The 2011–12 Championnat de France amateur season was the 14th since its establishment.

Gazélec Ajaccio Gazélec Football Club Ajaccio (), commonly referred to as GFC Ajaccio, GFCA, Gazélec Ajaccio or simply Gazélec (), is a French football club from Ajaccio, Corsica. Founded in 1910, Gazélec played one season in Ligue 1 in the 2015–16 seaso ...

was the previous season's club champions, while the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

of professional club

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

were the defending reserve team champions. The teams and groups was announced on 18 July 2011 and the fixtures were determined on 28 July. The season began on 13 August 2011 and ended on 2 June 2012. The winter break was in effect from 23 December to 6 January.

Teams

There were ten promoted teams from the

Championnat de France amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

, replacing the 12 teams that were relegated from the Championnat de France amateur following the 2010–11 season. A total of 72 teams competed in the league with seven clubs suffering relegation to the fifth division, the

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

French football Association football is the most popular sport in France. In 2024, 53% of people in France declared an interest in football, with 26% being very interested. The French Football Federation (FFF, Fédération Française de Football) is the natio ...

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

Promotion and relegation

Teams relegated to Championnat de France amateur *

Alfortville Alfortville () is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. It is one of the 13 communes in the interc ...

Bayonne Bayonne () is a city in southwestern France near the France–Spain border, Spanish border. It is a communes of France, commune and one of two subprefectures in France, subprefectures in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques departments of France, departm ...

* Plabennec *

Rodez Rodez (, , ; , ) 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 communau ...

Teams promoted to Championnat de France amateur *

AC Amiens Athlétic Club Amiens is a French association football club founded in 1977. They are based in Amiens, Picardie, located in northern France, north of Paris. As of the 2023–24 season, they play in Régional 1 the sixth tier of the French footba ...

* Bordeaux BPromoted to the Championnat de France amateur in place of

Chambéry Chambéry (, , ; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Chambèri'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the southeastern ...

who were administratively relegated back to the Championnat de France amateur 2 by the DNCG. *

Concarneau Concarneau (, meaning "Bay of Cornouaille") is a Communes of France, commune in the Finistère Departments of France, department of Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in Northwestern France. Concarneau is bordered to the west by the Baie ...

Dunkerque Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

* Marseille Consolat *

Mont-de-Marsan Mont-de-Marsan (; Gascon dialect, Occitan: ''Lo Mont de Marçan'') is a communes of France, commune and capital of the Landes (department), Landes Departments of France, department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Population Milit ...

Pontivy Pontivy (; ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Morbihan Departments of France, department in Brittany (administrative region), Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the confluence of the river Blavet and the Canal de Nantes à Brest. ...

Sarre-Union Sarre-Union (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. It consists of two older towns that were unified on 16 June 1794. On the east bank of the river Sarre is the town of Bouquenom () and on the west b ...

Promoted to the Championnat de France amateur in place of Strasbourg B who cannot appear in the same division as its parent club. *

Saumur Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France. The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...

* Valenciennes B

DNCG rulings

On 26 May 2011, following a preliminary review of each club's administrative and financial accounts in the Championnat National, the DNCG ruled that Pacy Vallée-d'Eure,

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

, Gap,

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

, and

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) 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 Internatio ...

would be relegated to the

Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

(CFA) after the organization determined that the clubs were enduring financial difficulties. The organization also excluded

Toulon Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon h ...

from participating in the CFA and relegated both

Agde Agde (; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Hérault. It is the Mediterranean port of the Canal du Midi. It is situated on an ancient basalt volcano, hence the name "Black Pearl of the Mediterranée". Location Agde is locate ...

and

to the fifth division. On 4 June, the DNCG announced that, for the second consecutive season,

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

would not be allowed to ascend to the CFA. All clubs had the option to appeal the rulings. On 24 June 2011, Pacy Vallée-d'Eure officials confirmed in a press conference that it would accept its relegation to the fourth division in an effort to smooth over its €350,000 debt into next year. Two weeks later, on 4 July,

confirmed on its website that the Appeals Board of the DNCG had informed club officials that it will be relegated to the fourth division. Grenoble, subsequently, entered

liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a Company (law), company is brought to an end. The assets and property of the business are redistributed. When a firm has been liquidated, it is sometimes referred to as :wikt:wind up#Noun, w ...

on 7 July, which made the club unable to participate in the CFA. On the same day as the Grenoble ruling, the DNCG also rejected the appeals of Toulon and Calais. On 8 July 2011, the Appeals Board of the DNCG confirmed that both Strasbourg and Gap would remain relegated after the clubs failed to convince the board of its intent to fix its financial liabilities. Strasbourg has a deficit of over €4 million, while Gap's debt has exceeded over €80,000. Following the appeal denial, Gap officials announced that the club would appeal to the CNOSF, the National Sporting Committee of France. On 13 July, Agde successfully appealed to the DNCG and was, subsequently, re-instated into the CFA, while Chambéry had its appeal rejected. On 19 July, Cannes had its appeal to remain in the Championnat National rejected by the DNCG. Similar to Gap, following the decision, Cannes announced its intent to appeal the ruling at the CNOSF. On 29 July, the CNOSF gave a favorable ruling for Cannes recommending to the federation that Cannes should remain in the third division. On 3 August, the CNOSF confirmed the demotion of Gap to the Championnat de France amateur. The French Football Federation determined whether Cannes would be allowed to participate in the league on 4 August, one day before the season was set to begin at the federation's annual executive meeting. At the meeting, the Federation re-affirmed its decision to relegate Cannes to the CFA stating it "trust the DNCG and followed its decisions". On 24 August, the Executive Committee of the French Football Federation announced that

RC Strasbourg Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace, commonly known as RC Strasbourg (, ; RCS) or simply just Racing, is a French professional association football club founded in 1906 and based in the city of Strasbourg, Alsace. It became a professional club in ...

would be relegated to the CFA 2 after a

tribunal ordered the club to enter liquidation. No club was named in Strasbourg's place, which left Group B with 17 clubs.

League tables

Group A

Results

Group B

Results

Group C

Results

Group D

Results

Top goalscorers

Notes

References

External links

Official site

Standings and statistics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Championnat De France Amateur 2011-12 4 Fra

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...