Versailles in the Championnat National

Of all the soccer teams which I support, the club team which I have enjoyed supporting the most in these past few years is FC Versailles. When I first got interested in the French football pyramid and the lower leagues, I looked up which team at a decent level was closest to Rambouillet. It took some searching, but I found FC Versailles playing in the National 3, the fifth division of French football, which consists of ten groups of fourteen teams, with only the top team in each group being promoted to the next level up. Versailles were playing very well at that level, and were in first place, though US Ivry was hot on their heels. That season was cut short by COVID, and the French Football Federation made the decision to allow promotion and relegation to continue, despite only about two thirds of the season having been played.

With that bit of luck, Versailles moved up from the National 3 to the National 2, which consists of four groups of sixteen team, again with only one team from each group being promoted. The following season did not start exceptionally well for Versailles, who found themselves just above the relegation zone of the bottom three teams after a third of the season had been played. Enter COVID to once again shine on Versailles and end the season very prematurely, this time with no promotion or relegation taking place.

The following season, the season of 2021-2022, was the stuff of fairy tales for Versailles. The team started off with many draws, and I was nervous, wondering if this season might be a reproduction of the previous season. Despite the team only being in the middle of the table, I noted after about a quarter of the season had transpired, that Versailles had already played all of the teams above them in the table without losing a match, and that they would have a series of games against the bottom half of the table. The team took advantage of this run to go on a bit of a winning streak. At the same time that this was happening, the team as competing well in the Coupe de France, getting favorable picks for their opponents, and winning their games, though often by close margins.

Back in the league, Versailles pushed to the top of the table and took advantage of lapses by other teams to never give up that place. They finished the league in first place by a comfortable margin, earning back-to-back promotions in seasons that were eligible for promotion. The Coupe de France was the real publicity stunt, as Versailles beat Toulouse, a team from Ligue 2, two divisions above them, in a run up to the semi-final, where they finally lost to Nice, from Ligue 1, after not giving up a goal the entire first half against the team three divisions above their own.

Now, Versailles is playing in the Championnat National, having moved up from the National 3 and National 2. For the next two years, in order to reduce the number of teams playing in both Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 from twenty each to eighteen each, four teams will be relegated from both. The Championnat National is relegating six of its eighteen teams in order to keep up. I have watched anxiously, hoping not to see Versailles be relegated after their incredible story up until this point.

Right now, half of the season is complete, and Versailles is in first place in the league, pending a game to be played by Concarneau, one of its primary competitors. Versailles has found the league more difficult than its previous seasons, having lost a few games. And yet, the team has won six of its nine games at home. I was there for the first game of the season when Mondy Prunier scored a goal at the last second of the game against Martigues, a goal that may prove crucial as Martigues sit second in the table right now, only behind Versailles because of that goal.

This season has been a lot of fun, and it will be interesting to see if Versailles can indeed be promoted for a third consecutive time. Even if that doesn’t happen, it will be a success to have avoided relegation and to be playing in the Championnat National, a world away from where the team was just three years ago.