2014–15 RC Lens season

Lens
2014–15 season
Chairman	Gervais Martel
Manager	Antoine Kombouaré
Stadium	Stade de la Licorne (temporary); Stade de France (used vs high profile clubs)
Ligue 1	20th (relegated)
Coupe de France	Round of 64
Coupe de la Ligue	Round of 32
Top goalscorer	League: ; Yoann Touzghar (8); All: ; Yoann Touzghar (8)
Highest home attendance	At Stade de la Licorne: 11,228 vs Monaco (26 April 2015); At Stade de France: 70,785 vs Paris Saint-Germain (17 October 2014)
Lowest home attendance	At Stade de la Licorne: 3,848 vs US Creteil (28 October 2014); At Stade de France: 40,112 vs Lille (7 December 2014)
Average home league attendance	17,205 [1]
Home colours	Away colours
	← 2013–14 2015–16 →

The 2014–15 RC Lens season was the 109th professional season of the club since its creation in 1906. Lens returned to Ligue 1 after a three-year span in the second division. After their promotion however Lens were considered ineligible for their promotion due to a €10 million payment from shareholder Hafiz Mammadov missing in the accounts. This meant that despite their successes in the previous season, Lens would return to Ligue 2 no matter where they finished in the league. Despite their automatic demotion, the club happened to finish the season in 20th which nevertheless warranted relegation.

The club's stadium Stade Bollaert-Delelis was under renovation for the entirety of the season, ahead of the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament in France. Lens instead played the majority of their matches at Stade de la Licorne in Amiens and played four matches against higher-profile league teams at the French national stadium Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

Players

First team squad

French teams are limited to four players without EU citizenship. Hence, the squad list includes only the principal nationality of each player; several non-European players on the squad have dual citizenship with an EU country. Also, players from the ACP countries—countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Pacific that are signatories to the Cotonou Agreement—are not counted against non-EU quotas due to the Kolpak ruling.

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
1	GK	FRA	Rudy Riou
3	DF	FRA	Dimitri Cavaré (on loan from Stade Rennes)
4	DF	MAR	Ahmed Kantari
5	DF	MTN	Abdoul Ba
6	MF	FRA	Jérôme Lemoigne (Captain)
7	FW	FRA	Yoann Touzghar
8	FW	FRA	Aristote Madiani
9	FW	FRA	Adamo Coulibaly
11	FW	ARG	Pablo Chavarria
14	FW	SEN	Deme N'Diaye
15	DF	FRA	Patrick Fradj
18	MF	FRA	Pierrick Valdivia
19	FW	BEL	Baptiste Guillaume
20	MF	MAD	Lalaina Nomenjanahary


No.	Pos.	Nation	Player
21	MF	MAR	Alharbi El Jadeyaoui
22	DF	FRA	Loïck Landre
23	MF	FRA	Wylan Cyprien
24	DF	GUF	Ludovic Baal
25	DF	FRA	Jean-Philippe Gbamin
27	DF	FRA	Benjamin Boulenger
29	MF	FRA	Benjamin Bourigeaud
30	GK	FRA	Samuel Atrous
33	DF	MLI	Boubacar Sylla
34	FW	FRA	El Hadji Malick Seck
35	DF	ENG	Taylor Moore
40	GK	FRA	Valentin Belon
--	DF	FRA	Quentin Lecoeuche

Competitions

Ligue 1

League table

Pos	Team v t e	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
16	Lorient	38	12	7	19	44	50	−6	43
17	Toulouse	38	12	6	20	43	64	−21	42
18	Evian (R)	38	11	4	23	41	62	−21	37	Relegation to Ligue 2
19	Metz (R)	38	7	9	22	31	61	−30	30
20	Lens^[a] (D, R)	38	7	8	23	32	61	−29	29

Source: Ligue 1
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(D) Disqualified; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ It was announced on 29 January 2015 that Lens' promotion from Ligue 2 at the end of the 2013–14 season has been ruled invalid, and will thus be automatically relegated to Ligue 2 for the 2015–16 season, regardless of where the team place this season. It has been confirmed by the French Football Federation that the decision of the Administrative Court of Besançon will be appealed.^[1]

Results summary


Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
38	7	8	23	32	61	−29	29	5	4	10	14	24	−10	2	4	13	18	37	−19

Last updated: 13 June 2015.
Source: Competitive matches

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Ground	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	H
Result	L	L	W	W	D	L	L	D	L	L	W	L	L	L	W	L	D	D	W	L	L	D	D	D	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	D	L	L	L	L	L	W
Position	16	18	15	11	9	13	15	14	18	20	16	17	19	20	18	19	18	19	16	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	19	20	20	20	20	20	20

Source: Ligue1
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

Win Draw Loss

9 August 2014 1	Nantes	1–0	Lens	Nantes
21:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Bammou 65'	Report	Bourigeaud 69'	Stadium: Stade de la Beaujoire Attendance: 27,964 Referee: Sébastien Desiage

16 August 2014 2	Lens	0–1	Guingamp	Amiens
20:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Kantari 35' Valdivia 50' Chavarria 59' Lemoigne 79'	Report	Dos Santos 62' Douniama 90+3'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 9,512 Referee: Sébastien Moreira

23 August 2014 3	Lyon	0–1	Lens	Lyon
14:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Gonalons 30'	Report	Nomenjanahary 11' 54' Landre 43' Cyprien 47'	Stadium: Stade de Gerland Attendance: 24,636 Referee: Lionel Jaffredo

30 August 2014 4	Lens	4–2	Reims	Amiens
20:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Cyprien 27', 45' Chavarria 47', 82' Touzghar 61' (pen.) Coulibaly 87' (pen.)	Report	Mandi 7', 18' Oniangue 23' Signorino 60' Courtet 80'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 9,846 Referee: Benoît Bastien

13 September 2014 5	Bastia	1–1	Lens	Furiani
20:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Gillet 47', 54'	Report	Chavarría 40' El Jadeyaoui 72' Lemoigne 77'	Stadium: Stade Armand Cesari Attendance: 12,474 Referee: Wilfried Bien

21 September 2014 6	Lens	0–1	Saint-Étienne	Amiens
17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Coulibaly 33' Lemoigne 71'	Report	Mollo 21' Gradel 78' Lemoine 82'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 11,072 Referee: Saïd Ennjimi

24 September 2014 7	Evian	2–1	Lens	Annecy
19:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Wass 10' Mensah 30'	Report	Touzghar 55'	Stadium: Parc des Sports Attendance: 9,864 Referee: Frank Schneider

28 September 2014 8	Lens	0–0	Caen	Amiens
17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Valdivia 41'	Report		Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 8,525 Referee: Clément Turpin

4 October 2014 9	Rennes	2–0	Lens	Rennes
20:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Diagné 29' Ntep 54', 84'	Report	Cyprien 61'	Stadium: Stade de la Route de Lorient Attendance: 18,910 Referee: Sébastien Desiage

17 October 2014 10	Lens	1–3	Paris Saint-Germain	Saint-Denis
20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Coulibaly 10' Gbamin 9' 53' Lemoigne 27' 59'	Report	Cabaye 28' Maxwell 34' Cavani 55' (pen.), 56' 56'	Stadium: Stade de France Attendance: 70,785 Referee: Nicolas Rainville

24 October 2014 11	Toulouse	0–2	Lens	Toulouse
20:30 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Grigore 90+2'	Report	El Jadeyaoui 11', 58' Bourigeaud 27' Sylla 88'	Stadium: Stadium Municipal Attendance: 12,105 Referee: Wilfried Bien

2 November 2014 12	Marseille	2–1	Lens	Marseille
16:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	N'Koulou 11' Romao 23' 76' Thauvin 60' Mendy 72' Imbula 81'	Report	Guillaume 31' Valdivia 79'	Stadium: Stade Vélodrome Attendance: 52,803 Referee: Bartolomeu Varela

8 November 2014 13	Lens	1–2	Bordeaux	Amiens
17:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Chavarria 27' Cyprien 43' Touzghar 74' (pen.)	Report	Khazri 24' Diabaté 40' Touré 50' Yamberé 68' Planus 73'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 11,037 Referee: Mikael Lesage

22 November 2014 14	Lorient	1–0	Lens	Lorient
20:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Guerreiro 21' Ayew 75'	Report	Landre 15'	Stadium: Stade du Moustoir Attendance: 13,198 Referee: Amaury Delerue

29 November 2014 15	Lens	2–0	Metz	Amiens
20:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Kantari 41' El Jadeyaoui 65' Bourigeaud 79'	Report	Kashi 40' Malouda 44' Maïga 59'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 8,922 Referee: Philippe Kalt

2 December 2014 16	Monaco	2–0	Lens	Monaco
21:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Wallace 35' Berbatov 64' Carrasco 90+3'	Report	Cyprien 59' Lemoigne 63'	Stadium: Stade Louis II Attendance: 5,686 Referee: Frank Schneider

7 December 2014 17	Lens	1–1	Lille	Paris
17:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Kantari 55' Valdivia 89' Coulibaly 90+1', 90+2' Cavaré 90+4'	Report	Gueye 47', 86'	Stadium: Stade de France Attendance: 40,112 Referee: Ruddy Buquet

13 December 2014 18	Montpellier	3–3	Lens	Montpellier
20:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Sanson 1' Barrios 16' Saihi 50' Mounier 63', 63'	Report	Valdivia 18' Sylla 33' Guillaume 34' Bourigeaud 56' Touzghar 80'	Stadium: Altrad Stadium Attendance: 9,784 Referee: Saïd Ennjimi

19 December 2014 19	Lens	2–0	Nice	Amiens
20:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	Sylla 26' Cyprien 38' Lemoigne 72' Valdivia 73' Coulibaly 86'	Report	Eysseric 18' Puel 39'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 8,705 Referee: Sébastien Desiage

10 January 2015 20	Guingamp	2–0	Lens	Guingamp
20:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Mandanne 17' Sankharé 61' Beauvue 76' (pen.)	Report	El Jadeyaoui 49' Valdivia 71' Sylla 85'	Stadium: Stade du Roudourou Attendance: 13,520 Referee: Clément Turpin

17 January 2015 21	Lens	0–2	Lyon	Amiens
17:00 CET (UTC+01:00)		Report	Gbamin 22' (o.g.) Lacazette 26' (pen.)	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 11,173 Referee: Amaury Delerue

25 January 2015 22	Reims	0–0	Lens	Reims
17:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Bourillon 12' Tacalfred 36'	Report	Cyprien 17'	Stadium: Stade Auguste Delaune Attendance: 13,813 Referee: Lionel Jaffredo

31 January 2015 23	Lens	1–1	Bastia	Amiens
20:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Kantari 80' (pen.) Bourigeaud 87'	Report	Boudebouz 62' (pen.) Squillaci 79' Romaric 80'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 7,985 Referee: Alexandre Castro

6 February 2015 24	Saint-Étienne	3–3	Lens	Saint-Étienne
20:30 CET (UTC+01:00)	N'Guémo 18' Baysse 27' Mollo 57' Hamouma 71' Erdinç 83' Lemoine 88'	Summary	Touzghar 60', 69' (pen.) Kantari 72' Chavarría 77' Valdivia 88'	Stadium: Stade Geoffroy-Guichard Attendance: 31,974 Referee: Olivier Thual

14 February 2015 25	Lens	0–2	Evian	Amiens
20:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Baal 43' 90+2'	Report	Duhamel 19', 35' Sabaly 61' Abdallah 67' Wass 90+2'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 7,899 Referee: Ruddy Buquet

21 February 2015 26	Caen	4–1	Lens	Caen
20:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Féret 7' (pen.) Sala 35', 75' Bazile 36' Imorou 38'	Report	El Jadeyaoui 45' Coulibaly 59' Valdivia 74'	Stadium: Stade Michel d'Ornano Attendance: 17,751 Referee: Tony Chapron

28 February 2015 27	Lens	0–1	Rennes	Amiens
20:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Kantari 62' Guillaume 69' El Jadeyaoui 90+1'	Report	Doucouré 36' Habibou 90'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 7,549 Referee: Benoît Millot

7 March 2015 28	Paris Saint-Germain	4–1	Lens	Paris
17:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	David Luiz 44', 90+2' Ibrahimović 60' (pen.) Matuidi 80' Pastore 83'	Report	Baal 31' Nomenjanahary 43' Touzghar 68' Gbamin 72'	Stadium: Parc des Princes Attendance: 46,279 Referee: Wilfried Bien

14 March 2015 29	Lens	1–0	Toulouse	Amiens
20:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Nomenjanahary 66' Chavarria 77' Landre 90'	Report	Grigore 68'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 7,494 Referee: Sébastien Desiage

22 March 2015 30	Lens	0–4	Marseille	Saint-Denis
21:00 CET (UTC+01:00)	Valdivia 11' Gbamin 35' Lemoigne 66'	Report	Dja Djédjé 22' Batshuayi 46', 67', 90+3' Ayew 72' Imbula 90'	Stadium: Stade de France Attendance: 70,122 Referee: Fredy Fautrel

4 April 2015 31	Bordeaux	2–1	Lens	Bordeaux
14:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Contento 42' Mariano 80' Maurice-Belay 90+3'	Report	Chavarria 62', 86' Coulibaly 63'	Stadium: Stade Chaban-Delmas Attendance: 22,407 Referee: Philippe Kalt

12 April 2015 32	Lens	0–0	Lorient	Amiens
17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Madiani 59' Valdivia 76' Cyprien 90+4'	Report	Mostefa 69'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 7,468 Referee: Sébastien Moreira

18 April 2015 33	Metz	3–1	Lens	Metz
20:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Malouda 13' Bussmann 25' Sarr 57' (pen.) Maïga 79'	Report	Gbamin 44' Cyprien 77' Madiani 89'	Stadium: Stade Saint-Symphorien Attendance: 16,875 Referee: Frank Schneider

26 April 2015 34	Lens	0–3	Monaco	Amiens
17:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Lemoigne 18' Valdivia 57' El Jadeyaoui 69'	Report	Fabinho 24' Carrasco 36' Martial 44' Silva 72'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 11,228 Referee: Bartolomeu Varela

3 May 2015 35	Lille	3–1	Lens	Villeneuve-d'Ascq
14:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Gueye 14' Boufal 41' (pen.), 79' Kjær 69' Sidibé 74' Origi 90+4'	Report	Chavarria 24' Touzghar 28' Landre 40' Kantari 81'	Stadium: Stade Pierre-Mauroy Attendance: 41,435 Referee: Tony Chapron

10 May 2015 36	Lens	0–1	Montpellier	Amiens
14:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Landre 55' 65'	Report	Martin 58' Tiéné 86' Mounier 90+2'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 8,343 Referee: Mikael Lesage

16 May 2015 37	Nice	2–1	Lens	Nice
21:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Amavi 29' Bodmer 45' Digard 77'	Report	Touzghar 14' Cyprien 16'	Stadium: Allianz Riviera Attendance: 20,185 Referee: Nicolas Rainville

23 May 2015 38	Lens	1–0	Nantes	Amiens
21:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)	Chavarria 5' Moore 30' Landre 47'	Report	Deaux 37' Veretout 90+2'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 9,123 Referee: Sébastien Moreira

Coupe de la Ligue

28 October 2014 Round of 32	Lens	0–2	US Créteil	Amiens
20:00 CEST (UTC+02:00)		Report	Lesage 58', 74' Esor 60' Seck 84' Genest 87'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Attendance: 3,848 Referee: Alexandre Castro

Coupe de France

4 January 2015 Round of 64	Lens	2–3	Lyon	Amiens
14:15 CET (UTC+01:00)	Lemoigne 21' Guillaume 26' El Jadeyaoui 76' (pen.) Coulibaly 90'	Report	Fekir 5' Lacazette 14' (pen.) Dabo 30' Tolisso 34'	Stadium: Stade de la Licorne Referee: Fredy Fautrel

References

^ "RC Lens: la justice annule l'autorisation de montée en Ligue 1". L'Express (in French). 29 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.

[table_note_RCL0.80895650517613-2] It was announced on 29 January 2015 that Lens' promotion from Ligue 2 at the end of the 2013–14 season has been ruled invalid, and will thus be automatically relegated to Ligue 2 for the 2015–16 season, regardless of where the team place this season. It has been confirmed by the French Football Federation that the decision of the Administrative Court of Besançon will be appealed.^[1]

[1] "RC Lens: la justice annule l'autorisation de montée en Ligue 1". L'Express (in French). 29 January 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2015.

[a]

[1]

v t e 2014–15 in French football
« 2013–14 2015–16 »
Domestic leagues	Ligue 1 Ligue 2 National CFA (Group A, B, C, D) CFA 2 (Group A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H)
Women's domestic leagues	D1 Féminine
Domestic cups	Coupe de France (Final) Coupe de la Ligue (Final) Trophée des Champions
Women's domestic cups	Coupe de France Féminine (Final)
European	Champions League Men Women UEFA Europa League
Club seasons
Ligue 1	Bastia Bordeaux Caen Evian Guingamp Lens Lille Lorient Lyon Marseille Metz Monaco Montpellier Nantes Nice Paris Saint-Germain Reims Rennes St. Etienne Toulouse
Ligue 2	Ajaccio Angers Arles Auxerre Brest Bastia Châteauroux Clermont Créteil Dijon Istres Laval Le Havre Nancy Niort Nîmes Sochaux Tours Troyes Valenciennes
Summer transfers Winter transfers