Ninh Bình took three of the four V.League 1 awards for September 2026, announced by league organiser VPF on the morning of 23 October 2026: club of the month, coach of the month for Chu Đình Nghiêm, and player of the month for striker Lucas Vinicius, known as Lucao. The fourth prize, goal of the month, went to Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh's Luiz Antonio. According to Tuổi Trẻ, VPF will present Ninh Bình's awards at their home ground before their round 5 game against Công An Hồ Chí Minh.

Ahead of CAHN and SLNA in every category

Bongdaplus and VTV say the vote was held after the first 4 rounds of the season. In the club category Ninh Bình beat the other two nominees, Công an Hà Nội (CAHN) and Sông Lam Nghệ An (SLNA). SGGP points out that Ninh Bình were unbeaten after four rounds, with three wins and a draw, 11 goals scored and 6 conceded; they had the same 10 points as CAHN but better numbers.

Chu Đình Nghiêm was preferred to coaches including Alexandre Polking of CAHN and SLNA's Văn Sỹ Sơn, SGGP reported. In the player vote, Lucas Vinicius beat Alan of CAHN and SLNA's Nguyễn Quang Vinh. According to SGGP, the Brazilian has 5 goals in four rounds, second in the scoring chart.

Bongda24h stressed that Ninh Bình did this without Vietnam midfielder Nguyễn Hoàng Đức for the first two rounds. He was not used because of an injury picked up in the second leg of the ASEAN Cup 2026 final, the site said, yet Ninh Bình still beat Hải Phòng and Thanh Hóa.

Luiz Antonio's winning goal came in the 16th minute of Thể Công Viettel v Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh in round 3 at Hàng Đẫy, a game Hà Tĩnh won 3-1.

Ninh Bình's first four rounds

From Sportmonks data:

RoundDateMatchScore
15 Sep 2026Hải Phòng v Ninh Bình1-4
211 Sep 2026Ninh Bình v Thanh Hóa2-1
310 Oct 2026Nam Định v Ninh Bình1-1
418 Oct 2026Ninh Bình v HAGL4-3

Ninh Bình were top of the table when the awards were announced. After SLNA's 2-0 win at HAGL on 23 October 2026, they are provisionally third on 10 points, level with CAHN and one behind SLNA, with a game in hand on both. Tuổi Trẻ argued that CAHN's commitments in several competitions give Ninh Bình a real chance in the title race this season.

Award dates and the next fixtures

  • Before Hồng Lĩnh Hà Tĩnh v Hải Phòng (18:00 on 24 October 2026), Luiz Antonio will receive his goal of the month award in Hà Tĩnh.
  • Before Ninh Bình v Công An Hồ Chí Minh (18:00 on 25 October 2026), VPF will hand Ninh Bình their three awards. A win would take Ninh Bình back to the top on 13 points.
  • In round 6, Ninh Bình will visit Hà Nội at Hàng Đẫy at 19:15 on 30 October 2026.

See the V.League fixtures and the V.League table.