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Olympique Lyonnais (French pronunciation: ), commonly referred to as simply Lyon (French pronunciation: ) or OL, (: ) is a
club based in . It plays in France's highest football division, . The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The club's most successful period has been the 21st century. The club won its first Ligue 1 championship in , starting a national record-setting streak of seven successive titles. Lyon has also won a record seven , five
titles and three .
Lyon has participated in the
12 times, and during the , reached the semi-finals of the competition for the first time after three previous quarter-final appearances. Olympique Lyonnais plays its home matches at the 59,186-seat , commercially known as Groupama Stadium, in , a suburb of Lyon. The club's home colours are white, red and blue. Lyon was a member of the
group of leading European football clubs and are founder members of its successor, the .
Olympique Lyonnais is one of the most popular clubs in France. A 2009 survey found that about 11% of the country's football fans support the club, a proportion Lyon shared with , behind only . The club's nickname, Les Gones, means "The Kids" in Lyon's regional
of . The chairman of Lyon is
and the club is managed by . Olympique Lyonnais also has a successful
that has won
a record 15 times. The women's team has also won nine
titles and the
in , 2016 and 2017.
is the place of celebration of honours Olympique Lyonnais.
Olympique Lyonnais was initially formed under the multisports club , which was originally formed in 1896 as Racing Club de Lyon. Following numerous internal disagreements regarding the cohabitation of amateurs and professionals within the club, then-manager of the club Félix Louot and his entourage contemplated forming their own club. On 3 August 1950, Louot's plan came to fruition when Olympique Lyonnais was officially founded by Dr. Albert Trillat and numerous others. The club's first manager was
and, on 26 August 1950, played its first official match defeating
3–0 in front of 3,000 supporters. In just the club's second year of existence, Lyon was crowned champion of the second division, securing promotion to the first division. The club maintained its first division place for the remainder of the decade, excluding a year's stint in the second division for the 1953–54 season.
Lyon achieved moderate success during the 1960s and 1970s with the likes of , , ,
playing major roles. Under manager , Lyon won its first-ever
title defeating
2–0 in the . The club also performed respectably in the league under Jasseron's reign until the , when Lyon finished 16th, which ultimately led to Jasseron's departure. His replacement was , who helped Lyon win their second Coupe de France title after defeating
3–1 in the . Lyon was managed by former Lyon legend
heading into the 1970s. Under Mignot's helm, Lyon won its third Coupe de France title in , beating
In June 1987, Lyon was bought by
businessman
who took control of the club aiming to turn Lyon into an established Ligue 1 side. His ambitious plan, titled OL – Europe, was designed to develop the club at the
and back into the first division within a period of no more than four years. The first manager under the new hierarchy was . The aspiring chairman gave Domenech
to recruit whoever he saw fit to help the team reach the first division. They went on to accomplish this in Domenech's first season in charge. Lyon achieved its
under Domenech when it qualified for the . For the remainder of his tenure, however, the club underachieved. Domenech was replaced by former
, who led the team to an impressive second place in the .
At the start of the new , Lyon began to achieve greater success in . The club established itself as the premiere club in France defeating
and also became France's richest club as well as one of the most popular.[] Lyon became known for developing promising talent who went on to achieve greatness not only in France, but also abroad and . Notable examples include , , , , , , ,
and . Lyon won its first ever Ligue 1 championship in , starting a national record-breaking streak of seven successive titles. During that run the club also won one , its first
and a record six . The club also performed well in UEFA competitions, reaching as far as the quarter-finals on three occasions and the semi-finals in 2010 in the . Lyon's streak and
came to an end during the , when it lost the title to Bordeaux.
Olympique Lyonnais is owned by
businessman , who acquired the club on 15 June 1987. He serves as the founder and chief operating officer of CEGID (Compagnie Européenne de Gestion par l'Informatique Décentralisée). After ridding the club of its debt, Aulas restructured the club's management and reorganised the finances and, in a span of two decades, transformed the club from a second division team into one of the richest football clubs in the world. However, Aulas has been lambasted by critics for running the club as if it were a business. The club currently operates on the
under the name OL Groupe, initialled OLG.
In April 2008, business magazine
ranked Lyon as the thirteenth most valuable football team in the world. The magazine valued the club at $408 million (EUR275.6M), excluding debt. In February 2009, Lyon were rated in the 12th spot in the , reportedly bringing in an annual revenue of EUR155.7 million for the , which ranks among the world's best football clubs in terms of revenue.
In 2016, a Chinese private equity fund acquired 20% stake in Olympique Lyonnais Group for EUR100 million. The fund was managed by .
Aulas currently serves on the board for the , a sports organisation representing
clubs in Europe. He was also the last president of the now-defunct
organisation.
As of 10 November 2009.
Club Management
President and chairman
Managing director
Thierry Sauvage
Sporting Director
Marino Faccioli
Director of Communications
Olivier Blanc
Commercial Director
Olivier Bernardeau
Marketing Director
Didier Kermarrec
Security Director
Annie Saladin
Director of Special Operations
Mathieu Giraud
Special Advisor
One of the two lions guarding the main entrance to the Stade Gerland.
View of the Stade de Gerland.
Olympique Lyonnais has played at the
since 1950, the year of the club's foundation. In 1910, the mayor of Lyon, , came up with the idea to develop and build a sports stadia with an
track and a
in the city. In 1912, the stadium was officially mandated and local architect
was given the reins to designing and constructing it. Construction began in 1914 with hopes that the stadia would be completed before the . Due to World War I, however, construction was temporarily halted, but resumed following its conclusion in 1919. By 1920, the stadium was completely functional. In 1926, the Stade de Gerland was inaugurated by Herriot.
Olympique Lyonnais began play at the Gerland in 1950 and have remained at the stadium since. The stadia originally had a cycling track, but was removed to increase the seating capacity to 50,000. In 1984, minor renovations were made to the stadium by architect Rene Gagis. This included construction of the
stands. Further renovations were needed to prepare the stadium for the , as by that time FIFA had mandated that all stadiums used for international matches, including the , had to be . The north and south stands, known as the
stand, respectively, were completely knocked down and rebuilt, and the athletics track that had remained, even after the cycling track had been removed, was taken out. The renovations were done by architect Albert Constantin. The new incarnation of Gerland has a maximum capacity of 40,500.
On 1 September 2008, Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas announced plans to create a , tentatively called OL Land, to be built on 50 hectares of land located in , a suburb of Lyon. The stadium is presently under construction and plans are to also include state-of-the-art sporting facilities, two hotels, a leisure center and commercial and business offices.
On 13 October 2008, the project was agreed upon by the State, the , the ,
and the municipality of Décines for construction with approximately EUR180 million of public money being used and between EUR60–80 million coming from the . Since the announcement, however, the club's efforts to get the stadium off the ground has been hindered mainly due to slow administrative procedures, political interests and various opposition groups, who view the stadium as financially, ecologically and socially wrong for the taxpayers and community of Décines. The project is currently on hold, but most estimate that the stadium will be completed by 2015. The official name of the stadium will be The Stade des Lumières.
On 22 September 2009, French newspaper
reported that OL Land had been selected by the
(FFF) as one of the 12 stadiums to be used in the country's bidding for . The FFF officially made their selections on 11 November 2009 and the city of Lyon was selected as a site to host matches during the tournament.
The opening of
was on 9 January 2016. Olympique Lyonnais beat
4–1 with goals from , ,
Former Lyon player
training at the .
is the training center and club headquarters of Olympique Lyonnais. It is located in the city of Lyon, not far from the Stade de Gerland. The facility is named after Anatole Tologe, commonly called Tola Vologe, who was a Lyon
and was murdered by the
during World War II. The facility is known for its high-level training and several prominent players have passed through the youth training center. These include , ,
and . The center's hosts training sessions for the senior team and also serves as the home facility for the club's , youth (both male and female), and
sides, who both play their home matches at the . Former Lyon player Alain Olio is the current director of the centre.
Lyon won six of their seven league titles wearing this kit.
Since the club's foundation, the primary colours have been red, blue, and white, with the latter being the most predominant of the three. During the early years of the club's existence, Olympique Lyonnais primarily played in all-white uniforms. In 1955, Lyon officials decided to add a red and blue
and blue shorts to the combination. In 1961, the scapular tradition was disbanded and the two strips of red and blue were shaped horizontally. After six years, the club returned to the all-white uniforms, but kept intact the red and blue stripes, but, instead of keeping them horizontally, inserted them vertically and on the left side of the shirt. Lyon began wearing the shirt during the
and wore the kits up until the . For the , chairman Jean-Michel Aulas announced that the club would return the kits. Lyon wore them, with several different modifications every year, for six of their seven consecutive titles.
In 1976, the club endured a drastic change to their kits, ditching the all-white uniforms for an all-red style, akin to English club . The club wore the kits up until the , with the
being excluded due to the club adding navy blue vertical stripes to the shirt that was deemed unsuccessful. Following the 1989–90 season, the club returned to the all-white kits and, at the start of the , the club returned the vertical stripes, but opted to insert them in the center of the shirt, instead of to the left. The club kept this style until the . For the , Lyon returned the horizontal red and blue stripes. In the , Lyon has used a variety of different colours as first choice, including red, navy blue, light blue, black, silver and fluorescent yellow.
Tribune of Bad Gones before the match Olympique Lyonnais – Real Madrid in 2006.
Olympique Lyonnais has a highly-active and loyal fanbase composed of many groups of supporters. One of the club's most notable supporters group is Bad Gones ("Bad Kids"). The Bad Gones were established in 1987 around the time of Jean-Michel Aulas's purchase of the team and occupy the Virage Nord area of the Stade de Gerland. During the , the group celebrated its 20th anniversary. The Bad Gones is the biggest group of supporters in France and have a very strong reputation in Europe, due to the club's control of , as well as Lyon's continued appearances in the .
Another notable supporters group is the Cosa Nostra Lyon, who occupy the Virage Sud area of the stadium. The group was created in 2007 as a result of a merger between two groups, the Lugdunums, which had existed since 1993 and Nucleo Ultra, which formed in 2000. The merger was created to achieve a sense of stability among supporters. The group is no longer recognised by the club, but continues to operate in a functional manner. Other support groups include the Hex@gones, which was formed in 2000 and sit in the Virage Sud area, the Gastrogones, who occupy the
stand, and the O'Elles Club, who sit in the
The club also has support groups that are based in areas outside of the city of Lyon. The Gones 58 supporters comes from the department of
in , while Gones 26 origins come from the department of
in nearby . Three minor support groups in Septimagones, Loups Marchois, and Dauphigones comes from the commune of , the department of , and the department of , respectively.
 Goals 
  
Lyon's first competitive game was a 3–0 victory against
on 26 August 1950. Since the club's foundation in 1950, they have played 48 seasons in , which totals 1,768 matches. Of the 1,768, they achieved 686 victories, drew 442 matches and lost 602 contests. Of the nine seasons the club played in , they contested 310 matches, winning 160 matches, drawing 84 times and losing only 56. Lyon achieved their 1,000th victory during the
after defeating .
The Moroccan-born French midfielder
holds Lyon overall appearance record having played in 541 matches over the course of 14 seasons from 1969 to 1983. Following him is former
who contested 518 matches over the course of 11 seasons from 1997 to 2008. Along with , Coupet also has the distinction of being the only player in Lyon's history to win all four domestic French titles having been a part of all seven Ligue 1 titles, the club's
triumph in 2008, the only
win in 2001, and six of the seven
titles. Govou, Coupet, and
share the honour of being only Lyon players who were a part of all seven title runs.
The club's all-time leading scorer is , who scored 182 goals while at the club from 1960 to 1974. Di Nallo is also third behind Chiesa and Coupet in all time appearances having played in 489 matches during his 14-year stint at the club. Despite Di Nallo's impressive goalscoring record, he doesn't hold the record for most goals scored during a league season. That distinction was held by -born
who notched 25 goals, which he attained in the . , however, scored his 26th goal of the
in an important game away to
when he scored in the sixth minute.
, converted a record 44 free kicks at Lyon.
Lyon's biggest victory is 10–0, which occurred of two occasions against
in the 1953–54 edition of the Coupe de France and, two seasons later, against
in the 1955–56 edition of the competition. Lyon's biggest league victory is 8–0 and also occurred on two occasions. The first being during the
and the second being against Marseille during the . The club's biggest victory on the European stage occurred during the 1974–75 season, where Lyon hammered -based club
Historically, Lyon has a healthy rivalry with fellow Ligue 1 club , whom they contest the
with. Since the club's dominance at the start of the new millennium, however, they have established rivalries with , ,
and . Lyon also share minor rivalries with fellow
The Saint-?tienne rivalry began during the 1960s when Lyon established permanent residency in the French first division. The
rivalry stems from both clubs close proximity of each other, separated by just 38 miles, as well as historical social and cultural difference between the two cities
Lyon cited as being more upper-class, while
is cited as being more working-class. The
also pits "the recently most successful French club" (Lyon) against "the formerly biggest French club" (Saint-?tienne) and is often cited as one of the high-points of the
Lyon's rivalry with Marseille goes back to 23 September 1945, when the clubs contested their first match. The derby, often called
("Clash of the Olympics") or Olympico, is often cited as being particularly important as both clubs are of high standard in
and the championship is regularly decided between the two. Marseille, Saint-?tienne, Lyon, and PSG are the only French clubs to have won the French first division four straight times with Marseille doing it on two occasions.
On 7 August 2009, Lyon announced that it would sign a ten-year deal with the German sportswear brand , effective at the start of the 2010–11 season with Lyon earning EUR5 million annually from the deal, plus possible royalty fees based on product sales.
Following the , Lyon's long-term sponsorship agreement with the French
ended. On 22 July 2009, the Paris-based online bookmaker BetClic reached an agreement with Lyon to advertise on the club's kits. Due to
prohibiting , however, Lyon could not wear its kits displaying the BetClic logo. On 12 August 2009, just before the opening league match against , the club was relieved of its BetClic-sponsored shirts by the
(LFP), which warned the club that it risked forfeiting points if the club wore them. Lyon complied and, since the Le Mans match, has worn sponsorless shirts while playing on French soil. Lyon is free to wear its BetClic sponsored shirts outside F on 25 August 2009, the club unveiled the shirts in
while taking on
in the Champions League. On 15 January 2010, Lyon secured a sponsorship agreement with Japanese video game company
to display the company's
logo on their shirts. The deal lasted until the end of the . In 2010, the French ban on online gambling advertising was lifted and Lyon began wearing its BetClic-sponsored shirts on French soil. In August 2012, the club agreed a two-year sponsorship deal with Korean car manufacturers
that would start in , replacing BetClic as the main sponsor in their shirts for Ligue 1 matches.
Minor sponsors of the club include , APICIL, and MDA ?lectroménager. During Coupe de France matches, the club wear kits sponsored by ,
and Pitch as they are main sponsors of the FFF. During Coupe de la Ligue matches, Lyon wear shirts with the Speedy Triangle logo on the front of their shirt, as they are main sponsors of the LFP.
1984–93: Duarig
1998–03: Adidas
2003–10: Umbro
2010–present: Adidas
1984–89: Giraudy Affichage
1989–91: Le69
1991–92: Zenith Datasystem,
1992–93: Giraudy, Candia
1993–99: Sodexho, Justin Bridou
1999–01: Infogrames
2001–03: Continental
2006–09: /
2009–10: PlayStation 3/Kool Sheen
2011–12: / Truck/Credit Agricole
2012–present: Hyundai/Veolia Environnement
Lyon has won
seven times, which ranks tied for fourth in . Lyon has the distinction of starting a national record-breaking streak of seven successive titles beginning with the . The club has also been crowned champions of
three times, won five
titles, one
title and a record seven . Though the club is a regular participant in the , they have only reached as far as the semi-finals, which was accomplished during the . Lyon has won the , achieving this honour in .
Winners (7): , , , , , ,
Winners (3): , ,
Winners (5): , , , ,
Winners (1):
Winners (8) – Record: , , , , , , ,
Semi-finalists (1):
Semi-finalists (1):
Semi-finalists (1):
Winners (1):
As of 31 January 2018
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
(on loan from )
(on loan from )
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
(on loan to
until 30 June 2018)
(on loan to
until 30 June 2018)
(on loan to
until 30 June 2018)
(on loan to
until 30 June 2018)
(on loan to
until 30 June 2018)
(on loan to
until 30 June 2018)
(on loan to
until 30 June 2018)
(on loan to
until 30 June 2018)
(on loan to
until 30 June 2018)
As of 31 January 2017
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under . Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Nicolas Garcia
Dorian Grange
Anthony Racioppi
Zachary Brault Guillard
Gédéon Kalulu
Romaric N'Gouma
Brian Ngwabije
Pierre Nouvel
Idriss Bouchentouf
Maxence Caqueret
Timothé Cognat
Yoann Martelat
Ousseynou Ndiaye
Hamza Rafia
Yassin Fekir
Yann Kitala
Thomas Oualembo
For a complete list of former Olympique Lyonnais players with a Wikipedia article, see .
retired in 1999 in recognition of
. Borrelli was killed in a road accident in February of that year. In 2011, the number was brought out of retirement and given to back-up goalkeeper
retired in 2003 in recognition of
. Foé died while playing for
at the Stade de Gerland, Lyon. The number was brought out of retirement in 2008 to allow Cameroonian player
to wear it. Following Makoun's departure, the number went without use for a year. In 2011, it was given to .
UNFP Player of the Year
The following players have won the
while playing for Lyon:
Bravo Award
The following players have won the
while playing for Lyon:
, former manager of Lyon.
Olympique Lyonnais has had 22 permanent managers and two caretaker managers since the club's first appointed
as a professional manager in 1950. Heisserer also served as the first
of the club, coming out of retirement to play during his final season at the club. The longest-serving manager in terms of time was , who managed Lyon for eight years from 1968 to 1976. , who managed the club from 2007–08, was the first Lyon manager to achieve .
As of 15 March 2018.
Assistant manager
Assistant manager
Goalkeeper coach
currently play in France's top division, the . The ladies team was set up in the 1970s as part of , but was attached to OL in the summer of 2004. They mostly play their home games at Groupama OL Training Center, 200 metres from , the main stadium.
. OLWeb.fr 2006.
. Le Point (in French). 7 August .
. Euronext. 31 October .[]
. Forbes. 30 April .
. FourFourTwo. 12 February .
(PDF). Olympique Lyonnais Group. 12 August .
. France Soir (in French). 16 October .
. Archived from
on 12 October .
. France Soir (in French). 23 October 2009. Archived from
on 26 October .
. France Soir (in French). 22 September .[]
. French Football Federation. 11 November .[]
13 February 2010 at the .
. Fan Foot. 21 November 2009. Archived from
on 11 March .
. Fan Foot. 21 November 2009. Archived from
on 11 March .
. Fan Foot. 21 November 2009. Archived from
on 10 July .
. Fan Foot. 21 November 2009. Archived from
on 15 August .
. Colours-of-football.com 2017.
. . 19 December .
. EU Football. 14 August 2009. Archived from
on 22 August .
. EU Football. 12 August 2009. Archived from
on 30 August .
. OLWeb.fr 2017.
. OLWeb.fr 2017.
(in French) (in English)
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