# 2016–17 Ligue 2

The 2016–17 Ligue 2 2017(referred to as the Domino's Ligue 2 for sponsorship reasons) season is the 78th season since its establishment. The fixtures were announced on 6 June 2016.

## Teams

There are in the league, with three promoted teams from Championnat National replacing the three teams that were relegated from Ligue 2 following the 2015–16 season. All clubs that secured Ligue 2 status for the season were subject to approval by the DNCG before becoming eligible to participate.
As of 30 May 2016, the following teams have mathematically achieved qualification for the 2016–17 season. They are listed below in alphabetical order.
* Ajaccio
* Amiens
* Auxerre
* Bourg-en-Bresse
* Brest
* Clermont
* Gazélec Ajaccio
* Laval
* Le Havre
* Lens
* Nîmes
* Niort
* Orléans
* Red Star
* Reims
* Sochaux
* Strasbourg
* Tours
* Troyes
* Valenciennes

## Title & Promotion run

Going into the final day of the season, 6 teams had a chance of getting promoted and winning the title. Strasbourg, Brest, Troyes, Lens, Nîmes and Amiens all had a chance at winning the league and gaining promotion.

### Title run-in

All matches were at the same time. The matches were Strasbourg v. Bourg Péronnas, Reims v. Amiens, Nimes v. Laval, Lens v. Niort, Brest v. GFC Ajaccio and Troyes v. Sochaux.

### The teams last season in Ligue 1

Strasbourg last played in the 2008, Nimes in 1993, Lens in 2015, ESTAC Troyes in 2016 and Brest in 2013. Amiens is still the only team of the five others who never completes the top-tier.

### First Half

Lens scored the first goal thanks to Kermit Erasmus against Niort in the 7th minute and climb to the first place. Later, Aboubakar Kamara opened the scoring for Amiens in the 9th minute and took the first place to Lens, Cristian Lopez scored the 2–0 lead for Lens in the 15th minute. At the same time, Kader Mangane opened the scoring for Strasbourg and climb to the first place they will keep permanently. On the 18th minute, an own goal of Bourg-en-Bresse defender Kévin Hoggas will granting a 2–0 lead for the Alsacian club. On 23rd and 40th minutes respectively, Florent Ogier and Florian Tardieu scored goals against Troyes. Earlier, Brest scored three goals in the span of six minutes, which dropped Troyes to fifth place. Yoane Wissa scored for Laval to make it 1-0.

### Second Half

On the 52nd minute, Olivier Kemen scored for GFC Ajaccio. Sada Thioub scored the equalizer-goal for Reims in the 57th minute. One minute later, Andé Dona Ndoh reduced the score for Niort via a penalty. Two minutes later, Stéphane Darbion reduced the score for Troyes. Two minutes later, Diego Rigonato scored the equalizer-goal for Reims and dropped Amiens to the fourth place, granting a promotion play-off. Habib Diallo scored earlier for Brest following by a goal of Cristian Battocchio in the 72nd minute. Cristian Battocchio scored two goals in the 72nd and 85th minutes respectively. Benjamin Nivet scored the equalizer goal in the 77th minute. On the 87th minute, Téji Tedy Savanier scored the winning goal for Nimes, but Samuel Grandsir scored a vital goal for Troyes that could secure promotion and dropped Lens to promotion play-off. Cristian López scored another goal to Lens in the stoppage time. But a dramatical last-minute goal thanks to Amiens striker, Emmanuel Bourgaud in the last minute of the injury time grants Amiens to climb in the second place and earning their first Ligue 1 season ever, it forced Troyes to completes the promotion play-off against Lorient and Lens a fourth place, and a remaining in the second-tier.

## Team changes
### Stadia and locations

| Club | Location | Venue | Capacity |
| Ajaccio | Ajaccio | Stade François Coty | 10,660 |
| Amiens | Amiens | Stade de la Licorne | 12,097 |
| Auxerre | Auxerre | Stade de l'Abbé-Deschamps | 21,379 |
| Bourg-en-Bresse | Bourg-en-Bresse | Stade Marcel-Verchère | 11,400 |
| Brest | Brest | Stade Francis-Le Blé | 15,097 |
| Clermont Foot | Clermont-Ferrand | Stade Gabriel Montpied | 11,980 |
| Gazélec Ajaccio | Ajaccio | Stade Ange Casanova | 6,000 |
| Laval | Laval | Stade Francis Le Basser | 18,607 |
| Le Havre | Le Havre | Stade Océane | 25,000 |
| Lens | Lens | Stade Bollaert-Delelis | 38,223 |
| Nîmes | Nîmes | Stade des Costières | 18,482 |
| Niort | Niort | Stade René Gaillard | 10,886 |
| Orléans | Orléans | Stade de la Source | 7,000 |
| Red Star | Saint-Ouen | Stade Jean-Bouin $^1$ | 20,000 |
| Reims | Reims | Stade Auguste Delaune | 21,684 |
| Sochaux | Montbéliard | Stade Auguste Bonal | 20,000 |
| Strasbourg | Strasbourg | Stade de la Meinau | 29,230 |
| Tours | Tours | Stade de la Vallée du Cher | 16,247 |
| Troyes | Troyes | Stade de l'Aube | 21,684 |
| Valenciennes | Valenciennes | Stade du Hainaut | 25,172 |
* $^1$ Red Star original stadium, Stade Bauer, is not permitted to host professional matches. The club are playing their home games at Stade Jean-Bouin.

### Personnel and kits

| Team | Manager$^1$ | Captain$^1$ | Kit Manufacturer$^1$ | Main Sponsor$^1$ |
| Ajaccio | Olivier Pantaloni | Johan Cavalli | adidas | Suite Home |
| Amiens | Christophe Pélissier | Thomas Monconduit | adidas | Intersport |
| Auxerre | Cédric Daury | Lionel Mathis | Airness | Remorques LOUALT,Vitrans |
| Bourg-en-Bresse | Hervé Della Maggiore | Jimmy Nirlo | adidas | BestDrive |
| Brest | Jean-Marc Furlan | Bruno Grougi | Nike | Quéguiner |
| Clermont | Corinne Diacre | Cédric Avinel | Patrick | Crédit Mutuel |
| Gazélec Ajaccio | Jean-Luc Vannuchi | Louis Poggi | Macron | Carrefour, Casino D'Ajaccio |
| Laval | Thierry Goudet | Hassane Alla | Kappa | Lactel |
| Le Havre | Oswald Tanchot | Alexandre Bonnet | Joma | Api |
| Lens | Alain Casanova | Loïck Landre | Umbro | Azerbaijan: Land of Fire |
| Nîmes | Bernard Blaquart | Mathieu Michel | Puma | Marie Blachère |
| Niort | Denis Renaud | Alliou Dembélé | Puma | Restaurant Le Billon (home), Cheminées Poujoulat (away) |
| Orléans | Didier Ollé-Nicolle | Joël Sami | Kappa | CTVL |
| Red Star | Claude Robin | Lloyd Palun | adidas | |
| Reims | Michel Der Zakarian | Mickaël Tacalfred | Hungaria | Sanei Ascenseurs |
| Sochaux | Albert Cartier | Johann Ramaré | Lotto | Peugeot |
| Strasbourg | Thierry Laurey | Ernest Seka | Hummel | es energies |
| Tours | Gilbert Zoonekynd | Bryan Bergougnoux | Hungaria | Corsicatours |
| Troyes | Jean-Louis Garcia | Benjamin Nivet | Kappa | Babeau Seguin |
| Valenciennes | Faruk Hadžibegić | Sébastien Roudet | Kipsta | Mutuelle Just |
$^1$Subject to change during the season.

### Managerial changes

| Team | Outgoing manager | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming manager | Date of appointment |
| Reims | David Guion | End of tenure as caretaker | 23 May 2016 | Pre-season | Michel Der Zakarian | 23 May 2016 |
| Gazélec Ajaccio | Thierry Laurey | Mutual consent | 25 May 2016 | Pre-season | Jean-Luc Vannuchi | 27 May 2016 |
| Auxerre | Jean-Luc Vannuchi | End of contract | 26 May 2016 | Pre-season | Viorel Moldovan | 26 May 2016 |
| Brest | Alex Dupont | End of contract | 30 May 2016 | Pre-season | Jean-Marc Furlan | 30 May 2016 |
| Strasbourg | Jacky Duguépéroux | Sacked | 30 May 2016 | Pre-season | Thierry Laurey | 31 May 2016 |
| Lens | Antoine Kombouaré | Signed by EA Guingamp | 30 May 2016 | Pre-season | Alain Casanova | 12 June 2016 |
| Tours | Marco Simone | Sacked | 14 June 2016 | Pre-season | Fabien Mercadal | 17 July 2016 |
| Troyes | Mohamed Bradja | End of tenure as caretaker | 30 June 2016 | Pre-season | Jean-Louis Garcia | 1 July 2016 |
| Auxerre | Viorel Moldovan | Sacked | 26 September 2016 | 19th | Cédric Daury | 7 October 2016 |
| Le Havre | Bob Bradley | Signed by Swansea City | 3 October 2016 | 5th | Oswald Tanchot | 3 October 2016 |
| Laval | Denis Zanko | Sacked | 5 November 2016 | 14th | Marco Simone | 7 November 2016 |
| Red Star | Rui Almeida | Sacked | 12 December 2016 | 20th | Claude Robin | 10 January 2017 |
| Orléans | Olivier Frapolli | Sacked | 28 December 2016 | 20th | Didier Ollé-Nicolle | 28 December 2016 |
| Tours | Fabien Mercadal | Sacked | 18 February 2017 | 20th | Gilbert Zoonekynd | 27 March 2017 |
| Laval | Marco Simone | Sacked | 11 April 2017 | 20th | Thierry Goudet | 12 April 2017 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or Relegation |
| 1 | Strasbourg (C, P) | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 63 | 47 | +16 | 67 | Promotion to Ligue 1 |
| 2 | Amiens (P) | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 56 | 38 | +18 | 66 | Promotion to Ligue 1 |
| 3 | Troyes (O, P) | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 59 | 43 | +16 | 66 | Qualification to promotion play-offs |
| 4 | Lens | 38 | 18 | 11 | 9 | 59 | 40 | +19 | 65 | |
| 5 | Brest | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 58 | 44 | +14 | 65 | |
| 6 | Nîmes | 38 | 17 | 13 | 8 | 58 | 40 | +18 | 64 | |
| 7 | Reims | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 42 | 39 | +3 | 55 | |
| 8 | Le Havre | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 39 | 31 | +8 | 54 | |
| 9 | Gazélec Ajaccio | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 47 | 51 | −4 | 51 | |
| 10 | Niort | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 45 | 57 | −12 | 49 | |
| 11 | Ajaccio | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 48 | |
| 12 | Clermont Foot | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 46 | 48 | −2 | 46 | |
| 13 | Sochaux | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 38 | 43 | −5 | 46 | |
| 14 | Valenciennes | 38 | 10 | 15 | 13 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 45 | |
| 15 | Bourg-Péronnas | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 49 | 58 | −9 | 44 | |
| 16 | Tours | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 55 | 60 | −5 | 43 | |
| 17 | Auxerre | 38 | 11 | 10 | 17 | 28 | 40 | −12 | 43 | |
| 18 | Orléans (O) | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 41 | 54 | −13 | 38 | Qualification to relegation play-offs |
| 19 | Red Star (R) | 38 | 8 | 12 | 18 | 36 | 56 | −20 | 36 | Relegation to Championnat National |
| 20 | Laval (R) | 38 | 5 | 15 | 18 | 33 | 52 | −19 | 30 | Relegation to Championnat National |
* ↑ On 1 March 2017, the Commission de Contrôle des Clubs Professionnels de la DNCG confirmed a deduction of 4 points from Orléans for failing to comply with financial reporting obligations.

## Results

| Home \ Away | GAZ | ACA | AMI | AUX | BPE | BRS | CLR | LVL | LHA | RCL | NMS | NRT | ORL | RSFC | REI | SOC | RCS | TOU | TRO | VAL |
| Gazélec Ajaccio | | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 4–4 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 |
| Ajaccio | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 3–6 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Amiens | 4–0 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Auxerre | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 |
| Bourg-Péronnas | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 2–4 | | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 0–2 |
| Brest | 6–2 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | | 0–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 |
| Clermont | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Laval | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 |
| Le Havre | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–2 |
| Lens | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | | 1–3 | 3–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Nîmes | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | | 3–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 |
| Niort | 0–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | | 1–0 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 2–1 |
| Orléans | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | | 4–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Red Star | 0–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 1–0 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 |
| Reims | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 |
| Sochaux | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 |
| Strasbourg | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–4 |
| Tours | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | | 0–0 | 4–1 |
| Troyes | 1–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 4–0 | 3–1 | | 2–0 |
| Valenciennes | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 2–0 | |

## Top scorers

    As of end of season
| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Adama Niane | Troyes | 23 |
| 2 | Khalid Boutaïb | Strasbourg | 20 |
| 3 | Denis Bouanga | Tours | 16 |
| 3 | Cristian López | Lens | 16 |
| 5 | Faneva Imà Andriatsima | Sochaux | 14 |
| 5 | Andé Dona Ndoh | Niort | 14 |
| 7 | Rachid Alioui | Nîmes | 13 |
| 7 | Rémy Dugimont | Clermont | 13 |
| 9 | Neal Maupay | Brest | 11 |
| 9 | Riad Nouri | Ajaccio | 11 |

## Play-offs

The 2016–17 season will see the return of a relegation play-off between the 18th placed Ligue 1 team and the 3rd placed team in the Ligue 2 in a two-legged confrontation. The Ligue 2 team will host the first game. Another relegation play-off involves the 18th placed Ligue 2 team and the 3rd placed National team also in two legs.
Orléans won 2–0 on aggregate.

## Attendances

Teams with an average home attendance of at least 10,000: :
| Team | Total attendance | Home average |
| RC Lens | 550,918 | 28,996 |
| RC Strasbourg | 323,247 | 17,013 |
| Stade de Reims | 197,654 | 10,403 |