Hoàng Anh Gia Lai ( HAGL for short ) is a football club from Pleiku, Vietnam and was founded in 2001. He currently plays in the highest division in the country, the V.League 1 . The club plays its home games in the Pleiku Stadium.
The association was created in 2001 from the merger of the associations Hoàng Anh and Gia Lai. At the end of the season, the newly formed club rose from the 2nd division to the V-League and immediately became champions. The following year even managed to defend the title. Both times you were qualified for the AFC Champions League . If you finished second in the group with 7 points in the first year, the club remained without points the following year. From the beginning of the club until today it has almost been a tradition to have at least one player or even a coach from Thailand . For example, Thailand's national hero Kiatisuk Senamuang played for HAGL from 2002 to 2006 , where he also ended his active career. In 2006 he took over the coaching position for one season, before Chatchai Paholpat , Anant Amornkiat and most recently Dusit Chalermsan followed him. Dusit Chalermsan was already a player and assistant coach at HAGL before he became head coach. In January 2009 it was announced that US international Lee Nguyen would join HAGL from Randers FC and receive US $ 10,000 a month. A month later, Chatchai Paholpat returned to HAGL as an assistant coach to support his Thai colleague.