The 2011–12 Division 1 Féminine season was the 38th since its establishment.

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

are the defending champions. The league schedule was announced on 31 March 2011 and the fixtures were determined on 10 June. The season began on 3 September 2011 and ended on 2 June 2012. The winter break was in effect from 11 December 2011 to 7 January 2012.

Teams

There will be three promoted teams from the Division 2 Féminine, the second level of women's football in France, replacing the three teams that were relegated from the Division 1 Féminine following the 2010–11 season. A total of 12 teams will compete in the league with three clubs suffering relegation to the second division, Division 1 Féminine.

La Roche-sur-Yon La Roche-sur-Yon () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is ''Yonnais''. History The town expanded significantly after Napo ...

was the first club to suffer relegation from the first division to the Division 2 Féminine. The club's impending drop occurred on 17 May 2011 following the team's 6–1 defeat to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

. The negative result made it mathematically impossible for La Roche-sur-Yon to seize the ninth position in the table, which would have allowed the club to remain in the first division. On the final day of the league season, both

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 ...

and

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 ...

were relegated to the second division. Toulouse were relegated after losing 5–1 to the champions

. Le Mans drew 0–0 with Saint Étienne, but were unable to pass

Yzeure Yzeure () is a commune in the department of Allier in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of central France. Population Twin towns – sister cities Yzeure is twinned with: * Bendorf, Germany * Gherla Gherla (; hu, Szamosújvár; german ...

, whom it was equal on points with, in the standings due to goal difference.

Vendenheim Vendenheim (, ;; gsw, label=Alemannic, Vangene, gsw-FR, Fangene) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department, Alsace, administrative region of Grand Est, northeastern France. It has been the eastern terminus of the LGV Est high-speed rail from Pari ...

was the first club from the Division 2 Féminine to earn a place in the first division after winning Group A of the league. Vendenheim won its group by a 20-point margin.

Soyaux Soyaux ( or ) is a commune in the Charente department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in southwestern France. Population Notable people * Bruno Périer (born 1966), former professional footballer Sights * Sentier botanique de Soyaux See ...

was the second club to earn its place in the first division after defeating ES Blanquefort 4–0 win two matches to spare in its group. Vendenheim will be making its return to the first division after two seasons in the second division, while Soyaux will be back in the first division after only one season in the league. AS Muret earned promotion to the first division with only one match to spare after Aulnat Sportif 3–0 at home. On 15 June 2011, 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 ...

ruled against Muret's promotion due to the club's non-utilization of a youth academy. Second-place club FCF Monteux was subsequently inserted in Muret's place. A day after the announcement, Muret released a press release on its official website announcing its intent to appeal the ruling at the CNOSF, the National Sporting Committee of France which governs sport in France. On 18 July, the CNOSF ruled in favor of Muret allowing the club to retain its promotion to the Division 1 Féminine.

Guingamp and Stade Briochin merger

On 18 August 2011, the presidential hierarchy of men's professional club

En Avant de Guingamp En Avant Guingamp (, en, Forward Guingamp), commonly referred to as EA Guingamp, EAG, or simply Guingamp (), is a professional football club based in the commune of Guingamp in France's Brittany region. The club was founded in 1912 and play in ...

and women's club Stade Briochin announced that the clubs had reached an agreement on a merger, which will come into effect at the start of the 2011–12 season. Under the agreement, Stade Briochin will dissolve and play as the women's team of Guingamp. All other remnants of the club remain the same, such as its president, manager, and players. Teams promoted to Division 1 Féminine *

Muret Muret (; in Gascon Occitan ''Murèth'') is a commune in the Haute-Garonne department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the Occitanie region of southwestern France. Its inhabitants are called ''Muretains''. It is an outer suburb of the city o ...

Teams relegated to Division 2 Féminine *

Stadia and locations

Personnel and kits

¹ Subject to change prior to start of the season.

League table

Note: A win in D1 Féminine is worth 4 points, with 2 points for a draw and 1 for a defeat.

Results

Statistics

Top goalscorers

Last updated: 3 June 2012
Source
Official Goalscorers' Standings
/small>

Top assists

Last updated: 3 June 2012
Source
Official Assists' Table
/small>

Hat-tricks

* ⁴ Player scored 4 goals

Scoring

*First goal of the season:

Lotta Schelin Charlotta Eva Schelin (born 27 February 1984) is a Swedish former professional footballer who most recently played as a striker for FC Rosengård of the Damallsvenskan. She made her debut for the Sweden national team in March 2004 and was appo ...

for Lyon against Vendenheim (''3 September 2011'') *First own goal of the season: Noémie Freckhaus (Vendenheim) for Soyaux (''25 September 2011'') *Widest winning margin: 11 goals **Lyon 11–0 Muret (''16 October 2011'') *Highest scoring game: 11 goals **Lyon 11–0 Muret (''16 October 2011'') *Most goals scored in a match by a single team: 11 goals **Lyon 11–0 Muret (''16 October 2011'')

Discipline

*Worst overall disciplinary record (1 pt per yellow card, 3 pts per red card): 28 points ** Vendenheim (22 yellow & 2 red cards) *Best overall disciplinary record: 6 points ** Lyon (6 yellow & 0 red cards) *Most yellow cards (club): 25 ** Yzeure *Most yellow cards (player): 5 ** Faustine Roux (Yzeure) *Most red cards (club): 2 **Muret **Vendenheim *Most red cards (player): 1 ** Nora Hamou Maamar (Montpellier) ** Kadidia Diawara (Vendenheim) ** Caroline La Villa (Saint-Étienne) ** Julia Dany (Muret) ** Marine Fromantin (Muret) ** Noémie Sturm (Vendenheim)

Notable transfers

opened the transfer campaign by signing

Rodez Rodez ( or ; oc, Rodés, ) is a small city and commune in the South of France, about 150 km northeast of Toulouse. It is the prefecture of the department of Aveyron, region of Occitania (formerly Midi-Pyrénées). Rodez is the seat of the ...

star

Kenza Dali Kenza Dali (born 31 July 1991) is a French professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Aston Villa and the France national team. Club career Before joining Lyon, Dali played for Paris Saint-Germain, who she ...

. The club later raided Rodez again, this time for French women's international Delphine Blanc, while also signing youth international Solène Barbance from Toulouse. Rodez later acquired Paris Saint-Germian striker Zohra Ayachi. In September 2011, in an effort to replace Ayachi, Paris Saint-Germain recruited American striker

Allie Long Alexandra Linsley Long (born August 13, 1987) is an American soccer player who plays as a midfielder for NJ/NY Gotham FC in the National Women's Soccer League and the United States national team. She made her debut for the national team on May ...

. The defending champions

made three signings. After losing

Ingvild Stensland Ingvild Stensland (born 3 August 1981) is a former Norwegian footballer who, from August 2022, is one of the assistance coaches on Norway women's national team. As a player she last played for Stabæk FK in the Toppserien. She played as a midf ...

and backup goalkeeper Véronique Pons, manager Patrice Lair replaced the two with 18-year-old French youth international

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Makan Traoré and French senior international goalkeeper Céline Deville. In September 2011, Lyon signed Brazilian international Rosana. After winning the final edition of the

Challenge de France Challenge may refer to: * Voter challenging or caging, a method of challenging the registration status of voters * Euphemism for disability * Peremptory challenge, a dismissal of potential jurors from jury duty Places Geography *Challenge, C ...

last season, in an effort to establish themselves as league contenders,

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 ...

signed eight new players while also keeping the club's core players intact. Notables signing for the club include youth internationals Rose Lavaud and Charlotte Lorgeré, both of whom were signed from

who were relegated to the second division last season. Other notable signings during the transfer window include

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

signing Japanese international and

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for women's national association football teams. It was held from 26 June to 17 July 2011 in Germany, which won the right to host the even ...

champion

Aya Sameshima is a Japanese footballer. Primarily a left back, she currently plays for Omiya Ardija Ventus in the WE League and has over 100 caps for the Japan national team. Club career Sameshima was born in Utsunomiya on 16 June 1987. She played you ...

signing former

captain Claire Guillard,

Juvisy Juvisy-sur-Orge (, literally ''Juvisy on Orge'') is a commune in the Essonne department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located 18 km south-east of Paris, a few kilometres south of Orly Airport. The site of the town has been occu ...

acquiring both goalkeeper Morgan Mancion and defender Julie Debever from

Hénin-Beaumont Hénin-Beaumont (; pcd, Hinnin-Biaumont) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Hénin-Beaumont used to be a coalmining town and is now a light industrial town situated some east of L ...

, Rodez signing senior international goalkeeper Karima Benameur, and newly promoted

raiding third division club Arlac Mérignac for three players; 17-year-old striker Eva Sumo, starting goalkeeper Audrey Souletis, and Fidélia Poussil. Poussil had led Arlac Mérignac in goals during the 2010–11 Division 2 Féminine season as the club ultimately were relegated.

References

External links

Official site

Standings and Statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Division 1 Feminine 2011-12

Fra A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

2011–12 in French football

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...