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.[1]
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.[2]
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.[3]
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 VAP 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.[3] 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.[4] 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:[5]
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).[5] 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.).
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).
Free TV channel Sport en France used to broadcast some matches (BeIN Sports took the official broadcaster slot since 2023-24).
Notable foreign players
List 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).
