Championnat National

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Championnat National

Sport	Football
Founded	1936
No. of teams	20
Country	France
Current champions	Chamois Niortais

The Championnat de France National (also called Division 3) is the third highest division in French football , one division below Ligue 2, one above the Championnat de France Amateurs.

The Championnat National consists of 20 teams. At the end of the season, after all clubs have played a home and away series against each other, the three top teams in the league are promoted to Ligue 2, replaced by the latter's bottom three teams; and the bottom four are relegated to the Championnat de France Amateurs, replaced by their top four clubs. After the Ligue 2 clubs are relegated, they are allowed to keep their professional status for two seasons, except under exceptional circumstances. Thus, this league contains both professional and amateur clubs.

Since 1970, there has been an automatic promotion/relegation link between the D3 and the Ligue 2. However, before 1970 the Division 3 was open to reserve teams from the best professional teams in France, whose first teams played in Ligue 1. Nowadays, the best reserve teams are eligible for the division below, the Championnat de France Amateurs.

In the long run, the professionalisation of the Championnat's member clubs is uncertain. The French League does not want to divide its profits into smaller shares, so it does not collaborate with amateur clubs to help them become professional.

The matches in the Championnat National attract on average between 1500 and 2000 spectators per match.