This is the "Centenary" Final in France and PSG (you know them? huge budget, famous stars, long record and presently leading Lique 1) play "petit poucet" the minnows of Les Herbiers from Vendee in western France, a team based on a small town of 16,000 people with an attendance average of 1400. Les Herbiers, founded in 1909, name loosely translates to an area with verdant plants. Very rural! Getting into the Coupe de France final will raise the club's coffers £1.6 millions with a bonus of £650,000 if they win. Hmmm!! With a centenary year coming up, the money will be a bonus.
No team below the 2nd Tier has won the trophy. Second division clubs Le Havre and Guingamp have achieved this in 1959 and 2009. Giant killers, les tombeurs de gros, such as Calais shot to fame in 2000 when they reached the final as a Fourth Division side. They lost to Nantes 2-0 part due to a dodgy penalty.
The minnows seem to have a better chance of getting to the "Coupe Final" such as El Biar, amateurs from Algeria in 1957, knocked out two second tier clubs before beating Reims, who had been runners up in THE European Cup the year before. In 1996 and 2001 3rd Division Nimes and Amiens beat five top flight clubs on their way to the final. In 2012 3rd Division Quevilly battled to the final putting out Marseille and Rennes. They lost to Lyon 1-0.
15 amateur and semi-professional clubs (fourth division and below) have reached the last 16. This sums up the differences between the lower three divisions, which is not much, and also the cup has a set of rules that allow lower league sides home advantage and an absence of replays.
Formed in 1917 by Henri Delaunay chairman of the FFF was impressed by the English FA Cup and saw the cup as a way to unify the country after the First World War. He allowed any club the opportunity to join in with 8,000 or so clubs taking the plunge in several geographical regional rounds, a month before the previous year's Final is played. Hundreds of overseas' teams join in too eg from Guadaloupe. The best eleven overseas clubs (Ultramarines) enter the seventh round in November along with Lique 2 clubs with the FFF covering travel expences.
Guincamp's rise to fame in 1973 from the 5th Division raised £90,000 for the club that got them to the top flight in 1995. A town the size of Totnes in the top division of the nation!
So Les Herbiers have played Chambly, another lower level club, in the semi-final (last 4) and Lens from the 2nd tier, in the 6th Round (last 8).
Previously they met Auxerre (2nd tier) and then a mix of five 5th and 4th tier clubs amounting to eight rounds.
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