Historical Ranking: FRANCE

[Last updated: end of 2007-08 season]

Click here to discuss this ranking on our forum

NOTE: National championships have been contested in France since 1894 but were originally very regional in nature and included only a handful of teams. This ranking takes into account league results since the first proper league in 1932/33 (1933/34 for Division 2). The Coupe de France dates from 1918.

How it works

Points awarded as follows:

Notes: The scores include any points scored by a club under a former name. In cases where clubs have merged or re-formed, the new club has been awarded the points accumulated by its previous incarnations wherever there is a continuation or substantial link between the old and new clubs. This proved particularly difficult in France because there have been numerous mergers, splits, name changes and reformations over the years. We will continue to investigate the history of several clubs and they may be awarded/deducted points in the future if we find evidence that has previously been overlooked.

Criticisms and Improvements

There is no account taken of when the points were scored, so a team (e.g. Stade de Reims) could have scored a large portion of their points a long time ago in a very different era. The teams did not all join the league at the same time so founder members have had a much longer period of time over which to accumulate points than “new” clubs such as PSG or Auxerre. The system takes account only of on the pitch successes and not off the pitch factors such as attendance and annual budget which could indicate a big club. The About a Ball ranking could be improved (and also complicated) by including points for average attendances and annual budget/profit, dividing points totals by the number of years clubs have been in the league, or by giving less weight to points scored a long time ago. However, we are satisfied that our ranking shows the relative playing merits of the 60 league clubs based on historical success and identifies clubs currently under or over achieving.

Conclusions

Lyon have made great progress up the table in recent years but they are still only fifth in the all-time ranking despite their recent dominance. It’s quite tight at the top, with Marseille and Saint Etienne enjoying a comfortable lead over Monaco in third and Nantes in fourth. However, it’s now six full seasons since any of the historical top four have won either of the major trophies and Nantes have hit the biggest slump culminating in their relegation to Ligue 2. They are likely to be overtaken by Lyon in the near future.

There is a very high correlation between the historical top twenty clubs and the current top-flight teams, with 16 appearing in both lists and Valenciennes just outside in 21st place. Le Mans are the ’smallest’ top flight club at the moment, as their record places them 40th overall. Stade de Reims are the second biggest club outside the top division (behind Nantes) as they belong in 11th place and are currently in Ligue 2. Nimes Olympique are the only club that has fallen two divisions below their top-flight status.

There are of course several other clubs that have scored points under this system over the years but are no longer in the three nationwide divisions. Some of them, such as Racing Club de France, Rouen, Red Star and Alès have been quite successful and would rank highly. We will look at ways to include them in future updates.

It is strictly forbidden to copy or reproduce these tables without permission. Any breach of copyright may lead to prosecution. The tables will be updated annually and any feedback on the results/corrections to data is welcome.

aboutaball.com 2007