Thong Nhat Stadium

Cholon Municipal Commission agreed in 1929 to construct a new stadium in the city. The stadium was called Renault Field after the then-chairman of the city commission, Philippe Oreste Renault. On October 18, 1931, the stadium was inaugurated with a football match between Cho Lon Police and Gia Dinh Stars, which Cho Lon Police won 1-0. Initially, there was only one 20-step, reinforced cement-roofed spectator stand at the stadium.

From 1959 to October 1960, the stadium’s main stand was enlarged and new stands and a lighting system were constructed. This extension boosted the stadium’s capacity to 30,000 individuals. Additionally, the stadium was renamed Republic Stadium (“Republic Stadium”). In 1967, it was restored once more.

Between 1955 and 1975, the venue hosted a number of significant sporting events, including a crowd of over 30,000 people who attended the elimination football match between South Vietnam and South Korea preceding the 1964 Summer Olympics. The 1966 gold Merdeka Cup trophy won by South Vietnam was stored at the stadium. Its whereabouts is unknown following the Fall of Saigon.

During the Vietnam War, terrorist assaults by the Vietcong occurred in the stadium. On October 4, 1965, explosives detonated, killing 11 and injuring 42 others.

The stadium was renamed Thong Nhat Stadium (“Reunification Stadium”) on September 2, 1975, following a football match between F.C. Customs and F.C. Bank.

The stadium has been the home of Ho Chi Minh City F.C. (previously Saigon Port F.C.) since 1975, when the team was founded. From 1995 to 2002, it also served as the home field for Ho Chi Minh City Police F.C.

The stadium was renovated in 2002 in preparation for hosting Group B men’s football matches at the 2003 Southeast Asian Games. Until 2003, when My Dinh National Stadium was finished, it was the customary home of the Vietnam national football team, alongside Hang Day Stadium in Hanoi.

Saigon F.C. chose Thong Nhat as their home stadium for their inaugural season in V.League 1 in 2016.

The stadium has a capacity of 19,450 people until 2017. Since then, the stadium has undergone phased renovations. In the initial phase, the A1 and A2 parts of the main stand were repainted and a new 1,500-lux floodlight system was installed in the fourth quarter of 2017. More than 6,700 additional seats were added to the B, C, and D stands in 2018. This lowered the stadium’s capacity to around 15,000 individuals.

In 2019, the old seats in stand A will be replaced, and new seats will be added to the stand’s east and west wings (A4 and A5).