2020–21 Championnat National

Championnat National

Season	2020–21
Champions	SC Bastia
Promoted	SC Bastia Quevilly-Rouen
Relegated	SC Lyon
Matches played	306
Goals scored	684 (2.24 per match)
Top goalscorer	21 goals Andrew Jung, Quevilly-Rouen
Biggest home win	Orléans 6–1 Annecy Round 8, 5 October 2020
Biggest away win	Bourg-Péronnas 0–4 Red Star Rearranged round 4, 10 November 2020
Highest scoring	Cholet 5–4 Stade Briochin Round 9, 9 October 2020
Longest winning run	5 (Quevilly-Rouen SC Bastia Villefranche)
Longest unbeaten run	11 (SC Bastia Villefranche)
Longest winless run	13 (Bastia-Borgo)
Longest losing run	4 (Annecy Créteil Stade Briochin)
← 2019–20 2021–22 →

The 2020–21 Championnat National season was the 28th season since the establishment of the Championnat National, and the 22nd in its current format, which serves as the third division of the French football league system.

Team changes

Team changes from the 2019–20 Championnat National were confirmed by the FFF on 17 July 2020.

To National

Promoted from National 2

• SC Bastia
• Stade Briochin
• Sète
• Annecy

Relegated from Ligue 2

• Orléans
• Le Mans

From National

Relegated to National 2

• Le Puy
• Toulon
• Gazélec Ajaccio
• Béziers

Promoted to Ligue 2

• Pau
• Dunkerque

Stadia and locations

Annecy

Avranches

Bastia-Borgo

SC Bastia

Boulogne

Bourg-Péronnas

Cholet

Concarneau

Créteil

Laval

Le Mans

SC Lyon

Orléans

Red Star

Quevilly-Rouen

Stade Briochin

Sète

Villefranche

Location of teams in 2020–21 National

Club	Location	Venue	Capacity
Annecy	Annecy	Parc des Sports	15,660
Avranches	Avranches	Stade René Fenouillère	2,000
SC Bastia	Bastia	Stade Armand Cesari	16,048
Bastia-Borgo	Borgo	Stade Paul-Antoniotti	1,300
Boulogne	Boulogne-sur-Mer	Stade de la Libération	15,204
Bourg-Péronnas	Bourg-en-Bresse	Stade Marcel-Verchère	11,400
Cholet	Cholet	Stade Pierre Blouen	9,000
Concarneau	Concarneau	Stade Guy Piriou	6,500
Créteil	Créteil	Stade Dominique Duvauchelle	12,150
Laval	Laval	Stade Francis Le Basser	18,607
Le Mans	Le Mans	MMArena	25,000
SC Lyon	Lyon	Stade de Balmont	5,438
Orléans	Orléans	Stade de la Source	7,000
Quevilly-Rouen	Le Petit-Quevilly	Stade Robert Diochon	12,018
Red Star	Paris (Saint-Ouen)	Stade Bauer	10,000
Stade Briochin	Saint-Brieuc	Fred-Aubert Stadium	10,600
Sète	Sète	Stade Louis Michel	8,500
Villefranche	Villefranche-sur-Saône	Stade Armand-Chouffet	3,200

Number of teams by regions

Teams	Region	Team(s)
4	Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes	Annecy, Bourg-Péronnas, SC Lyon and Villefranche
3	Pays de la Loire	Cholet, Laval and Le Mans
2	Brittany	Concarneau and Stade Briochin
	Corsica	Bastia and Bastia-Borgo
	Île-de-France	Créteil and Red Star
	Normandy	Avranches and Quevilly-Rouen
1	Centre-Val de Loire	Orléans
	Hauts-de-France	Boulogne
	Occitanie	Sète

Impact of COVID-19 on the season

The start of the season was impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The game-week two match between Bourg-Péronnas and Annecy was postponed due to the visiting team having confirmed cases of COVID-19. Game-week three matches between Annecy and Villefranche, and Quevilly-Rouen and Bourg-Péronnas were both postponed due to COVID-19 cases at Annecy and Bourg-Péronnas, as was the match between Bourg-Péronnas and Red Star in game-week four, due to Bourg-Péronnas players still isolating. The game-week four match between Concarneau and Cholet was postponed an hour before kick-off due to positive tests for the Concarneau trainer and captain. There was a follow-on postponement for Concarneau's match with Annecy in game-week 5, Annecy's third postponement of the season.

The game-week four and five matches for Orléans, against Avranches and Stade Briochin, were both postponed when Orléans were given an eight-day suspension from official matches due to positive COVID-19 cases. The cases at Orléans also prompted the late postponement of the game-week 4 match between Bastia-Borgo and Boulogne, in accordance with local Corsican rules, due to Bastia-Borgo having played Orléans the previous Thursday.

Positive cases at Sète caused the postponement of their game-week 5 match at Quevilly-Rouen, and their game-week 6 match against Red Star, whilst a local decree in Haute-Corse caused the postponement of their game-week 7 tie at SC Bastia.

Laval's trip to SC Bastia in game-week 9 was postponed due to the squad isolating after a positive diagnosis. Further positive tests caused the cancellation of Laval's game-week 10 match against Boulogne. The match between SC Lyon and Cholet in the same round was postponed due to positive cases at Cholet.

Game-week 11 saw the postponements of Annecy v SC Lyon, Quevilly-Rouen v Stade Briochin and Villefranche v Sète due to Covid cases.

Four matches were rearranged for the catch-up week of 28 to 30 October; Quevilly-Rouen v Bourg-Péronnas, Sète v Red Star, Annecy v Villefranche, and SC Lyon v Cholet, but postponed for a second time due to Covid cases.

Game-week 12 ties between Cholet and Annecy, SC Lyon and Quevilly-Rouen, and Orléans and Boulogne were postponed. Game-week 13 ties between Boulogne and Avranches, and between Le Mans and Orléans were postponed.

All of the postponed matches were caught up by 15 December 2020.

In February 2021, Red Star had two matches postponed due to Covid cases.

In March 2021, the games between Laval and Bastia, and Concarneau and Boulogne, scheduled for 13 March, were both postponed due to Covid cases in the Laval and Boulogne squads. Boulogne's next scheduled match, against Laval, was also postponed. Positive cases at Créteil caused the postponement of their matches with Boulogne (27 March) and Le Mans (2 April). The rescheduled date for Créteil's match with Le Mans, 14 April, was also postponed, along with their match against Villefranche, scheduled for 17 April, as the outbreak continued.

In April, the game between Orléans and Le Mans, scheduled for 9 April, was postponed due to Covid cases in the Orléans squad. On 21 April, Orléans announced further postponements due to Covid cases: the game against Le Mans, which had been rearranged for 21 April, and the game against Villefranche, which was scheduled for 24 April. The game between Cholet and Bastia, scheduled for 23 April, was postponed on 22 April.

League table

Due to the 2020–21 Championnat National 2 season being declared void, the normal relegation rules did not fully apply, as there was no balancing promotion from that division. However, the regulations of the Championnat National state that the team classified in last position is relegated without the possibility of repechage. On 13 July 2021 the FFF Comex (executive committee) confirmed the relegation of SC Lyon.

Promotion play-offs

A promotion play-off was held at the end of the season between the 18th-placed team of the 2020–21 Ligue 2 and the 3rd-placed team of the 2020–21 Championnat National. This was played over two legs on 19 and 22 May.

Villefranche v Niort

19 May 2021 19:00 CEST

Villefranche	3–1	Niort
Blanc  54' Dauchy  84' Garita  90+3'	https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2021/05/19/france/play-offs-23/fc-villefranche-beaujolais/chamois-niortais-football-club/3503920/	Bâ  45+2'

Stade Armand Chouffet Attendance: 0 Referee: Bartolomeu Varela Teles

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Niort v Villefranche

22 May 2021 20:45 CEST

Niort	2–0	Villefranche
Lebeau  78' Kemen  81'	https://ca.soccerway.com/matches/2021/05/22/france/play-offs-23/chamois-niortais-football-club/fc-villefranche-beaujolais/3503921/

Stade René Gaillard Attendance: 0 Referee: Nicolas Rainville

Niort won 3–3 on away goals

Top scorers

As of games played on 15 May 2021.

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Andrew Jung	Quevilly-Rouen	21
2	Wilson Isidor	Bastia-Borgo	15
3	Ottman Dadoune	Quevilly-Rouen	13
	Gaëtan Perrin	Orléans
5	Thomas Robinet	Laval	12
	Sébastian Da Silva	SC Bastia
	Billal Brahimi	Le Mans
	Antony Robic	SC Bastia
9	Carnegy Antoine	Orléans	11
10	Geoffray Durbant	Bastia-Borgo	10
	Romain Spano	Annecy