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Olympique Lyonnais Féminin

Olympique Lyonnais Féminin (French pronunciation: [ɔlɛ̃pik ljɔnɛ]; commonly referred to as Olympique Lyon, Lyon, or simply OL) is a French women's professional football club based in Lyon. The club has been the female section of Olympique Lyonnais since 2004. It is the most successful club in the history of the Première Ligue, with seventeen league titles as Olympique Lyonnais and four league titles as FC Lyon before the acquisition.

Since the 2010s, Lyon has frequently been named the strongest women's team in the world,[2] and has been cited as a model for the development of women's football in both economic and cultural terms.[3] The team has won eight Champions League titles, including a record five successive titles from 2016 to 2020, as well as fourteen consecutive domestic league titles from 2007 to 2020. They have also won five trebles when the top-level continental competition is considered, the most for any team.

History

The club was formed as the women's section of FC Lyon in 1970. In 2004, the women's club became the women's section of Olympique Lyonnais. Since joining Lyon, the women's section has won the Division 1 Féminine fourteen times and the Coupe de France nine times. Lyon reached the semi-finals of the 2007–08 edition of the UEFA Women's Cup and, during the 2009–10 season, reached the final of the inaugural edition of the UEFA Women's Champions League, losing to German club Turbine Potsdam 7–6 on penalties.[4][5] In the following season, Lyon finally captured the UEFA Women's Champions League, defeating its nemesis Turbine Potsdam 2–0 in the 2011 final. It successfully defended its title in 2012, defeating FFC Frankfurt in the final.

From 2016 to 2020, the club won five consecutive Champions League titles, equaling the male record held by Real Madrid. Three players: Sarah Bouhaddi, Wendie Renard, and Eugénie Le Sommer have all won eight Champions League trophies.

Lyon's main rivalry is with Paris Saint-Germain, with matches between the two teams sometimes referred as the "Classique féminin". Paris is OL's main contender for national titles, as they finished in second place of D1 Féminine seven times. Lyon had never lost the D1 title to PSG until 2021 when PSG finished ahead of Lyon, and won five Coupe de France finals against Paris. In 2017 both teams reached the Champions League final, with Lyon beating Paris after a penalty shoot-out and winning its fourth title in the competition.[6]

Lyon hosts its matches at the Stade Gérard Houllier, a stadium of capacity 1,524 located in the Groupama OL Training Center and situated not far from the larger Parc Olympique Lyonnais where the male teams play. The women's team does host its "big" matches at the 59,000-seat stadium. The current president of the club is Michele Kang and the captain of the team is Wendie Renard. According to the UEFA women's coefficient, Lyon was the highest-ranked club in UEFA in 2014.[7]

Ownership and finances

Lyon Féminin is part of OL Groupe, whose majority shareholder since December 2022 is Eagle Football Group, which is controlled by American businessman John Textor. Club president Jean-Michel Aulas was also OL Groupe's previous and founding owner, and remains a minority owner of OL Groupe and board director of Eagle Football Group.[1][8][9]

As of April 2023, L'Équipe reported that Lyon Féminin operated at a €12 million annual deficit.[1]

On 16 May 2023, OL Groupe and Michele Kang announced the formation of a separate entity that would be composed of Kang's Washington Spirit of the NWSL, and Olympique Lyon Féminin. OL Groupe would sell its NWSL club, OL Reign, to resolve conflicts of interest. OL Groupe would retain a 48% stake in the resulting new entity, and Kang would become the club's majority owner and CEO, pending regulatory approval.[10][11][12][13] Kang's proposed deal for the women's side reportedly valued it at $54.4 million.[14] Kang attended Lyon's victory in the Coupe de France féminine finals on 13 May 2023 and raised the trophy with the team.[13][15]

Players

Current squad

As of 13 September 2024.[16]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

Notable former players

Current staff

As of 7 August 2024.[17]

Honours

Celebration of the sixth UEFA Women's Champions League in 2019.

Official

Invitational

Others

Record in UEFA Women's Champions League

As of match played 17 October 2024

All results (away, home and aggregate) list Lyon's goal tally first.

f First leg.

List of seasons

Top scorers in bold were also the top scorers in the Division 1 Féminine that season.

References

  1. ^ a b c Guillemet, Hugo (12 April 2023). "L'OL féminin bientôt vendu à Michele Kang, une femme d'affaires américaine". L'Equipe. Retrieved 14 April 2023.
  2. ^ Smith, Rory (17 May 2019). "The World's Most Dominant Team Isn't Who You Think". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  3. ^ Ingle, Sean (29 June 2019). "How Lucy Bronze was polished at Lyon, the ultimate finishing school". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
  4. ^ "Lyon and Potsdam make history". UEFA. 11 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  5. ^ "Potsdam hold nerve to claim European crown". UEFA. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 16 June 2010.
  6. ^ "2016–17 Women's Champions League Final Report". UEFA. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  7. ^ "UEFA WOMEN'S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE 2014/15" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  8. ^ "Olympique Lyonnais Price Tag For John Textor: $846 Million". Forbes. 21 June 2022.
  9. ^ "L'OL officiellement vendu à l'Américain John Textor". L'Équipe (in French). 20 December 2022.
  10. ^ "OL Groupe and Michele Kang Form Global Multi-Team Women's Football Group" (Press release). Washington Spirit. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  11. ^ Caron, Emily (16 May 2023). "Spirit's Michele Kang adds Lyonnais Feminin to Women's Soccer Venture". Sportico. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  12. ^ Hess, AJ (16 May 2023). "Spirit owner Michele Kang buys Lyon to build first international women's soccer empire". Fast Company. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  13. ^ a b Guillement, Hugo (16 May 2023). "Michele Kang, nouvelle actionnaire majoritaire de l'OL féminin : " Il n'est pas question de changer l'OL "" [Michele Kang, new majority shareholder of OL Women: "There is no question of changing OL"]. L'Équipe (in French). Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  14. ^ "Washington Spirit owner Kang to take over Lyon". Sports Business Journal. 16 May 2023. Retrieved 25 May 2023.
  15. ^ "Spirit owner Michele Kang attends Lyon women's match, hoists trophy with team amid takeover reports". The Athletic. 13 May 2023.
  16. ^ "EFFECTIF & STAFF". Olympique Lyonnais. Retrieved 13 September 2024.
  17. ^ "COMMUNIQUÉ DE PRESSE | NOUVELLE ORGANISATION AU SEIN DU STAFF DE L'ÉQUIPE FÉMININE DE L'OL". Olympique Lyonnais. 14 June 2021. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Most consecutive association football victories (all competitions)". Guinness World Records.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Olympique Lyonnais Féminin.