Chairman Hien and the revolution in Vietnamese women's football.

When speaking with Mr. Hien, we are surprised to find that he has a very thorough understanding of the formation and development of women's football. More precisely, Mr. Hien is concerned because he feels troubled by the careers and lives of girls who are passionate about pursuing a career in football.

Respect the past.

Mr. Hien surprised us with his statement, emphasizing that in the journey to glory, besides the efforts of the female players, the contributions of the men cannot be overlooked, especially Mr. Tran Thanh Ngu and Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang, one a sports activist in Ho Chi Minh City and the other in Hanoi.

Women's football "originated" in Ho Chi Minh City, but as someone knowledgeable about the sports industry, Mr. Thanh Ngu knew very well that for women's football to survive and develop, it needed to be linked with Hanoi . Therefore, he proposed to Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang - then Director of the Department of Physical Education and Sports of Hanoi - to jointly develop women's football, starting from Hanoi and District 1, Ho Chi Minh City. Mr. Giang, also the "father" of the "shortcut" idea, readily agreed.

Thus, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (1954-1994), Mr. Thanh Ngu organized the "Towards Dien Bien Phu" cycling race, starting from Hanoi, going to Dien Bien Phu, and including a stage around Hill A1 on the afternoon of May 7th. Joining the race, the Hanoi and District 1 women's football teams played friendly matches in several locations along the route, such as Son La, Moc Chau, and Dien Bien Phu, to promote women's football.

Yet, just three years later, on their very first overseas trip, the Vietnamese women's football team won the pre-SEA Games championship in Malaysia, and three months after that, they won the bronze medal at the 1997 SEA Games in Indonesia. At this SEA Games, Mr. Thanh Ngữ continued to use his own money to support the players' meals and also took on the role of providing medical care for the team. Therefore, it's not surprising that the early players of Vietnamese women's football, such as goalkeeper Kim Hồng, midfielder Mỹ Oanh, and striker Ngọc Mai, always considered Mr. Thanh Ngữ their second father.

There is an unprecedented detail in the history of football that Mr. Thanh Ngữ and Mr. Vĩnh Giang have achieved for women's football: A national team was formed without an official club or a national championship, yet it won a bronze medal at the SEA Games in its very first participation.

Vietnamese women's football has maintained a strong position in the region, reaching a higher level in Asia and the world.

From this milestone, Vietnamese women's football has gradually developed and achieved proud accomplishments, most notably participating in the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup Finals and winning 8 SEA Games gold medals…

Mr. Hien always remembers the immortal words of Mr. Thanh Ngu and Mr. Vinh Giang: "Women's football will be in the World Cup finals before men's football." Even when Vietnamese football was struggling to win medals at the SEA Games, Mr. Thanh Ngu once asserted: "I probably won't live to see a SEA Games gold medal for men's football, but women's football will." True to his prediction, at the 2001 SEA Games, the Vietnamese women's football team won the gold medal, five years before his death.

The future must be different.

But Vietnamese women's football cannot develop further if it continues to rely on the passion, spirit, willpower, and sacrifice of these football-loving girls. Mr. Hien said he was very surprised to learn about the difficult living conditions of national team players who had brought glory to the country. For example, goalkeeper Kim Hong – now the goalkeeping coach for the Vietnamese women's national football team – used to sell bread, while other players had to work as seamstresses, sell coffee, sugarcane juice, sticky rice, or repair motorbikes to make ends meet and pursue their passion for football. Even in 2018, in some places, the monthly income of female players was less than 1.5 million VND.

Feeling deeply saddened, when he had the time and resources, and with the encouragement of the sports leaders of Thai Nguyen, Mr. Hien agreed to invest. This not only prevented the Thai Nguyen Women's Football Club from being dissolved but also contributed to changing the perspective of local officials and leaders responsible for developing women's football.

An impressive meeting with Chairman Hien in July 2024 led Van Thi Thanh to agree to become the head coach of Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club.

Also, with his heartfelt empathy for women's football expressed through the saying "A woman's hard work will not go unrewarded by her husband," Van Thi Thanh - the first and only woman to date in Vietnam to hold an AFC Pro license (the highest certificate awarded by the Asian Football Confederation to professional coaches qualified to lead national teams) - revealed in an interview that it was this very saying that convinced her to accept the position of head coach of Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club.

Van Thi Thanh also scored the only goal in the final match where Vietnam defeated Myanmar 1-0 to win the gold medal at the 2003 SEA Games held on home soil. In the same year, Thanh won the Golden Ball and was one of the 10 outstanding athletes of Vietnamese sports. Being an insider, Thanh was even more impressed by the fact that Chairman Hien was well aware of the hardships faced by the national female athletes.

For Chairman Hien, there's almost no gap between words and actions. When the Thai Nguyen women's football team was on the verge of disbanding due to insufficient operating funds, despite players' salaries of only 1.3 million VND/month and food allowances of only 100,000 VND/day, T&T Group, of which Chairman Hien is the Board of Directors, stepped forward to become the main sponsor.

Immediately, the income of female players increased 5-10 times, depending on their talent, and they also received many other benefits. Many players who had previously quit playing to work as factory workers now requested to return to the team to play.

Furthermore, for the first time in the history of women's football, Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club pioneered the transfer of players with signing bonuses, securing three contracts with Nguyen Thi My Anh, Le Hoai Luong, and Tran Thi Kim Anh. Before the 2024 season, Thai Nguyen T&T continued to recruit three more players: Tran Thi Kim Thanh (2023 Golden Ball winner), Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy (2023 Bronze Ball winner), and Tran Thi Thu.

Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club is a pioneer in the transfer of Vietnamese women's football players.

Furthermore, after their success with the 2024 national bronze medal, Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club invited Dang Thi Kieu Trinh to be their goalkeeping coach. Kieu Trinh has previously won 3 Vietnamese Golden Balls (2011, 2012, 2017), 3 SEA Games gold medals (2005, 2009, 2017), and her greatest achievement was winning the Best Player in Southeast Asia award in 2012.

With this breakthrough, Chairman Hien has opened a new path for Vietnamese women's football, creating a vibrant transfer market. Six players from the Ho Chi Minh City Women's Football Club, who are also members of the Vietnamese national team, have successively signed contracts with Thai Nguyen T&T with monthly salaries of tens of millions of dong and signing bonuses of around half a billion dong each.

Because of this "brain drain," the managers of women's football in Ho Chi Minh City have had to change their approach to retain talented players. Ho Chi Minh City women's football has undergone a "revolution" in terms of income, with the salaries of key players tripling along with many other benefits.

For a more fundamental and sustainable development, Ho Chi Minh City women's football is promoting the establishment of a joint-stock company, aiming for a professional model. This development path aligns with the requirements of the Asian Football Confederation. The leadership of the Ho Chi Minh City women's football team also focuses on youth training, preparing a high-quality pool of successor players.

A new chapter in the life of Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club.

Thanks to the investment from T&T Group in 2019, the Thai Nguyen Women's Football Club did not disband. With T&T's funding, the Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club, for the first time in its 21 years of establishment, won a bronze medal at the 2024 National Championship.

Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club can compete for medals at the National Women's Championship thanks to the investment of Chairman Hien.

The emergence of Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club has broken the dominance of the trio of Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Vietnam Coal and Mineral Corporation.

In addition to investing in the Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club, T&T Group also collaborated with the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports and the Hanoi Football Federation to organize the Hanoi International Women's Football Tournament - T&T Group Cup 2024, taking place from October 3rd to 7th, 2024, to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Liberation of Hanoi (October 10th, 1954 - October 10th, 2024).

The tournament featured four teams: Manila Digger FC (Philippines), Beijing FC (China), Hanoi FC, and Thai Nguyen T&T. The matches took place at Hang Day Stadium, and Thai Nguyen T&T Women's Football Club won the championship after defeating Beijing FC 3-1, drawing with Hanoi FC 1-1, and ultimately winning convincingly against Manila Digger 7-1.

Besides its professional success in creating a quality playing field for female players, the Hanoi International Women's Football Cup 2024 also contributes to promoting the image of Hanoi.

Therefore, during the tournament, players from both Manila Digger and Beijing (China) teams had the opportunity to experience Hanoi's culture and tourism through visits to several famous landmarks such as Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Temple of Literature, Ngoc Son Temple, etc.

Clearly, the emergence and aggressive investment in women's football by Mr. Hien has had a comprehensive and positive impact on the development of women's football in Vietnam. Mr. Hien stated that he hopes the lives of female players will improve in proportion to their efforts and contributions. Only then will more girls be attracted to football, helping Vietnamese women's football have a foundation for faster and more sustainable development.

It can be said that Mr. Tran Thanh Ngu and Mr. Hoang Vinh Giang laid the foundation for the formation and development of Vietnamese women's football, while Mr. Hien was the one who created the breakthrough that allowed Vietnamese women's football to make a leap forward on the path to professionalization.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/bau-hien-and-the-vietnamese-women's-football-revolution-726081.html