Hue Football Club (), is a Vietnamese football club based in Huế. The club's home stadium is Tự Do Stadium. The club will compete in the 2026–27 V.League 2, after winning the promotion play-offs game in the Vietnamese Second Division.
History It is uncertain when football arrived at Huế. According to some remaining records, football matches were organized in Huế in the 1920s. The place where matches often took place between French soldiers' teams and Vietnamese teams in Huế was the "Sép" stadium, right on the north bank of the Hương River, next to Đông Ba Market.
In the Indochina and Central Vietnam football leagues, the team, with a core of Huế players, finished as runners-up three times in 1941, 1943, and 1944. Longtime football fans in Huế still often mention the famous names of Huế football players before the Revolution, such as: Bửu Phấn, Bửu Bàng, Tư Ếch, Minh, Hưởng, Tiền, Tốt... and the two famous players Nguyễn Hữu Tường and Nguyễn Hữu Hồ, who played for the Indochina national team.
After 1975, the Bình Trị Thiên team, the predecessor of the current Thừa Thiên Huế team, was established and participated in the Trường Sơn football league until 1979. After the establishment of National A1 League, the team played in the B division (equivalent to the current Second Division) due to economic difficulties and a lack of players. It was not until 1993, after many mergers and consolidations, that Thừa Thiên Huế players were promoted to the top tier.
The 1995 season was the most memorable in the history of the ancient capital's football. The Thừa Thiên Huế team, with players like Công Quốc, Đình Tuấn, Sỹ Hùng, and a series of other key players like Quý Tâm Anh, Quốc Dân, Quang Sang, Đức Dũng... led by coach Ninh Văn Bảo, unexpectedly made history with the runners-up title, after defeating famous teams such as Lâm Đồng, An Giang, Cảng Sài Gòn, before losing to Công An Hồ Chí Minh City in the final. However, the very next season, the Thừa Thiên Huế players were relegated.
In the 1998 season, the Thừa Thiên Huế team, under coach Nguyễn Đình Thọ, regained the right to play in the First Division after winning the promotion play-off matches against Hải Quan. In the 2002 season, Huda Huế under coach Đoàn Phùng was relegated from the V-League after losing a play-off match against Hà Nội ACB at Vinh Stadium. After 4 years playing in the First Division, in the 2007 season, Huda Huế returned to the V-League arena after a thrilling penalty shootout victory against Hải Phòng in the play-off match. It was noteworthy that the promoted Huda Huế team that year mainly consisted of U20 players who had matured after the National Phù Đổng Health Festival in Huế in 2004. Just one year later, due to insufficient investment, Huda Huế returned to play in the First Division until the 2011 season, when the team was relegated again to the Second Division.
After being relegated to the Second Division, the club also faced many financial difficulties when the sponsor Huda Beer officially withdrew. In that situation, the team's leadership decided to completely renew the team with the determination to get promoted to the First Division. First, they adopted the name Huế Football Club, without a sponsor's name. Then, they renewed the squad by promoting players who had won the gold medal at the 2004 Phù Đổng Health Festival and the 2006 National U-13 Football Championship for Huế, such as: Minh Hoàng, Công Nhật, Ngọc Mười, Đức Phát, Võ Lỹ,... plus key players including Tuấn Tú, Trọng Trung, Khoa Nhật, Hữu Quang, Hữu Vân... And that change brought good results: in the 2013 season, Huế won the Second Division and returned to the First Division.
At the end of the 2014 V.League 2 season, the young squad of coach Nguyễn Đức Dũng finished 5th out of 8 participating teams. In 2014, the team also represented Vietnamese football at the 2014 Mekong Region Games in Thailand and excellently won the championship. In December, the whole team won the silver medal in Men's Football at the 2014 Vietnamese National Games after a 0-4 loss to Sông Lam Nghệ An in the final.
In the 2019 season, with the participation of young players Trần Danh Trung, Nguyễn Hữu Thắng,... Huế finished 5th with 9 wins, 2 draws, and 11 losses.
Stadium
The home ground of Huế is Tự Do Stadium. It is a stadium located in Thuận Hóa ward, Huế, Vietnam, with a capacity of about 25,000 seats. Tự Do Stadium was built by the French around the early 1930s and named Stade Olympique de Hué. Later, the Nguyễn Dynasty renamed the stadium Bảo Long Stadium (Bảo Long was the crown prince of King Bảo Đại and Queen Nam Phương).
Kits and sponsors Period Kit supplier Shirt sponsor (chest) Shirt sponsor (back)2000/01 Adidas (T-1)Highlands Coffee (league-wide V-League) Pepsi (league-wide National Cup) Tiger Beer (domestic-wide)SyncMaster (domestic-wide)2001/02Strata (league-wide V-League)Samsung (league-wide National Cup) Tiger Beer (domestic-wide)2019–2022 Adidas (K)Bamboo Airways (National Cup 2020)2023-2024 VNASPORTS (T)2024- CR SPORT (T) https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid08YBH5i5jiQKnRKLTm7sDebZvadTjEH8e8UYfMXMMpoJQaaaavNqQdFEEDmXdR6TEl&id=100063572254020&rdid=UVRTrNsJg5R1cAnf Note: (K): Information about sponsorship unknown/Team purchased kits themselves; (T): Sponsored; (T-1): In the 2000–2002 period, the entire domestic league system (including the Professional V-League and National Cup) was sponsored by Adidas.
Players Current squad As of 4 September 2026Huế FC
Notable former players
Nguyễn Viết Rớt Nguyễn Đình Thọ Lê Đức Anh Tuấn Trần Quang Sang Lê Văn Trương Hứa Hiền Vinh Dương Công Quốc Võ Lý Nguyễn Công Nhật Trần Đình Minh Hoàng Trần Thành Trần Danh Trung Nguyễn Thanh Bình Nguyễn Hữu Thắng Hồ Thanh Minh Lê Quốc Nhật Nam
Coaching staff Position Name Head coach Lê Chí Nguyện Assistant coach Nguyễn Hoàng Linh Nguyễn Văn Chiến Goalkeeping coach Nguyễn Văn Dũng Technical director Nguyễn Đức Dũng Manager Trần Quang Sang
Managerial history Managers with this background and italics are caretaker appointments.
+ List of managers Name Period Nguyễn Hồng Vinh 1993–1995 Ninh Văn Bảo 1995–1996 Nguyễn Đình Thọ 1998–2001 Đoàn Phùng 2001–2003 Nguyễn Đình Thọ 2003–2004 Nguyễn Kim Hằng 2004–2005 Đoàn Phùng 2006–2007 Trần Quang Sang 2008 Đoàn Phùng 2008–2010 Nguyễn Đức Dũng 2011–2018 Phan Văn Trí 2019 Nguyễn Đức Dũng 2019–2025 Lê Chí Nguyện 2026–present
Honours League V.League 1: Runners-up : 1995 V.League 2: Runners-up : 2015, 2017 Third place : 2004, 2006 Second League: Winners : 2013 Cup Vietnamese Cup: Runners-up : 2002
Season-by-season record KeyChampionsRunners-upThird placeFourth placePromotedRelegation play-offWon play-offLost play-off
Performance of Hue FC from 1995 to presentYearDivisionPositionPtsIIIIIIIV1995Runners-up1810–819202019962239102033181997UnknownSpecific records unknown1998Joint 3rd5311641019994th in Group B6222778 1999–007th249510302932 2000–018th18657162123 2001–029th18639172421 20034th22976241634 20043rd221363331445 20055th22886282732 20063rd269125342839200726481425442020086th26107940353720095th24978211634201011th247611273827 2011264814315120 2012Joint 3rd9522127172013Champions97111742220145th1454516161920152nd1473416102420167th1864829262220172nd1255221102020187th1855826312020196th22921133362920209th164661419182021Season cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic20227th2267920312520236th185671919212023–244th208662622302024–25204412163016
Notes
References
External links