History of Ligue 1 and its clubs | OneFootball

Founded in 1932, Ligue 1 (formerly National and Division 1) is the top division of French football. Ligue 1 is the name of the top division of the French football league since 2002 before it was called Division 1. The top division of French national football, Ligue 1, is the top men’s professional football league with 20 teams within the French Federation.

Marseille’s most dominant club is the French national football team, which has won 10 Ligue 1 titles and performed well in Europe. Their last promotion to the league was in the 2009-10 season. Nantes won the company eight times and was runner-up seven times.

Marseille have always been a top-level team and have won Ligue 1 a total of 4 times, and it was in the 1958-59 season they were promoted to play in the French top flight. Saint-Étienne is the most successful club with ten league titles in the country, while Olympique Lyon is the club that has won the most consecutive titles (seven between 2002 and 2008). Olympique Marseille is the most successful French Ligue 1 club along with Saint-Étienne with over ten titles.

Olympique Marseille won their first title outside of professional football in 1928-29 and had to wait over eight years to revive the French Ligue 1, but now into the professional era in 1936-37. Marseille won their first-ever European Cup two years later when Marseille won the UEFA Europa League after beating Italian club Milan 1-0. Since the creation of the European Cup (now the UEFA Champions League) in 1955, only one French club won the tournament – Marseille in 1992-93. The French Premier League was formerly known as Division 1.

Due to Ligue 1 being unaffiliated with regional leagues, the LFP and the French Football Federation do not recognise leagues won by member clubs. Therefore, according to these two organisations, the years 1939–1945 do not exist. The French Ligue 1 continued to break away from the other top four World Cups as one of the best with Paris Saint-Germain, Olympique Lyon, Olympique Marseille and Monaco. The dominance of Paris Saint-Germain has led football fans to judge the French Ligue 1 as a personal show in which Paris Saint-Germain can afford the luxury of lifting all the trophies available in France. Paris Saint-Germain has dominated Ligue 1 since their acquisition by Qatar Investment Authority in 2011 and look set to win the French title in the coming years.

Having won 7 titles in the last eight seasons, Paris Saint-Germain is the powerhouse of French national football and the UEFA Champions League. With 71 seasons in Ligue 1, Olympique de Marseille holds the record for most elite seasons, while Paris Saint-Germain holds the record for league longevity with 47 consecutive seasons (1974 to present). Of the clubs mentioned above, Olympique Marseille is far from it and is currently the most successful French Ligue 1 club with over ten titles.