2014–15 RC Lens season

The 2014–15 RC Lens season is 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 €10million 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.

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 vs Lyon
Coupe de la Ligue	Round of 32 vs US Créteil-Lusitanos
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
Home colours Away colours

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 4 matches against higher-profile league teams at the French national stadium Stade de France in Saint-Denis.

Players

Lens playing away against Valenciennes FC

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. 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

Main article: 2014–15 Ligue 1

League table

Pos	Team	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[lower-alpha 1] (R)	38	7	8	23	32	61	−29	29

Source: Ligue de Football Professionel
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(R) Relegated.
Notes:

1. 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 match

Match	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

Updated to match(es) played on 13 June 2015. Source: Ligue1
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

Matches

  Win   Draw   Loss

Nantes v Lens

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

Lens v Guingamp

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

Lyon v Lens

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

Lens v Reims

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

Bastia v Lens

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

Lens v Saint-Étienne

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

Evian v Lens

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

Lens v Caen

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

Rennes v Lens

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

Lens v Paris Saint-Germain

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

Toulouse v Lens

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

Marseille v Lens

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

Lens v Bordeaux

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

Lorient v Lens

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

Lens v Metz

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

Monaco v Lens

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

Lens v Lille

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

Montpellier v Lens

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

Lens v Nice

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

Guingamp v Lens

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

Lens v Lyon

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

Reims v Lens

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

Lens v Bastia

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

Saint-Étienne v Lens

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

Lens v Evian

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

Caen v Lens

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

Lens v Rennes

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

Paris Saint-Germain v Lens

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

Lens v Toulouse

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

Lens v Marseille

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

Bordeaux v Lens

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

Lens v Lorient

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

Metz v Lens

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

Lens v Monaco

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

Lille v Lens

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

Lens v Montpellier

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

Nice v Lens

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

Lens v Nantes

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

Main article: 2014–15 Coupe de la Ligue

Lens v US Créteil

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

Main article: 2014–15 Coupe de France

Lens v Lyon

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

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