2016–17 Ligue 2

The 2016–17 Ligue 2 (referred to as the Domino's Ligue 2 for sponsorship reasons^[1]) season is the 78th season since its establishment. The fixtures were announced on 6 June 2016.^[2]

Ligue 2

Season	2016–17
Champions	Strasbourg
Promoted	Strasbourg Amiens Troyes
Relegated	Red Star Laval
Matches played	380
Goals scored	903 (2.38 per match)
Top goalscorer	23 goals Adama Niane, Troyes
← 2015–16 2017–18 → All statistics correct as of 12:59, 25 May 2017 (UTC).

Teams

There are 20 teams in the league, with three promoted teams from Championnat National replacing the three teams that were relegated from Ligue 2 following the 2015–16 season. All clubs that secured Ligue 2 status for the season were subject to approval by the DNCG before becoming eligible to participate.

As of 30 May 2016, the following teams have mathematically achieved qualification for the 2016–17 season. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

• Ajaccio
• Amiens
• Auxerre
• Bourg-en-Bresse
• Brest
• Clermont
• Gazélec Ajaccio
• Laval
• Le Havre
• Lens
• Nîmes
• Niort
• Orléans
• Red Star
• Reims
• Sochaux
• Strasbourg
• Tours
• Troyes
• Valenciennes

Title & Promotion run

Going into the final day of the season, 6 teams had a chance of getting promoted and winning the title. Strasbourg, Brest, Troyes, Lens, Nîmes and Amiens all had a chance at winning the league and gaining promotion.

Title run-in

All matches were at the same time. The matches were Strasbourg v. Bourg Péronnas, Reims v. Amiens, Nimes v. Laval, Lens v. Niort, Brest v. GFC Ajaccio and Troyes v. Sochaux.

The teams last season in Ligue 1

Strasbourg last played in the 2008, Nimes in 1993, Lens in 2015, ESTAC Troyes in 2016 and Brest in 2013. Amiens is still the only team of the five others who never completes the top-tier.

Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or Relegation
1	Strasbourg (Y)	37	18	10	9	61	46	+15	64	Promotion to Ligue 1
2	Amiens (Y)	37	18	9	10	54	37	+17	63
3	Troyes (Y)	37	18	9	10	56	41	+15	63	Qualification to promotion play-offs
4	Lens (Y)	37	17	11	9	57	39	+18	62
5	Brest (Y)	37	18	8	11	52	42	+10	62
6	Nîmes (Y)	37	16	13	8	56	39	+17	61

Source: Ligue 2
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Fair play points
(Y) Assured of promotion play-offs, but may still get promoted automatically.

First Half

Lens scored the first goal thanks to Kermit Erasmus against Niort in the 7th minute and climb to the first place. Later, Aboubakar Kamara opened the scoring for Amiens in the 9th minute and took the first place to Lens, Cristian Lopez scored the 2–0 lead for Lens in the 15th minute. At the same time, Kader Mangane opened the scoring for Strasbourg and climb to the first place they will keep permanently. On the 18th minute, an own goal of Bourg-en-Bresse defender Kévin Hoggas will granting a 2–0 lead for the Alsacian club. On 23rd and 40th minutes respectively, Florent Ogier and Florian Tardieu scored goals against Troyes. Earlier, Brest scored three goals in the span of six minutes, which dropped Troyes to fifth place. Yoane Wissa scored for Laval to make it 1-0.

As It Stands in Half Time

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or Relegation
1	Strasbourg (C, P)	38	19	10	9	63	46	+17	67	Promotion to Ligue 1
2	Amiens (P)	38	19	9	10	55	37	+18	66
3	Lens (Q)	38	18	11	9	59	39	+20	65	Qualification to promotion play-offs
4	Brest	38	19	8	11	55	42	+13	65
5	Troyes	38	18	9	11	56	43	+13	63
6	Nîmes	38	16	13	9	56	40	+16	61

Source: Ligue 2
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Fair play points
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Second Half

On the 52nd minute, Olivier Kemen scored for GFC Ajaccio. Sada Thioub scored the equalizer-goal for Reims in the 57th minute. One minute later, Andé Dona Ndoh reduced the score for Niort via a penalty. Two minutes later, Stéphane Darbion reduced the score for Troyes. Two minutes later, Diego Rigonato scored the equalizer-goal for Reims and dropped Amiens to the fourth place, granting a promotion play-off. Habib Diallo scored earlier for Brest following by a goal of Cristian Battocchio in the 72nd minute. Cristian Battocchio scored two goals in the 72nd and 85th minutes respectively. Benjamin Nivet scored the equalizer goal in the 77th minute. On the 87th minute, Téji Tedy Savanier scored the winning goal for Nimes, but Samuel Grandsir scored a vital goal for Troyes that could secure promotion and dropped Lens to promotion play-off. Cristian López scored another goal to Lens in the stoppage time.

Last seconds table:

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or Relegation
1	Strasbourg (C, P)	38	19	10	9	63	47	+16	67	Promotion to Ligue 1
2	Troyes (Y)	38	19	9	10	59	43	+16	66
3	Lens (Y)	38	18	11	9	59	40	+19	65	Qualification to promotion play-offs
4	Brest (Y)	38	19	8	11	58	44	+14	65
5	Nîmes (Y)	38	17	13	8	58	40	+18	64
6	Amiens (Y)	38	18	10	10	55	38	+17	64

Source: Ligue 2
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Fair play points
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (Y) Assured of promotion play-offs, but may still get promoted automatically.

But a dramatical last-minute goal thanks to Amiens striker, Emmanuel Bourgaud in the last minute of the injury time grants Amiens to climb in the second place and earning their first Ligue 1 season ever, it forced Troyes to completes the promotion play-off against Lorient and Lens a fourth place, and a remaining in the second-tier.^[3][4][5]

Final table:

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or Relegation
1	Strasbourg (C, P)	38	19	10	9	63	47	+16	67	Promotion to Ligue 1
2	Amiens (P)	38	19	9	10	56	38	+18	66
3	Troyes (Q)	38	19	9	10	59	43	+16	66	Qualification to promotion play-offs
4	Lens	38	18	11	9	59	40	+19	65
5	Brest	38	19	8	11	58	44	+14	65
6	Nîmes	38	17	13	8	58	40	+18	64

Source: Ligue 2
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Fair play points
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (Q) Qualified for the phase indicated

Outcome

After the final matchday, Strasbourg won the title and were promoted alongside Amiens and later, Troyes joined them by beating Lorient. They replaced the latter, AS Nancy Lorraine & SC Bastia, but SC Bastia themselves got demoted to the newly renamed Championnat National 3 after getting relegated to the Championnat National originally because their finances weren’t high enough.

Reviews

It was the closest title race ever according to a FourFourTwo website.

Aftermath

On 2023, French channel Remontada uploaded a video about that title race. They also highlighted the winning goal.

Team changes

To Ligue 2 Promoted from National Strasbourg Orléans Amiens Relegated from Ligue 1 Troyes Gazélec Ajaccio Reims

From Ligue 2 Relegated to National Evian TG Paris FC Créteil Promoted to Ligue 1 Nancy Dijon Metz

Stadia and locations

Ajaccio

Amiens

Auxerre

Bourg-en-Bresse

Brest

Clermont

Gazélec Ajaccio

Laval

Le Havre

Lens

Nîmes

Niort

Orléans

Red Star

Reims

Sochaux

Strasbourg

Tours

Troyes

Valenciennes

Location of teams in 2016–17 Ligue 2

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
Ajaccio	Ajaccio	Stade François Coty	10,660
Amiens	Amiens	Stade de la Licorne	12,097
Auxerre	Auxerre	Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps	21,379
Bourg-en-Bresse	Bourg-en-Bresse	Stade Marcel-Verchère	11,400
Brest	Brest	Stade Francis-Le Blé	15,097
Clermont Foot	Clermont-Ferrand	Stade Gabriel Montpied	11,980
Gazélec Ajaccio	Ajaccio	Stade Ange Casanova	6,000
Laval	Laval	Stade Francis Le Basser	18,607
Le Havre	Le Havre	Stade Océane	25,000
Lens	Lens	Stade Bollaert-Delelis	38,223
Nîmes	Nîmes	Stade des Costières	18,482
Niort	Niort	Stade René Gaillard	10,886
Orléans	Orléans	Stade de la Source	7,000
Red Star	Saint-Ouen	Stade Jean-Bouin 1	20,000
Reims	Reims	Stade Auguste Delaune	21,684
Sochaux	Montbéliard	Stade Auguste Bonal	20,000
Strasbourg	Strasbourg	Stade de la Meinau	29,230
Tours	Tours	Stade de la Vallée du Cher	16,247
Troyes	Troyes	Stade de l'Aube	21,684
Valenciennes	Valenciennes	Stade du Hainaut	25,172

• ¹ Red Star original stadium, Stade Bauer, is not permitted to host professional matches. The club are playing their home games at Stade Jean-Bouin.^[6]

Personnel and kits

Team	Manager1	Captain1	Kit Manufacturer1	Main Sponsor1
Ajaccio	Olivier Pantaloni	Johan Cavalli	adidas	Suite Home
Amiens	Christophe Pélissier	Thomas Monconduit	adidas	Intersport
Auxerre	Cédric Daury	Lionel Mathis	Airness	Remorques LOUALT, Vitrans
Bourg-en-Bresse	Hervé Della Maggiore	Jimmy Nirlo	adidas	BestDrive
Brest	Jean-Marc Furlan	Bruno Grougi	Nike	Quéguiner
Clermont	Corinne Diacre	Cédric Avinel	Patrick	Crédit Mutuel
Gazélec Ajaccio	Jean-Luc Vannuchi	Louis Poggi	Macron	Carrefour, Casino D'Ajaccio
Laval	Thierry Goudet	Hassane Alla	Kappa	Lactel
Le Havre	Oswald Tanchot	Alexandre Bonnet	Joma	Api
Lens	Alain Casanova	Loïck Landre	Umbro	Azerbaijan: Land of Fire
Nîmes	Bernard Blaquart	Mathieu Michel	Puma	Marie Blachère
Niort	Denis Renaud	Alliou Dembélé	Puma	Restaurant Le Billon (home), Cheminées Poujoulat (away)
Orléans	Didier Ollé-Nicolle	Joël Sami	Kappa	CTVL
Red Star	Claude Robin	Lloyd Palun	adidas
Reims	Michel Der Zakarian	Mickaël Tacalfred	Hungaria	Sanei Ascenseurs
Sochaux	Albert Cartier	Johann Ramaré	Lotto	Peugeot
Strasbourg	Thierry Laurey	Ernest Seka	Hummel	es energies
Tours	Gilbert Zoonekynd	Bryan Bergougnoux	Hungaria	Corsicatours
Troyes	Jean-Louis Garcia	Benjamin Nivet	Kappa	Babeau Seguin
Valenciennes	Faruk Hadžibegić	Sébastien Roudet	Kipsta	Mutuelle Just

¹Subject to change during the season.

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Reims	David Guion	End of tenure as caretaker	23 May 2016	Pre-season	Michel Der Zakarian	23 May 2016[7]
Gazélec Ajaccio	Thierry Laurey	Mutual consent	25 May 2016[8]		Jean-Luc Vannuchi	27 May 2016[9]
Auxerre	Jean-Luc Vannuchi	End of contract	26 May 2016		Viorel Moldovan	26 May 2016[10]
Brest	Alex Dupont	End of contract	30 May 2016		Jean-Marc Furlan	30 May 2016[11]
Strasbourg	Jacky Duguépéroux	Sacked	30 May 2016[12]		Thierry Laurey	31 May 2016[13]
Lens	Antoine Kombouaré	Signed by EA Guingamp	30 May 2016[14]		Alain Casanova	12 June 2016[15]
Tours	Marco Simone	Sacked	14 June 2016[16]		Fabien Mercadal	17 July 2016[17]
Troyes	Mohamed Bradja	End of tenure as caretaker	30 June 2016		Jean-Louis Garcia	1 July 2016[18]
Auxerre	Viorel Moldovan	Sacked	26 September 2016[19]	19th	Cédric Daury	7 October 2016[20]
Le Havre	Bob Bradley	Signed by Swansea City	3 October 2016[21]	5th [22]	Oswald Tanchot	3 October 2016[23]
Laval	Denis Zanko	Sacked	5 November 2016[24]	14th	Marco Simone	7 November 2016[25]
Red Star	Rui Almeida	Sacked	12 December 2016[26]	20th	Claude Robin	10 January 2017[27]
Orléans	Olivier Frapolli	Sacked	28 December 2016[28]	20th	Didier Ollé-Nicolle	28 December 2016
Tours	Fabien Mercadal	Sacked	18 February 2017[29]	20th	Gilbert Zoonekynd	27 March 2017[30]
Laval	Marco Simone	Sacked	11 April 2017[31]	20th	Thierry Goudet	12 April 2017[32]

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or Relegation
1	Strasbourg (C, P)	38	19	10	9	63	47	+16	67	Promotion to Ligue 1
2	Amiens (P)	38	19	9	10	56	38	+18	66
3	Troyes (O, P)	38	19	9	10	59	43	+16	66	Qualification to promotion play-offs
4	Lens	38	18	11	9	59	40	+19	65
5	Brest	38	19	8	11	58	44	+14	65
6	Nîmes	38	17	13	8	58	40	+18	64
7	Reims	38	14	13	11	42	39	+3	55
8	Le Havre	38	14	12	12	39	31	+8	54
9	Gazélec Ajaccio	38	13	12	13	47	51	−4	51
10	Niort	38	12	13	13	45	57	−12	49
11	Ajaccio	38	13	9	16	47	58	−11	48
12	Clermont Foot	38	11	13	14	46	48	−2	46
13	Sochaux	38	11	13	14	38	43	−5	46
14	Valenciennes	38	10	15	13	44	44	0	45
15	Bourg-Péronnas	38	11	11	16	49	58	−9	44
16	Tours	38	10	13	15	55	60	−5	43
17	Auxerre	38	11	10	17	28	40	−12	43
18	Orléans[a] (O)	38	11	9	18	41	54	−13	38	Qualification to relegation play-offs
19	Red Star (R)	38	8	12	18	36	56	−20	36	Relegation to Championnat National
20	Laval (R)	38	5	15	18	33	52	−19	30

Source: Ligue 2
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Fair play points
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. On 1 March 2017, the Commission de Contrôle des Clubs Professionnels de la DNCG confirmed a deduction of 4 points from Orléans for failing to adhere with financial reporting obligations.^[33]

Results

Home \ Away	GAZ	ACA	AMI	AUX	BPE	BRS	CLR	LVL	LHA	RCL	NMS	NRT	ORL	RSFC	REI	SOC	RCS	TOU	TRO	VAL
Gazélec Ajaccio		4–1	1–1	2–0	2–3	0–0	4–4	1–1	1–1	0–4	0–2	1–0	2–0	2–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–2	3–1	1–0
Ajaccio	1–0		1–1	2–0	3–1	1–1	2–1	1–3	0–0	3–6	1–2	3–1	1–0	1–2	1–0	0–0	2–0	3–2	2–1	3–2
Amiens	4–0	2–1		0–0	2–1	3–0	0–1	3–0	2–0	2–1	1–2	2–0	0–2	0–0	1–1	0–1	4–3	3–1	0–1	0–0
Auxerre	1–2	1–0	1–0		0–2	3–1	0–1	2–0	0–1	1–1	2–0	0–4	0–2	1–0	1–2	0–0	0–2	1–1	2–3	1–1
Bourg-Péronnas	1–0	3–2	2–4	2–4		1–2	1–1	0–0	2–1	0–0	0–1	2–2	0–0	4–1	1–0	0–1	0–0	3–2	2–4	0–2
Brest	6–2	1–2	2–3	1–0	0–0		0–2	3–0	2–0	1–2	2–3	2–3	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–1	2–1	3–2
Clermont	3–1	2–1	1–0	0–1	2–3	1–1		1–1	1–3	1–1	2–3	0–1	3–0	0–0	0–1	1–2	0–0	0–0	1–1	1–0
Laval	0–1	1–1	2–2	0–0	2–4	0–1	1–1		0–2	0–1	1–2	1–1	3–1	1–1	5–2	1–1	1–2	1–3	1–0	0–0
Le Havre	1–2	2–0	0–0	1–0	3–0	1–1	0–1	2–0		1–0	1–0	0–0	4–1	1–1	1–1	2–1	0–1	0–2	1–3	2–2
Lens	2–1	1–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	0–2	3–1	2–0	1–0		1–3	3–1	4–2	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–2	0–0	2–0
Nîmes	1–1	3–1	2–3	0–1	0–0	1–2	1–1	0–0	0–0	0–2		3–0	2–0	2–0	3–0	0–0	2–2	1–1	2–2	1–0
Niort	0–0	1–1	2–1	1–0	3–2	0–3	2–1	2–2	1–1	0–0	1–3		1–0	2–3	0–3	2–0	2–2	1–4	3–2	2–1
Orléans	1–1	2–0	1–2	0–0	1–0	0–1	2–2	2–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	1–1		4–0	2–2	1–0	3–1	0–0	1–1	0–2
Red Star	0–3	2–0	0–1	0–0	4–1	0–3	1–3	1–0	0–0	2–3	3–3	0–1	1–0		0–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–2	2–2
Reims	2–0	3–0	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	0–2	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–0	0–2	2–1		0–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	0–0
Sochaux	1–2	1–0	1–2	0–1	1–1	2–2	3–3	1–1	0–1	1–0	2–1	2–2	0–0	2–0	1–1		1–2	2–1	2–3	0–0
Strasbourg	2–0	4–2	1–0	2–1	2–1	4–1	0–2	1–0	2–0	3–1	1–1	3–0	3–2	0–0	1–2	2–0		4–2	2–0	2–4
Tours	0–3	0–0	0–3	2–1	0–2	0–1	3–0	1–1	0–4	2–3	1–3	0–0	3–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	1–3		0–0	4–1
Troyes	1–0	1–2	4–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	1–1	0–0	1–1	4–2	3–2	2–0	1–3	4–0	3–1		2–0
Valenciennes	0–0	1–1	1–1	0–0	3–3	0–1	2–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	2–3	3–1	4–0	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	0–4	2–0

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

Top scorers

As of end of season ^[34]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Adama Niane	Troyes	23
2	Khalid Boutaïb	Strasbourg	20
3	Denis Bouanga	Tours	16
	Cristian López	Lens
5	Faneva Imà Andriatsima	Sochaux	14
	Andé Dona Ndoh	Niort
7	Rachid Alioui	Nîmes	13
	Rémy Dugimont	Clermont
9	Neal Maupay	Brest	11
	Riad Nouri	Ajaccio

Play-offs

The 2016–17 season will see the return of a relegation play-off between the 18th placed Ligue 1 team and the 3rd placed team in the Ligue 2 in a two-legged confrontation. The Ligue 2 team will host the first game.^[35] Another relegation play-off involves the 18th placed Ligue 2 team and the 3rd placed National team also in two legs.

23 May 2017

20:45

Paris FC	0–1	Orléans
	Report	Sami 49'

Stade Charléty

Referee: Clément Turpin

---

28 May 2017

18:00

Orléans	1–0	Paris FC
Nabab 75'	Report

Stade de la Source

Referee: Frank Schneider

Orléans won 2–0 on aggregate.

Attendances

Teams with an average home attendance of at least 10,000:^[36]

Team	Total attendance	Home average
RC Lens	550,918	28,996
RC Strasbourg	323,247	17,013
Stade de Reims	197,654	10,403