Ligue 2

The French Ligue 2 is the second tier of club football in the country. It has ran in its current form since 1933. It is run by the LFP (Ligue de Football Professionnel and is contested by 20 teams.

Previously known as Division 2, Ligue 2 is also currently known as Domino’s Ligue 2 after a sponsorship deal with the world famous pizza company.

Promotion & Relegation

Every season the three teams that finish in the top three positions in Ligue 2 are promoted to Ligue 1 while the three teams that finish in the bottom three positions are relegated to the National. There were plans to reduce this to two promotions and two relegations in the 2015/16 season but that decision was later over turned.

Stadium Capacities

With a turnaround of 6 clubs every season the average stadium capacity changes by quite a bit, however, during the 2016/17 season the highest capacity stadium was Lens’ Stade Bollaert-Delelis which holds 38,223. The smallest stadium for that season was the Stade Ange Casanova, home to Gazelec Ajaccio which can hold 6,000.

The following gives a full run down of the 2016/17 Ligue 2 stadium capacities;

Ajaccio  10,660

Amiens 12,097

Auxerre               21,379

Bourg-en-Bresse              11,400

Brest     15,097

Clermont Foot   11,980

Gazélec Ajaccio 6,000

Laval      18,607

Le Havre              25,000

Lens       38,223

Nîmes   18,482

Niort      10,886

Orléans                7,000

Red Star               20,000

Reims    21,684

Sochaux               20,000

Strasbourg          29,230

Tours     16,247

Troyes  21,684

Valenciennes     25,172

Records

Le Havre have won Ligue 2 more than any other team in its history with 5 championships in total. The most prolific team in any one season in the history of Ligue 2 are SCO Angers who netted 128 times in 40 games in the 1968/9 season.

Both RCFC Besancon and AS Cannes share the record for the most amount of seasons in Ligue 2 having competed in 41 Ligue 2 championships each.

The highest number of goals scored in one season by a player is a record held since 1969 when Gerard Grizzetti scored 55 goals for AS Angouleme.