The 2010–11 Ligue 2 season (known as ''Ligue 2

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

'' for sponsorship reasons) was the 72nd since its establishment.

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 22 May 2010 and the season began on 6 August and ended on 27 May 2011. The winter break would be in effect between 22 December and 14 January 2011. There were three promoted teams from the

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...

, replacing the three teams that were relegated from Ligue 2 following the 2009–10 season. A total of 20 teams currently competes in the league with three clubs suffering relegation to the third division, the

. All clubs that secured Ligue 2 status for the season were subject to approval by the DNCG before becoming eligible to participate.The DNCG is responsible for overseeing the legal and financial accounts of professional football clubs in France. If clubs operating in

French football Association football is the most popular sport in France. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the national governing body and is responsible for overseeing all aspects of association football in the cou ...

don't meet the DNCG's expectations, they can face sanctions, such as relegation. In addition,

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

sportswear Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons. Typical sport-specific garments ...

company Puma, whom the

Ligue de Football Professionnel The Ligue de Football Professionnel (, ''Professional Football League''), commonly known as the LFP, is a French governing body that runs the major professional football leagues in France. It was founded in 1944 and serves under the authority o ...

share a

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments o ...

with, provided a brand new match ball for the new season.

Teams

Grenoble lat, Gratianopolis , commune status = Prefecture and commune , image = Panorama grenoble.png , image size = , caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...

was the first club to suffer relegation to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

. The club's impending drop occurred on 10 April 2010 following the team's 4–0 defeat to

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

. On 3 May 2010, both

US Boulogne Union Sportive de Boulogne-sur-Mer Côte d'Opale (commonly referred to as US Boulogne or frequently, simply Boulogne) is a French association football club based in the commune of Boulogne-sur-Mer. The club was founded in 1898 and currently pla ...

and

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

were relegated to Ligue 2 following defeats. Le Mans relegation was confirmed following their 3–2 loss away to Nancy, while Boulogne suffered relegation after losing 1–0 to

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; frp, Sant-Etiève; oc, Sant Estève, ) is a city and the prefecture of the Loire department in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Saint-Étienne is the t ...

, who both Boulogne and Le Mans were trailing. Boulogne's return to Ligue 2 meant a short-lived stay in the highest division. The club had successfully earned promotion to Ligue 1 the previous year. Due to suffering relegation to Ligue 2, Le Mans will unveil their new logo and new name, Le Mans Football Club, as well as their new stadium,

MMArena The Stade Marie-Marvingt (previously MMArena) is a multi-use stadium in Le Mans, France, that opened in January 2011. It is used mostly for football matches and hosted the home matches of Le Mans FC. The stadium has a capacity of 25,064 people. It ...

, while playing in the second division. In the Championnat National,

Évian Evian ( , ; , stylized as evian) is a French company that bottles and commercialises mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. It produces over 2 billion plastic bottles per year. Today, Evia ...

was the first club to achieve promotion to

after defeating

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; pcd, Anmien, or ) is a city and commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme department in the region of Hauts-de-France. In 2021, the population of ...

1–0 on 16 April. On 7 May,

Stade Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1910 and plays in Ligue 1, the top level of Football in France, having been promoted from Ligue 2 in 2018. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Aug ...

made their return to Ligue 2 after one season in the Championnat National following a convincing 4–2 win over

Luzenac Luzenac (; oc, Lusenac) is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Luzenac-Garanou station has rail connections to Toulouse, Foix and Latour-de-Carol. Population Sports * Luzenac is also home to the football club Luz ...

. With

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

drawing with

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

the same day, Reims' second-place position and promotion was secured. The following week, the final club in National achieved promotion to Ligue 2 with Troyes' 2–0 win over Cassis Carnoux. Teams relegated to Ligue 2 *

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

Teams promoted to Ligue 2 *

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

Stadia and locations

After earning promotion to

for the 2010–11 season,

were rumored to be pursuing a move to play their home matches at the Stade de la Praille in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

after it was determined that their current facility, the

Stade Joseph-Moynat Stade Joseph-Moynat is a multi-purpose stadium in Thonon-les-Bains, France. It is currently used for American football matches and is the home stadium of Thonon Black Panthers.http://www.elitefoot.com/france/equipes/d1/blacks/team.htm The stadium ...

, did not meet the

's standards.

Thonon-les-Bains Thonon-les-Bains (; frp, Tonon), often simply referred to as Thonon, is a subprefecture of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. In 2018, the commune had a population of 35,241. Thonon-les-Bains is ...

, the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

where the club situates itself, is a few kilometers from the Swiss border and is only , a 45-minute car drive, from the city of Geneva. It was reported that the club's president, Patrick Trotignon, had been in the process of advocating for the move since the beginning of the 2009–10 Championnat National season just in case the club had achieved promotion to the second division. The vice-president of Swiss club

Servette FC Servette FC is a Swiss football club based in Geneva, founded in March 1890 with rugby as its first sporting activity, and named after the Geneva district of the same name. The football section was created on 17 January 1900. They play in the S ...

, who occupy the stadium, questioned the move citing possible schedule conflicts, as well as the health of the pitch if both clubs were to use the stadium on a weekly basis. However, his claims were refuted by Benoît Genecand, who serves as president of Fondation du Stade de Genève (FSG), which owns and operates the facility. The club responded immediately to Genecand's comments via a

press release A press release is an official statement delivered to members of the news media for the purpose of providing information, creating an official statement, or making an announcement directed for public release. Press releases are also considere ...

posted on the club's official website. Évian petitioned to the State Council of Geneva and obtained approval from the LFP for the move in early May. On 20 May 2010, Évian received a favorable ruling from the

French Football Federation The French Football Federation ( FFF; french: Fédération Française de Football) is the governing body of football in France. It also includes the overseas departments ( Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Martinique, Mayotte and Réunion), the over ...

with the Federal Council voting in favor of the move. According to the federation, the move now had to be agreed upon by a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

executive committee, which is composed of seventeen officials. On 8 June, UEFA officially denied Évian's request to play at the Stade de la Praille meaning the club will likely play its home matches at the Parc des Sports in nearby

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

. ^{1Source
/small>

²Temporary facility as current home stadia, the Stade Joseph-Moynat

Stade Joseph-Moynat is a multi-purpose stadium in Thonon-les-Bains, France. It is currently used for American football matches and is the home stadium of Thonon Black Panthers.http://www.elitefoot.com/france/equipes/d1/blacks/team.htm The stadium ...
, doesn't meet the LFP's stadium criteria.

³Replaced the Stade Léon-Bollée

Stade Léon-Bollée was a multi-purpose stadium in Le Mans, France. It is used mostly for football matches and was the home stadium of Le Mans UC72 until 2011, when it was replaced by MMArena
The Stade Marie-Marvingt (previously MMArena) is a mul ...
in January 2011.

Personnel and kits

¹ Subject to change during the season.

Managerial changes

In-season

League table

Results

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Last updated: 25 May 2011

Source
Official Goalscorers' Standings
/small>

Assists table

Last updated: 25 May 2011

Source
Official Assists' Table
/small>

Awards

Yearly

The nominees for the Ligue 2 Player of the Year, Goalkeeper of the Year, and Manager of the Year. The winners were determine at the annual UNFP Awards, which was held on 22 May. The winners will be displayed in bold.

Ligue 2 Player of the Year

Goalkeeper of the Year

Manager of the Year

Team of the Year

List of 2010–11 transfers

References

External links

Official site

{{DEFAULTSORT:2010-11 Ligue 2
Ligue 2 seasons
French
2}