2014–15 Ligue 2

The 2014–15 Ligue 2 season was the 76th season since its establishment.

Ligue 2

Season	2014–15
Champions	Troyes
Promoted	Troyes Gazélec Ajaccio Angers
Relegated	Orléans Châteauroux Arles-Avignon
Matches played	380
Goals scored	855 (2.25 per match)
Top goalscorer	Mickaël Le Bihan (18 goals)
Highest attendance	20,136 Troyes 4–1 Châteauroux (22 May 2015)[1]
Average attendance	6,159[1]
← 2013–14 2015–16 →

Teams

There were three promoted teams from Championnat National, replacing the three teams that were promoted to Ligue 1 following the 2013–14 season. A total of 20 teams competed in the league with three clubs relegated to the third division, the National. All clubs that secured Ligue 2 status for the season were subject to approval by the DNCG before becoming eligible to participate.

On 18 April 2014, Luzenac became the first team to secure a spot in the Ligue 2 following a 1–0 victory over Boulogne-sur-Mer, which gave them an advance on the 4th placed team, Red Star, that couldn't be surpassed in the last games.^[2] By gaining promotion for a professional level for the first time in its history, Luzenac, the club of a village of 600 inhabitants in Southern France, became the smallest club in the history of professional football in France.^[3] Orléans was the second team to gain promotion to Ligue 2 on 2 May after a 2–0 victory against Paris FC. This marked a return for Orléans in the professional leagues after a twenty-two-years absence.^[4] Gazélec Ajaccio was the third and last team to achieve promotion on 9 May 2014.^[5] This means that for the first time since the 1997–98 season, a Derby of Ajaccio will be contested between Gazélec and AC Ajaccio.

On 20 April, Ajaccio officially suffered relegation from Ligue 1 after a 2–1 defeat in the Derby Corse against archrivals Bastia.^[6] This ended a three-year stint for Ajaccio in Ligue 1. Valenciennes FC were the second team to suffer relegation on 4 May.^[7] On 5 June, Luzenac's promotion was revoked by DNCG for financial reasons, but the club decided to appeal.^[8]

On 25 June, the DNCG relegated Valenciennes FC to the Championnat National because of their approximate amount of €8 million in debts, this allowing Châteauroux to remain in Ligue 2.^[9] On 4 July, DNCG confirmed its denial of Luzenac's promotion despite the appeal,^[10] allowing Istres also to remain in Ligue 2. On 11 July the ruling against Valenciennes FC was revoked and FC Istres was once again relegated.^[11] Luzenac was found to have an inadequate stadium, thus they were denied promotion. They were also denied re-entry to the Championnat National, so they later entered the regional leagues.

Stadia and locations

ACA

Gazélec

Arles

Angers

Auxerre

Brest

Clermont

Créteil

Dijon

Laval

Le Havre

Nancy

Nîmes

Niort

Orléans

Sochaux

Tours

Troyes

Châteauroux

Valenciennes

Location of teams in 2014–15 Ligue 2

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
Ajaccio	Ajaccio	Stade François Coty	10,660
Gazélec Ajaccio	Ajaccio	Stade Ange Casanova	5,000
Angers	Angers	Stade Jean Bouin	17,835
Arles-Avignon	Avignon	Parc des Sports	17,518
Auxerre	Auxerre	Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps	21,379
Brest	Brest	Stade Francis-Le Blé	15,583
Châteauroux	Châteauroux	Stade Gaston Petit	17,072
Clermont	Clermont-Ferrand	Stade Gabriel Montpied	11,980
Créteil	Créteil	Stade Dominique Duvauchelle	12,150
Dijon	Dijon	Stade Gaston Gérard	16,098
Laval	Laval	Stade Francis Le Basser	18,467
Le Havre	Le Havre	Stade Océane	25,278
Nancy	Tomblaine	Stade Marcel Picot	20,087
Nîmes	Nîmes	Stade des Costières	18,482
Niort	Niort	Stade René Gaillard	10,406
Orléans	Orléans	Stade de la Source	8,000
Sochaux	Montbéliard	Stade Auguste Bonal	20,005
Tours	Tours	Stade de la Vallée du Cher	16,327
Troyes	Troyes	Stade de l'Aube	20,842
Valenciennes	Valenciennes	Stade du Hainaut	25,172

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager1	Captain1	Kit Manufacturer1	Main Sponsor1
Ajaccio	Olivier Pantaloni	Johan Cavalli	Macron	Suite Home
Gazélec Ajaccio	Thierry Laurey	Louis Poggi	Macron	Carrefour
Angers	Stéphane Moulin	Olivier Auriac	Kappa	Scania
Arles-Avignon	Victor Zvunka	Erwan Quintin	Legea	Groupe Nicollin
Auxerre	Jean-Luc Vannuchi	Sébastien Puygrenier	Airness	Remarques LOUALT,Vitrans
Brest	Alex Dupont	Bruno Grougi	Nike	Quéguiner
Châteauroux	Cédric Daury	Sébastien Roudet	Nike
Clermont	Corinne Diacre	Eugène Ekobo	Patrick	Crédit Mutuel
Créteil	Thierry Froger	Jean-Michel Lesage	Nike	SFB Béton,Holcim
Dijon	Olivier Dall'Oglio	Cédric Varrault	Kappa	DVF, Doras,IPS
Laval	Denis Zanko	Anthony Gonçalves	Kappa	Lactel
Le Havre	Thierry Goudet	Yohann Rivière	Nike	Api
Nancy	Pablo Correa	François Bellugou	Nike	Dane Elec
Nîmes	José Pasqualetti	Toifilou Maoulida	Erreà	Marie Blachère
Niort	Régis Brouard	Mouhamadou Diaw	Puma	Restaurant Le Billon (home), Cheminées Poujoulat (away)
Orléans	Olivier Frapolli	Maxime Brillault	Kappa	CTVL
Sochaux	Olivier Echouafni	Édouard Butin	Lotto	Peugeot
Tours	Gilbert Zoonekynd	Bryan Bergougnoux	Nike	Corsicatours
Troyes	Jean-Marc Furlan	Benjamin Nivet	Kappa	Babeau Seguin,FSE
Valenciennes	David Le Frapper	Adama Coulibaly	Uhlsport	GDE Recyclage

¹Subject to change during the season.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Replaced by	Date of appointment
Clermont Foot	Régis Brouard	End of contract	16 May 2014	Pre-season	Helena Costa	16 May 2014
Chamois Niortais	Pascal Gastien	End of contract	16 May 2014		Régis Brouard	21 May 2014
Sochaux	Hervé Renard	End of contract	17 May 2014		Olivier Echouafni	17 June 2014
Châteauroux	Jean-Louis Garcia	Resigned	29 May 2014		Pascal Gastien	4 June 2014
Créteil	Jean-Luc Vasseur	Signed by Reims	14 June 2014		Philippe Hinschberger	17 June 2014
Clermont Foot	Helena Costa	Mutual consent	24 June 2014		Corinne Diacre	28 June 2014
Nîmes	René Marsiglia	Mutual consent	24 June 2014[12]		José Pasqualetti	25 June 2014[13]
Valenciennes	Ariël Jacobs	Resigned	11 July 2014[14]		Bernard Casoni	17 July 2014[15]
Arles-Avignon	Franck Dumas	Resigned	22 August 2014[16]	18th	Bruno Irles	22 August 2014
Arles-Avignon	Bruno Irles	Sacked	20 October 2014	19th	Stéphane Crucet	20 October 2014
Ajaccio	Christian Bracconi	Sacked	18 October 2014[17]	12th	Olivier Pantaloni	6 November 2014[18]
Tours	Olivier Pantaloni	Resigned	21 October 2014[19]	20th	Gilbert Zoonekynd	21 October 2014[20]
Créteil	Philippe Hinschberger	Sacked	18 November 2014[21]	18th	Thierry Froger	18 November 2014
Le Havre	Erick Mombaerts	Resigned	10 December 2014[22]	8th	Thierry Goudet	28 December 2014[23]
Arles-Avignon	Stéphane Crucet	Sacked	29 December 2014[24]	20th	Victor Zvunka	1 January 2015
Châteauroux	Pascal Gastien	Sacked	9 February 2015[25]	19th	Cédric Daury	16 February 2015[26]
Valenciennes	Bernard Casoni	Resigned	24 February 2015[27]	17th	David Le Frapper	25 February 2015[28]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or Relegation
1	Troyes (C, P)	38	24	6	8	61	24	+37	78	Promotion to Ligue 1
2	Gazélec Ajaccio (P)	38	18	11	9	49	37	+12	65
3	Angers (P)	38	18	10	10	47	30	+17	64
4	Dijon	38	17	10	11	44	34	+10	61
5	Nancy	38	15	13	10	53	39	+14	58
6	Brest	38	14	15	9	41	27	+14	57
7	Le Havre	38	14	13	11	47	37	+10	55
8	Laval	38	11	21	6	41	34	+7	54
9	Auxerre	38	12	16	10	48	42	+6	52
10	Sochaux	38	13	13	12	39	37	+2	52
11	Niort	38	11	17	10	41	42	−1	50
12	Clermont	38	12	13	13	43	47	−4	49
13	Nîmes[a]	38	12	10	16	44	57	−13	46	Relegated in the 17th March 2015 and then readmitted in 20th May 2015.
14	Créteil	38	10	15	13	44	52	−8	45
15	Tours	38	12	8	18	49	54	−5	44
16	Valenciennes	38	10	12	16	34	51	−17	42
17	Ajaccio	38	9	14	15	32	42	−10	41
18	Orléans (R)	38	9	13	16	36	47	−11	40	Relegation to Championnat National
19	Châteauroux (R)	38	7	11	20	31	63	−32	32
20	Arles-Avignon[b] (D, R)	38	7	9	22	31	59	−28	30	Relegation to CFA

Source: Ligue 2
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) Champions; (D) Disqualified; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. It was announced on 17 March 2015 that Nîmes would be relegated to the next lower level at the end of the season, as a sanction for match fixing the previous season.^[29] The decision was overturned on 20 May 2015.^[30]
2. Administratively relegated to Championnat de France Amateur for failing to guarantee sufficient capital.^[31]

Results

Home \ Away	ACA	GAZ	ANG	ACAA	AUX	BRS	CHA	CLR	CRE	DIJ	LVL	LHA	NAL	NMS	NRT	ORL	SOC	TOU	TRO	VAL
Ajaccio		0–3	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–2	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	2–0	0–1	0–0	2–3	0–2	1–0	2–1	2–1
Gazélec Ajaccio	0–2		1–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	3–2	3–2	3–0	1–1	0–4	2–0
Angers	1–0	2–0		2–0	0–0	1–2	1–1	3–0	3–0	1–0	2–0	1–0	3–1	3–0	0–0	2–1	0–0	2–0	0–3	0–0
Arles-Avignon	0–0	0–0	1–3		2–4	1–0	0–1	0–0	2–0	0–2	2–3	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	4–1	2–2	1–0	0–4	1–2
Auxerre	1–1	0–0	0–1	2–1		0–3	3–1	1–1	2–2	3–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	3–1	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–3	0–1	1–2
Brest	2–1	3–0	0–0	1–0	0–1		3–0	2–1	2–2	0–0	0–0	1–0	2–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	1–1	2–0	2–1	1–0
Châteauroux	0–0	0–2	0–1	1–2	2–1	1–1		3–2	2–2	1–1	1–1	0–0	2–5	2–1	0–1	0–0	1–4	2–1	0–1	3–0
Clermont	1–1	3–4	2–0	3–1	1–1	1–0	3–3		1–0	2–5	0–0	1–0	0–1	3–0	1–1	1–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	0–0
Créteil	3–2	1–1	0–1	2–0	2–2	2–1	3–0	2–2		0–2	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–1	1–0	1–2	1–4	1–1	0–0
Dijon	3–0	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–1	1–0	2–1		1–0	1–1	3–1	4–5	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–3	0–1	1–1
Laval	0–0	0–2	3–2	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–0	3–1	1–1	1–0		1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	2–2	2–1	2–1	3–1
Le Havre	2–1	1–1	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–1	1–0	0–1		0–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	1–1	0–1	3–2	3–1
Nancy	2–0	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	2–1	6–0	1–2	3–1	1–1	1–1	2–1		0–0	1–2	2–2	1–1	2–1	2–0	0–1
Nîmes	1–1	2–0	3–2	2–2	0–1	0–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	2–2	0–0	3–3	1–1		3–2	0–1	2–1	3–2	1–2	2–0
Niort	1–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	3–0	0–0	1–3	1–1	0–3	1–0	1–4	3–2		1–1	0–1	1–1	1–0	3–0
Orléans	1–1	0–1	2–3	1–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–2	0–1	1–1	0–0		1–0	2–1	0–1	0–1
Sochaux	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–0	0–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	2–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	0–2	2–0	2–3	0–1		2–1	0–2	1–1
Tours	0–2	2–1	1–2	2–2	2–3	1–1	1–0	0–1	4–2	0–0	1–1	3–2	1–1	1–2	1–0	4–3	0–1		0–2	1–0
Troyes	2–0	1–1	2–1	4–0	1–2	1–0	4–1	2–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	2–2	1–0	2–0	4–1	1–0	2–0	1–0		0–0
Valenciennes	1–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	1–2	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–3	2–2	0–4	1–1	2–2	1–3	2–0	1–2	1–2	1–1

Source: Ligue 2
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics

Top goalscorers

As of matches played 22 May 2015

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Mickaël Le Bihan	Le Havre	18
2	Jonathan Kodjia	Angers	15
	Seydou Koné	Niort
4	Youssouf Hadji	Nancy	14
	Karl Toko Ekambi	Sochaux
6	Youssef Adnane	Tours / Brest	13
	Anthony Le Tallec	Valenciennes
8	Nicolas Fauvergue	Ajaccio	12
	Mana Dembélé	Nancy
10	Idriss Saadi	Clermont	11
	Benjamin Nivet	Troyes

Source: Official Goalscorers' Standings