The 2023–24 V.League 1, known as the 2023–24 Night Wolf V.League 1 (Vietnamese: Giải bóng đá Vô địch Quốc gia Night Wolf 2023–24) for sponsorship reasons, was the 41st season of the V.League 1, the highest division of Vietnamese football and the 24th as a professional league. The season was scheduled to commence on 20 October 2023 and ends on 30 June 2024.[1]
This season was the first since the 2001–02 season to have an inter-year schedule (autumn-to-spring) instead of an intra-year schedule (spring-to-autumn) to follow the schedule changes in the AFC competitions. There was also a break from 25 December 2023 to 10 February 2024 for the 2023 AFC Asian Cup and from 7 April 2024 to 3 May 2024 for the 2024 AFC U-23 Asian Cup.[1]
This was the first season that the league officially applies video assistant referee (VAR) technology, but will only apply to matches taking place in the north of the country.[3] Like the previous season, teams was allotted a non-naturalized Vietnamese player slot that will not be counted towards their foreign player allotment.[1]
Teams
A total of 14 teams will participate in the 2023 edition of the V.League 1.
14 teams are gonna compete in this season. The relegated team is SHB Da Nang, who have spent 21 years in the top flight ever since their promotion in 2002. They are also the winner of the 2009 and 2012 seasons. The promoted teams is Quang Nam FC, who have come back to the top flight after 3 seasons.
On 2 November 2023, Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC changed their name to LPBank-Hoang Anh Gia Lai FC but the league didn't allow team name change in course of the season. However, the league reverted the decision and allowed the name change on 22 November 2023.[5]
QNA: Quang Nam's home stadium Tam Ky was under renovations during the entire 2023–24 season. As the result, the club confirmed the Hoa Xuan Stadium in neighboring Da Nang as its home stadium.[7]
Teams are allowed to register 3 foreign players. Starting from the previous season, teams will be allotted an extra slot for 1 unnaturalized overseas Vietnamese player that will not be counted against their foreign player allotment. Hanoi and Haiphong will be allowed to register 1 additional foreign players as they will compete in the AFC competitions. Therefore they are only allowed to field maximum 3 foreign players during a league game.
Players name in bold indicates the player was registered after the start of the season.
Players name in bold indicates the player was registered after the start of the season.
Player's name in italics indicates Overseas Vietnamese players whom have obtained a Vietnamese passport and citizenship, therefore being considered as local players.
The 2023–24 season ended with a relegation play-off game between the 13th-placed V.League 1 team, Hong Linh Ha Tinh, and the V.League 2 runner-up, PVF-CAND.