Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people l ...

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, the prefecture of the No ...

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Ligue 2. Auxerre returned to the second division after 32 consecutive years playing in Ligue 1. Prior to the 2011–12 season, the club had never suffered relegation from the country's top division. Dijon returned to the second division after only one season in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. ...

, while Caen fell to the second tier after two years in the first division.

Teams

There were three promoted teams from Ligue 2, replacing the three teams that were relegated from Ligue 1 following the 2010–11 season. A total of 20 teams competed in the league with three clubs suffering relegation to the second division, Ligue 2. All clubs that secured Ligue 1 status for the season were subject to approval by the DNCG before becoming eligible to participate.The DNCG is responsible for overseeing the legal and financial accounts of professional football clubs in France. If clubs operating in French football don't meet the DNCG's expectations, they can face sanctions, such as relegation. Arles-Avignon was the first club to suffer relegation from the first division to Ligue 2. The club's impending drop occurred on 17 April 2011 following the team's 2–0 defeat to AS Monaco. The negative result made it mathematically impossible for Arles to seize the 17th position in the table, which would have allowed the club to remain in Ligue 1. Arles-Avignon made its return to Ligue 2 after only a year's spell in the top division of French football. On 15 May, Lens were relegated from the first division to Ligue 2 after its 1–1 draw with Monaco. Lens returned to Ligue 2 for the first time since the 2008–09 season when the club finished as champions of the league. On the final day of the Ligue 1 season, Monaco suffered relegation to the second division after losing 2–0 to

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of ...

. The club's appearance in Ligue 2 was its first since 1976.

Evian Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evi ...

became the first club from Ligue 2 to achieve promotion to Ligue 1 after its 2–1 victory over

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

on 20 May 2011. Evian made its debut in the first division and, similar to Arles-Avignon the previous season, the club's ascension to the first division is notable due in part to the fact that it has achieved successive promotions in four straight seasons. On the final day of the Ligue 2 season, both

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlie ...

and

Ajaccio Ajaccio (, , ; French: ; it, Aiaccio or ; co, Aiacciu , locally: ; la, Adiacium) is a French commune, prefecture of the department of Corse-du-Sud, and head office of the '' Collectivité territoriale de Corse'' (capital city of Corsic ...

earned berths in the first division after posting positive results in their respective matches. Dijon was promoted despite losing on the match day and, similar to Évian, made its debut in the top division of French football. Ajaccio returned to Ligue 1 after five seasons in the second division.

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

eligibility rules. Players and managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. ¹ Subject to change during the season.

Managerial changes

Ownership changes

League table

Results

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Last updated: 20 May 2012
Source
Official Goalscorers' Standings
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Hat-tricks

Scoring

*First goal of the season: Anthony Mounier for Nice against Lyon (''6 August 2011'') *Fastest goal of the season: 18 seconds – Jaroslav Plašil for Bordeaux against Nancy (''4 December 2011'') *Latest goal of the season: 90+4 minutes –

François Clerc François Jacques Clerc (born 18 April 1983) is a French former professional footballer who played as a right back. Club career Born in Bourg-en-Bresse, Clerc joined Olympique Lyonnais at the age of 14. After spending his first years as a se ...

for Nice against Lille (''21 December 2011'') *First own goal of the season: Abdoulaye Bamba (Dijon) for Lyon (''10 September 2011'') *Widest winning margin: 5 goals **Paris Saint-Germain 6–1 Sochaux (''22 April 2012'') *Highest scoring game: 9 goals **Lille 4–5 Bordeaux *Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 6 goals **Sochaux 2–6 Rennes (''21 September 2011'') **Paris Saint-Germain 6–1 Sochaux (''22 April 2012'')

Discipline

*Worst overall disciplinary record (1 pt per yellow card, 3 pts per red card): 119 points **Ajaccio (92 yellow & 9 red cards) *Best overall disciplinary record: 66 points ** Sochaux (60 yellow & 2 red cards) *Most yellow cards (club): 92 **Ajaccio *Most yellow cards (player): 13 ** Mehdi Mostefa (Ajaccio) *Most red cards (club): 9 **Ajaccio *Most red cards (player): 3 ** Jean-Pascal Mignot (Saint-Étienne)

Awards

Monthly awards

Annual awards

UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year

The UNFP Ligue 1 Player of the Year was awarded to

Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered ...

.

UNFP Young Player of the Year

The UNFP Young Player of the Year was awarded to

Younès Belhanda Younès Belhanda (; born 25 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor and the Morocco national team. Born in France, he initially represented his native country ...

.

UNFP Ligue 1 Goalkeeper of the Year

The UNFP Goalkeeper of the Year was awarded to

Hugo Lloris Hugo Hadrien Dominique Lloris (born 26 December 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Tottenham Hotspur and the France national team. He is a three-time winner of the National Union of Professional Footba ...

.

UNFP Team of the Year

Goalkeeper:

Hugo Lloris Hugo Hadrien Dominique Lloris (born 26 December 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Tottenham Hotspur and the France national team. He is a three-time winner of the National Union of Professional Footba ...

(Lyon)
Defence:

Mathieu Debuchy Mathieu Debuchy (born 28 July 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Ligue 2 club Valenciennes. Debuchy started his senior career at Lille, where he won a Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double in the 2010–11 sea ...

(Lille), Hilton (Montpellier),

Henri Bedimo Henri Bedimo Nsamé (born 4 June 1984) is a retired Cameroonian professional footballer who played as a left-back. He represented the Cameroon national team internationally from 2009 to 2016 making 51 appearances and scoring once. Club caree ...

(Montpellier), Nicolas N'Koulou (Marseille)
Midfield: Rio Mavuba (Lille), Étienne Capoue (Toulouse),

Younès Belhanda Younès Belhanda (; born 25 February 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Adana Demirspor and the Morocco national team. Born in France, he initially represented his native country ...

(Montpellier),

Eden Hazard Eden Michael Walter Hazard (born 7 January 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid. Known for his creativity, dribbling, passing and vision, Hazard is considered ...

(Lille)
Attack: Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Nenê (Paris Saint-Germain)

UNFP Ligue 1 Manager of the Year

The UNFP Manager of the Year was awarded to René Girard of Montpellier.

Number of teams by region

List of 2011–12 transfers

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ligue 1, 2011-12 2011-12 1

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