V-League 1 side Hoang Anh Gia Lai continues to bring ticket fever to Lach Tray Stadium, where they will play their fourth round match on Wednesday with hosts Hai Phong, who have announced that they will deploy 800 policemen to guard the game.

In the past three rounds of Vietnam’s top-flight 2015 Toyota V-League 1, each match of Hoang Anh Gia Lai have attracted nearly 15,000 spectators, except the encounter with hosts Dong Tam Long An in the second round on January 11, when the home team decided to limit the number of supporters over security concerns.

Normally, a provincial stadium of top clubs in Vietnam can accommodate 10,000-20,000 fans in the stands. The My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi has 40,000 seats.

Dong Thap, Quang Ninh, Da Nang, and Song Lam Nghe An have attracted around 10,000-12,000 fans to their stadiums for each match in recent rounds.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai have managed just one win so far, a 4-2 victory over Sanna Khanh Hoa in the first round on January 4.

It conceded two losses, both 1-2, to Dong Tam Long An and Thanh Hoa in the two following rounds.

For the game at 5:00 pm today in Hai Phong in the north, fans have queued up, jostling in long lines to buy tickets to watch the clash, outside Lach Tray Stadium.

Managers of the stadium admitted they have not limited the maximum number of tickets a fan can buy, so some scalpers were quickly collecting tickets to sell back to other supporters at higher prices.

“Hai Phong commit to ensuring absolute safety and security while the competition is going on,” said Dan Duc Hiep, vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Hai Phong.

Both the French coach of Hoang Anh Gia Lai, Guillaume Graechen, and Doan Phu Tan, supervisor of the match's referees, have complained that the surface of Lach Tray Stadium is too rough for competition.

Hoang Anh Gia Lai are high-profile contenders at the 2015 V-League 1 season as their formation consists mostly of young players trained by the Hoang Anh Gia Lai – Arsenal JMG Academy, which one of Vietnam’s richest tycoons, 53-year-old Doan Nguyen Duc, spent US$4 million founding in 2007. Duc is now chairman of Hoang Anh Gia Lai.

The squad currently sit in 10th place on the V-League 1 table out of 14 teams, with three points after just one win.

Becamex Binh Duong, Hai Phong, and Quang Ninh top the table with nine, seven, and six points respectively.

The V-League 1 is the top-tier league competition in Vietnam, followed by the V-League 2.

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