100 Nam Bong Da Viet Nam

This blog will present/unroll our translation of  Nguyen Quang Sang's 100 Nam Bong Da Viet Nam (100 Years of Vietnamese Football Milestones)

100 Years of Vietnamese Football Milestones--The Starting Days

The first international Association football match to be held in Saigon was played in 1905, between a Saigon selection and sailors from HMS King Alfred. The players in the Saigon line up were composed of French soldiers and civilian recruits. In the same year, E. Breton–a member of France's L'Union des Sociétés Français des Sports Athlétiques–popularized the competition rules for organized matches to be played in Saigon.

In 1906, Breton founded Cercle Spors Saigonnais Soccer?? Club, which included French, British and Swiss nationals working and living in Saigon. Also in that year, Chinese workers in Saigon founded the Chinese Sports club. A friendly match between the two teams was won 9-0 by Cercle Sportif. Later, the Chinese Sporting Club recruited Chinese players from Malaysia; these players often wore queues, a long braided pigtail wrapped around their heads.

Two more football teams were established in 1906: Athletic Club (composed of Frenchmen working at trading companies), and Taberd Club (composed of Frenchmen in Vietnam and former students at Taberd school). The Taberd Club quickly grew in popularity and was later renamed Saigon Sport. Two more were founded in 1908: Stade Militaire and the Union Sportive De La Marine soccer team. The first native Vietnamese football team, Giadinh Sport was founded in 1907; they eventually won the Southern football championship in 1917. 

In 1918, in the championships, semi-finals, and finals, Saigon spectators enjoyed watching the talented players in the four strongest teams: Cercle Sportif Saigonnais, Saigon Sport, Stade. Militaire and the Gia Dinh Star (Etoile de Giadinh), a team built by the merger of Giadinh Sports and Etoile Bleue. Saigon-Sport football team is legendary for being crowned Southern Champion 9 times; remarkably, between 1920 and 1924, it won every championship.

The Southern football movement flourished in Saigon. Football teams were also established in the provinces of Thu Dau Mot (Binh Duong), My Tho (Tra Giang), Can Tho (Hau Giang), Sa Dec (Dong Thap), Vinh Long and Cap Saint Jacques (Vung Tau). Simultaneously, regional federations were formed in Saigon–Cho Lon, Tay Mien, and Dong Mien.