Tu Do Stadium and the joys and sorrows of Hue football

An ancient relic complex, a peaceful and serene Thien Mu, a graceful and soft Truong Tien…, all leaning to reflect on the gentle and beautiful Huong River. Hue is so beautiful, with so many historical structures, but for me, I still love the image of Tu Do Stadium the most – a place associated with childhood memories, with the “ups and downs” of Hue football.

Hue Freedom Stadium

I love Hue, love the peaceful beauty here, love the childhood memories with the round ball rolling on the smell of the grass field. My house is right next to Tu Do Stadium. Every early morning, we kids often get up early to sneak over the fence into Tu Do Stadium to "play soccer secretly". The fierce football plays, the loud laughter echoing throughout the vast space of Tu Do, and the times we were chased by the security guard when he discovered the naughty kids entering the field, "making trouble", those are unforgettable childhood memories for us kids. Then the afternoons when the Hue football team played, back then, we didn't have money to buy tickets to the stadium, so we discussed asking to hold the hands of the uncles and aunts to be "accompanied" to watch. Some were "accompanied", some weren't, those who weren't allowed had to wait until the second half when the gate was opened to let them in to watch later. And at this time, we witnessed and watched the Hue players in the flesh, the attractive and fierce moves of the dramatic matches.

Spectators at a match of Hue Football Club at Tu Do Stadium in the 2024/25 season

The love for football, the love for the Hue team came naturally to me, so naturally that from then on I never missed a match of the Hue team. I started to be a fan of the Hue team. In the 90s, Hue football was famous for players like Le Duc Anh Tuan, Tran Quang Sang, Nguyen Duc Dung, Duong Cong Quoc, Nguyen Dinh Tuan, Le Quoc Dan...; then came players like Le Van Truong, Nguyen Canh Lam, Nguyen Ngoc Thanh Tuan, Nguyen Ngoc Luan, Vo Van Minh...; followed by faces like Tran Dinh Minh Hoang, Vo Ly, Truong Cong Nhat, Truong Ngoc Muoi...; then Tran Thanh, Ho Thanh Minh, Nguyen Van Sang, Bui Duy Bao... Generations of players followed one another, together building the Hue football house.

The matches at Tu Do Stadium are always full of spectators, the spectators not only fill the stands of the stadium but also fill the basins behind the goal. Hue people are inherently quiet like the land where they were born, but when they join a football match of the Hue team, that quietness is temporarily put aside to give way to cheers, the emotions of joy and sadness following their beloved football team. For the people of Hue, football is like an indispensable spiritual food, even becoming flesh and blood, always present in the subconscious of Hue people. Hue football has gone through many ups and downs, promotion and relegation, success and failure, but Hue football lovers have never turned their backs on their beloved team. "When angry, they are angry, but when they love, they love", perhaps that is why they are always by their team's side, whether they succeed or fail.

Hue Football Supporters Association 2024-2025 season

Remember, it was not by chance that thousands of people "flooded" the runway of Phu Bai airport to welcome the team when they won the runner-up title in 1995; remember, the image of more than 20,000 compatriots flooding the entire basin of Tu Do stadium to witness the Play-off match between Hue team and Hai Quan team in the "pouring rain" in 1998 to compete for promotion to the 1st division (now the National Professional Football League - V.League 1); remember, the overwhelming joy of tens of thousands of spectators when witnessing the team return to the professional playing field in 2006; still remember, the regret and sadness of Hue football lovers when their team had to play in the second division in 2010 and the emotional feelings when returning to the first division in the 2012 season... All those emotions were forged from the intense love of football fans of the ancient capital, it seems that for them, only football can bring them so many emotions.

Hue Football Team, now Hue Football Club, is currently playing in the National First Division Football League. This season, Hue Football Club is the youngest team in the league with an average age of 20. Even in the team's starting lineup, half of the team are players who are only 17 or 18 years old - an age that is too inexperienced to play in one of the top leagues of Vietnamese football.

Hue Football Club is currently playing in the National First Division Football League. The team's current performance is not good, the team is ranked 11/11 participating teams and is at risk of being relegated. However, the young players are still trying their best in this "fierce relegation" race. Compared to the number of spectators coming to the stadium to cheer for the teams in the first division this year, Tu Do Hue Stadium is always considered one of the stadiums with the largest number of spectators. That proves that Hue people always care and have a lot of affection for Hue football. Regardless of favorable or difficult conditions, they always accompany and have special feelings for Hue football. It seems that they sympathize and understand the difficulties of Hue football at the present time.

Time flows, Hue football also revolves according to the natural law, Tu Do Stadium is still there, nurturing the young buds of Hue football, going through ups and downs with Hue football for many decades. Tu Do Stadium, with its long history and the characteristics of the capital, will always be the place for Hue football lovers as well as Hue football fans far from home, because there is their hometown team, they always have a special love for Hue football.

Hue FC's starting lineup in a match of the 2024/2025 season

Sports in general and football in particular can have ups and downs, promotions and relegations, and Hue football is no exception to that rule. However, certainly, with the intense love of Hue football lovers over the past decades, they will always accompany and persistently follow every step and development of their hometown team. Fans are always silently, anxiously, nurturing the dreams of young players, and it seems that they themselves are also nurturing a brighter, newer future for Hue football. They hope for more attention and investment in Hue football when the beautiful city of Hue is changing strongly, worthy of being a centrally-run city.

Kim Phung

Source: https://tienphong.vn/san-tu-do-va-nhung-buon-vui-cung-bong-da-hue-post1742521.tpo