Ligue 1 (;
League 1, formerly known as
Division 1), is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the
French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the
Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being
Ligue 2. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of
promotion and relegation with Ligue 2. Seasons run from August to May, with teams playing 38 games each totaling 380 games in the season. 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. Ligue 1 is one of the top national leagues, currently ranked
fifth in Europe behind the Spanish
La Liga, English
Premier League, the German
Bundesliga and the Italian
Serie A. Ligue 1 was inaugurated on 11 September 1932 under the name
National before switching to
Division 1 after a year of existence. The name lasted until 2002 before switching to its current name.
AS Saint-Etienne is the most successful club with ten league titles in France while
Olympique Lyon is the club that has won the most consecutive titles (seven between 2002 and 2008). With the presence of 66 seasons in Ligue 1, the
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard and
Olympique de Marseille hold the record for most seasons among the elite, while
FC Nantes holds the League record for longevity with 44 consecutive seasons (1963–2007). The current champions are
Paris Saint-Germain, who won their fifth title in the
2014–15 season.