Why is Ligue 1 called the "Farmers League"?

What started as a harmless joke has become a lingering label for the French top league.

The term "Farmers League" first appeared on social media, but quickly became a common term in the vocabulary of fans, reporters and even players.

However, no one seems to be able to say exactly what it means - or why Ligue 1 has this nickname.

Let’s find out.

The first thing that is obvious is: "Farmers League" is by no means a compliment. It is a term used to ridicule, belittle or question the achievements of a league.

The logic is simple: if a league is dominated by one—or, at most, two—teams for decades, this is usually seen as a sign that the competition in the league lacks true balance.

Take Paris Saint-Germain as an example. During their reign, they have won 11 league titles and only conceded top spot twice.

But they are not an exception: Bayern has won 11 consecutive Bundesliga championships, and Juventus has also monopolized the Serie A championship for nine consecutive years.

So, what is the financial gap between the leaders and other teams?

Paris is indeed the only one in Ligue 1. Bayern often buys top stars from other Bundesliga clubs, and Juventus completed the five most expensive transfers in Serie A history.

From this point of view, Serie A and Bundesliga are not much better than Ligue 1.

Some believe that this term refers to leagues that primarily develop young talent for larger leagues.

According to this definition, Ligue 1 is fully consistent. In the past ten years, French clubs have made nearly 4 billion euros in revenue from selling players overseas, ranking first in the world.

This explanation at least sounds reasonable.

But having said that, why aren’t the Portuguese or Dutch leagues called “Farmers’ Leagues”?

Even their top clubs serve as springboards to bigger leagues.

Perhaps it is because in these countries, no team plays the role of a real "thorn" - or in other words, a provocateur that attracts headlines.

So, Paris Saint-Germain appeared.

The Parisians are the primary reason why Ligue 1 attracts so much ill will.

The club's owners spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build a star-studded lineup, all in an effort to dominate the French league.

Although they have many big-name stars such as Neymar, Ibrahimovic, Messi, Ramos, Mbappe, etc., their achievements rarely go beyond the French Ligue 1 championship, which makes the ridicule of the "Farmers' League" inevitable.

Whenever Paris Saint-Germain has even a glimmer of success in the European arena, the nickname of the league will gain more media attention.

For example, in 2020, Mbappe added fuel to this fire.

In that unforgettable season, the Champions League format was special and two French teams entered the semi-finals.

After Lyon defeated Manchester City to advance to the quarter-finals, Mbappe posted a brief and joking message on Twitter: "Farmers' League... "

The Frenchman wanted to make one thing clear: his hometown league is not as weak as people say.

Five years later, Luis Enrique followed suit.

Last spring, after Paris Saint-Germain reached the Champions League final, the Spaniard couldn't help but playfully hit back: "Beat all four Premier League teams? Well... 'Peasant League', you know? We are the 'Peasant League'."

The origin of the "Peasant League"

The story of the "Peasant League" actually began in Brittany more than ten years ago, in a small town called Guingamp.

The local club, which has a 19,000-capacity stadium, spends most of its time playing in Ligue 2 and is supported by the region's farming community.

Guingamp was founded in 1913 and did not become fully professional until the 1980s. Stars such as Malouda and Drogba once played here, but its decisive moment occurred in 2014.

When they returned to Ligue 1 and reached the Coupe de France final against Rennes, fans made headlines by driving tractors for 10 hours to the match, further cementing the club's nickname of "Farmers" or "Tractors".

After that, Guingamp played in Ligue 1 for another five years. This period coincided with the rise of Paris Saint-Germain and began to monopolize the championship year after year.

This kind of overlap in time has given rise to a saying: Paris is just brushing up data against the "peasant" team.