Vietnamese Football League Second Division
[citation needed] A national third tier of Vietnamese association football was first established along with its professionalization in 1995.Among the 10 original clubs of the third tier included the forerunners to Thanh Hóa, Cần Thơ, Đồng Nai, Cà Mau and Lâm Đồng.The third-tier football was reintroduced in 2000 upon creation of fully professional V.League 2.Since the establishment of associate membership system in 2006 the number of professional clubs holding or actively seeking for this status has grown steadily and reached its peak in 2010 season when 6 full members and 2 former candidates made up to almost half of the league's 18 teams.Through the course of the season this number grew even bigger, to 15 full associate members that formed the core of V.League 3.