| Season | 1979–80 | 
|---|---|
| Dates | 26 July 1979 – 27 May 1980 | 
| Champions | Nantes (5th title) | 
| Relegated | Marseille Brest | 
| European Cup | Nantes | 
| UEFA Cup | Sochaux Saint-Étienne | 
| Cup Winners' Cup | Monaco | 
| Matches played | 380 | 
| Goals scored | 1,073 (2.82 per match) | 
| Top goalscorer | Erwin Kostedde (21) Delio Onnis (21) | 
| ← 1978–79   1980–81 →  | |
FC Nantes won Division 1 season 1979/1980 of the French Association Football League with 57 points.
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nantes (C) | 38 | 26 | 5 | 7 | 76 | 30 | +46 | 57 | Qualification to European Cup first round | 
| 2 | Sochaux | 38 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 76 | 36 | +40 | 54 | Qualification to UEFA Cup first round | 
| 3 | Saint-Étienne | 38 | 23 | 8 | 7 | 73 | 50 | +23 | 54 | |
| 4 | Monaco | 38 | 21 | 8 | 9 | 61 | 30 | +31 | 50 | Qualification to Cup Winners' Cup first round [a] | 
| 5 | Strasbourg | 38 | 17 | 9 | 12 | 58 | 50 | +8 | 43 | |
| 6 | Bordeaux | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 64 | 53 | +11 | 40 | |
| 7 | Paris Saint-Germain | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 59 | 52 | +7 | 40 | |
| 8 | Valenciennes | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 47 | 47 | 0 | 40 | |
| 9 | Lens | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 51 | 51 | 0 | 38 | |
| 10 | Nîmes | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 45 | 50 | −5 | 38 | |
| 11 | Nancy | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 55 | 61 | −6 | 37 | |
| 12 | Laval | 38 | 15 | 5 | 18 | 57 | 55 | +2 | 35 | |
| 13 | Lille | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 45 | 49 | −4 | 35 | |
| 14 | Angers | 38 | 14 | 7 | 17 | 45 | 55 | −10 | 35 | |
| 15 | Nice | 38 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 53 | 62 | −9 | 32 | |
| 16 | Bastia | 38 | 14 | 4 | 20 | 39 | 51 | −12 | 32 | |
| 17 | Metz | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 45 | 60 | −15 | 32 | |
| 18 | Lyon (O) | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 43 | 65 | −22 | 29 | Qualification to relegation play-offs | 
| 19 | Marseille (R) | 38 | 9 | 6 | 23 | 45 | 78 | −33 | 24 | Relegation to French Division 2 | 
| 20 | Brest (R) | 38 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 35 | 87 | −52 | 15 | 
Promoted from Division 2, who will play in Division 1 season 1980/1981
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | 
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lyon | 8–4 | Avignon | 6–0 | 2–4 | 
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals [1] | 
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Erwin Kostedde | Laval | 21 | 
|  Delio Onnis | Monaco | ||
| 3 |  Pierre Pleimelding | Lille | 18 | 
| 4 |  Drago Vabec | Brest | 17 | 
| 5 |  Michel Platini | Saint-Étienne | 16 | 
| 6 |  Yves Ehrlacher | Lens | 15 | 
|  Nenad Bjeković | Nice | ||
|  Johnny Rep | Saint-Étienne | ||
|  Bernard Genghini | Sochaux | ||
| 10 |  Yannick Stopyra | Sochaux | 14 |