The championship 1984/85 - there was no top league in France before 1992 - was played in a mixture of group play - and knockout mode ; In order to take part in the nationwide final round, the women's teams had to qualify at the regional level beforehand. The previous year's champions of ASJ Soyaux were eliminated this time in the group stage of the quarter-finals. Instead, the women of VGA Saint-Maur prevailed in the final , winning their second French championship title.
Initially, a double round of points with home and away legs was played in eight regionally divided groups of six women each. The three best groups in the group, a total of 24 teams, reached the next round, the quarter-finals, while the other 24 teams played for the so-called Championnat de Deuxième Division , i.e. the second division championship. In the groups of the first two rounds, each club competed against each other twice, in a home and an away game. If two or more teams were tied - the two-point rule applied - the direct comparison and, if necessary, then the better goal difference from all games was decisive.
In the sources used, no individual results are given for the preliminary round and quarter-finals, but only final placements and plus points. The points given are not complete, however, so they will not be used here for the preliminary round.
After completing the group games of this round, only the respective first in the table qualified for the semi-finals, whose matches were played in the return leg.