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| Lyon's Where the Parties are Usually at...and Trophies |
The thing about football is that it never really ends, there’s always a game somewhere, when a league is ending one is starting, it’s really like your favorite TV show that goes on and on and on and continues to live up to expectation, springing out shocks here and there, manages to constantly have your attention by having you glued to the thrills and… (Sorry, was thinking about Game of Thrones) well you get the idea.
In terms of women’s football, the NWSL is over, sure there’s the arrival of men’s football’s biggest leagues such as the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga, German Bundesliga, but there’s also the start of some top women European leagues, among them is the French d1 Féminine and I’ll be all about previewing that in this blog.
So far only two rounds -or weeks- of games have been played, so it’s not too late to catch up to the building of the excitement over the long haul;
So here we go…
Brief History
The D1 Féminine obviously stands for Division one, which is the highest division of female football in France, it is contested by 12 teams, each team play 2 games against each other in a series of home and away matches amounting to 22 games played in total and the team with the highest points at the end of the season wins the league.
The league was initially created in 1981 and lasted 12 seasons before it came to halt following a ban on women’s football in France, however in 1975 it was officially back with appropriate funding from the French Football Federation (FFF) and as from 2009 professional contracts were given to female players to play football fully. Today the d1 Féminine is regarded as one of the top 3 European women leagues alongside Sweden's Damallsvenskan and Germany's Frauen Bundesliga.
Let's preview the teams ‘FourFourTwo Magazine’ style, shall we;
The Champions
Olympique Lyon
Generally, they are one of the world’s heavy weights as long as female football goes, and they have an array of trophies in their cabinet to prove that.
They have Twelve, (yes 12), domestic league titles, eight of those they have now won back to back since 2007, which really paints a picture of their dominance in the France alongside six domestic cups and two European titles, that fully establishes their heavyweight status.
The Perception
Think of Lyon as the modern day Barcelona, no team retains the ball better than the side in women’s football, much more of technicality and ‘tiki-taka’ to their game. They are always favorites when being matched up by any side and the score line can fully reflect the performance, teams play Lyon in the danger of being beaten from 3-0 to 15-0, even a draw could feel like a win over them.
The Reality
Basically, if a team should finish above them on the league table, they might have well won the league.
The Title Chasers
Paris St. German (PSG)
Not yet established as a heavyweight club in women’s football, perhaps because of Lyon, but they are definitely the next side of attraction after the champions. PSG are not -yet- in the class of other French teams due to the lack of trophies, their last came in 2001 when they gained promotion to the top division winning the second division. However there’s always that feeling things are about to change in France as PSG always -of recent- give Lyon a run for their money. Fueled by the abundance of Arab riches -like the men’s team-, PSG Féminine are looking to break the strong hold of Lyon in France.
The Perception
(Another La Liga analogy, but it helps) Think of PSG as a desperate Madrid side -without the past history/trophies and prestige- trying to stop the dominance of Barcelona (Lyon). Money is no object in their recruitment and acquisition of world class talents around the world.
The Reality
Yet to win a trophy yet with their ‘galatico’ squad but gaining popularity though, PSG’s spending could be declared or seen as pointless in many ways. The coach would have to maintain consistency in their pursuit for the league this season a lesson they should have learnt by now, for example, last season, after beating Lyon 1-0 away, they couldn’t maintain the pressure, closing on a 6 point gap that magically turned into a 10 point gap at the end of the season due to them drawing –tying- three crucial games against top opposition.
They have brought in world class players again this year, and that should prove vital for ‘crunch time’.
Champions League Place Chasers
FCF Juvisy
For a team from France to get into the Champions League, it needs to finish in the top 2 after the end of the season and Juvisy are always candidates for the spot along with PSG and Montpellier and due to Lyon’s dominance only one spot is really up for grabs.
Juvisy were the last side to win the d1 Féminine before the start of Lyon’s dominant era in 2006. They have won the league six times, the joint-second highest after Lyon’s dozen and have a domestic cup to keep all six warm in the trophy room.
The Perception
To get into the top 2 used to be easy but nowadays with Lyon on top and PSG's oil rich squad it's quite a huge ask. Juvisy have finished in third position two times in a row to PSG and with the retirement of the legendary club captain, Sandrine Soubeyrand, they might continue to finish outside the spot.
The Reality
Juvisy might not have the dominance of Lyon or the exotic display of stars like PSG but they have quite the history and a player in whom they trust; Gaetane Thiney is a popular in figure in France as a whole, being the nation’s second all-time top scorer.
The Juvisy -now- captain won the player of the season last year for the second time -only the second player to do that, (Sonia Bompastor, the first) - the perception is she could contend for the World Player of the Year if she was in a bigger team.
Juvisy also have legendary striker –Lyon’s d1 Féminine's all-time scorer- Sandrine Brétigny, who joined last season upfront with a strike force of both legendary French forwards anything is possible, and they also have the talent in the midfield to deal with Soubeyrand's exit.
Montpellier HSC
Just like Juvisy, Montpellier also -used to- have a habit of coming in top 2, the club have a little bit of history with 2 league titles and 3 domestic cups. They are usually the club with a lot of potential talent and stars for the future for the country, playing a role in developing most of today's world class French talents.
The Perception
They have a quality team full of talents and excitement, you would see that in the way they play but like a certain Alan Hansen once said 'You can't win anything with kids.'
The Reality
True, there's talent and excitement but they aren't all 'kids', Montpellier have acquired a couple of well-known established talents such as Swedish pair, Sofia Jackobson and Linda Sembrant to help out this season and former Lyon striker and veteran, Laëtitia Tonazzi.
And the saying 'You can't win anything with kids' was attributed to Man.Utd's David Beckham, Gary Neville, Paul Scholes...well, you get the picture, the rest of the story is history, if Montpellier do keep and develop these players, the same fate might await them.
The Top Half Teams
Soyaux and EA Guingamp
Two different teams entirely but I’ve managed to mesh them up under the same topic since they are the last teams in the top half of the division to talk about with a league title to their names each.
Soyaux won the d1 Féminine in 1984 while Guingamp did so in ‘89, it has been their sole league title till this day. Guingamp have been doing ok in the league so far while Soyaux are quite unpredictable, the club have gone on relegation twice in the last four years but came back last season to take a strong position at 6th just behind Guingamp.
Both teams complete the top half of the table.
The Bottom Half Teams
Rodez, Arras FCF, Saint-Étienne
The teams who usually maintain the other parts of the league table, last season Rodez came in 7th position, Arras in 8th and Saint-Étienne in surprisingly in an unfamiliar 9th position.
Rodez and Arras should be there or there about this season, but Saint-Étienne could and should push for a top half finish, that’s where they usually are.
Relegation Battle Teams
Algrange, ASPTT Albi, Issy
The lower league, D2 Féminine is divided into 3 groups, A, B and C and all three champions from each group gain promotion to the d1 Féminine. Algrange won the D2 Féminine (A), Issy won the D2 Féminine and Albi won the D2 Féminine (C) and therefore it’s clear to see why these are the three teams that would be in the mix for relegation back into the D2 Féminine.
Conclusion
So that about covers it as far as the French league, in the next blog I would give a low down for the players to watch in the league over the coming weeks when it is being played. Like I said, the league has already commenced but every team has played only two games, and it’s not too late to start following;
With that being said here’s a video compilation of the opening day games of the new D1 Féminine season;à (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5LW-mOD6DI
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