A reserves league ?

A reserves league table in England

Reserves league is nothing new in the world of football. A reserves league is an ideal chance for back-up players and youngsters to play competitive football. We can see this type of competition in many countries, from football giants like England or France to our regional neighbor Thailand. A reserves league for U22 players from Thai Premier League clubs has just been launched recently. It really shows professionalism and long-term view of Thai clubs.

What about Vietnam? Many football pundits are worried about lack of competitive football for young Vietnamese footballers as V-League is a very high-demanding league and always full of foreigners. Young players except some outstanding ones stand no chance to play. A reserves league will solve the problem.

Nevertheless, the remaining problem is if Vietnamese clubs are interested. Reserves league was indeed launched in Vietnam about 7 or 8 years ago. It, however, was ended just a year later because too few clubs entered. Some Vietnamese clubs are always looking for short-term benefit. For instance, Hai Phong spent a lot of money to bring Denilson and a lot of V-League stars to their team but they don't even have a young squad. Thanh Hoa is the same, having spent $2 mil to take over The Cong and disbanded Thanh Hoa B with a lot of young players due to 'financial difficulty'. However, some better clubs like Binh Duong, Da Nang and HAGL are worth praises for investing a lot in young players. Binh Duong even has a B team playing in the first division.

It seems Vietnam needs more professional clubs first, let alone a reserves league.