French_Women's_Handball_Championship

LFH Division 1 Féminine

LFH Division 1 Féminine

French handball competition

LFH Division 1 Féminine, known for sponsorship reasons as Ligue Butagaz Énergie, is the premier women's handball league in France. It is overseen by the Ligue Féminine de Handball (LFH), the governing body of French women's professional handball, under delegation from the French Handball Federation (FFHB). Founded in 1952, it is currently contested by twelve teams.

Quick Facts Sport, Founded ...

Metz Handball has dominated the championship in recent times with 25 titles between 1989 and 2023 including a 6-year winning streak, while US Ivry and Paris UC were the most successful teams in past decades with nine and five titles respectively.[1]

As of 2022:

Participating teams

2023–24 teams

Location of the LFH Division 1 Féminine 2022–23 teams
More information Club, City ...

Personnel and kits

More information Club, Manager ...
Notes :
  • Bourg-de-Péage Drôme Handball got dissolved in the middle of the 2022-23 season (financial insolvency).
  • HBC Celles-sur-Belle ranked 10th at the end of 2022-23 and thus earned the sports right to keep playing in Division 1. However FFHandball's financial audit board relegated the club to Division 2 administratively.
    • Mérignac Handball, which ranked last (13th) and was relegated to Division 2, applied to take HBC Celles-sur-Belle's place in Division 1. Despite also suffering from financial problems, their appeal to be saved from relegation was accepted late by the federation, on Day 3 of the season.[2]
More information Squads of previous seasons, Club ...


Competition format

All 14 teams play each other twice during the season (home and away matches – 26 competition days). At the end of the season, the best ranked team is declared "Champion de France" and is granted a spot in the EHF Champions League's group stage.[3]

The last ranked team (14th) is relegated to the lower echelon of women's handball Division 2 Féminine (D2F) and replaced by the top-ranked D2F team that possesses the VAP status.

Teams receive three points for a win, two points for a draw and one point for a loss.

European qualification

Currently the Champion of France is granted a spot in the EHF Champions League's group stage.[3] Runner-up is qualified for the EHF European League but is able to apply for a wildcard (upgrade) to participate in the Champions League. The winner of the Coupe de France is qualified for the EHF European League. If a qualified team declines to participate in the European League, the next best-ranked team in the league can apply to take their place. A number of the league's other top teams are eligible to participate in European competitions.

The number of teams per national federation qualified for European competitions (EHF Champions League and EHF European League) is determined by a federation's EHF coefficient and EHF rank. Each year, the EHF publishes a ranking that announces the place attribution for the following season (number of teams for each Federation in the various competitions).

For the 2023/24 season, the system changed.[4] The coefficients and ranks were not determined by the overall performance of a federation, as it used to be. The performances are separated by competitions (e.g.: good performance by french teams in the Champions League would not allocate more places for french teams in the European League). Thus, the new system includes separate rankings for the Champions League and the European League.

Place distribution for 2023/24 Women's EHF Club competitions - France's place attribution:[5]

The Champions League has 7 other spots open for clubs that are not national champions but have qualified for the European League (1 spot for the best seeded Federation of the EHF EL and 6 spots open for upgrades).[5] The EHF European League has 8 spots open in for upgrades.

A club needs to fulfill set technical and organizational or administrative requirements to be able to play in European competitions (finances, adequate playing hall, etc.).

List of champions

Note - former names of clubs:

More information Season, Nr ...
More information Rank, Club ...

Media coverage

Free

Pay-to-watch

"Handball TV": For the 2022-23 handball season, the French Federation of Handball launched its own subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service:

  • It re-broadcasts the live feeds of free TV channels (that broadcast matches).
  • it also broadcasts live some exclusive matches produced by the platform and TV channel BeIN Sports (since 2023-24, the channel broadcasts the biggest fixture of a match day).
  • VODs (replays) of most broadcast matches.

Free TV channel Sport en France used to broadcast some matches (BeIN Sports took the official broadcaster slot since 2023-24).

Notable foreign players

List of foreign players who previously played or currently play in the LFH Division 1 Féminine. Bold indicate players currently playing in the league (2023/2024).
Algeria
Angola
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Belarus
Belgium
  • Belgium Nele Antonissen
Brazil
Cameroon
Croatia
Cuba
Czech Republic
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Denmark
Egypt
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
Italy
  • Italy Irene Fanton
Ivory Coast
Japan
Montenegro
Netherlands
North Macedonia
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Republic of Congo
Romania
Russia
Senegal
Serbia
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Korea
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
Tunisia
Ukraine

EHF league ranking

EHF League Ranking for 2022/23 season:[18]

See also

References

  1. [1]
    List of champions Archived 2016-05-26 at the Wayback Machine in handseven.fr
  2. [2]
    "Mérignac, un repêchage à retardement".
  3. [3]
    2011-12 results in EHF's website
  4. [4]
    "EHF improves club competitions ranking system". European Handball Federation. 27 September 2022.
  5. [5]
    "Place distribution for 2023/24 Women's EHF Club competitions" (PDF).
  6. [6]
    "Palmarès 1957-1958" (PDF). Centre de ressources documentaires de la FFHB]. Fédération Française de Handball. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  7. [7]
    "Palmarès 1958-1959" (PDF). Centre de ressources documentaires de la FFHB]. Fédération française de handball. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  8. [8]
    "Palmarès 1959-1960" (PDF). Centre de ressources documentaires de la FFHB]. Fédération française de handball. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  9. [9]
    "Palmarès 1960-1961" (PDF). Centre de ressources documentaires de la FFHB]. Fédération française de handball. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  10. [10]
    "Palmarès 1961-1962" (PDF). Centre de ressources documentaires de la FFHB]. Fédération française de handball. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  11. [11]
    "Palmarès 1962-1963" (PDF). Centre de ressources documentaires de la FFHB]. Fédération française de handball. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
  12. [12]
    "Saison 1963-1964, demi-finales". March 1964. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  13. [13]
    "Saison 1963-1964, finale". May 1964. Retrieved September 2, 2022.
  14. [14]
    "Palmarès 1970-1971 : Stella Sports bat PUC 8-6". Fédération française de handball. March 1971. pp. 1 et 9. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Palmarès 1971-1972 : Stade Pessacais U.C. : une saison, un titre !!". Fédération française de handball. April 1972. p. 14. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  16. [16]
    "Ivry s'adjuge le titre féminin 1974". Fédération française de handball. June 1974. p. 10. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  17. [17]
    "Troyes champion de France de Nationale I féminine 1978/79". Fédération française de handball. August 1979. p. 14. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  18. [18]
    "2021/22 season ranking" (PDF). European Handball Federation. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
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