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2025-06-15T11:01:02Z

Competition format: Added.

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{{short description|Association football league}}
{{Redirect|Championnat de France Amateur|the former amateur competition|Championnat de France Amateur (1935–1971)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox football league
| logo = Championnat National 2.png
| pixels =
| country = France
| confed = [[UEFA]]
| founded = {{start date and age|1993}}
| teams = 48 (3 groups of 16)
| organiser = [[French Football Federation|FFF]]
| promotion = [[Championnat National]]
| relegation = [[Championnat National 3]]
| levels = 4
| domest_cup = [[Coupe de France]]
| champions = [[FC Fleury 91 (men)|Fleury]]
| most successful club =
| season = [[2024–25 Championnat National 2|2024–25]]
| tv =
| website = [https://www.fff.fr/competition/engagement/425637-n2/phase/1/index.html Official site]
| current = [[2025–26 Championnat National 2]]
|ancien nom=CFA 2}}

The '''Championnat National 2''', commonly known as '''National 2''' and formerly known as '''Championnat de France Amateur''' ('''CFA'''), is a [[Association football|football]] league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of [[French football league system]] behind [[Ligue 1]], [[Ligue 2]] and [[Championnat National]]. Contested by 48 clubs, the Championnat National 2 operates on a system of [[promotion and relegation]] with the Championnat National and [[Championnat National 3]], the fifth division of [[French football]]. Seasons run from August to May, with teams in the three groups playing 30 games each. Most games are played on Saturdays and Sundays, with a few games played during weekday evenings. Play is regularly suspended the last weekend before Christmas for two weeks before returning in the second week of January.

The Championnat de France amateur was initially founded by the [[French Football Federation]] in 1927 and was composed of the regional amateur league champions. The league served as the first division of French football until 1929 before the league was converted to the professional league that exists today in 1932.<ref name="gauthey">Gilles Gauthey, ''Le Football professionnel français'', Paris, 1961, p.18</ref> The current incarnation of the league is a simple rebrand of the CFA, which was founded in 1993 as National 2 and lasted for five years before being converted to the CFA name in 1998 and the National 2 name in 2017. Some clubs that participate in the league are [[semi-professional]]. The matches in the league attract on average between 800 and 1,000 spectators per match. However, this average is dragged down by the minuscule turnouts for the pros' home reserve matches.

==History==
The amateur championship of France was created in 1993 under the name ''National 2'' as an heir to the now-defunct [[French Division 3 (1971–1993)|Division 3]]. The league's debut coincided with the creation of the [[Championnat National]], the third division of French football, which is commonly known as ''National''. For the first three years of the competition, an amateur champion was crowned in France regardless of whether the club was amateur or a [[reserve team]]. In 1998, the [[French Football Federation]] changed the competition's format creating two separate tables; one for the amateur clubs and another for the reserve teams of professional clubs. The dual tables allowed the league to declare a champion for the amateurs and the reserves with four team tournaments being held following the conclusion of league play to determine the champions. At the same time the competition was renamed '''Championnat de France Amateur (CFA)'''. In 2001, the federation ended this style and reverted to the original format allowing both the amateur clubs and reserve teams to be grouped together based on their regional location. The winner of each group would then earn promotion to the Championnat National, unless the club is a reserve team. Meanwhile, the reserve teams continued to use the previous format with the best reserve teams of each group being inserted into a tournament to decide the reserves' champion.

In 2017, the FFF reorganised amateur football along the lines of the 2016 reorganisation of the [[Regions of France]], creating '''Championnat National 2''' and [[Championnat National 3]] to replace CFA and CFA2. For National 2 this was in effect just a change of name, whilst National 3 saw a major restructure.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lequipe.fr/Football/Actualites/Fff-national-cfa-et-cfa-2-muteront-en-2017-en-national-1-national-2-et-national-3/684072|title=FFF : National, CFA et CFA 2 muteront en 2017 en National 1, National 2 et National 3|work=L'Équipe|date=28 May 2016|access-date=13 July 2017|language=fr}}</ref>

As part of the restructure of the French football leagues system between 2022 and 2026, the league was reduced from 64 teams across 4 groups in 2022–23, to 56 across 4 groups in 2023–24, and will have 48 teams across 3 groups from 2024–25.<ref name=nat2>{{cite web|url=https://footamateur.ouest-france.fr/national-2-tout-ce-quil-savoir-sur-la-saison-2023-2024/|title=National 2. Tout ce qu'il savoir sur la saison 2023-2024|publisher=Foot Amateur|language=fr|date=6 June 2023}}</ref>

==Competition format==
For the 2024–25 season, forty-eight clubs participate. The clubs are split into three parallel groups of 16 with their group affiliation being loosely based on the [[Regions of France|regional location]]. The league is open to the best reserve teams in France and amateur clubs in France, although only the amateur clubs are eligible for promotion to the Championnat National. During the course of a season, usually from August to May, each club plays the others in their respective group twice, once at their home stadium and once at that of their opponents, for a total of 30 games. Teams are ranked by total points, then head-to-head results and head-to-head goal difference. At the end of each season, the group champions are promoted to Championnat National and the best performing group champion is crowned overall champion of the season. For the 2024–25 season, the three lowest-ranked team in each group is relegated to Championnat National 3, along with the worst performing thirteenth-placed team.

== Visual identity ==

<gallery>
[[Ficher:LogoCFA.jpg|Logo until 2014.]]
[[Ficher:Championnat France Amateur football logo.png|Logo from 2014 to 2017.]]
[[Ficher:Logo Championnat Football National 2 FFF 2017.svg|Logo since 2017.]]
</gallery>

==Teams==
The following teams are competing in the Championnat National 2 for the [[2024–25 Championnat National 2|2024–25 season]].

{{col-begin}}
{{col-4}}

===Group A===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Club Name
|-
|[[Andrézieux-Bouthéon FC|Andrézieux]]
|-
|[[Les Genêts d'Anglet|Anglet]]
|-
|[[Angoulême Charente FC|Angoulême]]
|-
|[[Bergerac Périgord FC|Bergerac]]
|-
|[[AS Cannes|Cannes]]
|-
|[[ÉFC Fréjus Saint-Raphaël|Fréjus Saint-Raphaël]]
|-
|[[GOAL FC]]
|-
|[[RC Grasse|Grasse]]
|-
|[[Hyères FC|Hyères]]
|-
|[[Istres FC|Istres]]
|-
|[[Jura Sud Foot|Jura Sud]]
|-
|[[Le Puy Foot 43 Auvergne|Le Puy]]
|-
|[[Marignane Gignac Côte Bleue FC|Marignane GCB]]
|-
|[[GFA Rumilly-Vallières|Rumilly-Vallières]]
|-
|[[AS Saint-Priest|Saint-Priest]]
|-
|[[SC Toulon|Toulon]]
|}
{{col-4}}

===Group B===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Club Name
|-
|[[US Avranches|Avranches]]
|-
|[[Blois Football 41|Blois]]
|-
|[[FC Girondins de Bordeaux|Bordeaux]]
|-
|[[Bourges Foot 18|Bourges]]
|-
|[[Voltigeurs de Châteaubriant|Châteaubriant]]
|-
|[[Dinan Léhon FC|Dinan Léhon]]
|-
|[[US Granville|Granville]]
|-
|[[La Roche VF|La Roche]]
|-
|[[Vendée Poiré-sur-Vie Football|Le Poiré-sur-Vie]]
|-
|[[Les Herbiers VF|Les Herbiers]]
|-
|[[Stade Poitevin FC|Poitiers]]
|-
|[[Saint-Colomban Sportive Locminé|Saint-Colomban Locminé]]
|-
|[[US Saint-Malo|Saint-Malo]]
|-
|[[Saint-Pryvé Saint-Hilaire FC|Saint-Pryvé Saint-Hilaire]]
|-
|[[Olympique Saumur FC|Saumur]]
|-
|[[Stade Briochin]]
|}
{{col-4}}

===Group C===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Club Name
|-
|[[FCM Aubervilliers|Aubervilliers]]
|-
|[[AS Beauvais Oise|Beauvais]]
|-
|[[ASC Biesheim|Biesheim]]
|-
|[[FC Chambly Oise|Chambly]]
|-
|[[US Chantilly|Chantilly]]
|-
|[[US Créteil-Lusitanos|Créteil]]
|-
|[[SAS Épinal|Épinal]]
|-
|[[Football Club 93 Bobigny-Bagnolet-Gagny|FC 93]]
|-
|[[FC Balagne|Balagne]]
|-
|[[Entente Feignies Aulnoye FC|Feignies Aulnoye]]
|-
|[[FC Fleury 91 (men)|Fleury]]
|-
|[[AS Furiani-Agliani|Furiani-Agliani]]
|-
|[[FCSR Haguenau|Haguenau]]
|-
|[[US Thionville Lusitanos|Thionville]]
|-
|[[AS Villers-Houlgate|Villers-Houlgate]]
|-
|[[Wasquehal Football|Wasquehal]]
|}
{{col-end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.fff.fr Official Site of the Fédération française de football]
*[https://int.soccerway.com/national/france/cfa/ Championnat National 2 Fixtures] {{in lang|en}}

{{Championnat de France Amateurs seasons}}
{{Championnat National 2 Group A}}
{{Championnat National 2 Group B}}
{{Championnat National 2 Group C}}
{{Football in France}}
{{UEFA fourth leagues}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2010}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Championnat De France Amateur}}
[[Category:Championnat National 2| ]]
[[Category:Football leagues in France|4]]
[[Category:Sports leagues established in 1993]]
[[Category:1993 establishments in France]]
[[Category:Fourth-level football leagues in Europe|Fra]]

Championnat National 2 - Revision history

94.196.33.215: /* Competition format */Added.