2014–15 Ligue 2
# 2014–15 Ligue 2

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

## 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. 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. 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. Gazélec Ajaccio was the third and last team to achieve promotion on 9 May 2014. 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. This ended a three-year stint for Ajaccio in Ligue 1. Valenciennes FC were the second team to suffer relegation on 4 May. On 5 June, Luzenac's promotion was revoked by DNCG for financial reasons, but the club decided to appeal.

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. On 4 July, DNCG confirmed its denial of Luzenac's promotion despite the appeal, 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 On 11 July the ruling against Valenciennes FC was revoked and FC Istres was once again relegated. 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

| 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 |

### Number of teams by regions

| Number of teams | Region | Team(s) |
| - | - | - |
| 3 | Centre | Châteauroux, Orléans and Tours |
| 2 | Burgundy | Auxerre and Dijon |
| 2 | Corsica | Ajaccio and Gazélec Ajaccio |
| 2 | Pays de la Loire | Angers and Laval |
| 1 | Auvergne | Clermont |
| 1 | Brittany | Brest |
| 1 | Champagne-Ardenne | Troyes |
| 1 | Franche-Comté | Sochaux |
| 1 | Île-de-France | Créteil |
| 1 | Languedoc-Roussillon | Nîmes |
| 1 | Lorraine | Nancy |
| 1 | Nord-Pas-de-Calais | Valenciennes |
| 1 | Poitou-Charentes | Niort |
| 1 | Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur | Arles-Avignon |
| 1 | Upper Normandy | Le Havre |

### Personnel and kits

| Team | $Manager^1$ | $Captain^1$ | Kit $Manufacturer^1$ | Main $Sponsor^1$ |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| 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 | Pre-season | Régis Brouard | 21 May 2014 |
| Sochaux | Hervé Renard | End of contract | 17 May 2014 | Pre-season | Olivier Echouafni | 17 June 2014 |
| Châteauroux | Jean-Louis Garcia | Resigned | 29 May 2014 | Pre-season | Pascal Gastien | 4 June 2014 |
| Créteil | Jean-Luc Vasseur | Signed by Reims | 14 June 2014 | Pre-season | Philippe Hinschberger | 17 June 2014 |
| Clermont Foot | Helena Costa | Mutual consent | 24 June 2014 | Pre-season | Corinne Diacre | 28 June 2014 |
| Nîmes | René Marsiglia | Mutual consent | 24 June 2014 | Pre-season | José Pasqualetti | 25 June 2014 |
| Valenciennes | Ariël Jacobs | Resigned | 11 July 2014 | Pre-season | Bernard Casoni | 17 July 2014 |
| Arles-Avignon | Franck Dumas | Resigned | 22 August 2014 | 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 | 12th | Olivier Pantaloni | 6 November 2014 |
| Tours | Olivier Pantaloni | Resigned | 21 October 2014 | 20th | Gilbert Zoonekynd | 21 October 2014 |
| Créteil | Philippe Hinschberger | Sacked | 18 November 2014 | 18th | Thierry Froger | 18 November 2014 |
| Le Havre | Erick Mombaerts | Resigned | 10 December 2014 | 8th | Thierry Goudet | 28 December 2014 |
| Arles-Avignon | Stéphane Crucet | Sacked | 29 December 2014 | 20th | Victor Zvunka | 1 January 2015 |
| Châteauroux | Pascal Gastien | Sacked | 9 February 2015 | 19th | Cédric Daury | 16 February 2015 |
| Valenciennes | Bernard Casoni | Resigned | 24 February 2015 | 17th | David Le Frapper | 25 February 2015 |

## 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 | Promotion to Ligue 1 |
| 3 | Angers (P) | 38 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 47 | 30 | +17 | 64 | Promotion to Ligue 1 |
| 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 | 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 | Relegation to Championnat National |
| 20 | Arles-Avignon (D, R) | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 31 | 59 | −28 | 30 | Relegation to CFA |

* ↑ 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. The decision was overturned on 20 May 2015.
* ↑ Administratively relegated to Championnat de France Amateur for failing to guarantee sufficient capital.

## 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 | |
