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Association football is another way to describe European football or soccer. It is a professional sport that is played between teams of players who compete for national and global titles. It is the world’s most popular sport played by approximately 250 million players in over 200 countries around the globe. Not surprisingly, association football is also France’s most popular sport. There are two top-tier divisions of french football that are called Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 and they are governed by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP). 

Ligue 1 is the goal of every footballer. It is the highest-ranking French professional league for football clubs. It is the top-tier level of football competition and sits at the top of the French football league division class, along with other top national leagues such as the Spanish La Liga, English Premier League, German Bundesliga, and the Italian Serie. There are 20 teams in France who compete to be in Ligue 1. To date, Paris Saint-Germain is the current top football club in the country. Operating out of Paris, they received their ninth title in 2020 and continue to hold onto their position of power. The second division of French football is called Ligue 2. This league was created a year after Ligue 1 and is made up of 20 clubs that are divided into two groups, Nord (North) and Sud (South). The sport of football is taken very seriously and teams have emotionally risen and fallen throughout their histories, always on a quest to make it back to Ligue 1. 

The Association Sportive Nancy-Lorraine (ASNL), also known as AS Nancy-Lorraine or Nancy, is a French association football club that is based in Nancy, a northeastern riverfront city in the region of Grand Est. The club was founded in 1967 and currently plays in Ligue 2. It was founded as the successor to FC Nancy, a club that collapsed in 1965. Their history is well-known throughout France, having always played in either Ligue 1 or 2. While they have never won a first division, they have won the second division on five separate occasions. 

The late 1970s was a historical time for ASNL. After only three years, the team rose to second place and reached first division. Along with record-setting attendance numbers, they defeated the great Saint-Étienne at Marcel Picot. The next year, during the final game of the Coupe de France Michel Platini scored a goal that won Nancy won against Nice and earned them their first ticket to Europe.