Nam Dinh Club: Another worry about "food, clothing, money"

Nam Dinh football team has many similarities with SLNA, the love of the people for the team is quite large but the local economy is poor, the businesses in the province are not very interested in investing in football. Last season, due to slow money in the account, finding players was difficult, in addition to not having domestic players at reasonable prices, it was also impossible to find good foreign players.

The cycle of "bread and butter"

Near the opening day of V-League 2018, coach Nguyen Van Sy had to consider a lot in choosing foreign players, but due to time and money constraints, the team finally had to sign contracts with both Henry and Benjamin.

After just a few rounds, Benjamin was seen as a "wooden leg" and striker Henry Shackiel - a Trinidad and Tobago player who used to play for SLNA - was given all the conditions by the team's coaching staff, even given the captain's armband to encourage him, but he could not last long.

Coach Van Sy's worries about "bread and butter". Photo: Internet

The acquisition of Romario Kortzorg, a Dutch player who played for B.Binh Duong at the beginning of the season, and Pereira Diogo Junior (SHB.Da Nang) was only a temporary solution. And only Pereira was wholeheartedly with the team for the entire season, Romario was later terminated due to "acting up". Perhaps, only naturalized goalkeeper Ng. Quoc Thien Esele was Nam Dinh's most successful deal last season.

In recent seasons, V-League is no longer an attractive destination compared to other national championships in the region. If Nam Dinh does not have money in their pocket soon, finding foreign players will be extremely difficult.

Just like the Nghe An team, Nam Dinh has 7 players whose contracts have expired, namely Dinh Viet Tu, Sy Minh, Van Thuan, Ngoc Nam, Viet Dung, Huu Dinh, and goalkeeper Quang Phan. Except for Viet Dung and goalkeeper Quang Phan, the remaining players are regular starters, of which Viet Tu and Sy Minh are "rare", V-League teams are ready to welcome them. In fact, to renew the number of these domestic players also costs more than 10 billion VND, taking up a large part of the budget of the poor team.

Coach Van Sy is also looking for a goalkeeper to replace Quoc Thien Esele who has retired, aiming to bring Sy Nam (SLNA) back to play right back. And of course, the 2 foreign strikers must have acceptable technical skills and be affordable.

Solve the “first” problem

Up to now, we must admit that Nam Dinh is a "pure" team in terms of activities, training and competition. Coach Van Sy is like a father, an older brother, who is trusted and expected by the players.

In addition to being primarily responsible for professional matters, Van Sy is also the team’s steward and the spiritual support for his players. Last season, there were times when he had to borrow money from his house to lend to the players during “cold days”, and he had to scramble to help the benefactors of Thanh Nam to support the players.

Nam Dinh needs to quickly renew contracts of 7 key players. Photo: Internet

After successfully staying in the league, local leaders have promised to join hands to take care of the team's finances. In the near future, the club's leadership and coach Nguyen Van Sy will have a meeting with relevant parties to solve the "first" problem before gathering, preparing for V-League 2019 on November 10. Specific issues will be put on the agenda, the most important of which are still the money to renew contracts and buy new foreign players.

Besides Van Sy, there are countless other coaches who have to worry about money every time they prepare for the season. When will Nam Dinh and other V-League teams be able to take the initiative in funding their football business?