to buy tickets, also lots of touts, tried to avoid them! Enjoy the game and thanks for reading.

  15. Hi Bill, really enjoy reading your blog, keep it up! I’m travelling to Vietnam for work in October and would love to add a shirt to my collection (either national team or local club shirt). I will be staying in HCMC, would you happen to know of any places selling genuine kits? Thanks!

  16. Hi Vietnam Football, I am travelling from Europe to Hanoi next week Friday and would like to see the semi-final match in Hanoi. Is there any possibility to reserve tickets in advance? Thanks and BR Christoph

    • Hi Christoph. Details will not be released until after today’s final group games. At the moment it is not possible to reserve a ticket in advance.

      The semi-final that does not feature Vietnam will not be a big crowd and easy to get a ticket on the day. I’ll post more information once I find out.

      Thanks for checking out the blog

  17. Hi Vietnam Football, thanks a lot for your reply! Looking forward for the detailed information 🙂 Good luck for tonight for Vietnam! BR Christoph

    • The 2nd leg of the semi-final will take place on the 11th December in Hanoi, opponents to be decided. Tickets are on sale here in person at the My Dinh stadium from Sat 6th Dec. There’s no way to reserve tickets online and for the telephone reservations you’ll need a VN Identity card. So I’d say try your luck queuing.

  18. Thank you for your feedback! Unfortunately I can only come to Hanoi on 6th or 7th of December. Do you know on what day there will be the first semi-final in Hanoi? 6th or 7th of December? And what about tickets, is it realistic to get one in Hanoi?

    Thanks and BR Christoph

    • Actually the semi-finals are being moved to be played in the countries of the teams participating. quite strange, but I guess to get larger crowds. I thought Vietnam/Singapore would host all of the games.

      6th Dec: Philippines v Thailand (Manila)
      7th Dec: Malaysia v Vietnam (Kuala Lumpur)

  19. Thank you for your feedback and your support! Quite strange and sad but that’s the way it goes. So I will stay in Ho Chi Minh City, maybe I will find any local match there. Would be great if you can give me an update in case you know of any matches (also youth-league, women etc.) in Ho Chi Minh.

    • At the moment its close season so no official matches scheduled, there are some friendlies taking place though. You could try contacted Vietfootball News via twitter (@VietFooty) who know more than I do regarding the scene in HCMC. good luck.

    • Here’s a friendly game: V.League side Dong Nai FC will play a pre-season friendly vs 2012 J.League 1 champions Sanfrecce Hiroshima on Dec 11.

  22. Well I’ll be… first I meet a friend of Simon Travis in Halong Bay and then I read of another Boro fan in Vietnam.

    I’m off to SHB Da Nang tomorrow but info is short in supply. How much is it likely to cost me?

    • that’s fantastic, Simon Travis, what a player. Hopefully boro will seal a play-off spot today. tickets down at DaNang will be between $1.50-2.50. Also, they have great Banh Mi’s (Sandwiches) as you enter the stadium! Thanks for reading and enjoy the game in DaNang.

  23. Hi there, do you know anywhere in the country that would sell club shirts of teams in the V league? A massive hole in my collection. Great blog.

    • Hi, unfortunately it’s still hard to buy club shirts. I’ve seen Hanoi T&T and Binh Duong selling replicas outside the stadiums at recent matches. I’ve never seen any available in a shop, just at stalls on a match day. It is possible to get the national team shirt online, just search for the Vietnam shirt by Grandsports, a Thai manufacturer.

  24. Hi there – do you know of any stores in the country that sell the official national team jersey? I went to 2 Nike stores in HCMC this week, which didn’t have them, but I am hoping that there are other options, if not in HCMC, then in Hanoi. Thanks and keep up the great work!

  25. Hey! This is Marcelo here! I am looking for local teams jerseys. Is there any online store where I can buy original ones? It does not have to be this season jerseys, I would be happy with past season. Thanks and congrats! Great work there!

    • Hi, it is still very difficult to buy the jerseys here…..try the ‘Contras store’ on facebook for the HaNoi T&T Jersey….they may be able to help.

    • Hi, On Wed 30th VN U23 v HCMC at Thong Nhat stadiumBinh Duong. v Muangthong Jan 23 at Thong Nhat stadium. follow @vietfooty on twitter and they normally announce the friendlies. Unfortunately they seem to be arranged quite late.

      • thank you very much! do you even know kick off time for the game tomorrow? its really very hard to find andy informations.. 😦
        regards

  27. 16h30 at Thong Nhat Stadium. some rumours that the game wont take place. Best bet is to head to the stadium at 4pm, its quite central in HCMC. good luck!

  28. Hi, I’m traveling to Vietnam in March 2016 for tourism and I would like to know how can I buy a jersey of the team. I read on the comments that there was no store or way to buy it but that was 2013. Has that changed?? Thank you very much for your help! Greetings from Peru.

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