2019–20 Championnat National

The 2019–20 Championnat National season was the 27th season since the establishment of the Championnat National, and the 22nd in its current format, which serves as the third division of the French football league system.^[1] The season was suspended indefinitely on 12 March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[2]

Championnat National

Season	2019–20
Champions	Not awarded
Promoted	Pau Dunkerque
Relegated	Le Puy Béziers Gazélec Ajaccio Toulon
Matches played	223
Goals scored	531 (2.38 per match)
Top goalscorer	16 goals Achille Anani, Bourg-en-Bresse
Biggest home win	Pau 7–0 Béziers Round 20, 1 February 2020
Biggest away win	Bastia-Borgo 2–6 Le Puy Round 5, 30 August 2019 Cholet 0–4 Dunkerque Round 17, 20 December 2019 Le Puy 2–6 Cholet Round 24, 28 February 2020
Highest scoring	8 goals Bastia-Borgo 2–6 Le Puy Round 5, 30 August 2019 Le Puy 2–6 Cholet Round 24, 28 February 2020
Longest winning run	5 Dunkerque Red Star
Longest unbeaten run	14 Villefranche
Longest winless run	22 Toulon
Longest losing run	5 Le Puy
← 2018–19 2020–21 →

On 28 April 2020, the French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced that there would be no sporting events, even behind closed doors, before September 2020, thus in effect ending the season. ^[3] On 11 May the executive committee of the FFF announced that the top two teams (Pau FC and USL Dunkerque) would be promoted to Ligue 2, but that no promotion playoff would take place, and no champion would be declared.^[4][5]

Team changes

Team changes from the 2018–19 Championnat National were confirmed by the FFF on 12 July.^[1]

To National Promoted from National 2 Créteil Le Puy Toulon Bastia-Borgo Relegated from Ligue 2 Béziers Red Star Gazélec Ajaccio

From National Relegated to National 2 Tours [a] Drancy L'Entente SSG Marignane Gignac further relegated administratively to Championnat National 3.[6] Promoted to Ligue 2 Rodez Chambly Le Mans

Stadia and locations

Avranches

Bastia-Borgo

Béziers

Boulogne

Bourg-Péronnas

Cholet

Concarneau

Créteil

Dunkerque

Gazélec Ajaccio

Laval

Le Puy

Lyon-Duchère

Pau

Red Star

Quevilly-Rouen

Toulon

Villefranche

Location of teams in 2019–20 National

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
Avranches	Avranches	Stade René Fenouillère	2,000
Bastia-Borgo	Borgo	Stade Paul-Antoniotti	1,300
Béziers	Béziers	Stade de la Méditerranée	18,555
Boulogne	Boulogne-sur-Mer	Stade de la Libération	15,204
Bourg-Péronnas	Bourg-en-Bresse	Stade Marcel-Verchère	11,400
Cholet	Cholet	Stade Pierre Blouen	9,000
Concarneau	Concarneau	Stade Guy Piriou	6,500
Créteil	Créteil	Stade Dominique Duvauchelle	12,150
Dunkerque	Dunkirk	Stade Marcel-Tribut	4,200
Gazélec Ajaccio	Ajaccio	Stade Ange Casanova	8,000
Laval	Laval	Stade Francis Le Basser	18,607
Le Puy	Le Puy-en-Velay	Stade Charles Massot	4,800
Lyon-Duchère	Lyon	Stade de Balmont	5,438
Pau	Pau	Stade du Hameau	13,819
Quevilly-Rouen	Le Petit-Quevilly	Stade Robert Diochon	12,018
Red Star	Paris (Saint-Ouen)	Stade Bauer	10,000
Toulon	Toulon	Stade de Bon Rencontre	8,200
Villefranche	Villefranche-sur-Saône	Stade Armand-Chouffet	3,200

Special rule changes

Due to the premature cancellation of the season before completion, special rules were put in place by the FFF Executive Committed to rank clubs, superseding the normal competition rules.^[7]

• 1. Points per game completed
• 2. Number of points gained in head-to-head matches (only where all scheduled matches between all tied teams have completed)
• 3. Goal difference in head-to-head matches (only where all scheduled matches between all tied teams have completed)
• 4. Number of away games completed, as a percentage of overall number of games completed
• 5. Goal difference per game completed
• 6. Goals scored per game completed
• 7. Fair play
• 8. Better classification, based on completion of the first set of round robin games (only if all clubs have completed at least one game against all other clubs)
• 9. Drawing of lots

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	PPG	Promotion or Relegation
1	Pau (P)	25	13	9	3	43	20	+23	1.92	Promotion to Ligue 2
2	Dunkerque (P)	25	14	5	6	42	26	+16	1.88
3	Boulogne[a]	25	14	4	7	32	17	+15	1.84
4	Avranches	24	13	3	8	30	26	+4	1.75
5	Red Star	25	12	6	7	30	22	+8	1.68[b]
6	Bourg-Péronnas	25	11	9	5	38	30	+8	1.68[b]
7	Villefranche	25	10	11	4	34	24	+10	1.64
8	Lyon-Duchère	25	11	7	7	37	32	+5	1.60
9	Créteil	25	9	8	8	33	27	+6	1.40[c]
10	Laval	25	9	8	8	26	24	+2	1.40[c]
11	Concarneau	25	8	7	10	21	25	−4	1.24
12	Cholet	25	7	7	11	32	40	−8	1.12
13	Bastia-Borgo	23	5	9	9	22	32	−10	1.04
14	Quevilly-Rouen	24	6	6	12	26	34	−8	1.00
15	Le Puy (R)	25	6	5	14	27	40	−13	0.92[d]	Relegation to Championnat National 2
16	Béziers (R)	25	5	8	12	26	43	−17	0.92[d]
17	Gazélec Ajaccio[e] (R)	25	4	8	13	15	35	−20	0.76
18	Toulon (R)	25	1	10	14	17	34	−17	0.52

Source: FFF.fr
Rules for classification: see Special rule changes section
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Originally, the 3rd-placed Championnat National team would play in promotion-relegation play-offs at the end of the season with a team from Ligue 2 to decide whether they would be promoted to Ligue 2 for the 2020–21 season, but the play-offs were cancelled and the 3rd-placed team remained in the Championnat National.
2. Red Star and Bourg-Péronnas completed both their head-to-head games (Bourg-Péronnas 1–4 Red Star, Red Star 1–1 Bourg-Péronnas). Criteria 2 (Number of points gained in head-to-head matches (only where all scheduled matches between all tied teams have completed)) applies: Red Star 4, Bourg-Péronnas 1.
3. Créteil and Laval did not complete both their head-to-head games. Both completed 12 of 17 away games. Criteria 5 (Goal difference per game completed) applies: Créteil 0.24, Laval 0.08.
4. Le Puy and Béziers did not complete both their head-to-head games. Both completed 13 of 17 away games. Criteria 5 (Goal difference per game completed) applies: Le Puy -0.52, Béziers -0.68.
5. On 2 August 2019, Gazélec Ajaccio refused to play their first game of the season at Red Star in protest at decisions taken by the DNCG.^[8] On 7 August 2019, the FFF confirmed the forfeit, awarding a 3–0 victory to Red Star and deducting a penalty point from Gazélec Ajaccio.^[9]

Top scorers

As of end of season.^[10]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Achille Anani	Bourg-en-Bresse	16
2	Mamadou Gueye	Pau	14
3	Jonathan Rivas	Lyon-Duchère	13
4	Mohamed Bayo	Dunkerque	12
5	Mehdi Chahiri	Red Star	11
	Guillaume Bosca	Dunkerque
	Gaëtan Laura	Quevilly-Rouen
8	Cheikh Sabaly	Pau	10
	Kévin Rocheteau	Cholet
	Kevin Testud	Béziers