The new women’s top flight football season is fast approaching in France and it’s fair to say it’s been a busy summer for a lot of the leagues players having participated in the World Cup in Canada. It’s also been a busy summer transfer wise as Lyon look to have strengthened their grip as the most dominant team in France with a number of key acquisitions from rival teams. Lyon have come off the back of their 9th straight league title having finished 6 points ahead of their closest challengers, PSG, which resulted in them both qualifying this upcoming seasons champions league. The rest of the best were made up of regular 3rd place side Juvisy who finished 15 points off 2nd place PSG, while Montpellier finished a place and a point behind Juvisy with Bretagne side Guingamp a further 2 points behind in 5th. Below the top 5 (and 16 points behind) came the rest all of whom flirted with relegation where 7 points separated 6th place and the final relegation spot in 10th, however the unlucky three to suffer the dreaded drop were Metz, Arras and Issy. The three teams to replace the teams mentioned after earning promotion are La Roche-Sur-Yon (Group B champions), Nimes Metropole (Group C champions) and VGA Saint-Maur (Group A Champions). ASPTT Albi Last season Albi finished 9th (the lowest place a team can finish without being relegated) along with conceding a whopping 65 goals, albeit not as bad as the 3 teams who suffered relegation but it outlines a cause for concern. Also the team from Northeast of Toulouse were involved in the biggest away loss last season when Lyon trounced Albi 14-0, a scoreline which may well repeat itself this upcoming season. However it is worth considering that last season was a huge step for the club given that it was their first ever season in the top flight of French football. Albi’s hope this season will rest on the shoulders of former Barcelona and Spanish youth international who operates in the false 9 role. In my view Albi could face the prospect of relegation this season if one of the three promoted teams causes some surprises this year. Predicted finish: 11th (relegated) Guingamp The Bretagne side in the past couple of seasons have established themselves among the elite clubs in France having finished 5th in consecutive seasons (2013/14 & 2014/15). Although this may not continue this season with Guingamp having lost French international Griedge Mbock Bathy to champions Lyon in the summer which could prove a costly blow. However this was the only loss they suffered and on the plus side they do have a number of exciting attacking talent amongst their ranks. The strikers include Nigerian international Desire Oparanozie who finished as Guingamp’s top scorer last season with 11 goals and academy product Clarisse Le Bihan who scored 4 last term including a hat-trick against Soyaux. Regarding this season I think EAG will finish in a similar position to last with a possible challenge for 3rd. Predicted finish: 5th La Roche-Sur-Yon Founded in 1978, la Roche-Sur-Yon return to the top flight after a number of seasons further down the pyramid. The football club first appeared in division 1 for one season back in 1986 and after relegation had to wait 10 years (1996) to achieve promotion again. There stay in the top flight was more successful this time establishing themselves as a mid-table side. The side suffered relegation again along with a mini slump before a revival which saw the team win group B of division 2 last season and secure its spot in the top tier for the 2015/16 season. Regarding the hopes for this season I’m expecting la Roche-Sur-Yon to finish bottom of the pile considering the youthfulness of their squad with the average age equalling 24. They do have the added advantage of the whole team being French meaning a possible stronger bond and they do also have a number of French youth internationals who will be wanting to show their experience. Predicted finish: 12th (relegated) Juvisy A team from the suburbs of Paris that has in the past competed in the Champions League before PSG became a force and knocked them off the podium. Nevertheless Juvisy are still a strong team and contain a number of French internationals that participated at the World Cup in Canada, most notably striker Gaetane Thiney who the team will rely upon to score the majority of goals. Other French internationals whom were in the 23 player squad at the World Cup were goalkeeper Celine Deville, young striker Kadidiatou Diani and defender Anaïg Butel. So with the quality in the team, one would expect Juvisy to finish near the top, although I can’t see it being as close as 2 seasons back where PSG pipped Juvisy by a point to claim 2nd spot. In my view it will be between Juvisy and Montpellier to claim 3rd with a slight suspiction that Montpellier might edge Juvisy out. Will be another close race though, not that 3rd or 4th mean anything in the French league. Predicted finish: 4th Lyon They’ve been dominate for years and there is no sign of that stopping, especially with the number of key acquisitions they have made. During the off season (and the World Cup), Lyon signed creative midfielder Claire Lavogez from Montpellier while also signing teenage defender Griedge Mbock Bathy from Guingamp. Both of whom were part of the French side that reached the quarter-finals in Canada. This season it will be a two horse race again with PSG for the title so the match ups between the two teams will dictate which team will most likely win the league. Lyon were superb last season having claimed the French Cup and recorded maximum points in the league to retain their title having won all 22 league games. I’m expecting Lyon to be dominant again but may possibly miss out if PSG can edge them out in their 2 games. Predicted finish: 2nd Montpellier The team from the South of France did use to be a fairly strong outfit in French football having competed in the Champions League, although that time was about 4 years ago and Montpellier don’t look like getting back their anytime soon. Last season saw them finish a comfortable 4th, albeit 16 points off 2nd and 22 off champions Lyon. A big blow for Montpellier was losing Claire Lavogez to Lyon this summer, however they do still have some talented players including Swedish duo Linda Sembrant and Sofia Jakobsson, the latter being charged with getting the goals. The way I see this season going for Montpellier is that the best they can hope for is a 3rd place finish and a good cup run, similar to the one they experienced last season which resulted in Lyon narrowly beating them 2-1 in the final. Predicted finish: 3rd Nimes Metropole A newcomer to the top flight of French football having earnt promotion by winning Division 2 (Group C) ahead of Olympique Marseille. On paper Nimes don’t have any stand out names but do have former Montpellier players such as Zohra Zyachi and Elodie Ramos who may be the difference between survival and not. It will be an interesting season for them to see how they compete, but it will be clear from the offset as to whether they’ll struggle or not. Nimes will have a tough start to the season with a derby at home to Montpellier to start with before a trip to powerhouse Lyon in a game that may end in double figures. Although Nimes did have enough persistence to hold off Marseille to clinch the title last season so they may be able to use this fight and stave of relegation. It will not be easy though? Predicted finish: 10th (relegated) PSG Who over the last few years thanks to mainly the money supporting the men’s side have managed to establish themselves as the second best team in France having finished runners-up to Lyon for the past 3 seasons with this trend looking set to continue. Although this season I believe PSG could really challenge Lyon for title having made some notable signings, non-more so than prolific German striker Anja Mittag who arrives from Sweden. Further evidence of the cap closing between the top 2 came last season when PSG knocked Lyon out of the Champions League and made it to the final before losing to Frankfurt of Germany. The aspect which PSG will need to improve on this year though will be their Coupe De France performance after being eliminated in the last 16 at the hands of Guingamp. Nevertheless this could be their year to finally de-thrown Lyon! Predicted finish: 1st Rodez 22 years after being formed, Rodez will begin their sixth straight season in division 1 this year after promotion back in 2010. Rodez spent the majority of their first decade of formation playing in the regional leagues due to Toulouse being the strongest team in the region meaning Rodez could not compete and attract or keep the better players from their Midi-Pyrenees rivals. However when a new level (tier 3) was created in 2002 Rodez did achieve promotion, which was short lived only to drop back down before rebuilding and achieving back to back promotions to get where they are now in 2010. Since getting to the top flight Rodez have suffered a few scares finishing very close to the drop, while achieving their highest place of 7th a few years back. For this seasons campaign I feel Rodez will again struggle but should survive and they will be looking to their Tunisian international playmaker, Ella Kaabachi for this to happen. Predicted finish: 7th Saint-Etienne The club were originally a separate entirety to Saint-Etienne men’s side when they were formed in 1977 as Racing Club Saint-Etienne, before the club merged in 2009 in an attempt to stabilise the club as a top side team. Shortly after forming the club did make a brief appearance in the top flight in the early eighties for two years until relegation occurred where the club spent decades playing lower down the divisions. Les Verts in recent years have fallen away from their ‘best of the rest’ mid-table finishing to just scraping to stay in the top flight in recent years, non-more so than last season when Saint-Etienne finished in 8th place 2 places and 3 points clear of relegation. I fear that it may be the same story for them this season to with a lack of quality amongst the ranks to achieve a high finish. I’m sure the club will be able to avoid the drop given the experience of certain personnel. Predicted finish: 6th Soyaux Just like the case of Saint-Etienne I feel that Soyaux too could face a difficult season having finished towards the bottom quite frequently in the last few campaigns. The club were founded in 1968 and have always been in the top flight until they were relegated 5 years ago back in 2010. However Soyaux achieved promotion straight back in 2011, before going on to have a yo-yo effect with relegation happening at the end of 2012 before promotion back in 2013. As briefly stated I feel Soyaux will struggle again this season, meaning there will be no adding to their solitary league title picked up in 1984 (although challenging for the league is only a pipe dream). The team for this season like many of their league rivals includes a number of French youth internationals as well as senior international Siga Tandia. There obviously not the force they once were so expect to find Soyaux struggling again. Predicted finish: 9th VGA Saint-Maur
Originally one of the sixteen founders of the top flight in 1974, Saint-Maur do have a fair bit of history within the women’s game France which includes mixed fortunes. After a demise in the late 1970’s, the 1980’s saw the team claim 6 league top flight titles towards the middle and late 1980’s. A big decline took place in the 1990’s which saw Saint-Maur relegated from the top flight in 1998 and alternate between the 2nd and 3rd tier before dropping down further in 2010. This season after a number of promotions will see Saint-Maur re-join the top after 18 years away. The omens don’t look good though given that newly promoted teams do tend to struggle however they will be buoyed by promotion and have a number of experienced internationals to rely upon such as Cameroon’s Marlyse Ngo Ndoumbouk who has 60 goals in 45 appearances. The yellows will be hoping she can emulate this if they are to survive, will be difficult though! Predicted finish: 8th
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