Why do we need a V-League for women's football?

20/08/2025 06:55:00 pandatv

Defeating Thailand in the match for the bronze medal at the Southeast Asian Championship certainly did not meet the expectations of supporters. Thailand is no longer what they used to be, while Vietnamese women's football needs innovation to avoid following the same mistakes as Thailand, the first Southeast Asian team to participate in the World Cup—twice, not just once…

There is no chance that the Vietnamese women's national team will transform into a completely different version in a short time. We cannot pursue a naturalization policy, and even if we hire an outstanding foreign coach, it won't rapidly upgrade the team's quality, not to mention the financial challenges of employing such specialists.

Ultimately, with any approach, the essential thing is to build a squad that is both deep and talented before setting higher goals. That’s why it’s time for Vietnamese football leaders to focus on a practical objective: enhancing the national championship. This used to be a strength, but now it is the biggest weakness of Vietnamese women's football.

Our first women's national championship dates back to 1998, which means it has been nearly 30 years—a figure that can be considered a "miracle" in women's football. In reality, developing women's football is extremely difficult everywhere, even for the world's leading nations. Establishing a league for women is already tough; making it a professional event is even more challenging. However, Vietnamese women's football started relatively early and, somehow, we have maintained stability for almost 30 years. The number of teams hasn’t increased, but at least the league hasn’t stopped due to a lack of participants.

If women’s football wants to produce more players like Huỳnh Như, there needs to be a V-League for female athletes. Photo: Hoàng Linh

Thailand used to be stronger than us in women's football, but their national league is only 16 years old, with four years when it couldn't be held and only operated within universities. Even Japan, a powerhouse in women’s football, launched its first women’s league only 36 years ago and just turned professional in 2022. China, a former world champion, started its women’s league in 1997 and made it professional in 2015.

Although Vietnam launched its women's league quite early, it has remained stagnant ever since. The number of teams hasn't risen, nor is there a second-tier league. The championship is dominated by Ho Chi Minh City, whose team mainly consists of talented players from other provinces rather than homegrown talent.

This demonstrates that we have not truly invested in developing a club-level competition system for women's football. This is unfortunate and even wasteful, especially considering that Vietnamese women's football has won SEA Games gold since 2001 and has remained in Asia’s top six ever since.

It's not that the VFF hasn't made efforts, with the addition of a National Cup to increase the number of club matches being a notable change. However, with Ho Chi Minh City almost monopolizing both titles and national team players, these extra tournaments have little significance. Now is the time to establish a V-League for women's football, which would serve as a foundation to attract funding, boost income, and promote club development. It would also provide the basis for a second-tier league and private academies.

If women's football is not given its rightful importance and a standard "structure" like the men's game, our aspirations for advancement will remain nothing but empty words.

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