Vissai Ninh Bình FC

The Vissai Cement Ninh Bình Football Club (Vietnamese: Câu lạc bộ bóng đá Xi măng The Vissai Ninh Bình), simply known as Vissai Ninh Bình or Vissai-NB, was a professional association football club based in Ninh Bình, Vietnam. The club played in the V.League 1 from 2010 to 2014, when they withdrew due to consequences of a match-fixing scandal in the 2014 AFC Cup.

Vissai Ninh Bình

Full name	The Vissai Cement Ninh Bình Football Club
Founded	1978 as Hồ Chí Minh City Police FC 2002 as Đông Á Bank 2005 as Đồng Tâm Long An Paint 2007 as VinaKansai Cement Ninh Bình
Dissolved	2014
Ground	Ninh Bình Stadium
Capacity	22,000
Chairman	Hoàng Mạnh Trường
2014 (final)	V.League 1, 13th (withdrew)
Home colours Away colours

The team played at Ninh Bình Stadium.

History

Ho Chi Minh City Police

Main article: Hồ Chí Minh City Police FC

Vissai-NB's roots can be traced to Ho Chi Minh City Police F.C. (HCMCP, Vietnamese: Công an Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh), owned by the Ho Chi Minh City police department. They won the V.League in 1995 while finishing as runners-up in the 1993–94, 1996, 1999–2000 and 2001–02 seasons.^[1] In 1998, the club played a nationally televised friendly match against the semi-professional San Francisco Bay Seals, winning 3–1. The match marked the first time an American soccer team had played in post-war Vietnam.^[2] HCMCP's most well-known player is Lê Huỳnh Đức, an important member of the first "golden generation" of the Vietnamese national team and is also considered one of the greatest Vietnamese footballers of all time.^[3][4]

Vissai Ninh Bình

In 2007, after undergoing two renamings and a move to Long An, the club was bought by Hoàng Mạnh Trường's VinaKansai cement company and moved to Ninh Bình, where they won the First Division in 2009. In preparation for the following season, their first in the top flight, Vissai-NB acquired many well-known players, including internationals such as Lê Phước Tứ, Vũ Như Thành and Phạm Văn Quyến. A domestic double followed three years later in the form of the National Cup and Super Cup, qualifying them for the AFC Cup.

Match-fixing scandal

During the 2014 season, Hoàng Mạnh Trường requested the Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and Vietnam Professional Football (VPF) to withdraw Vissai-NB from the league due to 13 of their players' indictment for allegedly fixing a match against Malaysian side Kelantan F.C. in the 2014 AFC Cup, including captain Lê Văn Duyệt as well as internationals Nguyễn Gia Từ, Chu Ngọc Anh and Lê Văn Thắng, who was later cleared of any involvement. The club had played eight league matches and were third from bottom at the time.^[5] Following the withdrawal, all of the club's results in the league were declared null and void. However, they continued to play in the AFC Cup until their eventual elimination by Hong Kong's Kitchee SC in the quarter-finals.^[6]

Honours

Domestic

League

• V.League 1
  • Winners: 1995
  • Runners-up: 1993–94, 1996, 1999–2000, 2001–02
• V.League 2 (First Division)
  • Winners: 2009

Cup

• Vietnamese National Cup
  • Winners: 1998, 2001, 2013
  • Runners-up: 2000
• Vietnamese Super Cup
  • Winners: 2013
  • Runners-up: 1999, 2001

Performance in AFC competitions

Season	Competition	Round		Club	Home	Away
2014	AFC Cup	Group stage		South China	1–1	3–1
				Yangon United	3–2	4–1
				Kelantan	4–0	3–2
		Round of 16		Churchill Brothers	4–2
		Quarter-finals		Kitchee	2–4	1–0

Record as V.League member

Season	Pld	Won	Draw	Lost	GF	GA	GD	PTS	Final position	Notes
2014 V.League 1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	13th	Withdrew
2013 V.League 1	20	4	6	10	23	32	−9	18	10th	Qualified for 2014 AFC Cup
2012 V-League	26	10	3	13	40	49	−9	33	8th
2011 V-League	26	11	6	9	37	35	+2	39	4th
2010 V-League	26	8	10	8	33	34	−1	34	11th