Ligue 1 is amongst the top-ranked professional European football leagues. As compared to other leagues like the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Serie A, or Bundesliga, Ligue 1 doesn’t attract a heavy brand value but is slowly catching up in terms of viewership in the last 10 years or so.
In this piece, we take a look at the history of this league in detail.
Existence of Ligue 1
Ligue 1 was officially introduced on the 11th of September 1932 and was named National, but after one year it was renamed Division 1. In 2002, the name of the league was finally changed to Ligue 1.
In July 1930, former French footballers Georges Bayrou and Gabriel Hanot, alongside sports journalist and author Emmanuel Gambardella, thought of adding a professional touch to French football, and hence the National Council of the French Football Federation (FFF) voted in favour of it.
The body allowed 20 clubs to participate, and there were some criteria to be followed:
1. The club must have sufficient revenues to equally balance its finances.
2. Clubs must recruit a minimum of eight professional players and should have performed impressively in the past.
Clubs like RC Roubaix, Strasbourg, Stade Francais, and Amiens were against these criteria, while clubs like Lille and Rennes feared that their clubs would be bankrupt due to these guidelines. Henri Jooris, who was Lille’s president and chairman of Ligue du Nord, came up with a proposal to make it a second-division league.
Although clubs like Excelsior AC Roubaix, Metz, Fives, and Mulhouse agreed to follow these criteria, Roubaix, Amiens, and Strasbourg didn’t agree. However, clubs like Cannes, Nimes, Montpellier, Antibes, Hyères, Marseille, and Nice agreed to follow the guidelines without arguing.
How many clubs were included in Ligue 1?
Two groups of 10 teams each, which means 20 teams were included, while the bottom three from each group would be relegated to the second division. Winners of the two groups would face each other in the final at Stade Olympique Yves Du Manoir.
The final of the first season was held between Olympique Lillois and Cannes on the 14th of May 1933. The winner of group B, Antibes, was to play the final, but due to bribery, the team was disqualified by the French Football Federation. Lillois won the first season.
In the next season, 14 teams participated without promoting any second-division team. During the 1934-35 season, the promotion and relegation system was applied with a proper framework, and 16 teams participated.
During World War II, the French Government and Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) suspended the games, but clubs continued playing in regional tournaments named Zone Sud and Zone Nord, but they weren’t recognised by LFP and FFF as they weren’t associated with these two leagues.
After World War II, France was liberated, and hence professional football returned to France. Ligue 1 witnessed the participation of 18 clubs, and in 1965-66, the number increased to 20.
Before the 2023-24 season, the number of teams was reduced to 18, while four teams in Ligue 1 were relegated to Ligue 2, and two teams from Ligue 2 got promoted to Ligue 1.
Successful Teams in Ligue 1
Paris Saint Germain has so far dominated Ligue 1 with 12 titles, followed by Saint Etienne with 10 titles. Lyon won 7 successive titles between 2002-08.
Paris Saint Germain has played in 50 successive seasons while Marseille is the team that has played elite football for the highest number of seasons. Nantes was the team that remained unbeaten for 32 games in 1994-95 and holds the record for most wins at home with 92 wins from May 1976 to April 1981.
Apart from these teams, AS Monaco is another team. It is owned by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev and Monaco Sports Investment Ltd. It is also known as the Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club.
Players with Most Goals and Appearances in Ligue 1
Former French footballer Mickael Landreau played 619 Ligue games while Denis Onnis scored 299 goals, which is the highest by any player in Ligue 1’s history so far.
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