( CNN ) -- There is a lot to be said for modesty mixed with self-deprecation when faced with overwhelming odds , but despite his best efforts Louis Nicollin ended up displaying neither of these fine qualities . Last November , when the president and owner of Montpellier -- an unglamorous , unfancied , mid-table team that had shocked itself by leading the French league despite never having troubled the upper echelons before -- was asked about the prospects of his team staying the course , he was incredulous to say the least . `` Montpellier champions ? Impossible , '' scoffed Nicollin , who made his money in the refuse industry , in an interview with French sports daily newspaper L'Equipe . `` If I were at PSG ( Paris St. Germain ) , Lyon , Lille or Rennes , and Montpelier finished as champions , I 'd want to stab myself in the backside with a sausage . `` What a disgrace that would be ! '' Last weekend Nicollin 's `` disgrace '' was complete . His Montpellier players were crowned champions of France after a 2-1 victory over Auxerre , fending off PSG -- now one of the richest teams in the world after being bought out by the Qatar Investment Authority -- to secure the club 's first ever league title . The victory was remarkable for a number of reasons . For one , Montpellier had never come close to threatening the dominance enjoyed by the likes of Lyon , Marseille or PSG . The last time the club enjoyed any silverware was the French cup 22 years ago . The team was also purchased on a shoestring budget . While PSG could afford to blow €40 million ( $ 51.26 million ) on Argentine playmaker Javier Pastore and hire Italian legend Carlo Ancelotti , the biggest outlay by Montpellier 's former France under 21 coach Rene Girard was €2 million ( $ 2.56 million ) for defender Henri Bedmino . `` It 's unbelievable , '' midfielder Younes Belhanda told CNN after the game . `` I think they will stay here until tomorrow night ! It 's good for us , the fans , the president and the city of Montpellier . We are happy . We came from the academy and we win the league with a low earning club . '' Montpellier 's entire budget -- €33 million ( $ 42.29 million ) -- was less than Pastore 's transfer fee . Given their title odds of 80-1 at the start of the season , with a team of journeyman players , no one gave Montpellier a chance . But a 2-2 draw with PSG -- expected to sweep all before them thanks to the club 's Middle Eastern money -- at the start of the year changed the complexion of the title race . The team 's success -- much like European football 's other fairytale league success , for Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona in Israel -- was built not on money but on nurturing young players in the academy , building team spirit and spotting talent and value in footballers previously discarded by everyone else . `` There is an opportunity ( in France ) for small , well-run clubs ( to do well ) , '' said French football analyst James Eastham , who explained that France has had four different champions in four seasons , which gives opportunities to less well off teams . `` Montpellier have had the same president for decades , invested in youth and have n't spent a lot . '' Take John Utaka , the Nigerian who scored the winning goals against Auxerre . He had experienced such a disastrous spell at Portsmouth that no club in England wanted to touch him . France-born Moroccan playmaker Younes Belhanda , the outstanding player in this Montpellier side , has been with the team since he was 13 years old . Striker Olivier Giroud worked his way up through the lower leagues before Montpellier saw him playing for second division Tours . He cost €2million . This season he was the top scorer in the French league . Yet despite the incredulity of the president , the team continued to win until -- like in the English Premier League and Italy 's Serie A -- the title race came down to the last game of the season . But still Nicollin did n't entirely believe . He instead offered to have his hair cut in a B.A . Baracus-style mohawk if his team won the title . Sure enough Montpellier passed the final test and Nicollin celebrated by having a drastic new hair cut : a mohawk sprayed orange and blue , the club 's colors . Nicollin is 68 years old . `` We had to be strong mentally and to stay focus , '' striker Giroud told CNN . `` The game was n't easy . We stayed in the game and thanks to John ( Utaka ) we won . Everybody made a contribution this season . It 's the title for a team , a squad and a region . '' Yet the `` impossible , '' as Nicollin had claimed , had become possible . Not only that , the success of Montpellier -- a team described as French football 's `` ugly ducklings '' by coach Girard -- in one of Europe 's top leagues gives hope that in the era of big money in football even the smaller teams have a shot at the biggest prizes . Some think this will be the last time an unfancied team could hope to win the league , given PSG 's unlimited funds . But even PSG took notice of the way that Montpellier operated . `` There were a lot of changes , players and coach . It is not easy to shape a team 's identity , '' Ancelotti told Reuters of the upheaval at PSG since his arrival last year . But he was magnanimous in defeat , vowing to follow the blueprint set by the team that shocked France . `` We must look for continuity . There will be no revolution ... Montpellier won the title thanks to a style of football they had been building for years . ''
Montpellier win the French league for the first time in club 's history . Beat Auxerre 2-1 to beat second placed Paris St. Germain to the title . Comment: