Division 2 Féminine

The Division 2 Féminine or short D2F is the second highest league in French women's football . It was established in 1992 and was officially named Championnat National 1 B (N1B) until 2002 .

From the beginning it was divided into two or three relays, which were composed according to regional aspects and with a different number of participating teams. The respective season winners qualify for promotion to Division 1 Féminine . The best-placed teams in these groups also played the second division champions until 2008 after the round of points was completed. FC Vendenheim is the record champions with three titles .

Like the first, the second division is also subordinate to the regional association FFF in terms of organization and sports law .

History, mode and regulations

In parallel with the establishment of a nationwide first women's league, the N1A, for the 1992/93 season , the FFF also created a substructure called N1B for short. From 1992 to 2002 this comprised three groups of ten, from 2002 to 2008 two groups of ten, from 2008 to 2010 two groups of twelve, from 2010 to 2016 three groups of twelve and from 2016 again only two groups of twelve. When the N1A was renamed Division 1 Féminine in 2002, the name of the second division was adjusted accordingly to Division 2 Féminine .

The form of a round-robin tournament applies within the respective group , which means that each participant plays once at home and away against each other. Up to and including 1994/95 the two- , then the three-point rule applied. From 1998/99 to 2015/16, unlike in most other European women's leagues, there were four points for a win; a tie was rewarded with two instead of one point. There was even a point for a defeat if the game was played and not decided at the green table . In 2016/17 the FFF returned to the three-point rule for the national women's division, including the D2F. Another French peculiarity is that in the event of a tie between two or more teams, the results from the direct clashes are used as the first placement criterion and only then the goal difference or the number of hits scored in all games.

The number of relegated and promoted players between the first and second division also varied: up to 2002, three women changed the league, from 2002/03 to 2010 only two each (exception: at the end of the 2006/07 season due to the departure of CNFE Clairefontaine as well three), 2010/11 to 2016 again three and from 2016/17 again two each.
From 1992/93 up to and including 2007/08, a simple point round to determine the second division champion, known in French as Tournoi final , followed at the end of the season . The three group winners or - in the seasons in which the second division was played in only two seasons - the two best-placed teams in each group took part. There have been no such playoffs since 2008/09, but this title is given to the group winner with the highest number of points. Since from 2002/03 to 2007/08 the two promoted champions were also determined in this championship round, there was the possibility that instead of one of the group winners, a runner-up rose; this was actually the case in four of the six seasons (see the chapter Overview of the seasons below).

In Division 2 there were always at least two relegated teams per second division group, who were replaced by the corresponding number of promoters from the third division, time-dependent and sometimes also through relegation matches . This hybrid form will come into effect again from 2016/17 when Tables 11. and -12. of the two D2F groups are directly relegated and the tenth placed have to defend their class against third division clubs.
From 2002 to 2010 there was a third league, in which second teams (B-teams) from the first division were also eligible; but they could never move up to the second division. Before that and again since then, the regional groups of the Division d'Honneur form the third highest league level. In 2014/15 there were 19 relays at this level (excluding Corsica and France's overseas territories), from which the 24 best female teams (19 DH champions plus the five best-placed runners-up in the table) after completing their round of points in the so-called Championnat Interrégional (CIR) in six groups of four played with back and forth for the promotion places in the D2F, which were due to the CIR group winners.

As expected, the number of spectators at second division games is still well below that of Division 1. A number of around 300 visitors to a northern French neighborhood derby in the 2015/16 season is already rated as above average.

In the French cup competition , the second division are obliged to participate. Currently (2016/17) they intervene in the sixty-fourth finals (1er tour fédéral) .

Overview of the seasons

Size = Number of groups, participants = number of participating women

season	Size	Participate	Group winner / climber (a)	master	Special (b)
1992/93	3	30th	CS Blanc-Mesnil , Stade Quimper , OS Monaco	OS Monaco
1993/94	3	30th	Paris SG , US Orléans , Toulouse OAC	Toulouse OAC
1994/95	3	30th	AS Saint-Memmie , Le Mans UC , SC Caluire Saint-Clair	SC Caluire Saint-Clair
1995/96	3	30th	USO Bruay , ESOF La Roche , Celtic Beaumont	ESOF La Roche
1996/97	3	30th	AS Saint-Quentin , Stade Quimper , E. Montpellier Le Crès	Montpellier Le Crès
1997/98	3	30th	US Orléans , CBOSL Angers , SC Caluire Saint-Clair	SC Caluire Saint-Clair
1998/99	3	30th	Ol. Saint-Memmie , Stade Quimper , FC Félines Saint-Cyr	Olympus. Saint-Memmie
1999/00	3	30th	SC Schiltigheim , ES Cormelles , Celtic Marseille	SC Schiltigheim
2000/01	3	30th	Paris SG , EC Tours , SC Caluire Saint-Clair	Paris SG
2001/02	3	30th	USO Bruay , Stade Quimper , FCF Monteux	USO Bruay	The D1 place of Monteux, the third in the championship round, took CNFE Clairefontaine .
2002/03	2	20th	FCF Hénin-Beaumont , USCCO Compiègne	FCF Henin-Beaumont	tf: FCF Monteux , US Orléans
2003/04	2	20th	FC Vendenheim , FCF Condé-sur-Noireau	FC Vendenheim	tf: SC Schiltigheim , FC Tours
2004/05	2	20th	USCCO Compiègne , ESOF La Roche	USCCO Compiègne	tf: FCF Monteux , Le Mans UC
2005/06	2	20th	FCF Condé-sur-Noireau , Stade Saint-Brieuc	FCF Condé-sur-N.	tf: RC Saint-Étienne , US Le Puy
2006/07	2	20th	FC Vendenheim , RC Saint-Étienne , AC Évreux (c)	FC Vendenheim	tf: Olympique Saint-Memmie
2007/08	2	20th	FCF Condé-sur-Noireau , FCF Nord-Allier Auvergne	FCF Nord-Allier Auv.	tf: CPBB Rennes , FCF Monteux
2008/09	2	24	ESOF La Roche , AS Montigny-le-Bretonneux	ESOF La Roche	La Roche 77, Montigny 74
2009/10	2	24	Le Mans UC , AF Rodez	Le Mans UC	Le Mans 80, Rodez 75
2010/11	3	36	FC Vendenheim , ASJ Soyaux , AS Muret	FC Vendenheim	Vendenheim 83, Soyaux 75, Muret 75
2011/12	3	36	Arras FCF , FF Issy , FC Toulouse	Toulouse FC	Toulouse 81, Arras 75, Issy 71
2012/13	3	36	FCF Hénin-Beaumont , ASJ Soyaux , AS Muret	FCF Henin-Beaumont	Soyaux 83, Hénin-Beaumont 78, Muret 78
2013/14	3	36	AS Algrange , FF Issy , ASPTT Albi	ASPTT Albi	Albi 83, Algrange 80, Issy 73
2014/15	3	36	VGA Saint-Maur , ESOF La Roche , FF Nîmes MG	VGA Saint-Maur	Saint-Maur 88, La Roche 78, Nîmes 75
2015/16	3	36	FC Metz , Girondins Bordeaux , Olympique Marseille	Olympique Marseille	Marseille 84, Metz 77, Bordeaux 77
2016/17	2	24	Lille OSC , FCF Val d'Orge	Lille OSC	Lille 53, Val d'Orge 51
2017/18	2	24	FC Metz , FCO Dijon	FC Metz	Metz 23, Dijon 20
2018/19	2	25 (d)	Stade Reims , Olympique Marseille	Stade Reims	Reims 23, Marseille 19
2019/20 (e)	2	24	FF Issy , Le Havre AC	Le Havre AC	Le Havre 18, Issy 14 (f)

^(a)Group winners who nevertheless did not advance are shown in italics in this and the “special” column .

^(b)From 2002/03 to 2007/08 the other participants in the championship and promotion round, the Tournoi final or tf, are listed in this column, and from 2008/09 up to and including 2016/17 the total number of points for the group winners. From 2017/18, only the number of points that the two group winners achieved against the teams in places 2 to 6 in the final table will be used to determine the D2 master.

^(c) The AC Évreux as third of the Tournoi final replaced CNFE Clairefontaine after the football association had withdrawn this team from league operations.

^(d) The AS Pierrots Vauban Strasbourg had fought for participation immediately before the start of the season on the sports court, so that one of the D2F groups consisted of 13 women this season.

^(e)After the 2019/20 season was discontinued due to the virus pandemic and the status of March 13, 2020 was taken into account (after the 16th matchday, without catch-up games not yet played).

^(f)Le Havres achieved 18 points in eight games, Issys 14 in seven games, so that the quotient rule (2.25 versus 2.00) was the decisive factor for the championship title.

With three second division championships, FC Vendenheim is the most successful club; The SC Caluire Saint-Clair, ESOF La Roche and FCF Hénin-Beaumont each won this title twice. In 2014/15, VGA Saint-Maur was the only club to achieve the maximum score of 88. On the other hand, FCF Monteux is considered the unlucky player in Division 2, because the southern French made it into the top league four times between 2002 and 2008, including two group winners. But in 2002, in view of the upcoming first French World Cup participation , the FFF decided that instead of the third-placed finisher in the championship round, the junior performance center Center technique national Fernand-Sastre should play in Division 1, which had not taken part in the league until then. The following year, Monteux failed in the Tournoi final as group winners as well as in 2005 and 2008 as group runner-up.

Top scorer queens

The relevant statistics are not yet available for the entire period. The classification of the players under this is carried out across D2 groups; an exception to this is the 2018/19 season, in which the groups had different numbers of participants and thus of games.

season	1st place	Next best
2006/07	Corinne Lebailly (FC Vendenheim), 25	Stéphanie de Revière (CS Aulnat), 13
2007/08	Lilas Traïkia (ASPTT Albi), 21	Gaëtane Thiney (USCCO Compiègne), 20
2008/09	Marine Augis (FC Tours), 25	Coralie Lenot (US Gravelines), 23
2009/10	Sarah Palacin (Issy FF), 25	Virginie Couillard (FCF Condé-sur-Noireau), 18
2010/11	Fanny Tenret (AS Muret), 25	Gwenaëlle Migot (FCF Condé-sur-Noireau), 20
2011/12	Sandra Maurice (Toulouse FC), 28 Gwenaëlle Migot (Issy FF), 28	Lilas Traïkia (ASPTT Albi), 24
2012/13	Fanny Tenret (AS Muret), 35	Alexandra Moziyan (FAF Marseille), 25
2013/14	Valérie Gauvin (Toulouse FC), 32	Julie Wojdyla (AS Algrange), 25
2014/15	Marlyse Ngo Ndoumbouk (VGA Saint-Maur), 43	Laury Jesus (Claix FF), 26
2015/16	Sarah Cambot (Girondins Bordeaux), 24 Laury Jesus (Claix FF), 24	Laura Bouillot (FCO Dijon), 23 Sandrine Brétigny (Olympique Marseille), 23
2016/17	Jana Coryn (Lille OSC), 24	Mélissa Gomes (VGA Saint-Maur), 22
2017/18	Marlyse Ngo Ndoumbouk (AS Nancy), 28	Valerie Sanderson (FC Metz), 18th Meryll Wenger (FC Metz), 18th
2018/19	Group A: Mélissa Gomes (Stade Reims), 19 Group B: Kelly Gago (AS Saint-Étienne), 20	Group A: Ashley Clark (Le Havre AC), 14th Group B: Sandrine Brétigny (Grenoble Foot), 14th
2019/20 (e)	Charlotte Fromantin (FC Montauban), 16	Anaïs Ribeyra (FF Yzeure), 15 Laurie Teinturier (FF Issy), 15

The current season

RC Lens Lille OSC FC Nantes Stade Brest US Saint Malo US Orléans VGA Saint-Maur ESOF La Roche AS Nancy FC Metz FC Vendenheim RC Stras- bourg

Group A (2020/21)

Rodez AF ASPTT Albi FC Montauban Olympique Marseille FCE Mérignac Arlac FF Nîmes Le Puy Foot FF Yzeure Grenoble Foot OGC Nice AS Saint-Etienne FC Thonon Evian

Group B (2020/21)

The 2020/21 season begins on September 6, 2020; May 16, 2021 has been set as the last (22nd) matchday. The two groups have again been put together with regional changes and are composed as follows (relegated from D1 are marked with A, promoted from the third division with N after the club name):

Group A

Stade Brest , ESOF La Roche , Racing Lens , OSC Lille , FC Metz (A), AS Nancy , FC Nantes , US Orléans , US Saint-Malo , VGA Saint-Maur , Racing Strasbourg (N), FC Vendenheim

Group B

ASPTT Albi , FCE Mérignac Arlac (N), Grenoble Foot , Le Puy Foot (N), Olympique Marseille (A), FC Montauban, FF Nîmes Métropole Gard (N), OGC Nice , AF Rodez , AS Saint-Étienne , FC Thonon Evian , FF Yzeure Allier Auvergne

In the 2019/20 preseason, after 16 match days, the entire national game operation was suspended due to the virus pandemic , and five weeks later the association decided that the second division, like all lower divisions, would not resume it this season. Instead, as of March 13, 2020, the quotient of the points gained up to then and the number of games actually played was calculated for each team in the D2F and on this basis - if necessary including a direct comparison and goal difference - the "final" classification was determined . Exceptionally, there were only two relegated teams per group. Thus rose from Group A FF Issy and from Group B Le Havre AC in the next season in the top division. In group B, this was a very close decision because AS Saint-Étienne had a slightly lower point quotient due to a failed game (2.467 compared to 2.500); The ASSE had therefore contested their non-promotion in a sports court, but remained unsuccessful.
Racing Saint-Denis, SC Amiens , Toulouse FC and the women with no points at Bergerac FC were relegated . Since there could also be no promotion rounds, their places were taken by a woman from each of the four regional associations, which had the most representatives in the first and second leagues in the past three seasons (Ligue de Nouvelle Aquitaine, Ligue d'Occitanie, Ligue du Grand Est and Ligue d'Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) . In addition, there were the first division relegated from Marseille and Metz. The women of Arras FCF joined Racing Lens in summer 2020.

Web links

• Liga-Palmarès at footofeminin.fr
• N1B tables 1992–2000 and from 2000/01 at rsssf.com

Evidence and Notes

1. ↑ see the resolutions of the FFF on the transition from three to two groups at footofeminin.fr, published on June 21, 2015
2. ↑ according to the match report from October 1, 2015 about the game Arras FCF against OSC Lille at footofeminin.fr
3. ↑ Footofeminin.fr names Hénin-Beaumont as champions on the overview page given under web links, because the two games of the northern French women in their group against FAS Herblay were not considered to have been played after their premature league withdrawal. Thus, they achieved 78 out of 80 possible points (corresponding to 97.5%), while Soyaux with 83 out of 88 points only came to 94.3%.
4. ↑ New regulation of the championship determination from 2017/18 in the article “ FC Metz is second division champions ” from May 1, 2018 at footofeminin.fr
5. ↑ Seasonal information in this table according to the Liga Palmarès mentioned under web links at footofeminin.fr.
6. ↑ see the corresponding association decisions of April 16, 2020 at fff.fr
7. ↑ Article “ The CNOSF declares to AS Saint-Étienne that it will not question the association's decision” from May 16, 2020 at footofeminin.fr
8. ↑ Article “ Decision of the FFF: what impact? “From April 16, 2020 at footofeminin.fr
9. ↑ Article “ Le Puy completes the newcomer quartet ” from May 26, 2020 at footofeminin.fr