Hanoi Women's Football: Struggling to find the old days!

Hanoi women's football team (red shirts) struggles to regain their position. Photo: VFF

The frustration lingers

In 2014, when the Hanoi team won the National Women's Football Championship, the Hanoi Department of Culture and Sports solemnly organized a meeting to honor the team. That showed the importance of the Hanoi Sports Department to women's football, one of the strengths of the capital's sports. In fact, since the National Women's Football Championship was established (in 1998), up to the end of the 2014 season, Hanoi women's football won 10 championships, contributing many important players to the national team.

But then, over the next decade, Hanoi women's football gradually lost its leading position in Vietnamese women's football. Ho Chi Minh City women's football team gradually asserted its leading position, with the most recent achievement being the 2025 National Women's Football Cup championship. Other teams such as Phong Phu Ha Nam and Vietnam Minerals have made steady progress thanks to a good quality youth training system. And, at this point, it must be admitted that Hanoi women's football should be ranked in group 2 of Vietnamese women's football despite having a fairly good investment level and a stable source of funding compared to many other localities.

In recent years, those responsible for Hanoi women's football have made great efforts to find ways to improve. It is rare for a women's football team in Vietnam to have as many foreign coaches as Hanoi, from China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Japan to South Korea. The most recent foreign coach (2021 - 2022) of Hanoi women's football is Mr. Jong Song-jon - who was the head coach of the U20 women's team and led the Korean women's national team from 2010 to 2018, leading Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angles Club to the championship of the Korean Women's Football Championship in 2020. Currently, Hanoi has given the role of head coach of the women's football team to former player Dao Thi Mien, hoping to achieve the same success as other famous players such as Doan Thi Kim Chi, Van Thi Thanh have achieved at Ho Chi Minh City Club, Phong Phu Ha Nam and Thai Nguyen T&T...

However, up to now, Hanoi women's football is still struggling to regain its glory. At the recent 2025 National Women's Football Cup, looking at the struggling performance of the capital team against "group" teams such as Vietnam Coal and Minerals, it is easy to see that Hanoi women's football still has many things to improve, not just changing the coach.

Conditions to return to the top group

The Hanoi women's football team being eliminated from the group stage of the National Cup for the second consecutive time was a huge disappointment, because the team's performance had never been so bad. But was that failure the bottom of the disappointment?

Vietnamese women's football is making strong movements. Ho Chi Minh City Club is a pioneer in recruiting overseas Vietnamese players, hiring foreign players on short-term contracts to have a good force when competing in international tournaments. Thai Nguyen T&T Club is becoming a real "force", able to compete for championships in tournaments with Ho Chi Minh City Club. Abundant financial resources help this team recruit top players from other teams.

Currently, the Vietnam Football Federation has given the green light for football teams to hire foreign players to compete in the National Championship. This is considered an important decision because although football is a collective sport, owning a quality foreign player can help the team turn the situation around. Of course, football teams with abundant financial resources and flexible operating mechanisms like Thai Nguyen T&T will take full advantage of this, creating strong pressure on football teams that mainly rely on budget sources like Hanoi.

In that context, Hanoi women's football needs to find a way out of the difficulties. According to football expert Phan Anh Tu, what is still necessary is to take care of the youth training system, bring in good and dedicated coaches to take charge of this task in order to create many generations of players who are strong in both technical and tactical skills and competitive spirit. Hanoi women's football has the basis to do this well because the facilities and investment resources for the youth training system in Hanoi are highly appreciated. On the other hand, there is another advantage for Hanoi women's football, which is that the Hanoi Women's Football Federation has been established, creating a favorable basis for finding investment resources.

Source: https://hanoimoi.vn/bong-da-nu-ha-noi-vat-va-di-tim-ngay-xua-698764.html