In order to respond to the reduction in playing time for young professionals, the French Football Federation (FFF) and the Professional Football League (LFP) will launch a new competition at the beginning of October: the Ligue des Espoirs.
Faced for several years with a reduction in playing time for young professionals, due to professional matches on Sundays and longer benches, as well as the reform of the Championships (most reserve teams now play in National 3), French trainers have proposed the idea of a new format. This initiative aims to remedy this lack of playing time for young talents.
Competition details
The Ligue des Espoirs will bring together 16 clubs: Toulouse, Monaco, Saint-Étienne, Nantes, Montpellier, Strasbourg, PSG, Paris FC, Ajaccio, Auxerre, Nice, Bordeaux, Rennes, Caen, Le Havre and OM. The teams will compete over six matchdays, followed by semi-finals and a final. The matches will take place on Mondays at 2:30 p.m., with the possibility of changing the times if necessary. They will take place on grass pitches and without an audience for logistical reasons, with the exception of the semi-finals and the final which will be played in front of spectators.
Objective: to maximize playing time for young players
The main objective is to maximise the playing time of young players, by organising matches lasting 1h30, without extra time, with penalty shoot-outs in the event of a draw. This competition is inspired by the Portuguese model, targeting players aged 18 to 20, with the possibility of including four professionals over 23. A similar scheme exists in England, although the average age is younger, around 18.
Hubert Fournier, National Technical Director (DTN) of the FFF, underlines the importance of this initiative: “Some of our best potential players no longer had the possibility of playing at the weekend. We had a lot of discussions with the directors of the training centers and this subject had been going on for several years.”
This new competition does not mean that the reserve teams will withdraw from the amateur championships. The system is designed to be complementary. “We are starting with six matches for the moment and we will listen to the directors of the training centers to see if they want more,” assures Fournier, taking into account the professional calendar, especially for the clubs qualified for the European Cup, which does not allow for many free dates.
