Ligue 3 played its first full season in 2025-2026. Long demanded by lower-ranked professional clubs, opposed by some Ligue 2 presidents who feared a dilution of standards, and supported by the FFF as a tool for regional development, France's new third division delivered on some of its promises and revealed its limitations on others. An assessment after its inaugural season.
Why Ligue 3 Was Created
The starting point was simple: the gap in professionalism, resources, and infrastructure between Ligue 2 and National was too wide. Clubs relegated from Ligue 2 found themselves in National with budgets cut by two-thirds, stadiums that no longer met the criteria of their former level, and players unable to find a comparable competitive level below L2.
Ligue 3, launched with 18 clubs for its first season, was intended to bridge this gap. It operates on a semi-professional model, with stadium and support-staff requirements between those of Ligue 2 and the current National, renamed National 1. Clubs can purchase official jerseys from approved kit suppliers under the agreement with the LFP.
The structure of the new French professional football pyramid
Moving to a semi-professional format imposes concrete requirements on clubs: stadiums with at least 4,000 covered seats, a permanent medical team, an approved training center, and the submission of a balanced budget to the DNCG at the start of the season. These criteria ruled out several applicants during the inaugural season.
The 18 founding clubs
The selection of the 18 founding clubs combined promotion from National 1 (the best teams not already qualified for L2), the inclusion of relegated Ligue 2 clubs meeting the criteria, and selection by the LFP based on applications from certain clubs with strong regional potential.
The geography of the founding clubs reflects the territorial balance sought by the LFP: no overrepresentation of Paris, but clubs rooted in medium-sized population areas that had never had access to structured professional football.
The figures from the first season
Average attendance of 3,800 spectators per match is the figure attracting the most attention. For the first season of a competition without national television coverage, this is considered an encouraging result by the LFP. Some stadiums, particularly in Grenoble and at Red Star during regional derbies, exceeded 7,000 spectators.
The final standings and the teams promoted to Ligue 2
| Pos. | Club | Pts | G | N | D | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grenoble Foot 38 | 71 | 22 | 5 | 7 | 63-31 |
| 2 | Red Star FC | 67 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 58-34 |
| 3 | Pau FC | 62 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 54-38 |
| 4 | FC Martigues | 58 | 17 | 7 | 10 | 49-40 |
| 5 | Villefranche Beaujolais | 55 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 47-42 |
| 6 | US Orléans | 52 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 44-41 |
| ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... | ... |
| 17 | Stade Briochin | 31 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 32-58 |
| 18 | Bergerac Périgord FC | 24 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 28-67 |
Grenoble and Red Star FC will therefore join Ligue 2 for the 2026–2027 season. Both clubs have solid infrastructure and established supporter bases, limiting the risk of immediate relegation. Bergerac and Briochin, relegated to National 1, failed to adapt to the physical and tactical demands of semi-professional football played over a full 34-match season.
Lessons from this first season
The main source of satisfaction is the financial stability of the lineup: none of the 18 clubs experienced a failure during the season, something that was not guaranteed given the still-fragile business model of several participants. The DNCG played its watchdog role, and the monitoring procedures introduced before the launch have paid off.
Media visibility remains the main concern. Without national television coverage, Ligue 3 struggles to exist beyond its local areas. The LFP is currently negotiating an agreement with a streaming platform for the 2026–2027 and 2027–2028 seasons, which would mark a turning point in the competition’s visibility.
For supporters of Ligue 3 clubs and third-tier football, Elite Fanstore offers a wide range of French club jerseys, including several teams from the new division.