1973–74 French Division 2

Division 2
Season	1973–74
Champions	Lille
Promoted	Lille; Red Star; Paris Saint-Germain
Relegated	Poitiers; Le Mans; La Rochelle; Ajaccio; Nevers; Arles-Avignon; Vittel [fr]
	← 1972–73 1974–75 →

The 1973–74 French Division 2 was the 33rd season since its establishment.^[1] It was constituted by two groups (A and B) with 18 clubs each. The winners of each group won promotion to the 1974–75 French Division 1.^[2] Additionally, the winners met in a two-legged championship play–off. The victor was crowned champion and awarded the trophy.^[3] Meanwhile, the runners-up of both groups faced each other in a two-legged play-off, with the victor claiming the last promotion spot.^[4] On the other hand, the bottom three clubs of each group were relegated to the 1974–75 French Division 3 [fr], while Ajaccio abandoned its professional status and joined them.^[5]

The season began on 1 July 1973 and ended on 5 June 1974. The winter break was in effect from 22 December 1973 to 12 January 1974. Two points were awarded for a win, with no points for a loss. If the match was drawn, each team received one point. Likewise, this season was the first time that bonus points were awarded: any team scoring three or more goals in a match received an additional point.^[2] During the play–offs, if the aggregate score was tied after two legs, the match was decided by extra time and/or penalty shootout.^[3]

League tables

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Lille (C, P)	34	24	8	2	68	21	+47	11	67	Promotion to 1974–75 French Division 1 Qualification to the Finale de la Division 2
2	Valenciennes	34	21	7	6	78	29	+49	15	64	Qualification for Division 1 Playoffs
3	Rouen	34	18	6	10	59	31	+28	14	56
4	Boulogne	34	16	10	8	58	39	+19	11	53
5	Laval	34	16	10	8	54	40	+14	6	48
6	Lorient	34	14	10	10	50	34	+16	7	45
7	Besançon	34	14	8	12	53	50	+3	5	41
8	Dunkerque	34	13	7	14	49	50	−1	7	40
9	Brest	34	13	9	12	41	43	−2	2	37
10	Bourges	34	10	11	13	36	54	−18	4	35
11	Chaumont	34	9	12	13	45	58	−13	4	34
12	Montluçon	34	11	5	18	52	61	−9	6	33
13	Cambrai	34	11	9	14	42	55	−13	2	33
14	Blois	34	10	9	15	36	52	−16	4	33
15	Hazebrouck	34	10	8	16	45	54	−9	4	32
16	Poitiers (R)	34	10	7	17	43	61	−18	5	32	Relegation to 1974–75 French Division 3 [fr]
17	Le Mans (R)	34	5	8	21	29	63	−34	5	23
18	ES La Rochelle (R)	34	5	8	21	29	72	−43	0	18

Source: Footballdatabase.eu
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Red Star (P)	34	19	12	3	71	29	+42	11	61	1974–75 French Division 1 Championship play-offs
2	Paris Saint-Germain (P)	34	19	6	9	70	42	+28	13	57	1974–75 French Division 1 Promotion play-offs
3	Toulouse	34	17	5	12	64	42	+22	9	48
4	Avignon	34	15	10	9	47	33	+14	6	46
5	Toulon	34	15	8	11	50	39	+11	8	46
6	CA Mantes-la-Ville	34	14	7	13	47	45	+2	4	39
7	Ajaccio (R)	34	12	9	13	46	44	+2	6	39	1974–75 French Division 3 [fr]
8	Cannes	34	11	12	11	39	42	−3	5	39
9	Angoulême	34	13	8	13	45	49	−4	5	39
10	Mulhouse	34	12	7	15	49	56	−7	7	38
11	Entente BFN	34	11	9	14	42	48	−6	5	36
12	Sète	34	13	8	13	30	51	−21	2	36
13	Châteauroux	34	10	10	14	43	47	−4	5	35
14	Gueugnon	34	10	9	15	46	56	−10	5	34
15	Béziers Hérault	34	11	8	15	35	46	−11	4	34
16	Nevers (R)	34	10	10	14	37	49	−12	4	34	1974–75 French Division 3 [fr]
17	Arles-Avignon (R)	34	9	8	17	44	67	−23	4	30
18	CS Vittel (R)	34	8	8	18	27	49	−22	2	26

Source: Histoire du PSG
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Championship play-offs

30 May 1974

Red Star	2–0	Lille
Victor Hugo Jarra 5' (pen.) Ducuing 89'	Report

Stade de Paris, Saint-Ouen

Attendance: 4,084

Referee: Michel Kitabdjian

5 June 1974

Lille	5–1 (a.e.t.)	Red Star
Desmenez [fr] 7, 75' Gauthier 35' Coste 108' Verhoeve [fr] 115'	Report	? 90'

Stade Henri-Jooris, Lille

Attendance: 7,608

Referee: Roger Machin

Promotion play-offs

31 May 1974

Valenciennes	2–1	Paris Saint-Germain
Jeskowiak [fr] 61' Wilczek 75' (pen.)	Report	M'Pelé 22'

Stade Nungesser, Valenciennes

Attendance: 11,000

Referee: Robert Héliès

4 June 1974

Paris Saint-Germain	4–2	Valenciennes
M'Pelé 35' Dogliani 54, 75' Marella 61'	Report	Neubert [fr] 39' Wilczek 48'

Parc des Princes, Paris

Attendance: 19,511

Referee: Robert Wurtz

References

^ "Palmarès: Les champions de France depuis 1934/1935". LFP. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Calendrier / Resultats: 1973/1974". LFP. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Finale de la Division 2 1974". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 6 August 2013.
^ "Barrages Ligue 1 1974". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
^ "Classement: 1974/1975". LFP. Retrieved 6 August 2013.

External links

France - List of final tables (RSSSF)

[1] "Palmarès: Les champions de France depuis 1934/1935". LFP. Retrieved 6 August 2013.

[cr-2] "Calendrier / Resultats: 1973/1974". LFP. Retrieved 6 August 2013.

[fd2-3] "Finale de la Division 2 1974". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 6 August 2013.

[4] "Barrages Ligue 1 1974". Footballdatabase.eu. Retrieved 30 July 2013.

[5] "Classement: 1974/1975". LFP. Retrieved 6 August 2013.

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v t e Division 2 / Ligue 2 seasons
Division 2 (1933–2002)	1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02
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List of French second division champions