Élite 1 Féminine (since 2018, and previously Top 8 from 2015 to 2018) is the top national league for
women's rugby union
Women's rugby union is a full contact team sport based on running with the ball in hand. The same laws are used in men's rugby union with the same sized pitch and same equipment. Women's rugby has become popular recently. These days, women's r ...
clubs in France. It was founded from the 1971–1972 season under the aegis of the French Women's Rugby Association before being taken over by the French Women's Rugby Federation, it has been organized by the
French Rugby Federation
The French Rugby Federation (, ; FFR) is the governing body for rugby union in France. It is responsible for the French national team and the Ligue nationale de rugby that administers the country's professional leagues.
History
Before the FFR ...
since 1989. The first season was won by the ASVEL Rugby women's side.
The championship takes place in two phases: a so-called qualification phase, which is contested by all the teams, and a final phase which is played by direct elimination. From 2015 to 2018, the championship is referred to as the ''Top 8''. In 2018, the championship went from a single pool of 8 clubs to two pools of 16. The 8 best clubs qualified for the final phase. Since the 2018–2019 season, two clubs have been relegated to Élite 2 at the end of the championship.
As with men, the most successful club in France is
Toulouse
Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...
: it is Toulouse Fémina Sports, with 9 French championship titles, in 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1982, 1984 and 1985. Montpellier RC is the second most successful team with eight titles (2007, 2010, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019). In a recent reform in 2021, the league has seen the number of teams decrease from 16 to 14 and there will only be 12 teams next season.
ASM Romagnat won the Élite 1 2020–2021 season.
Teams
2024–2025 Élite 1 Féminine season teams:
Champions
1970–79
1980–89
1990–99
2000–09
2010–19
2020–29
Winners and runners up
*Current Élite 1 Féminine participating clubs indicated in bold
References
External links
Official site
{{Women's rugby union
Women's rugby union competitions in Europe
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
Women
A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl.
Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...
Women's rugby union competitions in France
Women's sports leagues in France
1971 establishments in France
Sports leagues established in 1971