France: 2024-25 Ligue 1 – Location-map with 3 Charts (Attendance/finish; Seasons-in-1st-Division; French Titles list)
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By Bill Turianski on the 15th of October 2024; twitter.com/billsportsmaps.
Links…
-2024-25 Ligue 1 (en.wikipedia.org).
-Ligue 1 – Summary: matches, table, players, etc. (soccerway.com).
-Get French Football…your home of French football in English (getfootballnewsfrance.com).
-Football en France: Histoire, stats et classement sur la Ligue 1 (pari-et-gagne.com).
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The map shows the 18 clubs in the current season of the French Ligue 1 [2024-25]. The map features the locations and crests of the 18 current Ligue Un clubs, plus the recently-promoted and -relegated teams are noted. (Promoted in 2024: Angers, Auxerre, and Saint-Étienne; relegated in 2024: Metz, Lorient, Clermont.) Also shown on the map are the 10 largest French cities, and the 13 Regions of Metropolitan France (aka European France). {Largest French cities’ metropolitan area populations from 2016 census, here}. The major French rivers are also shown on the map, and at the foot of the map the 10 longest rivers in France are listed (with brief descriptions).
The first chart shows the consecutive seasons each club has currently spent in the 1st division…
Paris Saint-Germain are the current longest-serving member of Ligue 1, with 51 straight seasons (PSG have also won 10 of the last 12 French titles, including 2023-24). Second-longest top-flight tenure belongs to Lyon, with 36 straight seasons (Lyon won 7 straight French titles from 2002 to ’08). The 3rd-longest top-flight tenure belongs to Rennes [of Brittany], with 31 straight seasons (Rennes is the best-supported French club without a Ligue 1 title). Fourth-longest top-flight tenure belongs to Olympique Marseille, with 29 straight seasons (OM have won 9 titles; last in 2010). And the 5th-longest top-flight tenure belongs to Lille, with 25 straight seasons (Lille have won 4 French titles, their last title won four seasons ago in 2020-21).
The second chart is the All-time French professional titles list…
Paris Saint-Germain have won the most French titles, with 12. Paris Saint-Germain are by far the most wealthy club in the country, to the point of making a mockery of any notion of a balanced competition. (PSG are owned by a subsidiary of the slave-owning Gulf state Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.) Just-promoted Saint-Étienne have won the second-most French titles, with 10. (Saint-Étienne’s last title came 44 seasons ago, in 1981.) Marseille have won the third-most French titles, with 9. (Marseille last won it in 2010.) The most recent club to have won their first Ligue 1 title was Montpellier, in 2011-12.
The third chart is on the left-hand side of the map page: it shows 2023-24 attendance for the 18 current Ligue 1 clubs…
Olympique Marseille, perennial top-draw in France, were yet again the highest-drawing club, at 60.7-K per game. 2nd-best draw, again, were PSG at 47.3-K per game. Lyon were third-best draw at 43.6-K per game. Fourth-best draw was Lille, at 39.9-K per game. Lille’s nearby rival Lens were 5th-best draw, at 37.7-K per game.
The attendance chart also lists each club’s 2023-24 finish. Also noted are the 6 European qualifiers from France for this season, and the 3 promoted clubs. The 6 European qualifiers from France for this season [2023-24] are:
-2 teams in the Champions League Group Stage (PSG, Monaco); and 1 team in CL 3rd QR (Lille).
-2 teams in the Europa League Group Stage (Nice, Lyon).
-1 team in the Europa Conference play-off round (Lens).
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The 3 promoted clubs
2024: Auxerre, promoted back to Ligue 1 after one year…
Auxerre is a small city in Burgandy, located, by road, 104 miles (168 km) SE of Paris. AJ Auxerre first played in Ligue 1 in 1980-81. Fifteen years later, Auxerre were Ligue 1 champions (in 1995-96). Auxerre also won the Coupe de France that year, for the Double. Auxerre had a one-season-spell in Ligue 1 in 2022-23, then were promoted straight back up in ’23-24. Counting 2024-25, Auxerre have played 34 seasons of 1st division football. The small city of Auxerre (population of around 34,000) is one of the smallest in Europe to ever have been the home of a top-flight champion.
Photo credits above – 2024-25 Auxerre home jersey, from macron.com/eu/[auxerre]. Stade de l’Abbé-Deschamps, Thierry Lindauer via lyonne.fr.
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2024: Angers, promoted back to Ligue 1 after one year…
Angers (pronounced Ohn-zhee) is in Pays de la Loire, in western France. Angers is located, by road, 190 miles (298 km) SW of Paris. Angers was the capital of the Duchy of Anjou (1360-1482), and the province of Anjou (1482-1791). Angers has a city-population of around 157,000 {2021 figure}, and it is the 18th-largest city in France. Angers SCO first played in Ligue 1 in 1956-57. Angers’ last spell in Ligue 1 was for 8 seasons (from 2015 to 2023). Counting 2024-25, Angers have played 32 seasons of 1st division football.
Photo and Illustration credits above – Angers 2024-25 jersey, by fmslovakia.com via footballkitarchive.com. Angers, photo unattributed at leshuttle.com. Stade Raymond Kopa [aerial shot], unattributed at pinterest.com.
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2024: Saint-Étienne, promoted back to Ligue 1 after two years…
The city of Saint-Étienne has population of around 172,000 {2021 figure}. Saint-Étienne is the 14th largest city in France. Saint-Étienne is located, by road, 39 miles (62 km) SW of Lyon; and Saint-Étienne is located, by road, 342 miles (550 km) SE of Paris. Saint-Étienne is 6 miles east of the right bank of the upper river Loire. It is located in the eastern edge of the highlands area known as the Massif Central, in south-central France. The elevation there is an average of 516 meters (1,693 feet, or 0.3 miles).
AS Saint-Étienne was founded in 1913. Saint-Étienne first played in Ligue 1 in 1938-39 (which was the 6th season of Ligue 1 [est. 1932-33]). Counting 2024-25, Saint-Étienne have played 70 seasons of French 1st division football [the 2nd-most in France, behind only Marseille].
Saint-Étienne have won 10 French titles [the 2nd-most in France, behind only Paris Saint-Germain]. The club won all of its 10 titles in a 25-year span (from 1956-57 to 1980-81). Further below is an illustration showing the managers and the top players for Saint-Étienne during that 25-year span…
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Photo and Illustration credits above – 2024-25 Saint-Étienne home jersey, unattributed at footyheadlines.com. Aerial photo of Saint-Étienne, unattributed at informationfrance.com/st-etienne. Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, unattributed at estadiosfc.com. ’56-57 Saint-Étienne team photo, unattributed at pari-et-gagne.com/[1956-57]. -Eugène N’Jo Lé, photo unattributed at unfp.org. -Rachid Mekhloufi, photo by Presse-Sports-Explorer [Lausanne, Switzerland], via footballyesterdayandtoday.blogspot.com. -René Domingo, photo unattributed at pesmitidelcalcio.com. -Robert Harbin, photo unattributed at poteaux-carres.com. -Andre Guy, from cafr.ebay.ca. 1966-67 team photo, unattributed at soccerfootballwhatever.blogspot.com. -Hervé Revelli, unattributed at footballdatabase.eu. -Salif Keïta, unattributed at afrik-foot.com. -1969-70 Saint-Étienne, unattributed at beyondthelastman.com. -1973-74 team photo, unattributed at asse-stats.com/saison-1973-1974. ’73-74 ASSE jersey, from footballkitarchive.com. -Georges Bereta, unattributed at unfp.org. ASSE jersey badge circa 1980-82, illustration by switchimageproject.blogspot.com/[saint-etienne-1980-81-home]. 1980–81 Saint-Étienne jersey, from footballkitarchive.com. -Michel Platini (celebrating a goal at Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in ’80-81), unattributed at asse.fr.
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Thanks to all at the links below…
-Blank map of France by Superbenjamin at File:France location map-Regions and departements-2016.svg (en.wikipedia.org).
-Globe-map of France by Rob984 at File:EU-France (orthographic projection).svg (commons.wikimedia.org).
-Seasons-in-1st-division data, from pari-et-gagne.com/[Bilan historique Ligue 1].
-Longest rivers in France, from worldatlas.com/[longest-rivers-in-france].
-Largest French cities (2016 census figures of metropolitan-areas), from insee.fr via en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urban_area_(France)#List_of_France’s_aires_urbaines_(metropolitan_areas).
-2024-25 Ligue 1 (en.wikipedia.org and fr.wikipedia.org).
-Attendance: worldfootball.net/attendance/[Ligue-1-2023-24].
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