The 2012–13 Ligue 2 season was the 74th season since its establishment. The league schedule was announced in April 2012 and the fixtures were determined on 30 May. The season began on 27 July and ended on 24 May 2013. The winter break was in effect from 22 December to 12 January 2013. In addition, German sportswear company Uhlsport became the official provider of match balls for the season after agreeing to a long-term partnership with the Ligue de Football Professionnel.
Teams There were three promoted teams from the Championnat National, replacing the three teams that were relegated from Ligue 2 following the 2011–12 season. A total of 20 teams are currently competing in the league with three clubs suffering relegation to the third division, Championnat National. All clubs that secured Ligue 2 status for the season were subject to approval by the DNCG before becoming eligible to participate.The DNCG is responsible for overseeing the legal and financial accounts of professional football clubs in France. If clubs operating in French football didn't meet the DNCG's expectations, they would face sanctions, such as relegation.
Auxerre was the first club to suffer relegation to Ligue 2 in the 2011–12 Ligue 1 season. The club's drop was confirmed on 13 May 2012 following the team's 3–0 loss to Marseille; a defeat that made it impossible for the club to finish safe. Auxerre returned to the second division after 32 consecutive years playing in Ligue 1. Prior to the 2011–12 season, the club had never suffered relegation from the country's top division. On the final day of the 2011–12 Ligue 1 season, Dijon and Caen were both relegated to Ligue 2 following defeats to Rennes and Valenciennes, respectively. Dijon returned to the second division after only one season in Ligue 1, while Caen fell to the second-tier after two years in the first division.
On 18 May 2012, both Nîmes and Gazélec Ajaccio were promoted to Ligue 2 after each club achieved results that made it impossible for the league's fourth-placed team to surpass them. Nîmes returned to the second division after only one year at semi-professional level, while Gazélec will play in Ligue 2 for the first time since the 1992–93 season. On the final day of the 2011–12 National season, Niort became the final club to earn promotion to Ligue 2 after beating already-promoted Gazélec Ajaccio 1–0. Niort returned to the second division for the first time since the 2007–08 season.
DNCG rulings
On 11 July 2012, following a preliminary review of each club's administrative and financial accounts in Ligue 2, the DNCG ruled that Le Mans would be relegated to the Championnat National. Following the announcement, Le Mans president Henri Legarda announced that the club would appeal the decision stating the "shareholders will play their part and the club will go after every possible step to restore its rightful place in the sport." On 25 July, Le Mans confirmed on its official website that the DNCG had reversed it decision to relegate the club.
Stadia and locations
Club Location Venue Capacity Av. Att.AngersStade Jean Bouin 17,100 6,850AvignonParc des Sports 17,518 1,968AuxerreStade de l'Abbé-Deschamps 24,493 5,789CaenStade Michel d'Ornano 21,500 10,129ChâteaurouxStade Gaston Petit 17,173 5,416Clermont-FerrandStade Gabriel Montpied 10,363 4,069DijonStade Gaston Gérard 15,998 8,321AjaccioStade Ange Casanova 5,000 2,471GuingampStade du Roudourou 18,126 9,507IstresStade Parsemain 17,468 2,024LavalStade Francis Le Basser 18,739 4,424Le HavreStade Océane 25,000 8,397Le MansMMArena 25,000 6,029LensStade Félix-Bollaert 41,233 16,179MonacoStade Louis II 18,500 5,293NantesStade de la Beaujoire 38,285 18,171NîmesStade des Costières 18,482 5,509NiortStade René Gaillard 10,898 4,572SedanStade Louis Dugauguez 23,189 5,530ToursStade de la Vallée du Cher 13,500 4,059
Personnel and kits Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players and managers may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality. Team Manager1 Captain1 Kit Manufacturer1 Main Sponsor1Angers UmbroScaniaArles-Avignon UhlsportGroupe NicollinAuxerre AirnessMaisons PierreCaen NikeGDE RecyclageChâteauroux NikeLe SeyecClermont Patrick SportCrédit MutuelDijon NikeDoras, IPSGazélec Ajaccio AdidasCarrefour, Casino d'AjaccioGuingamp Patrick SportGroupe StalavenIstres DuarigTrust 2 CloudLaval DuarigLactelLe Havre NikeSystem ULe Mans MacronLOUÉLens adidasInvictaAS Monaco MacronFedcomNantes ErreàOffset 5Nîmes ErreàMac DanNiort PumaRestaurant Le Billon (home), Cheminées Poujoulat (away)Sedan NikeInvictaTours DuarigInvicta
1Subject to change during the season.
Managerial changes TeamOutgoing head coachManner ofdepartureDate ofvacancyPositionin tableIncoming head coachDate ofappointmentPositionin table AS Monaco Marco Simone Sacked Off-season Claudio Ranieri Off-season Dijon Patrice Carteron Mutual consent Olivier Dall'Oglio Nîmes Thierry Froger End of contract Victor Zvunka Nantes Landry Chauvin Joined Brest Michel Der Zakarian Clermont Michel Der Zakarian Resigned Régis Brouard Caen Franck Dumas Patrice Garande Gazélec Ajaccio Dominique Veilex Mutual consent 15th Jean-Michel Cavalli 18th Tours Peter Zeidler Sacked 20th Bernard Blaquart 20th Lens Jean-Louis Garcia 15th Éric Sikora 15th Arles-Avignon Thierry Laurey 18th Pierre Mosca (interim) 18th Le Havre Cédric Daury 16th Erick Mombaerts 9th Auxerre Jean-Guy Wallemme Mutual consent 15th Bernard Casoni 15th Arles-Avignon Pierre Mosca (interim) End of interim spell 17th Noël Tosi 17th Gazélec Ajaccio Jean-Michel Cavalli Sacked 19th Thierry Laurey 19th Le Mans Denis Zanko 18th Régis Beunardeau 18th
League table
Results
Season statistics
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerClubGoals1 Mustapha YatabaréGuingamp232 Filip ĐorđevićNantes203 Ibrahima TouréAS Monaco184 Vincent GragnicNîmes17 Claudiu KeșerüAngers6 Valère GermainAS Monaco147 Yohann RivièreLe Havre13 Mana DembéléClermont Mathieu DuhamelCaen10 Raphaël CacérèsArles-Avignon12
Source: Official Goalscorers' Standings
Assists table
RankPlayerClubAssists1 Alharbi El JadeyaouiAngers102 Mouritala OgunbiyiNîmes8 Nicolas BenezetNîmes Thomas GuerbertDijon Steeven LangilAuxerre6 Alexandre BonnetLe Havre7 Dennis OliechAuxerre Valère GermainAS Monaco Fayçal FajrCaen Thibault GiresseGuingamp
Source: Official Assists' Table
Hat-tricks
Player For Against Result Date AS Monaco Lens 0–4 4 Angers Le Mans 4–0 Châteauroux Gazélec Ajaccio 3–1 Nantes Châteauroux 0–4 Guingamp Lens 7–0 Arles-Avignon Dijon 2–3
4 Player scored 4 goals
Scoring
First goal of the season: Steeven Langil for Auxerre against Nîmes (27 July 2012)
List of 2012–13 transfers
Attendances
# Club Average Highest 1 Nantes 18,671 36,967 2 Lens 16,179 26,727 3 Caen 10,129 19,751 4 Guingamp 9,507 18,208 5 Dijon 8,708 12,126 6 Le Havre 8,518 15,552 7 Angers 8,382 16,930 8 Le Mans 7,764 21,373 9 Nîmes 5,641 7,928 10 AJ auxerroise 5,621 9,156 11 Châteauroux 5,528 7,130 12 Sedan 5,311 6,802 13 Monaco 5,295 8,058 14 Chamois niortais 4,943 8,485 15 Stade lavallois 4,736 7,722 16 Tours 4,414 14,046 17 Clermont 4,075 6,815 18 Arles-Avignon 2,354 3,711 19 Istres 2,340 3,628 20 Gazélec 2,148 3,732
Source:
References
External links