Due to the longevity of the V.League 1, the league has seen many teams win the championship, since the inaugural season in 1980. Previously, Vietnamese soccer had a long history dating back to 1896, when this sport was first introduced to Saigon by the French people, and then gradually spread to the Tonkin and Annam. After 1954, due to the division of the country, Vietnamese soccer was split into two regions with two independent soccer systems. The North Vietnam began organizing its first championship in 1955, called the Hòa Bình League, which was renamed the National Class A League a year later. Meanwhile, the South Vietnam is also known to have had its own domestic league, with matches starting in 1950. After the country was reunified in 1975, domestic championships were divided into three regions and took place from 1976 to 1979, including the Hồng Hà League in the North, the Trường Sơn League in the Central and the Cửu Long League in the South. Based on this, the General Department of Sports decided to organize a nationwide league, starting in 1980 with the name National A1 League; this is considered a milestone marking the birth of the current V.League 1, with the first champion of the league was the Tong Cuc Duong Sat FC, who finished the season undefeated.
After a period of preparation, in 1989, the VFF was established as the governing body for domestic activities, including national-level soccer leagues. However, in 2011, following conflicts between some clubs and the VFF, the Vietnam Professional Soccer JSC (VPF) was created, replacing the VFF's role in organizing and managing national professional football leagues.
List of champions by season Format From the 1980 to 1995 seasons, teams were divided into groups based on geographical region. Within each group, teams played a double round-robin format. The top teams from each group advanced to the championship round, while the bottom teams played in a relegation round to determine which team would be relegated. In the 1996 season, teams played a double round-robin, with the bottom two teams facing relegation. Subsequently, the top six teams were split into two groups to play another double round-robin, with the top two teams from each group advancing to compete for the championship. From the 1997 to 2019 seasons (excluding the 1999 tournament), teams played a double round-robin format. This format was reinstated for the 2022 season. In the 2020 season, after an initial single round-robin stage, the top eight teams played a single round-robin to determine the champion, while the remaining six teams played a single round-robin to decide the relegation spot. This format was used again in the 2023 season, the final season to be held within a single calendar year. The 2021 season (which was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic) featured a format similar to 2020, but with a different group split (six teams competing for the championship and eight teams fighting to avoid relegation). Starting from the 2023–24 season, teams play a double round-robin format spanning from the second half of one year to the first half of the following year.
National A1 Championship (1980–1989) Superscripts in brackets (such as (2)) indicate a repeat win. Season Champion Runner-up Third placeNational A1 League1980 Tổng Cục Đường Sắt Công An Hà Nội Hải Quan1981–82 Quân Đội (1) Quân Khu Thủ Đô Công An Hà Nội1982–83 Quân Đội (2) Hải Quan Cảng Hải Phòng1984 Công An Hà Nội Quân Đội Sở Công Nghiệp TP.HCM1985 Công Nghiệp Hà Nam Ninh Sở Công Nghiệp TP.HCM Quân Đội1986 Cảng Sài Gòn Quân Đội Hải Quan1987 Quân Đội (3) Quảng Nam-Đà Nẵng An Giang1989 Đồng Tháp Quân Đội Công An Hà Nội
National Elite League (1990–1996) SeasonChampionGoalsRunner-upGoals 1990 Quân Đội 4 Quảng Nam–Đà Nẵng 0 1991 Hải QuanPSO 2 Quảng Nam–Đà Nẵng 2 1992 Quảng Nam–Đà Nẵng 2 Công An Hải Phòng 0 1993–94 Cảng Sài Gòn 2 Công An TP.HCM 0 1995 Công An TP.HCM 3 Hue FC 1 1996 Đồng Tháp FC 3 Công An TP.HCM 1 PSOWinning after penalty shoot-out
National First Division (1997–2000) SeasonTeamsWinnerRecordPointsCoach 1997 12 22 12 4 6 22 15 +7 40 N/A 1998 14 26 13 8 5 40 20 +20 47 Vương Tiến Dũng 1999–2000 13 24 11 10 3 35 20 +15 43 Nguyễn Thành Vinh
V.League 1 (2000–)
Statistics by number of titles Titles by club +ClubWinnersRunners-upWinning seasonsHà Nội67 2010, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2022Thể Công-Viettel41981–82, 1982–83, 1987, 1990, 1998, 2020Becamex Bình Dương422007, 2008, 2014, 2015Hồ Chí Minh City11986, 1993–94, 1997, 2001–02SHB Đà Nẵng341992, 2009, 2012Song Lam Nghe An FC31999–2000, 2000–01, 2011Nam Định21985, 2023–24, 2024–25Công An Hà Nội11984, 2023, 2025–26Long An232005, 2006Hoàng Anh Gia Lai22003, 2004Đồng Tháp01989, 1996Công An Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh141995Hải Quan21991Tổng cục Đường sắt01980Quảng Nam02017
Titles by religion Titles by provinces
Notes
References