French Ligue 1

Ligue 1 is the highest level football league in France, and one of Europe’s elite football leagues. The league draws high attendances, and is keenly followed in many African countries, which are used to source some of the league’s finest players.

Ligue 1 comprises 20 football clubs from France and Monaco playing a home and away round robin tournament. At the conclusion of the season the top 3 clubs qualify for the UEFA Champions League, while the lowest 3 clubs are relegated to the second division.

Ligue 1 History

The first national football league was set up in France in 1932. The league has been professional for the duration of its history, barring a two-year period under the Vichy government under which professional sport was banned in France.

Over the past several decades the number of clubs participating in the league has fluctuated, increasing from 18 to 20 in recent years. After a slow start in European competition, French clubs have performed reasonably well in the Champions League and UEFA Cup, although they are often criticised for overly defensive and unimaginative play.

Ligue 1 Betting

While Ligue 1 does not enjoy the high profile of the English, Spanish and Italian first divisions, it does receive adequate coverage from bookmakers in Europe and the United Kingdom, with match betting markets open for all league fixtures.

The widest variety of Ligue 1 betting opportunities can be found in the live betting markets offered by top live betting sportsbooks like Sportingbet, who cover each game with dozens of live betting markets. The final rounds of the competition can attract betting specials from sportsbooks catering to continental European interests, such as Bwin.

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Ligue 1 Winners

One of the attractions of Ligue 1 is that it is one of the most open and competitive leagues in European football, and does not suffer from the widespread phenomenon of a handful of clubs dominating the league for decades at a time. This is confirmed by the fact that 17 French clubs have claimed the Ligue 1 winners’ title at least once, with only 7 clubs claiming more than 5 titles.

The most successful of these is AS Saint-Etienne, which has claimed 10 league titles and was a powerful force in French football during the 1970s. During the past decade Olympique Lyonnais has come to the forefront of French club football, rising from obscurity to take 7 league titles in 8 years.