1996–97 French Division 1
# 1996–97 French Division 1

The 1996–97 Division 1 season was the 59th since its establishment. AS Monaco won the French Association Football League with 79 points. Four teams were relegated to Second division and only two were promoted because in 1997–1998, only 18 would participate the championship.

## Participating teams

* Auxerre
* Bastia
* Bordeaux
* SM Caen
* AS Cannes
* EA Guingamp
* Le Havre AC
* RC Lens
* Lille OSC
* Olympique Lyonnais
* Olympique de Marseille
* FC Metz
* AS Monaco
* Montpellier HSC
* AS Nancy
* FC Nantes Atlantique
* OGC Nice
* Paris Saint-Germain FC
* Stade Rennais FC
* RC Strasbourg

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Monaco (C) | 38 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 69 | 30 | +39 | 79 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Paris Saint-Germain | 38 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 57 | 31 | +26 | 67 | Qualification to Champions League second qualifying round |
| 3 | Nantes | 38 | 16 | 16 | 6 | 61 | 32 | +29 | 64 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 4 | Bordeaux | 38 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 59 | 42 | +17 | 63 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 5 | Metz | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 40 | 30 | +10 | 62 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 6 | Auxerre | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 49 | 32 | +17 | 61 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup group stage |
| 7 | Bastia | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 54 | 47 | +7 | 61 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup group stage |
| 8 | Lyon | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 59 | 50 | +9 | 60 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup group stage |
| 9 | Strasbourg | 38 | 19 | 3 | 16 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 60 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round |
| 10 | Montpellier | 38 | 12 | 15 | 11 | 40 | 40 | 0 | 51 | Qualification to Intertoto Cup group stage |
| 11 | Marseille | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 49 | |
| 12 | Guingamp | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 32 | 36 | −4 | 46 | |
| 13 | Lens | 38 | 12 | 9 | 17 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 45 | |
| 14 | Le Havre | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 34 | 43 | −9 | 43 | |
| 15 | Cannes | 38 | 9 | 14 | 15 | 25 | 41 | −16 | 41 | |
| 16 | Rennes | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 40 | 58 | −18 | 40 | |
| 17 | Caen (R) | 38 | 7 | 16 | 15 | 35 | 46 | −11 | 37 | Relegation to Division 2 |
| 18 | Nancy (R) | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 33 | 51 | −18 | 37 | Relegation to Division 2 |
| 19 | Lille (R) | 38 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 32 | 58 | −26 | 35 | Relegation to Division 2 |
| 20 | Nice (R) | 38 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 30 | 68 | −38 | 23 | Cup Winners' Cup first round and relegation to Division 2 |

* ↑ Strasbourg was qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Cup as winners of the 1996–97 Coupe de la Ligue.
* ↑ Nice qualified for the 1997–98 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup as winners of the 1996–97 Coupe de France.

Promoted from Ligue 2, who will play in Division 1 season 1997/1998

* LB Châteauroux : champion of Ligue 2
* Toulouse FC : runners-up

## Results

| Home \ Away | AUX | BAS | BOR | CAE | CAN | GUI | LHA | RCL | LIL | OL | OM | MET | ASM | MHS | NAL | FCN | NIC | PSG | REN | RCS |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Auxerre | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 7–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 |
| Bastia | 2–1 | | 3–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Bordeaux | 0–0 | 3–1 | | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 5–3 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Caen | 2–3 | 2–2 | 0–0 | | 3–0 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| Cannes | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Guingamp | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Le Havre | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | | 0–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| Lens | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 0–4 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 |
| Lille | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–4 |
| Lyon | 2–0 | 4–2 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 8–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| Marseille | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 3–1 | | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Metz | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Monaco | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 |
| Montpellier | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 1–4 |
| Nancy | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 |
| Nantes | 0–0 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | | 7–0 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 3–0 |
| Nice | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Paris SG | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 | | 1–1 | 2–1 |
| Rennes | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | | 2–0 |
| Strasbourg | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | |

## Top goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Stéphane Guivarc'h | Rennes | 22 |
| 2 | Japhet N'Doram | Nantes | 21 |
| 3 | Sonny Anderson | Monaco | 19 |
| 3 | Alain Caveglia | Lyon | 19 |
| 3 | David Zitelli | Strasbourg | 19 |
| 6 | Anto Drobnjak | Bastia | 18 |
| 7 | Jean-Pierre Papin | Bordeaux | 16 |
| 7 | Ludovic Giuly | Lyon | 16 |
| 9 | Xavier Gravelaine | Marseille | 15 |
| 9 | Patrice Loko | Paris Saint-Germain | 15 |
