Amateur football is on the rise.

(Baonghean)In the current difficult economic climate, professional leagues like the V.League are becoming less attractive, and the First, Second, and Third Divisions are attracting less attention. However, amateur football (commonly known as "street football") is flourishing throughout our province. The emergence of numerous once-famous stars like Quoc Vuong, Lam Tan, Hai Nam, Tan Thinh, Phan Thanh Hoan, etc., in these amateur football clubs has made these matches even more vibrant and exciting.

Amateur football clubs are flourishing.

According to preliminary statistics, there are currently over 300 amateur football clubs in Nghe An province, with Vinh City alone having more than 200. At the two recent amateur football tournaments in Vinh City (Larue Beer Cup and Saigon Beer Cup), the matches were very exciting, attracting tens of thousands of spectators. Most matches saw packed stands, and in the final, hundreds of people who couldn't buy tickets had to stand outside the fence to watch and cheer. Indeed, the atmosphere of these two amateur football tournaments would make even the organizers of the First, Second, and Third Divisions, as well as national youth football leagues, envious.

It's easy to see why amateur football matches attract so many spectators, primarily due to their fair play and fierce competition. Match-fixing, betting, and other forms of manipulation are virtually nonexistent in these grassroots football leagues, allowing for a stronger emphasis on honesty and sportsmanship. Furthermore, the professional quality of these matches is now quite high, with many players possessing good technical skills. Besides teams from agencies, schools, and businesses, there are also numerous spontaneous amateur football clubs whose operating costs are entirely covered by member contributions. Several amateur football clubs have made their own mark and gained widespread recognition, such as: FC Thanh Co, FC Van Minh, FC Free, FC 100, FC Meo, FC BB, FC Vinh, FC Do Luong, FC Thai Hoa, FC Hong Dao… The Vinh Veterans Club – mostly composed of former SLNA players from various generations – were the pioneers of the amateur football movement in the area, formerly known as "twilight football".

The formation of amateur football clubs all share a common origin: a passion for football among a group of people. They gather, rent fields to practice together, improve their fitness, organize friendly matches, and gradually form clubs. For football clubs in agencies, schools, and businesses, the organization often covers the training and competition costs when representing their unit. However, most self-organized clubs not only rarely have the opportunity to participate in tournaments but also have to pay out of pocket to rent fields for practice. Despite this, it is precisely this passion and voluntary spirit that is crucial to the stability and sustainability of these amateur clubs.

Amateur football attracts V.League stars.

Walking around the artificial turf pitches at locations such as the Provincial Labor Culture House, SLNA training ground, Hung Phuc Ward Stadium, Vinh University, and the Military Region 4 Sports Club, one can easily spot many former football "stars" of SLNA and the whole country, such as Lam Tan, Quoc Vuong, Hai Nam, Phan Thanh Hoan, Nguyen Tan Thinh, Ho Thanh Thuong, Le Manh Huy, Van Sy Linh, etc., playing for amateur football clubs. This is not to mention countless other players who once played for the SLNA and Military Region 4 youth teams but fell out of favor before achieving fame, forcing them to play amateur football to satisfy their passion for the sport.

Quoc Vuong confided: "Football is like food and water to me every day; I can't live without it. If I can't compete at the highest level, I'll play amateur football, as long as I can get on the field to satisfy my thirst for it."

Amateur football not only attracts aging stars but also many stars currently playing in the V.League. Especially during the V.League season, when the league ends or during holidays, most SLNA players choose to join amateur football clubs to maintain their fitness and ball control. Furthermore, as one SLNA player stated, "The feeling of playing in an amateur match has its own unique appeal, even though there's no salary or bonuses." Through these matches, it's evident that the skill level between amateur and V.League stars isn't significantly different; in many situations, some amateur players even outperform V.League stars, due to their familiarity with playing on artificial turf with a 7-a-side team.

The emergence of amateur football

Most amateur football players are self-employed individuals who pool their money to rent fields and play together for fun. However, there are also many amateur football clubs established and funded by wealthy business owners who are financially well-off. Thanks to this, many players make a living playing amateur football. Of course, these are usually outstanding and well-known players, or to put it more elegantly, "amateur football stars."

Amateur football stars, like other professional football stars, must go through a process of training and hard work to make a name for themselves. Recently, the amateur football scene in Vinh City was abuzz with the story of Thai Ba Phi – an amateur football star from Do Luong – who was invited by a team owner in Quang Ninh to play for a week in an amateur league. Besides a lump sum payment of 40 million VND, the team owner also sponsored all the accommodation and travel expenses for Thai Ba Phi's entire family to stay in Ha Long for the entire week of the tournament. Compared to that, many V.League stars would envy such a weekly income. Of course, Thai Ba Phi's case is very rare, and he himself has only been lucky enough to experience this once.

Speaking of income, most amateur football players would dream of joining FC Van Minh. According to the club's players, and confirmed by owner Nguyen Dam Van, all FC Van Minh members must balance playing football with working at the company, thus earning a stable monthly salary of 7 to 9 million VND. The generosity of the owner of the Van Minh bus company has attracted many amateur football stars to join. Even some famous stars like striker Van Quyen and midfielder Nhu Thuat have expressed their intention to play for FC Van Minh after retiring from professional football, and recent information indicates that two former national team players, Le Quoc Vuong and Pham Hai Nam, will soon officially become members of this amateur team.

The match between FC Van Minh and FC PTS at the 2013 Nghe An Businessmen's Football Tournament.

The proliferation of amateur football clubs has contributed to diversifying sports activities in our province and promoting the development of sports training. However, despite hundreds of such amateur football clubs, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism still lacks regulations and supervision to help these clubs operate in an orderly manner. There is no annual football tournament for these clubs, forcing teams to continue organizing informal matches among themselves. What started as friendly beer gatherings has evolved into some matches involving gambling with significant sums of money. Several clashes between players from different clubs have also occurred.

Perhaps the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism should soon issue regulations on the operation of amateur football clubs, leading to the establishment of the Nghe An Provincial Football Federation and the organization of annual tournaments to provide clubs with a healthy and beneficial playing field, similar to what the Provincial Martial Arts Federation and Badminton Federation have done very effectively in recent years.

Hoang Hao