antibes - Ligue 1
Photograph by natamagaton Flickr.
Play is regularly suspended the last weekend before Christmas for two weeks before returning in the antibes House of Grimaldi second week of January. It took almost two decades before another French side returned to the final of the European Cup.
Over 9,000 proposals were sent it and, on 20 May 2007, French Football Federation member Frédéric Thiriez announced that, following an online vote, the term Hexagoal had received half of the votes. The prominent reason for the rise was mainly associated with the television rights deal the league regularly antibes signs.
Though Saint-Étienne were defeated, the club brought French football back into the spotlight, which had laid dormant in Europe following Reims fall from grace. During the 1980s, Bordeaux achieved the country s best finish of the decade reaching the semi-finals during the 1984–85 edition of the cup.
Ligue 1 is the French professional league for association football clubs. Following the conclusion of the war and the liberation of France, professional football returned to France.
The LFP, with the help of the former manager Michel Hidalgo introduced the idea to reward those teams who score the most goals. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Ligue 2.
Two years later, Marseille earned France its first ever European Cup title when the club won the competition, now called the UEFA Champions League, after defeating Italian club Milan 1–0. The trophy has been awarded to the champion of France since the end of the 2006–07 season, replacing the previous Ligue 1 trophy that had existed for only five years.
Canal+ were initially reluctant to agree to the deal due to the criticisms associated with Ligue 1 (See above) and the league s decision to split the rights into 12 packages, which was seen as controversial in some quarters and imaginative in others as it allowed smaller broadcasters, such as Orange and SFR to bid on specific matches. Following the announcement of the agreement, it was revealed that Canal+ brought nine of the twelve packages, while Orange acquire the others. The league also agreed to change its name from National to simply Division 1.
In order to participate in the competition, clubs were subjected to three important criteria: Many clubs disagreed with the subjective criteria, most notably Strasbourg, RC Roubaix, Amiens SC, and Stade Français, while others like Rennes and Olympique Lillois were reluctant to become professional due to a variety of reasons, mostly due to fear of bankruptcy with Rennes and a conflict of interest with the latter club, as the team s president Henri Jooris also served as chairman of the Ligue du Nord. Antibes, the winner of Group B, was supposed to take part in the final but was suspected of bribery by the French Football Federation and was forced into disqualification.
Due to its non-association with the two leagues, the LFP and FFF do not recognize the championships won by the clubs and thus 1939–1945 is non-existent in the two organizations view. Lyon performed strong in the group stage and were partly responsible for eliminating English club Liverpool as they went undefeated against them.
This number remained until the 1965–66 season when the number was increased to 20. Eventually, many clubs earned professional status, though it became more difficult to convince Northern clubs with Strasbourg, RC Roubaix, and Amiens still refusing to accept the new league, though Mulhouse, Excelsior AC Roubaix, Metz, and Fives accepted professionalism.
Paris Saint-Germain have been administratively relegated by the league following its split from Paris FC in 1972. The following 20 clubs will compete in Ligue 1 during the 2009–10 season. a: Founding member of Ligue 1 b: Never been relegated from Ligue 1 In France, the Ligue de Football Professionnel has an exclusive broadcasting agreement with premium pay TV channels, Canal+ and Orange. At the start of the 2006–07 season, the league introduced an Attacking Play Table to encourage the scoring of more goals in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2.
Canal s streaming service, Foot Plus, was introduced at the start of the 2008–09 season. In most countries, such as Australia and Canada and on the continent of Africa, Ligue 1 is available on Irish broadcasting chain Setanta Sports. In 2002, the league changed its name from Division 1 to Ligue 1. There are 20 clubs in Ligue 1.
The most recent list was conducted for the 2008–09 season and Lyon ranked 13th among clubs generating approximately €139.6 million, while Marseille were right behind them in 14th position generating €133.2 million. A total of 73 clubs have played in Ligue 1 from its foundation for the 1932–33 season to the end of the 2008–09 season. The fourth-placed team qualifies for the UEFA Europa League.
The record of one UEFA Champions League title is considerably inferior to lower ranked leagues in Europe like the Dutch Eredivisie or the Portuguese Liga, who have attained six and four titles, respectively. Failure in Europe began in the early stages of the competition with powerful French club Stade de Reims losing to Real Madrid in the inaugural final. Teams receive three points for a win and one point for a draw.
The third-placed team enters in the final qualifying round. Orange acquisitions include mobile broadcasting of Ligue 1 matches, an on-demand service, and one premium package.
Lyon s best overall performance in the competition came during the 2004–05 season where they reached the quarterfinals and suffered defeat to PSV Eindhoven on penalties. For the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League season, the criticism of French clubs performances in the competition has dwindled following the successful play of both Bordeaux and Lyon. The following season, they won the league with a 17 point gap having secured the title with several matches to spare.
Professionalism was officially implemented in 1932. In order to successfully create a professional football league in the country, the Federation limited the league to twenty clubs. Sportitalia will show one or two live matches a week and will also air a weekly highlights show. The current Ligue 1 trophy, L Hexagoal, was developed by the Ligue de Football Professionnel and designed and created by Franco-Argentine artist Pablo Reinoso.
In the first final, Lillois were crowned the inaugural champions following the club s 4–3 victory. Following the season, the UNFP Awards are held and awards such as the Player of the Year, Manager of the Year, and Young Player of the Year from both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 are handed out. .
In the Netherlands, Ligue 1 formerly aired on a sister channel of Canal+. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings.
Over the last decade, Ligue 1 has regularly averaged the least amount of goals a game among the top five European leagues with the low point coming during the 2005–06 season when the league averaged a meager 2.1 goals a game compared to the Fußball-Bundesliga that season, which averaged 2.81 a game. It is the country s primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system.
Excluding Paris Saint-Germain, many of the top division clubs are extremely healthy with clubs such as Auxerre, Bordeaux, Lille, and Lyon being referred to as managed to perfection . In terms of world football, clubs Lyon and Marseille are some of the richest football clubs in the world. Three years later, Reims returned to the final where they again fell to Madrid.
The founding fathers of professionalism in French football are Georges Bayrou, Emmanuel Gambardella, and Gabriel Hanot. The channel will broadcast Ligue 1 games for the next two seasons beginning with the 2010–11 season.
The position has become somewhat of a mainstay in the league with several of the players occupying the position, such as Claude Makélélé, Alou Diarra, Blaise Matuidi, Rio Mavuba, and Frédéric Thomas serving as first-choice captain of their respective club. Beginning with the 2001–02 season, Olympique Lyonnais started a national record-breaking streak of seven successive titles. The current champions are Bordeaux, who won their sixth title in the 2008–09 season.
In the competition leading up to the final, Saint-Étienne defeated European powerhouses Rangers, Dynamo Kyiv and PSV Eindhoven. Following Saint-Étienne s success, the club entered a dry spell, which resulted in French clubs again failing to establish themselves in Europe. The first club to hoist the new trophy was Olympique Lyonnais who earn the honour after winning the 2007–08 season. In addition to the winner s Trophy and the individual winner s medal players receive, Ligue 1 also awards the monthly Player of the Month award.
If points are equal, the goal difference and then goals scored determine the winner. Lyon were also successful in Europe and, under president Jean-Michel Aulas, adopted a strategy which allowed them to pillage the league of its top players.
Canal+ acquired two of the premium packages, which includes all of the showcase matches that are broadcast on Sunday night. Canal+ also acquired a package that allows for streaming of Ligue 1 matches online.
Dynastic club Saint-Étienne reached the 1976 European Cup Final but fell 1–0 to German powerhouse Bayern Munich. At the end of each season, the club with the most points is crowned champion.
The first final was held on 14 May 1993 and it matched the winner of Group A, Olympique Lillois, against the runner-up of Group B, Cannes. During the war championships , as they are called, professionalism was abolished by the Vichy regime and clubs were forced to participate in regional leagues, designated as Zone Sud and Zone Nord.
The league has faced three significant corruption scandals in its history (Antibes in 1933, Red Star in the 1950s, and Marseille in 1993) and has preserved its reputation every time through swift and appropriately severe punishment of the guilty parties. Prior to 1930, professionalism in French football was non-existent. The league can also be awarded a European place based on their UEFA Fair Play ranking.
The channel was later bought out by Liberty Global and the league now airs on Sport1. In Indonesia, matches air on TVRI.
In the knockout rounds, Bordeaux defeated Greek club Olympiakos, while Lyon pulled off a miraculous upset eliminating Real Madrid who are due to host the tournament s final. If both of the cup winners qualify for Europe through their league position, the fifth and sixth-placed teams in Ligue 1 will qualify for the Europa League.
During the course of a season, usually from August to May, each club plays the others twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 38 games, though special circumstances may allow a club to host matches at other venues such as when Lille hosted Lyon at the Stade de France in 2007 and 2008. From 1973 to 1976, a rule rewarded teams scoring three or more goals in a game with one extra point, regardless of outcome, with the objective of encouraging offensive play.
In total, only six French clubs have reached the final with four of the appearances occurring before Marseille s triumph. A French club finally returned to the final of the competition when Marseille, led by Jean-Pierre Papin advanced all the way to the ultimate match before falling to Serbian club Red Star Belgrade on penalties in 1990.
The 2009–10 Ligue 1 season has also brought about an agreement that Lyon s dominance of the league has officially ended with not only established clubs such as Bordeaux, Marseille, and Lille challenging them, but also unproven clubs like Montpellier and Auxerre also testing the seven-time champions. Since the creation of the European Cup in 1955, ironically due in part to French sports journalist Gabriel Hanot, only one French club has won the competition, Marseille in 1992–93. Paris Saint-Germain, Auxerre, and Boulogne are the only clubs to have not suffered points relegation with Paris Saint-Germain earning promotion to the first division for the 1974–75 season and not faltering down since, while Boulogne is making its debut in the league.
In European countries such as Spain and Poland, Ligue 1 airs on sister channels of Canal+. The resulting dominance led to many declaring that the league wasn t that strong, which made it effectively boring and predictable with only Marseille, Monaco, Lille and Bordeaux challenging the seven-time champions during their run. Lyon dominance came to an end during the 2008–09 season when they were upended by not only champions Bordeaux, but also Marseille who finished runner-ups.
The first division increased its allotment of clubs to 18. The strategy paid off with Lyon notably signing players such as Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Éric Abidal, Sébastien Squillaci, Kim Källström, and Jérémy Toulalan, among others.
The experience was ultimately inconclusive. In Sweden, Ligue 1 is available on Viasat Sport, while in Brazil, pay television channel Sportv airs matches from the league.
Prior to 1995, the league s format was direct relegation of the bottom two teams and a play-off between the third-last first-division team and the winner of the second-division play-offs, similar to the Dutch Eredivisie, and the German FuĂźball-Bundesliga. The Premier League that season averaged 2.48 goals a game. Ligue 1 clubs are perceived to play overly defensive football with many of the clubs utilizing a holding midfielder with some clubs playing as many as two.
The other two Europa League places are determined through the country s two domestic cup competitions, the Coupe de France and Coupe de la Ligue. The league is officially known as Ligue 1 Orange as it is sponsored by French telecommunications company Orange. Ligue 1 was inaugurated on 11 September 1932 under the name National before switching to Division 1 after a year of existence.
The number remained until the 1938–39 season. Because of World War II, football was suspended by the French government and the Ligue de Football Professionnel, although its member clubs continued playing in regional competitions. On the other side, clubs in the south of France such as Olympique de Marseille, Hyères, SO Montpellier, SC Nîmes, Cannes, Antibes, and Nice were extremely supportive of the new league and accepted their professional status without argument. The league s inaugural season of the all-professional league, called National, was held in 1932–1933.
Jooris feared his league would fold and proposed it become the second division of the new league. In the rest of the world, Ligue 1 is available on TV5Monde. On 1 April 2010, the LFP announced that the league had reached a broadcasting agreement with Italian channel Sportitalia.
After the season, the league decided to retain the 14 clubs and not promote any sides from the second division. Bordeaux, led by youthful manager Laurent Blanc and influential playmaker Yoann Gourcuff, went undefeated in their group stage, which included the likes of Bayern Munch and Juventus.
If still equal, teams are deemed to occupy the same position. Lyon initial league titles were closely contested, however the 2005–06 season saw Lyon capture the title by an unprecedented 15 point gap.
If there is a tie for the championship, for relegation, or for qualification to other competitions, a play-off match at a neutral venue decides rank. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 38 games each totaling 380 games in the season.
For the 1934–35 season, the league organized a legitimate promotion and relegation system bringing the total tally of clubs in the first division to 16. The victory was with controversy after Marseille president Bernard Tapie was accused and convicted of match fixing following his attempt to bribe Valenciennes players into taking it easy on Marseille players so as they would not waste their energy with the Champions League final being just days later.
No points are awarded for a loss. The 20 inaugural members of National were Antibes, CA Paris, Cannes, Club Français, Excelsior AC Roubaix, Fives, Hyères, Marseille, Metz, Mulhouse, Nice, Nîmes, Olympique Alès, Olympique Lillois, Racing Club de France, Red Star Olympique, Rennes, Sochaux, Sète, and SO Montpellier.
The agreement, reached on 2 February 2008, pays the LFP €668 million over four seasons. Currently, Marseille, Nice, Rennes, and Sochaux are the only founding members to be playing in Ligue 1.
With their title, Bordeaux ended a historic run by Olympique Lyonnais who had won seven consecutive titles prior to the season. Ligue 1 is generally regarded as competently run, with good planning of fixtures, complete and consistently enforced rules, timely resolution of issues, and adequate escalation procedures of judicial disputes to national or international institutions. The league operates a Fair Play table to determine the winning club if France turns out to be the winning nation based on their Fair Play ranking. Many outside watchers of Ligue 1 have generally criticized the league for its over-reliance on defense, which results in matches being less entertaining.
The two winners of each group would then face each other in a final held at a neutral venue, which later turned out to the Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir. The clubs regularly feature in the Deloitte Football Money League, which is the ranking of football clubs by revenue generated from football operations.
In July 1930, the National Council of the French Football Federation voted 128–20 in support of professionalism in French football. Following the draw on 19 March 2010, both French clubs were pitted against each other, which means at least one French club will appear in the semi-finals. Ligue 1 clubs finances and budgets are managed by the DNCG, an organisation responsible for monitoring the accounts of professional association football clubs in France. Following a report by the DNCG, it was determine that the combined budget of Ligue 1 clubs was €910 million for the 2005–06 season, a 39% increase from the 2002–03 season.
Teams are ranked by total points, then goal difference, and then goals scored. Ligue 1 is one of the top national leagues, currently ranked fifth in Europe behind the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, and the German FuĂźball-Bundesliga.
The table was similar to the previous idea, but was independent from the official league table and clubs were only rewarded with monetary bonuses. Currently, as determined by the UEFA coefficient, the top three teams in Ligue 1 qualify for the Champions League, with the top two proceeding directly to the group phase. The name lasted until 2002 before switching to its current name.
The 20 clubs were inserted into two groups of 10 with the bottom three of each group suffering relegation to Division 2. The league has also experimented with a bonus rule.
Marseille would later be stripped of their league title, but not their Champions League title. Despite Lyon s dominance during their seven-year span of league titles, the club has failed to reach a UEFA Champions League final or even a semi-final. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2.
The name Hexagoal was derived from an official competition created by the LFP and French TV channel TF1 to determine a name for the new trophy.
