The French football champions are the winners of the highest league of football in France,

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. A ...

. Since the National Council of the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

voted in support of professionalism in French football in 1930, the professional football championship of France has been contested through Ligue 1, formerly known as Division 1 from 1933–2002.Gilles Gauthey, ''Le football professionnel français'', Paris, 1961, p.18. Éditée et diffusée par l'auteur. Prior to this, the first division championship of French football was contested through a league run by the

Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques The Union of French Athletic Sports Societies (french: Union des sociétés françaises de sports athlétiques (USFSA)) was a former sports governing body in France. During the 1890s and early 1900s it organised numerous sports including athleti ...

(USFSA), an organization that supported

amateur sport Amateur sports are sports in which participants engage largely or entirely without remuneration. The distinction is made between amateur sporting participants and professional sporting participants, who are paid for the time they spend competing ...

. The USFSA's league run from 1894 to 1919 and awarded 22 league titles before being suspended in 1915 due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the creation and success of the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

, which had quickly become the country's national competition. The USFSA returned in 1919 changing the league into numerous regional amateur leagues that awarded no league title. This system lasted from 1919 to 1926. In 1926, the first division's reins were handed over to the French Football Federation. The federation organized and ran a league composed of the regional amateur league champions called the

Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

from 1927 to 1929 and awarded three titles before the league was converted to the professional league that exists today in 1932. The first champions of French football were Standard Athletic Club, who defeated

The White Rovers The White Rovers, also known as White Rovers Paris, was a French amateur football club based in Paris which existed between 1891 and 1899. The club was founded in 1891 by Englishman Jack Wood, who had formerly played football in his home country ...

2–0 in

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine Department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is in the suburbs of the city of Paris, from the center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the city limits of Par ...

on 6 May 1894. The initial championship match was held on 29 April but finished 2–2, so the match was replayed. Standard went on to win the French championship four more times over the next seven years before

RC Roubaix Racing Club de Roubaix was a French association football team that played in Roubaix, Nord. History The team was founded in 1895 and was very successful before the establishment of professionalism in France. In 1933, after losing twice in a ...

took control of the league becoming the first French club to win three straight titles beginning in 1902.. Following Roubaix's success, the ownership of the amateur league title began rotating back and forth from the north of France to the

south of France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi atlantique'', A ...

with

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 Franc ...

eventually winning the last amateur title in 1929. The first French football champions of the professional era were

Olympique Lillois Olympique Lillois was a French association football club from the city of Lille. Founded in 1902 they merged with SC Fives in 1944 to form Lille OSC. Honours Championnat de France *Champion: 1914, 1933 *Runner-up: 1936 Events Jan ...

, a predecessor of

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 Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

, who defeated

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

4–3 on 14 May 1933 at the

Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir The Stade Yves-du-Manoir (officially Stade olympique Yves-du-Manoir, also known as the Stade olympique de Colombes, or simply Colombes to the locals) is a rugby, track and association football stadium in Colombes, near Paris, France, Paris, Fran ...

Colombes Colombes () is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the centre of Paris. In 2019, Colombes was the 53rd largest city in France. Name The name Colombes comes from Latin ''columna'' (Old French ''colombe'') ...

Sète Sète (; oc, Seta, ), also historically spelt ''Cette'' (official until 1928) and ''Sette'', is a commune in the Hérault department, in the region of Occitania, southern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Sétois'' (male) and ''Sétoises' ...

were crowned champions the following season and, in 1939, became the first professional club in France to win two titles. Following the conclusion of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

became the model club of the country winning four consecutive titles from 1966 to 1970. The club won all its 10 titles in a span of 25 years. Marseille repeated Saint-Étienne's feat of four consecutive titles from 1988 to 1992. It would take the club another 17 years to win another title. During the hiatus between Marseille's title in 1992 and the club's most recent in 2010,

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 t ...

established themselves as a top club winning their first title in 2002. The title started a national record-breaking streak of seven successive league championships with the streak coming to an end following the 2008–09 season when

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 prefectur ...

eclipsed them winning their sixth title. Saint-Étienne, Marseille and

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

have the most titles in French football, with ten each. The majority of Saint-Étienne's titles came during the 1960s and 1970s when the club was led by

managers Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

Jean Snella Jean Snella (9 December 1914 – 20 November 1979) was a French association football midfielder and a manager. He mostly coached AS Saint-Etienne. He also coached France national football team along with José Arribas after the FIFA World Cup ...

Albert Batteux Albert Batteux (2 July 1919 – 28 February 2003) was a French football midfielder and a manager. He is the most successful manager in the history of Ligue 1 having won eight domestic titles, twice reaching the European Cup final and a third-p ...

, and Robert Herbin. Marseille has nine professional league titles and one amateur title which they won in the 1928–29 season. The club initially equalled Saint-Étienne's number of titles won during the 1992–93 season, but the title was stripped after it was discovered by the

Ligue de Football Professionnel The Ligue de Football Professionnel (, ''Professional Football League''), commonly known as the LFP, is a French governing body that runs the major professional football leagues in France. It was founded in 1944 and serves under the authority o ...

(LFP) that the club's

president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Bernard Tapie Bernard Roger Tapie (; 26 January 1943 – 3 October 2021) was a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Minister of City Affairs in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy. Life and career Tapie was bor ...

had bribed the opposition's players. Tapie was later found guilty of

bribery Bribery is the Offer and acceptance, offering, Gift, giving, Offer and acceptance, receiving, or Solicitation, soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official, or other person, in charge of a public or legal duty. With reg ...

and sentenced to two years in prison. In the 2009–10 season, Marseille equalled Saint-Étienne's number of titles, amateur or professional. Paris Saint-Germain won seven of their ten titles in a ten-year span from 2013 to 2022.

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

and

Monaco Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...

are fourth with eight titles each, while Lyon has seven.

List of champions

Amateur era (1893–1929)

Professional era (1932–present)

Morocco vs Gabon, Alain Giresse, March 28 2009

Didier Deschamps France international player

Performance

Performance by club in Amateur Era and Professional Era

Notes: *Bold indicates clubs currently playing in

. *

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

is the legal heir of

. *

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club is French professional football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the premier division of French football. Toulouse plays its home matches at the Stadium de Toulouse lo ...

is not the successor to

Toulouse FC (1937) Toulouse Football Club was a French association football team playing in the city of Toulouse, Haute-Garonne. The team was founded in 1937 and disappeared in 1967, in a merger with Red Star Olympique. Even though this team held the same name a ...

Performance by club in Professional era

Notes: *Clubs in bold are competing in

2021–22 Ligue 1 The 2021–22 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, was a French association football tournament within Ligue 1. It was the 84th season since its establishment. It began on 6 August 2021 and concluded on 21 May ...

. *

were stripped of their title by the LFP after being found guilty of

1992–93 French Division 1 Olympique de Marseille won the 1992–93 Division 1 season of the French Association Football League with 53 points but lost its title due to a bribery scandal. The club that finished second, Paris Saint Germain refused it, making it unattribut ...

. No winner was declared for that season.

Performance by club in Amateur era

Notes: *

RC Paris Racing Club de France Football (, also known as Racing Paris, RCF Paris, Matra Racing, Racing Club, or Racing) is a French association football club based in Colombes, a suburb of Paris. Racing was founded in 1882 as a multi-discipline spor ...

and

are the only teams who managed to win in Amateur era and also in Professional era.

Notes

References

External links

History of Football in France
{{DEFAULTSORT:French football champions

Champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

champions A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...