LFH Division 1 Féminine

LFH Division 1 Féminine, known for sponsorship reasons as Ligue Butagaz Énergie, is the premier women's handball league in France. It is overseen by the Ligue Féminine de Handball (LFH), the governing body of French women's professional handball, under delegation from the French Handball Federation (FFHB). Founded in 1952, it is currently contested by twelve teams.
Metz Handball has dominated the championship in recent times with 25 titles between 1989 and 2023 including a 6-year winning streak, while US Ivry and Paris UC were the most successful teams in past decades with nine and five titles respectively.
As of 2022:
Brest Bretagne Handball is the french club that went the furthest in the EHF Champions League: they were finalist in 2021.
The EHF European League has been won by only one french club: Neptunes de Nantes in 2021.
Participating teams
2023–24 teams
Personnel and kits
Notes :
Bourg-de-Péage Drôme Handball got dissolved in the middle of the 2022-23 season (financial insolvency).
HBC Celles-sur-Belle ranked 10th at the end of 2022-23 and thus earned the sports right to keep playing in Division 1. However FFHandball's financial audit board relegated the club to Division 2 administratively.
Mérignac Handball, which ranked last (13th) and was relegated to Division 2, applied to take HBC Celles-sur-Belle's place in Division 1. Despite also suffering from financial problems, their appeal to be saved from relegation was accepted late by the federation, on Day 3 of the season.
2022-23 Teams
Competition format
All 14 teams play each other twice during the season (home and away matches – 26 competition days). At the end of the season, the best ranked team is declared "Champion de France" and is granted a spot in the EHF Champions League's group stage.
The last ranked team (14th) is relegated to the lower echelon of women's handball Division 2 Féminine (D2F) and replaced by the top-ranked D2F team that possesses the status.
Teams receive three points for a win, two points for a draw and one point for a loss.
European qualification
Currently the Champion of France is granted a spot in the EHF Champions League's group stage. Runner-up is qualified for the EHF European League but is able to apply for a wildcard (upgrade) to participate in the Champions League. The winner of the Coupe de France is qualified for the EHF European League. If a qualified team declines to participate in the European League, the next best-ranked team in the league can apply to take their place. A number of the league's other top teams are eligible to participate in European competitions.
The number of teams per national federation qualified for European competitions (EHF Champions League and EHF European League) is determined by a federation's EHF coefficient and EHF rank. Each year, the EHF publishes a ranking that announces the place attribution for the following season (number of teams for each Federation in the various competitions).
For the 2023/24 season, the system changed. The coefficients and ranks were not determined by the overall performance of a federation, as it used to be. The performances are separated by competitions (e.g.: good performance by french teams in the Champions League would not allocate more places for french teams in the European League). Thus, the new system includes separate rankings for the Champions League and the European League.
Place distribution for 2023/24 Women's EHF Club competitions - France's place attribution:
EHF Champions League (EHF CL): 1 place
EHF European League (EHF EL): 3 places
The Champions League has 7 other spots open for clubs that are not national champions but have qualified for the European League (1 spot for the best seeded Federation of the EHF EL and 6 spots open for upgrades). The EHF European League has 8 spots open in for upgrades.
A club needs to fulfill set technical and organizational or administrative requirements to be able to play in European competitions (finances, adequate playing hall, etc.).
List of champions
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Brest Bretagne Handball: Arvor 29
ES Colombes: CSA Molière
JDA Dijon Bourgogne HB: CSL Dijon & Cercle Dijon Bourgogne
Mérignac Handball: Sport athlétique mérignacais
Metz Handball: ASPTT Metz, HB Metz métropole
[[Nantes Atlantique Handball|Neptunes de Nantes]]: Nantes Atlantique HB
Paris 92: Issy-les-Moulineaux & Issy Paris Hand
Stade nantais université club: SNUC Atlantique / Stade Nantes UCA
Toulon Métropole Var HB: Toulon Saint-Cyr Var HB
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Media coverage
Free
Moselle TV (local TV channel) broadcasts a few of Metz Handball home matches.
Tébéo (local TV channel) broadcasts a few of Brest Bretagne Handball home matches.
Pay-to-watch "Handball TV"': For the 2022-23 handball season, the French Federation of Handball launched its own subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service:
It re-broadcasts the live feeds of free TV channels (that broadcast matches).
it also broadcasts live some exclusive matches produced by the platform and TV channel BeIN Sports (since 2023-24, the channel broadcasts the biggest fixture of a match day).
VODs (replays) of most broadcast matches.
Free TV channel Sport en France used to broadcast some matches (BeIN Sports took the official broadcaster slot since 2023-24).
Notable foreign playersList of foreign players who previously played or currently play in the LFH Division 1 Féminine. Bold indicate players currently playing in the league (2023/2024).
Algeria
Nadia Belakhdar
Nabila Tizi
Angola
Stelvia de Jesus Pascoal
Isabel Guialo
Ruth João
Argentina
Joana Bolling
Elke Karsten
Luciana Mendoza
Rosario Urban
Australia
Catherine Kent
Manon Livingstone
Austria
Gorica Aćimović
Petra Blazek
Sonja Frey
Belarus
Natallia Vasileuskaya
Belgium
Nele Antonissen
Brazil
Moniky Bancilon
Ana Paula Belo
Adriana Cardoso de Castro
Deonise Cavaleiro
Bruna de Paula
Fabiana Diniz
Alexandra do Nascimento
Elaine Gomes
Mayara Moura
Gabriela Moreschi
Mayssa Pessoa
Silvia Pinheiro
Samira Rocha
Cameroon
Lisa Atangana
Croatia
Maida Arslanagić
Sonja Bašić
Mia Brkić
Klaudija Bubalo
Ivana Dežić
Dragica Džono
Kristina Elez
Lidija Horvat
Ivana Kapitanović
Petra Marinović
Ćamila Mičijević
Ivana Lovrić
Tena Petika
Sara Sablić
Cuba
Eyatne Rizo
Czech Republic
Klára Černá
Lenka Černá
Charlotte Cholevová
Markéta Hurychová
Kamila Kordovská
Petra Kudláčková
Iveta Luzumová
Veronika Malá
Pavla Poznarová
Helena Ryšánková
Barbora Raníková
Lucie Satrapová
Helena Štěrbová
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Luisa Makubanza
Estel Memana
Christianne Mwasesa
Simone Thiero
Denmark
Melanie Bak
Louise Burgaard
Stine Bodholt Nielsen
Lotte Grigel
Anne Mette Hansen
Mirja Lyngsø Jensen
Kristina Jørgensen
Mai Kragballe Nielsen
Ida Lagerbon
Mia Møldrup
Nadia Offendal
Julie Pontoppidan
Jane Schumacher
Sandra Toft
Line Uno
Ditte Vind
Anna Wierzba
Maria Berger Wierzba
Fie Woller
Egypt
Ehsan Abdelmalek
Germany
Dinah Eckerle
Katharina Filter
Alina Grijseels
Isabell Klein
Ewgenija Minevskaja
Maike Schirmer
Luisa Schulze
Xenia Smits
Aimée von Pereira
Lisa Vlug
Hungary
Viktória Csáki
Andrea Farkas
Ágnes Hornyák
Szabina Mayer
Krisztina Pigniczki
Szimonetta Planéta
Szabina Tápai
Iceland
Karen Knútsdóttir
Arna Sif Pálsdóttir
Ramune Pekarskyte
Hrafnhildur Hanna Þrastardóttir
Italy
Irene Fanton
Ivory Coast
Paula Gondo-Bredou
Japan
Sakura Hauge
Montenegro
Jasna Boljević
Tatjana Brnović
Nada Ćorović
Itana Grbić
Đurđina Jauković
Marija Jovanović
Đurđina Malović
Jasna Tošković
Milica Trifunović
Dijana Ujkić
Marina Vukčević
Netherlands
Lois Abbingh
Debbie Bont
Yvette Broch
Merel Freriks
Jasmina Janković
Isabelle Jongenelen
Jessy Kramer
Jurswailly Luciano
Anouk Nieuwenweg
Charris Rozemalen
Esther Schop
Martine Smeets
Laura van der Heijden
Sanne van Olphen
Marieke van der Wal
Pearl van der Wissel
Kelly Vollebregt
North Macedonia
Dragica Kresoja
Jovana Micevska
Iva Mladenovska
Julija Portjanko
Norway
Mari Finstad Bergum
Camilla Carstens
Helene Gigstad Fauske
Rikke Marie Granlund
Anette Helene Hansen
Malin Holta
Tonje Haug Lerstad
Tonje Løseth
Karoline Lund
Hanna Bredal Oftedal
Stine Bredal Oftedal
Siv Heim Sæbøe
Elise Skinnehaugen
Emma Skinnehaugen
Celine Sivertsen
Silje Solberg
Pernille Wibe
Poland
Marta Gęga
Katarzyna Janiszewska
Monika Kobylińska
Aneta Łabuda
Natalia Nosek
Adrianna Płaczek
Aleksandra Rosiak
Monika Stachowska
Karolina Siódmiak
Ewa Urtnowska
Paulina Uścinowicz
Joanna Wołoszyk
Karolina Zalewska
Aleksandra Zych
Portugal
Carolina Loureiro
Joana Resende
Republic of Congo
Joséphine Nkou
Romania
Carmen Amariei
Melinda Geiger
Ionica Munteanu
Elena Napăr
Crina Pintea
Ionela Stanca
Russia
Ekaterina Andryushina
Yulia Khavronina
Valeriia Maslova
Senegal
Doungou Camara
Raïssa Dapina
Laura Kamdop
Hawa N'Diaye
Amina Sankharé
Dienaba Sy
Serbia
Jovana Bogojević
Marija Čolić
Lidija Cvijić
Biljana Filipović
Kristina Liščević
Tatjana Medved
Svetlana Ognjenović
Slađana Pop-Lazić
Jelena Popović
Dijana Radojević
Dijana Števin
Jovana Stoiljković
Katarina Tomašević
Slovakia
Adriána Holejová
Monika Rajnohová
Martina Školková
Slovenia
Aneja Beganovič
Ana Gros
Nina Jeriček
Lina Krhlikar
Amra Pandžić
Tjaša Stanko
Maja Vojnović
South Korea
Ryu Eun-hee
Spain
Nely Carla Alberto
Jessica Alonso
Alexandrina Cabral
Carmen Campos
Mercedes Castellanos
Elisabet Cesáreo
Elisabeth Chávez
Darly de Paula
Patricia Elorza
Beatriz Escribano
Beatriz Fernández
Magdalena Fernández-Agusti
Paula García Ávila
Kaba Gassama
Lara González Ortega
Mireya González
Marta López
Marta Mangué
Carmen Martín
María Muñoz Juan
María Núñez
Paula Valdivia Monserrat
Nicole Wiggins
Sweden
Hanna Åhlén
Jenny Carlson
Kristina Flognman
Tina Flognman
Hanna Fogelström
Cecilia Grubbström
Isabelle Gulldén
Nathalie Hagman
Filippa Idéhn
Therese Islas Helgesson
Anna Lagerquist
Clara Monti Danielsson
Frida Rosell
Jessica Ryde
Louise Sand
Malin Sandberg
Carin Strömberg
Frida Tegstedt
Ulrika Toft Hansen
Cassandra Tollbring
Linnea Torstenson
Angelica Wallén
Switzerland
Daphne Gautschi
Lea Schüpbach
Tunisia
Haifa Abdelhak
Noura Ben Slama
Takoua Chabchoub
Mouna Chebbah
Maroua Dhaouadi
Asma Elghaoui
Ines Khouildi
Ouided Kilani
Rafika Marzouk
Rakia Rezgui
Faten Yahiaoui
Ukraine
Liliia Gorilska
Olha Nikolayenko
Olga Perederiy
Anastasiia Pidpalova
Yuliya Snopova
EHF league ranking
EHF League Ranking for 2022/23 season:
1. (1) Nemzeti Bajnokság I (157.67)
2. (5) Ligue Butagaz Énergie (118.50)
3. (2) Russian Superleague (114.50)
4. (3) Bambusa Kvindeligaen (109.00)
5. (6) REMA 1000-ligaen (102.77)
6. (4) Liga Națională (94.50)
See also
Coupe de France
LFH Division 2 Féminine, the lower echelon French women's league
LNH Division 1 (Liqui Moly Starligue), the corresponding men's competition
LNH Division 2 (ProLigue), the corresponding men's competition
List of handball clubs in France
Women's sports
References
External links
Official website
France
women
Women's handball in France
Women's sports leagues in France
Professional sports leagues in France