VietNamNet Bridge – The Cong fans have joined a campaign to re-establish the club.

Formally known as the Army team, the club was launched in 1954, and was promoted to the top-flight football V-League in 2009.

Fans hope to get 1 million signatures from members of the public calling for the team to be reformed.

Once owned by the military telecommunications group Viettel, the club was renamed The Cong after moving to Thanh Hoa.

At a meeting last week, The Cong's former chairman, Vu Manh Hai, and 400 former club members agreed to launch the campaign.

"I hope to collect 1 million signatures from The Cong's fans by the end of this year. We'll send our proposal to re-establish a professional football team in Thanh Hoa to the Ministry of Defence," Hai told Viet Nam News yesterday.

He said the proposal had the support of numerous local businesses eager to invest in the club.

Artist Nguyen Duc Trung, a The Cong fan, said it would be a crime not to save the club.

The Cong won the national football championship five times and the North of Viet Nam football championship 13 times between 1956 and 1979.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News