The 2020–21 Ligue 2 season, also known as Ligue 2 BKT for sponsorship reasons, was the 82nd season of second-division football in France, and the 19th season since the division was rebranded as Ligue 2 from Division 2. Due to the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the announcement of the start and end dates for the season was delayed. There were suggestions that the season would feature just 18 teams, as opposed to the usual 20, after France's highest administrative court overturned the relegations of Amiens and Toulouse from Ligue 1;[1] however, the relegations were reinstated by the General Assembly of the LFP with a vote on 23 June 2020.[2] The league fixtures were announced on 9 July 2020 and the league season began on 22 August 2020 and ended on 15 May 2021.[3]

Ligue 2
Season2020–21
Dates22 August 2020 – 15 May 2021
ChampionsTroyes
PromotedTroyes
Clermont
RelegatedChâteauroux
Chambly
Matches played380
Goals scored910 (2.39 per match)

Teams edit

Team changes edit

  from Championnat National   to Ligue 1   from Ligue 1   to Championnat National

Stadia and locations edit

Club Location Venue Capacity
Ajaccio Ajaccio Stade François Coty 10,446
Amiens Amiens Stade de la Licorne 12,097
Auxerre Auxerre Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps 21,379
Caen Caen Stade Michel d'Ornano 21,215
Chambly Beauvais Stade Pierre Brisson 10,178
Châteauroux Châteauroux Stade Gaston Petit 17,173
Clermont Foot Clermont-Ferrand Stade Gabriel Montpied 11,980
Dunkerque Dunkirk Stade Marcel-Tribut 4,200
Grenoble Grenoble Stade des Alpes 20,068
Guingamp Guingamp Stade de Roudourou 18,378
Le Havre Le Havre Stade Océane 25,178
Nancy Tomblaine Stade Marcel Picot 20,087
Niort Niort Stade René Gaillard 10,886
Paris FC Paris (13th arrondissement) Stade Charléty 20,000
Pau Pau Nouste Camp 13,819
Rodez Rodez Stade Paul-Lignon 5,955
Sochaux Montbéliard Stade Auguste Bonal 20,005
Toulouse Toulouse Stadium Municipal 33,150
Troyes Troyes Stade de l'Aube 21,684
Valenciennes Valenciennes Stade du Hainaut 25,172

Personnel and kits edit

Team Manager Captain Kit manufacturer Main sponsor
Ajaccio   Olivier Pantaloni   Cédric Avinel Adidas Auchan Atrium
Amiens   Oswald Tanchot   Prince-Désir Gouano Puma Intersport
Auxerre   Jean-Marc Furlan   Birama Touré Macron Remorques LOUALT
Caen   Stéphane Moulin   Jonathan Rivierez Umbro Maisons France Confort (H), Campagne de France (A & 3)
Châteauroux   Marco Simone   Yannick M'Boné Nike Monin
Chambly   Bruno Luzi   Thibault Jaques Umbro Flint
Clermont   Pascal Gastien   Jonathan Iglesias Patrick Crédit Mutuel
Dunkerque   Fabien Mercadal   Axel Maraval Kappa Intersport
Grenoble   Philippe Hinschberger   Brice Maubleu Nike Carrefour, Sempa, BONTAZ
Guingamp   Frédéric Bompard   Youssouf M'Changama Umbro Servagroupe (H), Aroma Celte (A)
Le Havre   Paul Le Guen   Alexandre Bonnet Joma Filiassur, SEAFRIGO Group
Nancy   Jean-Louis Garcia   Ernest Seka Puma Lor Port
Niort   Sébastien Desabre   Dylan Louiserre Erima Restaurant Le Billon (H), Cheminées Poujoulat (A)
Paris FC   René Girard   Vincent Demarconnay Nike Vinci
Pau   Didier Tholot   Antoine Batisse Adidas Iroise Bellevie
Rodez   Laurent Peyrelade   Pierre Bardy Adidas Max Outil
Sochaux   Omar Daf   Gaëtan Weissbeck Nike Nedey Automobiles
Toulouse   Patrice Garande   Ruben Gabrielsen Joma Triangle Interim
Troyes   Laurent Batlles   Jimmy Giraudon Le Coq Sportif Babeau Seguin
Valenciennes   Olivier Guégan   Laurent Dos Santos Acerbis Mutuelle Just

Managerial changes edit

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Niort   Franck Passi End of contract 6 June 2020[4] Pre-season   Sébastien Desabre 16 June 2020[5]
Toulouse   Denis Zanko End of interim 22 June 2020   Patrice Garande 22 June 2020[6]
Guingamp   Sylvain Didot Sacked 30 August 2020[7] 15th   Mehmed Baždarević 30 August 2020
Amiens   Luka Elsner Sacked 28 September 2020[8] 15th   Oswald Tanchot 16 October 2020[9]
Châteauroux   Nicolas Usaï Sacked 13 December 2020[10] 18th   Benoît Cauet 1 January 2021[11]
Guingamp   Mehmed Baždarević Mutual consent 1 February 2021[12] 17th   Frédéric Bompard 1 February 2021
Châteauroux   Benoît Cauet Sacked 10 March 2021[13] 20th   Marco Simone 10 March 2021
Caen   Pascal Dupraz Sacked 23 March 2021[14] 14th   Fabrice Vandeputte 23 March 2021

Number of teams by regions edit

Teams Region Team(s)
4   Hauts-de-France Amiens, Chambly, Dunkerque and Valenciennes
2   Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Clermont and Grenoble
  Nouvelle-Aquitaine Niort and Pau
  Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Auxerre and Sochaux
  Grand Est Nancy and Troyes
  Normandy Caen and Le Havre
  Occitanie Rodez and Toulouse
1   Brittany Guingamp
  Centre-Val de Loire Châteauroux
  Corsica Ajaccio
  Île-de-France Paris FC

League table edit

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or Relegation
1 Troyes (C, P) 38 23 8 7 60 36 +24 77 Promotion to Ligue 1
2 Clermont (P) 38 21 9 8 61 25 +36 72
3 Toulouse 38 20 10 8 71 42 +29 70 Qualification to promotion play-offs
4 Grenoble 38 18 11 9 51 35 +16 65
5 Paris FC 38 17 13 8 53 37 +16 64
6 Auxerre 38 16 14 8 64 43 +21 62
7 Sochaux 38 12 15 11 45 37 +8 51
8 Nancy 38 11 14 13 53 53 0 47
9 Guingamp 38 10 17 11 41 43 −2 47
10 Amiens 38 11 14 13 34 40 −6 47
11 Valenciennes 38 12 11 15 50 59 −9 47
12 Le Havre 38 11 14 13 38 48 −10 47
13 Ajaccio 38 11 13 14 34 43 −9 46
14 Pau 38 11 11 16 42 49 −7 44
15 Rodez 38 8 19 11 38 44 −6 43
16 Dunkerque 38 10 11 17 34 47 −13 41
17 Caen 38 9 14 15 34 49 −15 41
18 Niort (O) 38 9 14 15 34 58 −24 41 Qualification for the relegation play-offs
19 Chambly (R) 38 9 11 18 41 64 −23 38 Relegation to Championnat National
20 Châteauroux (R) 38 4 11 23 32 58 −26 23
Source: Ligue 2
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Head-to-head goal difference; 5) Fair play points
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results edit

Home \ Away AJA AMI AUX CAE FCC CHA CLE DUN GRE GUI HAC NAN NIO PFC PAU ROD SOC TFC TRO VAL
Ajaccio 2–2 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–1 0–2 1–0 2–1 0–2 1–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 4–1 1–0 1–1 0–1 0–4 3–0
Amiens 0–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–3 0–0 1–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 1–0 0–1 0–1 3–1 3–1
Auxerre 5–1 2–1 1–1 4–0 4–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–2 6–0 0–0 2–1 0–1 0–2 3–1 2–1 1–1
Caen 1–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–2 2–1 1–0 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–4 2–2 0–0 1–1
Chambly 2–1 2–0 0–1 4–2 2–1 0–3 0–1 1–2 3–0 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–3 1–0 1–0 1–4 1–1 0–3 1–2
Châteauroux 0–0 0–0 1–2 2–2 4–0 0–1 1–2 0–1 2–3 0–1 1–4 2–0 1–2 0–3 1–1 2–1 0–3 1–2 3–3
Clermont 0–2 3–0 1–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 5–0 3–0 0–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 3–2 3–0 3–0 3–1 1–1 2–1 4–0
Dunkerque 3–1 1–1 0–1 2–3 1–1 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–1 1–2 2–0 0–1 2–2 0–0 1–0 3–3 0–0 1–0
Grenoble 2–0 0–0 2–2 3–1 2–0 2–2 1–2 4–0 2–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 2–0 5–3 2–0 2–0
Guingamp 2–2 2–2 2–0 2–2 1–0 2–0 0–5 0–0 1–0 1–3 0–0 0–1 0–0 2–3 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–2 1–1
Le Havre 1–1 1–0 1–1 1–2 2–4 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–2 0–1 3–2 0–2
Nancy 2–0 2–2 2–2 1–0 3–3 2–1 1–0 2–1 1–2 2–2 0–1 2–2 1–1 1–0 2–2 0–0 1–3 2–3 1–3
Niort 2–0 0–2 0–4 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 0–0 0–2 0–0 1–0 2–2 2–1 1–1 1–3 1–0 0–3 0–3
Paris FC 1–1 4–2 0–3 3–1 3–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 2–0 3–2 3–0 0–2 3–3 1–0 1–1 0–0 3–1 1–1 1–0
Pau 0–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 1–3 1–0 2–1 3–1 0–2 0–1 2–0 1–1 4–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–3 0–1 4–3
Rodez 0–1 1–2 2–2 0–3 2–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 0–1 3–0
Sochaux 0–2 0–2 2–3 1–0 3–2 0–0 0–0 1–0 1–1 0–0 4–0 1–1 3–4 1–2 1–1 2–2 0–1 2–1 2–0
Toulouse 3–0 3–0 3–1 3–0 4–0 1–0 3–2 0–1 2–0 2–2 4–3 4–1 2–1 1–0 2–2 3–0 0–0 0–0 4–5
Troyes 1–0 2–1 3–1 1–0 2–2 2–0 1–0 2–0 3–1 1–0 2–0 1–5 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–1
Valenciennes 1–1 0–2 2–2 1–0 2–1 1–0 1–3 1–0 0–1 0–1 3–5 2–3 1–1 2–0 3–0 1–1 0–0 1–0 2–2
Source: Ligue 2
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Promotion play-offs edit

A promotion play-off competition was held at the end of the season, involving the 3rd, 4th and 5th-placed teams in 2020–21 Ligue 2, and the 18th-placed team in 2020–21 Ligue 1.

The quarter-final was played on 18 May and the semi-final was played on 21 May.[15]

Quarter-final Semi-final Final
           
3B Toulouse 3
4B Grenoble 0
4B Grenoble 2
5B Paris FC 0
3B Toulouse 1 1 2
18A Nantes 2 0 2(a)

Round 1

Grenoble2–0Paris
Anani   8'
Semedo   87'
Report
Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)
Referee: Bastien Depechy

Round 2

Toulouse3–0Grenoble
Spierings   3'
Koné   23'
Healey   90+2'
Report
Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)
Referee: Amaury Delerue

Promotion Play-offs '1st leg'

Toulouse1–2Nantes
Machado   19' Report Blas   10'
Kolo Muani   22'
Attendance: 0 (Behind closed doors)
Referee: Jérémie Pignard

'2nd leg'

Nantes0–1Toulouse
Report Bayo   62'

2–2 on aggregate. Nantes won on away goals and therefore both clubs remained in their respective leagues.


Relegation play-offs edit

A relegation play-off was held at the end of the season between the 18th-placed team of the 2020–21 Ligue 2 and the 3rd-placed team of the 2020–21 Championnat National. This was played over two legs on 19 and 22 May.[16]


Villefranche3–1Niort
Blanc   54'
Dauchy   84'
Garita   90+3'
Report   45+2'
Stade Armand Chouffet, Villefranche-sur-Saône
Attendance: 0
Referee: Bartolomeu Varela Teles

Niort2–0Villefranche
Lebeau   78'
Kemen   81'
Report
Attendance: 0
Referee: Nicolas Rainville

3–3 on aggregate. Niort won on away goals and therefore both clubs remained in their respective leagues.

Top scorers edit

Rank Player Club Goals
1   Mohamed Bayo Clermont 22
2   Mickaël Le Bihan Auxerre 19
3   Yoann Touzghar Troyes 16
4   Pape Ibnou Bâ Niort 14
  Rémy Dugimont Auxerre
  Rhys Healey Toulouse
7   Jim Allevinah Clermont 12
  Mickaël Biron Nancy
  Jodel Dossou Clermont
10   Baptiste Guillaume Valenciennes 11

References edit

  1. ^ "Ligue 1 relegation overruled for Amiens and Toulouse but Lyon appeal dismissed". Sky Sports. Retrieved 16 June 2020.
  2. ^ "LFP : l'assemblée générale vote à 74,49 % le maintien d'une Ligue 1 à vingt clubs". L'Equipe (in French). Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  3. ^ "les calendriers de ligue 1 uber eats et ligue 2 bkt dévoilés le Jeudi 9 Juillet". Ligue de Football Professionnel (in French). 3 July 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Laurent Blanc accompagné par Franck Passi dans «un projet sportif très ambitieux cet été»". Le Figaro (in French). 6 June 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Sébastien Desabre nommé entraîneur de Niort". Le Figaro (in French). 16 June 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Garande nouvel entraîneur de Toulouse (officiel)". Le Figaro (in French). 22 June 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  7. ^ "En Avant Guingamp. Sylvain Didot débarqué à contretemps". Ouest-France (in French). 30 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Luka Elsner n'est plus l'entraîneur d'Amiens". Le Figaro (in French). 28 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Amiens : Oswald Tanchot nommé entraîneur". Le Figaro (in French). 16 October 2020.
  10. ^ "Châteauroux limoge son entraîneur Nicolas Usaï". Le Figaro (in French). 13 December 2020.
  11. ^ "Benoît Cauet entraîneur de Châteauroux". Le Figaro (in French). 1 January 2021.
  12. ^ "Guingamp : Mecha Bazdarevic remercié". Le Figaro (in French). 1 February 2021.
  13. ^ "Châteauroux : Benoit Cauet limogé et remplacé par Marco Simone". actufoot.com (in French). 10 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Ligue 2 : Caen se sépare de son entraîneur Pascal Dupraz". Le Figaro (in French). 23 March 2021.
  15. ^ "Ligue 2 : Les play-offs changent de date !" (in French). foot-national.com. 24 April 2019. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  16. ^ "Le FC Villefranche affrontera les Chamois Niortais en barrage d'accession". footamateur.fr (in French). Foot Amateur. 15 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.

External links edit