FM23 French Lower League Clubs to Manage | 6 Teams to Manage in French National Leagues

To celebrate the debut of the FM23 French lower league database released on the website, it’s time to look at some of the most interesting FM23 French Lower league clubs to manage.

We reached out to CWaka, who is a researcher in the French National 2 for Sports Interactive, to ask if he had some special recommendations of teams to manage in French National Leagues, and here are the results!

The French football league system is so much more than Paris Saint-Germain and Ligue 1. Even though most of the most successful clubs in France is found in Ligue 1 or Ligue 2, there are possibilities to embark on a proper lower league save where you aim to go from zero to hero by chasing the club’s first major trophy…

The qualification of France to the Wold Cup 2022 final is a major testament to the French clubs’ success in youth development. Dayot Upamecano and Ousmane Dembele, who both spend their youth career at Evreux (National 2) paints the picture of the importance of those minor clubs in the lower leagues of France who looks to nurture the talents of their local youth players.

What’s special with France is that there are so many ‘unknown’ clubs situated in historical places, or with a prior history that’s perfect for a restore the glory Football Manager 2023 save as they have become French Champions at one point in the last hundred years.

Today I wish to put the spotlight to some of the most interesting clubs found in the French National leagues which will be available to manage on FM23 with the National 2 and National 3 database downloaded.

6 Clubs to Manage in The French Lower Leagues on FM23

C’Chartres Football – National 2 Gr. A

C’Chartres Football is one of the newest football clubs established in one of the top European football competitions. The semi-professional football club based in Chartres, was founded in 2018 after the merger of FC Chartres and Chartres Horizon.

The town of Chartres is probably best known for hosting the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres, which is included on the UNESCO list of world heritage sites, and its historical importance since the Middle ages.

The football club of C’Chartres however, has no prior history to speak of. Run by Gérard Soler, a French-Moroccan former football player with 16 appearances for the French national team. He even featured in the World Cup 1982, scoring the only goal against England in the tournament.

Squad’s Average Age

The current squad of C’Chartres features a number of experienced players. With most of its key players over the age of 30, the club has the oldest squad in average age in National 2 groupe A with its 28.9. This means that its required of a major rebuild to turn your squad into a promotion candidate to get the right mix of both experienced players and young talents for the future.

Players to Watch

At C’Chartres you’ll find a number of recognizable players with experience from top teams in France, England and Italy.

Kévin Bru (34) might be a name you’ve heard of from his days at Ipswich. The Advanced playmaker came through the Clairefontaine Academy and got swooped up by Rennes. The talented midfielder was even offered a contract at the time by Tottenham but rejcted the move to stay in France. Unfortunately, his career in France never kicked off at the highest level but received lots of matches in Ligue 2 for Dijon, Clemornt and Boulogne. At Ipswich Kévin Bru scored 4 goals in 94 appearances something that’s quite decent.

Clement Chantôme (35) is another you’ve probably heard of before. The technical gifted deep-lying playmaker came through the PSG Academy in 2003 and was a great player in his best days. The central midfielder received 168 appearances for PSG despite often being the second fiddle to Claude Makelélé. After 10 years at the club he got loaned out to Toulouse before Bordeaux signed the hard-working midfielder.

Another experienced gem in the Chartres squad is Ricardo Faty (35) and Arnaud Archimbaud (32). While Faty has played for a number of major clubs around Europe, such as AS Roma, Standard Liege and Bursaspor, Arnaud Archimbaud has mostly played in the French National 2 despite being a talent coming through the Lyon Academy.

FC Sète 34 – National 2 Gr. C

Football Club de Sète 34 was originally founded as Olympique de Cette in 1901. The name of the club was renamed in 1914 when the town of Sète changed its name. Before the WW2 the club was one of the most successful clubs in France. They reached the Coupe de France final two years in the row (1929 and 1930). In 1930 they won the French Cup before they became the first club to make the double in French football in 1934 by winning both the Division1 and coupe De France. Their last title came in 1939 when they won the Division 1.

After the world war 2, Les dauphins never managed to reach the same heights, even though they competed in the Division 1 until 1954. After six years in Division2, the club got reformed and had to work their way up to Division 2 from Level 7.

The current name of the club, FC Sète 34, was given in 1989 after the club was forced relegated down to Division 3 due to financial problems. Apart from a short stint in Ligue 2 in 2005/06, the club has played in National level until they were yet again relegated down to Championnat National 2 for financial mismanagement ahead of this season.

Restoring the glory of FC Sète 34 in Football Manager 2023 will probably be one of the hardest challenges to take. De-throning Paris SG and winning the club’s third French Championship seems impossible at this stage. Are you up for the challenge?

Other useful information about AS Cannes:

Training Facilities: Below Average
Youth Facilities: Poor
Junior Coaching: Adequate
Youth Recruitment: Basic

A.S Béziers – National 3 Occitanie

After 7 years in one of the top four divisions in France, Avenir Sportif Béziers got relegated to the National 3 for financial mismanagement ahead of the 2022/23 season. The French club based in the town of Béziers which is located in the Occitanie region of Southern France.

A.S Béziers was founded in 2007 (only 15 years ago) when three local clubs merged together. Despite their short history the club had their proudest moment when they achieved promotion to Ligue 2 ahead of 2018/2019 season. Under the guidance of Mathieu Chabert, who had managed to lead the club to promotion the year before, the club finished in the 19th place. The straight relegation back to the National division resulted in another relegation the year after.

Squad’s Average Age

At the moment, the club is topping the National 3 – Occitanie division 2 points ahead of Stade Beaucairois. If we don’t include the B-teams, the squad of Béziers has the second lowest average age in the league (25.8).

Players to Watch

Its squad includes Marc Vidal (31), a former Toulouse talent, and the Brazilian winger Cidinho (29) who came through the Botafogo Academy. Their best player is probably Jordon Gobron – a 30 year old attacking fullback with work rate and quickness to shine in the French lower leagues.

FC Chambly Oise – National 2 Gr.A

Are you a Internazionale fan, then you will probably recognize I Nerazzurri black and blue team colours. In the French National 2 Groupe A we find a club with Italian connections. FC Chambly Oise was founded by Walter Luzi in 1989.

Chambly’s history and ownership is quite unique.

Owned and run by the Luzi family, the small French club based in Chambly in the Hauts-de-France region is one of few football clubs that is family owned. With two brothers, Bruno Luzi as head coach and Fulvio Luzi as President of the club their father, Walter Luzi founded, the club have had major success in the lower leagues of France.

In 33 years, the club has promoted 13 times – from the French Level 13 to Ligue 2. The promotion to Ligue 2 happened ahead of 2019/20 season. At that time, their stadium, Stade des Marais, didn’t meet the regulations from the FFF and had to play their matches on two other locations.

The club’s biggest milestone however, came two years earlier when the club reached the semi-final of the Coupe de France when they defeated Strasbourg 1-0.

Since the relegation from Ligue 2, the club has got on a back to back relegation which resulted in the first time in the club’s history that a member of the Luzi family is not the manager!

Players to Watch

The squad of Chambly includes a number of interesting players. Up front you’ll be able to field the brother of Dmitri Payet. Anthony Payet is a quick striker with the first touch, heading and strength to play in the target man role.

Another is Melvyn Doremus, a tackling strong inverted wingback with 11 caps for the Benin national team. The left footed wingback has the dribbling, agility and passing to become a useful player in the final third.

Whether you wish to play with two strikers, or use a 4-3-3 formation, then Lassana Doucouré could be used as a second striker or on the right wing. The 31 year old winger was part of the club’s major success between 2017 and 2020 and is now one of the stars within the team. With overall great skills both on the technical and physical side, the player can be used in a number of roles, but I would probably use him as an Inside Forward.

If you’re looking for French lower league gems, then don’t miss out on Lassana Doucouré!

AG Caen – National 3 Normandie

AG Caen or Avant Garde Caennaise is a French sport organization which competes is a number of different sports, from Judo and Volleyball to Chess. The football club of AG Caen was estalished in 1906 and is one of the oldest football clubs in France.

The club could be recognized as a grassroot football club which looks to develop football talents from all over the country. With over 50 coaches using their expertise and experience to aid the development of youth on the training ground.

On the competitive side, the club, despite its long history, only reached the National 3 level for the first time in 2019/20. At the moment the club finds itself in the second place, two points behind Virois.

Squad’s Average Age

The current squad of AG Caen features a great mix of young talents with potential and experienced players. The current average age of 26.5 is the result of mostly two experienced players, Keving Goba (35) and William Coulibaly (36).

Players to Watch

Whether you manage in the French lower leagues or take up the challenge to overtake Stade Malherbe Caen in the French Ligue 2, the squad of AG Caen features a number of talented under-23 players that would be well worth a look because of their potential.

One of these players are Younès Khedir (20) – a talented inverted winger bagged with flair and determination. For the fifth level of the French football league system, he has great vision, passing and composure to become a key player in the final third. His composure and quickness can even lead him into becoming your primary striker for the next 10 years.

Anthony Dekono (21) could be another player you should keep hold of in your quest to promote to Ligue 2. The defensive wingback has great acceleration, teamwork and off the ball movement to overlap the left wing whilst providing more width as the team enters final third. Along with the ability to take on opponents by carrying the ball, Dekono is also strong in the defensive side of play with Marking and Tackling at 10 and 11.

AS Cannes – National 3 Corse – Mediterranee

Seeing AS Cannes at the fifth level of the French pyramid might break anyone’s hearts. At least, it’s a club with a lot of history.

Association Sportive de Cannes Football was founded 120 years ago by an English man named Herbert Lowe and his friends. AS Cannes was one of the founding members of the first division of French football – the division now known as Ligue 1. It was in its inaugural season the Dragons experienced their best ever achievement when the club finished runner-ups.

They became champions of the Coupe de France the season before – a feat they have never managed to make again. In fact, Les Dragons have not played in the top leagues of France since they got relegated in 1997/98. The history of AS Cannes is quite interesting indeed. Their best achievement in the Ligue 1 in newer history has been a 4th place in 1990/91 something that secured qualification to the UEFA Cup.

Instead of trophies and titles, the club has managed to become a stepping-stone club for a number of elite players. Zinedine Zidane, Patrick Vieira and Johan Micoud are all players going through the ranks of AS Cannes. Zidane helped the team to reached the second round in their first season participating in the UEFA Cup.

At the moment, the club finds itself in pole position to win promotion to National 2 as they are topping the table 2 points ahead of Gazèlec FC Ajaccio.

Turning the club around and get the club back to Ligue 1 might be huge challenge for Football Manager 2023 but an enjoyable journey. When the club has competed on the National 2 level or below since 1998, you’ll need to build the club from the ground up.

Luckily, there are are some positives. By playing at the Stade Ange Casanova – a stadium with a maximum capacity of 8000 spectators, the club’s finances is one of the better at National 3 level.

The squad of AS Cannes also includes a number of promising talents in the likes of Allan Berkache (18) and Jacques Di Stasio (18) who has the potential to reach Ligue 2 standard. These two talents have been released by Montpellier and OGC Nice and is well worth to try to develop for the future.

In your quest to promote to National 2 and above you’ll have Lenny Leonil (24) and Mehdi Kadi (27) who can both create chances and score goals. The only team lacks to play a 4-2-3-1 system is a defensive-minded ball-winning midfielder who can hold position and provide the necessary balance for utilizing the flair and creativity of Mehdi Kadi.

Other useful information about AS Cannes:

Training Facilities: Average
Youth Facilities: Below Average
Junior Coaching: Average
Youth Recruitment: Fairly Basic

Honorable Mentions

Racing Club de France Football – the club who gave us David Ginola!
The club has won the Division1 (Ligue 1) in 1935-36 and got 5 Coupe de France trophies in their cabinet (last one 1949).

FC Gueugnon – won quite amazingly the Coupe de la Ligue (2-0 over Paris SG) in 2000 – becoming the first club to win the cup as a club based in Ligue 2 and thereby competed in the UEFA Cup the following season!

Are you considering managing in the lower leagues of France? Download the FM23 French lower league database which unlocks National 2 and National 3 in FM 2023.

Let us know in the comments who you will look to manage in the French National or below.