1973–74 French Division 2

Division 2
Season	1973–74
Champions	Lille
Promoted	Lille; Red Star; Paris Saint-Germain
Relegated	Poitiers; Le Mans; La Rochelle; Ajaccio; Nevers; Arles-Avignon; Vittel [fr]
	← 1972–73 1974–75 →

The 1973–74 French Division 2 was the 33rd season since its establishment.^[1] It was constituted by two groups (A and B) with 18 clubs each. The winners of each group won promotion to the 1974–75 French Division 1.^[2] Additionally, the winners met in a two-legged championship play–off. The victor was crowned champion and awarded the trophy.^[3] Meanwhile, the runners-up of both groups faced each other in a two-legged play-off, with the victor claiming the last promotion spot.^[4] On the other hand, the bottom three clubs of each group were relegated to the 1974–75 French Division 3 [fr], while Ajaccio abandoned its professional status and joined them.^[5]

The season began on 1 July 1973 and ended on 5 June 1974. The winter break was in effect from 22 December 1973 to 12 January 1974. Two points were awarded for a win, with no points for a loss. If the match was drawn, each team received one point. Likewise, this season was the first time that bonus points were awarded: any team scoring three or more goals in a match received an additional point.^[2] During the play–offs, if the aggregate score was tied after two legs, the match was decided by extra time and/or penalty shootout.^[3]

League tables

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Lille (C, P)	34	24	8	2	68	21	+47	11	67	Promotion to 1974–75 French Division 1 Qualification to the Finale de la Division 2
2	Valenciennes	34	21	7	6	78	29	+49	15	64	Qualification for Division 1 Playoffs
3	Rouen	34	18	6	10	59	31	+28	14	56
4	Boulogne	34	16	10	8	58	39	+19	11	53
5	Laval	34	16	10	8	54	40	+14	6	48
6	Lorient	34	14	10	10	50	34	+16	7	45
7	Besançon	34	14	8	12	53	50	+3	5	41
8	Dunkerque	34	13	7	14	49	50	−1	7	40
9	Brest	34	13	9	12	41	43	−2	2	37
10	Bourges	34	10	11	13	36	54	−18	4	35
11	Chaumont	34	9	12	13	45	58	−13	4	34
12	Montluçon	34	11	5	18	52	61	−9	6	33
13	Cambrai	34	11	9	14	42	55	−13	2	33
14	Blois	34	10	9	15	36	52	−16	4	33
15	Hazebrouck	34	10	8	16	45	54	−9	4	32
16	Poitiers (R)	34	10	7	17	43	61	−18	5	32	Relegation to 1974–75 French Division 3 [fr]
17	Le Mans (R)	34	5	8	21	29	63	−34	5	23
18	ES La Rochelle (R)	34	5	8	21	29	72	−43	0	18

Source: Footballdatabase.eu
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	BP	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Red Star (P)	34	19	12	3	71	29	+42	11	61	1974–75 French Division 1 Championship play-offs
2	Paris Saint-Germain (P)	34	19	6	9	70	42	+28	13	57	1974–75 French Division 1 Promotion play-offs
3	Toulouse	34	17	5	12	64	42	+22	9	48
4	Avignon	34	15	10	9	47	33	+14	6	46
5	Toulon	34	15	8	11	50	39	+11	8	46
6	CA Mantes-la-Ville	34	14	7	13	47	45	+2	4	39
7	Ajaccio (R)	34	12	9	13	46	44	+2	6	39	1974–75 French Division 3 [fr]
8	Cannes	34	11	12	11	39	42	−3	5	39
9	Angoulême	34	13	8	13	45	49	−4	5	39
10	Mulhouse	34	12	7	15	49	56	−7	7	38
11	Entente BFN	34	11	9	14	42	48	−6	5	36
12	Sète	34	13	8	13	30	51	−21	2	36
13	Châteauroux	34	10	10	14	43	47	−4	5	35
14	Gueugnon	34	10	9	15	46	56	−10	5	34
15	Béziers Hérault	34	11	8	15	35	46	−11	4	34
16	Nevers (R)	34	10	10	14	37	49	−12	4	34	1974–75 French Division 3 [fr]
17	Arles-Avignon (R)	34	9	8	17	44	67	−23	4	30
18	CS Vittel (R)	34	8	8	18	27	49	−22	2	26