Quảng Nam lifting the 2017 V.League trophy, in perhaps their only notable achievement in Vietnamese football before their disbandment last Friday. — Photo baoquangnam.vn

Anh Đức

If football clubs had mood swings, Quảng Nam FC’s pre‑season would be a textbook case. Just weeks ago, they appeared to have been offered a lifeline, but last Friday the same team officially handed in their kit for top‑flight football and quietly bowed out.

On Friday, August 1, the VPF (V.League organisers) confirmed what rumours had hinted: Quảng Nam did not submit a squad list or financial guarantee by the 5pm deadline, meaning they will not take part in the 2025–26 V.League 1. This time it’s final – the historic club has formally withdrawn from Việt Nam’s top division, closing a chapter that once glittered with championship ambition.

The club, which once surprisingly became V.League 2017 champions in a dramatic season where they were dubbed the 'Vietnamese Leicester City FC' by fans, quickly became a shadow of its former self, struggled to keep up in later seasons and was relegated in 2020. They fought their way back to the V.League in 2023, but continued to fight relegation battles, with last season barely surviving with just one point above the relegation play-off spot.

Though the pronouncement may sound abrupt, the build‑up was tense and inconsistent. News of Quảng Nam's forfeiture from the league surfaced during July, where staff and players are either transferring to SHB Đà Nẵng, or given total freedom to choose their next club.

According to VnExpress, Quảng Nam teased two very different futures in the week leading up to the deadline. At one point, they floated the frightening possibility of dissolution or merging with SHB Đà Nẵng, yet days later, they said they had found committed investors to sustain the club, only to quietly beg for deadline extensions and miss them, multiple times.

On July 28, Quảng Nam submitted yet another extension letter; by July 30, the promise collapsed into silence again, before the final deadline of August 1 came and the V.League had no choice but to declare the club's exit from the league.

No club has suffered more uncertainty in recent seasons, yet Quảng Nam was given multiple extension chances before organisers had to act. Their indecision forced players to scramble for new clubs amid the frenetic final weeks of pre‑season.

In the immediate aftermath, VFF filled the vacant spot, offering promotion to the two highest eligible clubs from V.League 2 – Trường Tươi Đồng Nai (formerly known as Trường Tươi Bình Phước) and PVF‑CAND. While Đồng Nai declined, citing a lack of time to prepare the squad and especially foreign players, PVF‑CAND accepted, becoming the V.League's 14th team in the 2025–26 season, with a view to rename themselves Hưng Yên FC, according to early reports.

But back to the elephant in the room: Quảng Nam’s retreat ripples across the league, not just in numbers, but in planning. How can a former V.League champion disappear so quickly without sustainable infrastructure? Their exit tells of financial fragility, and the high stakes of a dependency on the goodwill of patrons rather than diversified revenue.

This episode is more than a Quảng Nam drama; it's a warning for the entire league. If a club with history, regional support and a V.League title can vanish before the season starts, what safety net exists for smaller clubs? — VNS