LookAtVietnam – More people are flocking to watch top national football league games because of a more aggressive and attractive style of play, lifting stadium averages after three rounds to more than 10,200 a match.

Bring it on: Fans have flocked to watch national football league matches this season. Recent statistics show that there are more than 10,200 fans attending each game.

The number of fans increase to about 75,000 in the second and third rounds.

Hai Phong’s Lach Tray Stadium was the focus of this round when the host team under former national coach Alfred Riedl faced Mikado Nam Dinh.

Nam Dinh were not a strong team this season but Hai Phong fans wanted to see a victory after their loss 4-5 to Hoa Phat Ha Noi in penalty shootouts knocked them out of the National Cup.

About 30,000 fans came to Lach Tray on Sunday to back their players. But they were disappointed when the team was defeated 0-2, their second failure in three matches.

In Long An Stadium, host Dong Tam Long An welcomed more than 15,000 fans in their match against T&T Ha Noi, most of them satisfied with a 2-all draw.

Thanh Hoa Stadium ranked third with 12,000 fans, who witnessed their team draw 2-all with former V-League champion Song Lam Nghe An.

A reason for the high turnout this year could be attributed to the national team’s victory last year over Thailand 3-2 on aggregate at the AFF Suzuki Cup.

In addition, Vietnamese goalkeeper Duong Hong Son was voted the most valuable of the event.

Strikers’ season

Son is now member of T&T Ha Noi who ranked fifth in the table with five points after three games.

The number of goals scored was also an attractive statistic. Strikers of all teams did well, with an average of 2.7 goals per match.

The V-League’s first rounds saw upsets from weaker teams, such as Dong Thap defeating former champions Hoang Anh Gia Lai 3-0 and Dong Tam Long An 1-0; HCM City beating Hoang Anh Gia Lai 1-0.

The results of the V-League also pushed them to watch the National Cup which is a less popular event.

More than 7,000 people turned out at Quang Nam Stadium for Quang Nam and The Cong in the National Cup’s second round last weekend. They had been stimulated by host team’s crushing victory over Thanh Hoa’s in the first round in front of only 2,500 fans.

Also in the second round, more than 15,000 football lovers in Da Nang flooded Chi Lang Stadium to encourage SHB Da Nang against Dong Thap, surprisingly surpassing two previous V-League powerhouse figures.

Organising committees of the stadiums believe fans will keep going to watch football, despite increasing ticket prices.

A ticket to the Military Zone 4 stadium cost from VND30,000-40,000, but the 10,000-seat venue has to turn people away.

Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Dinh Linh, head of the Military Zone 4 football delegation, said the high price would be maintained for the important matches and reduced for the others.

He said the increasing number of fans attending their games would help his poor team.

“The players’ living standards will be improved if the stadium is full all the season,” he said.

Many Hai Phong fans drastically objected to Lach Tray Stadium organising committee decision to raise the ticket price.

Some of them said on the Hai Phong fan club forum that they would watch the games on TV to save money. But the stadium was still filled to capacity with prices up to VND100,000 (US$5.7), the highest in the V-League history.

“We decided to raise the price to so that our players can enjoy a better standard of living which will encourage them to contribute a lot to the team, and fans will have more chance to watch qualified games,” said Bui Van Thinh, managing director of the team.

“People will not turn down good matches just because of high prices. It is professional football,” Thinh said.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News