French Handball League Cup Winners: Montpellier Lead With 10
All seven French men's handball League Cup winners, their title-winning seasons, and why Nantes' final trophy is listed as 2021/22.
Montpellier won the French men’s handball League Cup a record 10 times; HBC Nantes won the final edition, beating Chambéry 28–21 on 19 December 2021. The trophy belongs to the 2021/22 season, even though the final took place in 2021. The LNH’s honours list uses the season label, while its final report gives the match date and score.
This list covers the Coupe de la Ligue in French men’s club handball, not football’s League Cup, the French handball league championship or the Coupe de France.
All League Cup winners by club
Seven clubs shared 19 titles. Seasons below identify the competition edition, not necessarily the calendar year in which the final was played.
| Club | Titles | Winning seasons |
|---|---|---|
| Montpellier Handball | 10 | 2003/04, 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07, 2007/08, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12, 2013/14, 2015/16 |
| Paris Saint-Germain Handball | 3 | 2016/17, 2017/18, 2018/19 |
| HBC Nantes | 2 | 2014/15, 2021/22 |
| Chambéry | 1 | 2001/02 |
| US Créteil | 1 | 2002/03 |
| Istres | 1 | 2008/09 |
| Dunkerque | 1 | 2012/13 |
The LNH’s competition honours list records winners from 2004/05 onward. For the first three editions, the LNH identifies Chambéry as the inaugural winner in 2002, Créteil’s own 2002/03 season history records its trophy, and the 2003/04 competition record identifies Montpellier’s first win.
Montpellier’s 10 titles represent 52.6% of the 19 trophies awarded—more than all other winners combined. Their tenth came with a 31–26 victory over PSG on 13 March 2016, explicitly recorded as title number 10 in the LNH’s contemporary report. PSG then won three consecutive editions before Nantes took the last trophy.
Why there are no winners for two seasons
The gaps between PSG’s 2018/19 win and Nantes’ 2021/22 win are not missing results:
- 2019/20: the competition was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as recorded in PSG’s competition history.
- 2020/21: the competition was omitted from the season’s calendar altogether. The LNH’s May 2020 restart announcement confirms that it was removed to prioritise domestic league matches.
Neither season adds a trophy to any club’s total.
The final title: Nantes’ 28–21 win
Nantes led Chambéry 13–10 at half-time and won 28–21, securing their second League Cup, according to the official final report. Subtracting the half-time scores gives a 15–11 second half: their three-goal interval advantage became a seven-goal final margin. The match produced 49 combined goals.
The LNH subsequently abolished the competition from 2022/23, citing the need to reduce match workloads and protect players’ physical wellbeing. The honours list therefore ends with Nantes in 2021/22.