The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and Championnat National. Contested by 48 clubs, the Championnat National 2 operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Championnat National and Championnat National 3, the fifth division of French football. Seasons run from August to May, with teams in the three groups playing 30 games each. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. Play is regularly suspended the last weekend before Christmas for two weeks before returning in the second week of January.
The Championnat de France amateur was initially founded by the French Football Federation in 1927 and was composed of the regional amateur league champions. The league served as the first division of French football until 1929 before the league was converted to the professional league that exists today in 1932.[1] The current incarnation of the league is a simple rebrand of the CFA, which was founded in 1993 as National 2 and lasted for five years before being converted to the CFA name in 1998 and the National 2 name in 2017. Some clubs that participate in the league are semi-professional. The matches in the league attract on average between 800 and 1,000 spectators per match. However, this average is dragged down by the minuscule turnouts for the pros' home reserve matches.
History
The amateur championship of France was created in 1993 under the name National 2 as an heir to the now-defunct Division 3. The league's debut coincided with the creation of the Championnat National, the third division of French football, which is commonly known as National. For the first three years of the competition, an amateur champion was crowned in France regardless of whether the club was amateur or a reserve team. In 1998, the French Football Federation changed the competition's format creating two separate tables; one for the amateur clubs and another for the reserve teams of professional clubs. The dual tables allowed the league to declare a champion for the amateurs and the reserves with four team tournaments being held following the conclusion of league play to determine the champions. At the same time the competition was renamed Championnat de France Amateur (CFA). In 2001, the federation ended this style and reverted to the original format allowing both the amateur clubs and reserve teams to be grouped together based on their regional location. The winner of each group would then earn promotion to the Championnat National, unless the club is a reserve team. Meanwhile, the reserve teams continued to use the previous format with the best reserve teams of each group being inserted into a tournament to decide the reserves' champion.
In 2017, the FFF reorganised amateur football along the lines of the 2016 reorganisation of the Regions of France, creating Championnat National 2 and Championnat National 3 to replace CFA and CFA2. For National 2 this was in effect just a change of name, whilst National 3 saw a major restructure.[2]
As part of the restructure of the French football leagues system between 2022 and 2026, the league was reduced from 64 teams across 4 groups in 2022–23, to 56 across 4 groups in 2023–24, and will have 48 teams across 3 groups from 2024–25.[3]
Competition format
For the 2024–25 season, forty-eight clubs participate. The clubs are split into three parallel groups of 16 with their group affiliation being loosely based on the regional location. The league is open to the best reserve teams in France and amateur clubs in France, although only the amateur clubs are eligible for promotion to the Championnat National. During the course of a season, usually from August to May, each club plays the others in their respective group twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. Teams are ranked by total points, then head-to-head results and head-to-head goal difference. At the end of each season, the group champions are promoted to Championnat National and the best performing group champion is crowned overall champion of the season. For the 2024–25 season, the three lowest-ranked teams in each group are relegated to Championnat National 3, along with the worst performing thirteenth-placed team.
Teams
The following teams are competing in the Championnat National 2 for the 2025–26 season.[4]
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