Olympique Lyonnais

Olympique Lyonnais was initially formed as part of the multisports club Lyon Olympique Universitaire, which was first formed in 1896, under the name Racing Club de Lyon. After a series of internal disputes over the coexistence of amateurs as well as professionals in the club, then-club manager Felix Louot and his entourage thought about creating Olympique Lyonnais as their own organization. The 3 August 1950 was the day Louot's dream came to fruition in the form of Olympique Lyonnais was officially founded by Dr. Albert Trillat and numerous other. The first manager of the club was Oscar Heisserer and, on 26 August 1950, it played its first ever official game, beating CA Paris-Charenton 3-0 before a crowd of 3,000 fans. In the second year in existence Lyon won the title of champions in second division and secured advancement in the 1st division. The club held its first division status for the rest of the decade, with only an entire year's time with the 2nd division during the 1953-54 season.

Lyon had moderate success in its 1960s-70s era, with players like Fleury Di Nallo Nestor Combin, Serge Chiesa, Bernard Lacombe and Jean Djorkaeff being key players. Under the direction of manager Lucien Jasseron, Lyon won its first ever Coupe de France title defeating Bordeaux with a 2-0 win in the season 1963-1964. The club also did well in the league during Jasseron's management until the 1965-66 season which saw Lyon was ranked 16th in the league and that ultimately led to Jasseron's exile. His successor was Louis Hon, who helped Lyon to win the third Coupe de France title after beating Sochaux 3-1 during the season 1966-67. Lyon was run by the former Lyon legendary Aime Mignot in the 1970s. Under Mignot's leadership, Lyon won its third Coupe de France title in 1972-73, defeating Nantes by a score of 2-1.

The club was purchased in June of 1987. Lyon became the property of Rhone investor Jean-Michel Aulas, who was the first to take charge of the club with the intention to transform Lyon into a well-established Ligue 1 side. The plan, named OL - Europe was created to help the club grow at an European level, and then return to the first division in the space of less than 4 years. The first manager in the new management structure would be Raymond Domenech. The chairman of the future gave Domenech the right to choose anyone he felt was needed to assist the team in reaching the top of the league. The team was able to do this during his first season as chairman. Lyon was at its peak under Domenech as it qualified to play in the UEFA Cup. The remaining time however, the club did not perform to its potential. Domenech took over by the former French player Jean Tigana, who led the team to a dazzling second place in the 1994-95 season.

In the beginning of the millennium new year, Lyon began to achieve more successes at the top of French football. The club was able to establish itself as the top club in France beating Marseille as well as Paris Saint-Germain and also became the most affluent club in France. Lyon was known for its promising talents who eventually achieved excellence not just in France but also internationally and around the world. Examples of this include Michael Essien, Florent Malouda Sidney Govou Juninho, Cris, Eric Abidal, Mahamadou Diarra, Patrick Muller and Karim Benzema. Lyon has won its first Ligue 1 championship in 2002 which began a record-breaking national streak of seven consecutive championships. In that time, the club also won a Coupe de France title, the club's initial Coupe de la Ligue title and a record number of Trophee of Champions. The club also did well at UEFA competitions, getting to the quarterfinals on three occasions and also the semi-finals in 2010 during the UEFA Champions League. Lyon's run of dominance and constant dominance of French football was ended in the 2008-09 season, as it was defeated by Bordeaux.

OL has begun investing in other sports besides football. OL manages an esports club in China and in the year 2019 bought a minority stake in ASVEL, the city's ASVEL basketball team and specifically an interest of 25% in ASVEL's men's team along with a 10% stake in ASVEL's women's team.

In the last few days, OL announced in December 2019 that it would purchase an 89.5 percent share in the U.S. National Women's Soccer League team that was in the past by the name Reign FC. The deal was completed in January 2020 after the approval by the NWSL board. After a few weeks, OL announced the rebranding of Reign FC as OL Reign.

In the season of 2019-20, Lyon suffered a poor beginning to the season and finished the season in seventh position after the league was suspended because of the coronavirus epidemic. Lyon also made it to an end of Coupe de la Ligue, but ultimately fell to Paris Saint-Germain 6-5 on penalties. This means that Lyon were not able to make it to European contest for the very first time in years. For the Champions League, Lyon were more successful, beating Juventus at the end of the 16th round as well as Manchester City in the quarter-final to make it to the semi-finals for this first time for the past 10 years. However, they lost in the semi-final 3-0 against Bayern Munich, eliminating Lyon from the competition.

Olympique Lyonnais is owned by Rhone businessman Jean-Michel Aulas, who acquired the club on the 15th of June 1987. Aulas is the co-founder and chief operating executive for CEGID (Compagnie Europeenne of Gestion by l'Informatique decentralisee). After removing the club from its debts, Aulas restructured the club's management and also reorganized the finances. He also, over just two decades, the club was transformed from a second division club into one of the wealthiest football clubs around the globe. Yet, Aulas has been lambasted by critics who have accused him of running the club as though it was an enterprise. The club operates in the European Stock Exchange under the name OL Groupe, initialled OLG.

In April 2008 the business magazine Forbes placed Lyon as the 13th most valued football team around the globe. The magazine estimated the team's worth with $408million (EUR275.6M) which is minus debt. The month of February, 2009 saw Lyon received a rating of 12th position on the Deloitte Football Money League, reported to have earned the sum of EUR155.7 million in the 2007-08 season. This ranks among the top football clubs when it comes to revenues.

In 2016 an Chinese private equity firm bought 20 percent of Olympique Lyonnais in exchange for EUR100 million. The fund was administered through IDG Capital Partners.

Aulas currently sits as the chairman of The European Club Association, a sporting organization that represents football clubs across Europe. Aulas was also the previous president of the now defunct G-14 group.

As of 1 October 2018.

Club Management
President and chairman Jean-Michel Aulas  Managing director Thierry Sauvage Sporting Director Juninho Pernambucano Director of Scouting Florian Maurice Commercial Director Olivier Bernardeau Marketing Director Didier Kermarrec Security Director Annie Saladin Director of Special Operations Mathieu Giraud Special Advisor Bernard Lacombe

Olympique Lyonnais used to play at the Stade de Gerland since 1950 which was the year the club was founded. In 1910 Mayor of Lyon, Edouard Herriot, had the idea of developing and construct a sports stadia featuring an athletics track and Velodrome within the city. In 1912 the stadium was ordered and the the local architect Tony Garnier was given the responsibility of designing and building the stadium. The construction began in 1914, with hopes that the stadium would be completed prior to it was time for the International Exhibition of 1914. Because of World War I, however construction was temporarily stopped however, it was resumed after the war's closing in 1919. In 1920 the stadium was operational. In 1926 the stadium Stade de Gerland was opened by Herriot.

Olympique Lyonnais began playing at the Gerland in 1950, and continued to play in the stadium until. The stadium was originally home to the possibility of a cycle track, but it was taken away to increase the capacity of the stadium to 50,000. In 1984, some minor changes were carried out for the stadium, courtesy of the architect Rene Gagis. The stadium was also renovated, including both the Jean Bouin as well as Jean Jaures stadiums. Additional renovations were required to make the stadium ready to host the 1998 FIFA World Cup, as at the time, FIFA had required that all stadiums that host international games, including that of the World Cup, had to be all-seated. The south and north stands were referred to in Jean Jaures and the Jean Jaures and Jean Bouin stand respectively, were destroyed and rebuilt and the athletics track , which continued to exist in the stadium, even though the cycling track was removed, was removed. The construction was done by the architect Albert Constantin. Gerland was redesigned by architect Albert Constantin. Gerland had a capability of 40,500.

On September 1, the 1st of September, 2008 Olympique Lyonnais president Jean-Michel Aulas announced plans to construct the new stadium that will seat 60,000 people that is slated to be named OL Land, to be constructed on 50 hectares of land in Decines-Charpieu, a suburb in Lyon. The stadium will feature state-of-the-art sports facilities as well as two hotels, an entertainment center, as well as commercial and office spaces for business.

The 13th of October in 2008 was the date the project was approved by the State and the General Council of Rhone, the Grand Lyon, SYTRAL and the municipal council of Decines to build the stadium, with around EUR180 million of public funds being utilized and between 60-80 million through the Urban Community of Lyon. Following the announcement the efforts of the club to bring the stadium up and running were slowed primarily because of slow administrative processes along with political interests as well as various opposition groups who saw the stadium as economically environmentally and socially unsound for the community and taxpayers of Decines. The official name for the stadium was set to become The Stade des Lumieres.

On the 22nd September 2009 French publication L'Equipe informed it was reported that OL Land had been selected by the French Football Federation (FFF) as one of the 12 venues that will be utilized in the country's bid in the bid for UEFA Euro 2016. The FFF officially made their decision on 11 November 2009 , and Lyon was the location chosen. Lyon was chosen as a location to host matches during the tournament.

The official opening of Parc OL was held on 9 January, 2016. Olympique Lyonnais beat Troyes 4-1 with goals scored by Alexandre Lacazette, Rachid Ghezzal, Jordan Ferri and Claudio Beauvue.

The Centre Tola Vologe was the training center and the club's headquarter in the case of Olympique Lyonnais before the move to their new stadium in the year 2016. It is situated inside the City of Lyon near The Stade de Gerland. The name of the facility comes from Anatole Vologe, more commonly referred to as Tola Vologe. Vologe was an Lyon sportsman who was shot dead in the hands of Gestapo in World War II. The center is famous for its elite training facilities and a number of famous players have gone through the training center. This includes Karim the Benzema Hatem Ben Arfa Sidney Govou, Alexandre Lacazette, Samuel Umtiti and Ludovic Giuly. The center was home to exercises for players of the senior side as well as being the base for the reserve and youth (both female and male) and female teams that played home matches at the Plaine des Jeux de Gerland. Jean-Francois Vulliez is the current director of the centre.

Both women and men teams are now training in an advanced facility right next to the brand new Groupama Stadium in Decines. The academy's youth team also moved to the town that is adjacent to Meyzieu.

Since the club's inception the primary colours have been blue, red and white and the latter is most prevalent out of all three. In the beginning in the existence of the team Olympique Lyonnais primarily played in white uniforms. After 1955, Lyon official decided to include blue and red shorts in blue and chevron to the outfit. After 1961, the chevron style was ended and the two stripes of blue and red were designed horizontally. In the following six months, the team went back to white uniforms however, they kept the blue and red stripes however, instead of having them horizontally, they placed them vertically on the left-hand part of the shirt. Lyon started wearing the shirt in the 1970-71 season. They wore the jerseys up to 1975/76. The 2002-03 season was the first time the chairman Jean-Michel Aulas announced that the club would bring back the kits. Lyon used them with various variations each year, winning six of the seven titles they have won in succession.

Since 1976 the team underwent radical changes to their kit, dropping the white uniforms in favor of an all-red design, similar in style to English team Liverpool. The club wore the kit from the time of the 1989-90 season. the 1978-79 and 1977-78 seasons being exempted due to the addition of navy blue vertical stripes on the shirt, which was considered unsatisfactory. After the 1989-90 season the club returned to white kits, and, shortly before the start of the 1995-96 season they returned to the vertical stripes, however they chose to put them in the middle of the shirt instead of on the left. The club wore this design up until 2001/02. In 2009-2010, Lyon brought back the horizontal blue and red stripes. For the Champions League, Lyon has utilized a range of colors as the first choice such as navy blue, red and black, as well as light blue silver, and fluorescent yellow.

Olympique Lyonnais has a highly-active and loyal fanbase that is comprised of several groups of fans. One of the most well-known supporters is the Bad Gones ("Bad Kids"). "The Bad Gones were established in 1987 at the time of Jean-Michel Aulas's acquisition of the club and are located in part of the Virage Nord area of the Stade de Gerland. The 2007-08 season was the time when the club was celebrating their 20th birthday. The Bad Gones are the largest fan group in France and have a well-known reputation in Europe thanks to the club's dominance over Ligue 1, as well as the continued participation of Lyon at the UEFA Champions League.

Another popular group of supporters can be found in one of the most well-known supporters groups is Cosa Nostra Lyon who are located in the Virage Sud section in the Stadium. The group was formed in 2007 as the result of the merger of two groups: the Lugdunums who had been around since 1993, and Nucleo Ultra, which formed in 2000. The group was formed to ensure stability among the supporters. The group is no longer recognized by the club, however it remains in operation in a manner that works. The Hex@gones support group is another that was established in 2000 and is located on the Virage Sud region and the Gastrogones which are located in their place in the Jean Bouin stand as well as O'Elles Club. O'Elles Club, who sit in the Jean Jaures stand.

The club has support groups as well that operate in areas that are not part of Lyon. Lyon. The Gones supporters are 58 out of the department Nievre in Bourgogne as well as Gones 26's roots are in the department of Drome located in Valence. The three minor groups of support within Septimagones, Loups Marchois, and Dauphigones are directly from the communes of Herepian The department of Creuse as well as departments of Isere in Isere.

The first game played by Lyon was a 3-0 win against CA Paris-Charenton on the 26th of August 1950. Since the foundation of the club in 1950, they've played in 48 seasons in France's top football league, which consists of 1,768 games. In the total of 1,768, they scored 686 wins, played 442 games and losing 602 games. In the nine seasons that the club was during Ligue 2, they contested 300 matches, winning 160 games with 84 draws and losing just 56. Lyon had their 1,000th win in the 2003-04 season, after winning against Strasbourg.

The born in Morocco French player Serge Chiesa holds Lyon overall appearance record, having played in 541 matches in the span of 14 seasons, from 1969 until 1983. The next player to follow him is the former goalkeeper Gregory Coupet who contested 518 matches in the span of 11 seasons between 1997 and the year 2008. Alongside Sidney Govou Coupet also holds an honor of being the one Lyon player in history to have won the of the four national French titles. He was in the entire seven Ligue 1 titles, the team's Coupe de France triumph in 2008, which was the only Coupe de la Ligue win in 2001 as well as Six of seven Trophee of Champions winners. Govou, Coupet, and Juninho have the distinction of being the only Lyon players to have been a part of all seven titles.

The club's most prolific scorer has been Fleury Di Nallo. He scored 182 goals in the club from 1960 until 1974. Di Nallo is also third after Chiesa as well as Coupet in appearances all-time having played in 489 games during his 14-year stay with the team. Despite his impressive scoring record, he does not have the record for most goals scored in an entire league season. The record was held by the Bourg-en-Bresse-born Andre Guy who notched 25 goals during the season 1968-69. Alexandre Lacazette, however, scored his 26th goal of 2014-15 season of the league in the crucial game against Stade de Reims when he scored in the sixth minute of the game.

Lyon's greatest win was 10-0. It occurred on two occasions in the match against Ajaccio at the time of the 1953-54 season of the Coupe de France and, two years later in the same season, in the final against Delle during the 55-56 edition of the contest. Lyon's greatest league win was 8-0, and it also happened twice. The first time was during the 1966-67 season when they played Angers and the other against Marseille in 1997-98. The biggest win for Lyon in the European stage came in the season 1974-75, which was when Lyon defeated Luxembourg-based club FA Red Boys Differdange 7-0.

In the past, Lyon has a healthy rivalry with the fellow Ligue 1 club Saint-Etienne, which they compete in with the Derby Rhone-Alpes with. The club's dominance began in the beginning of the new millennium they have forged relationships against Marseille, Bordeaux, Paris Saint-Germain and Lille. Lyon has also shared minor rivalries with Rhone-Alpes teams Grenoble as well as AS Lyon Duchere.

The Saint-Etienne rivalry started in the 1960s, when Lyon established permanent residence with the French first division. The Arpitan rivalry has its roots in the close proximity of both clubs to one another and a distance of only 61 km (38 miles) in addition to differences in the historical and cultural context among the towns in which they reside. Lyon is often cited as being more upper-class while Saint-Etienne is described as having a more middle-class feel. The derby also involves "the recent most prosperous French team" (Lyon) against "the previously the largest French team" (Saint-Etienne) as well as being frequently mentioned to be one of the most memorable events in this Ligue 1 season.

Lyon's battle with Marseille began on 23 September 1945, when both teams played their first game. The derby, sometimes referred to as Choc des Olympiques ("Clash of the Olympics") or Olympico is often mentioned as being significant due to the fact that both clubs have a high quality in French football, and the title is often determined between them. Marseille, Saint-Etienne, Lyon along with PSG have the distinction of being the sole French clubs to win this title in the French first division for four consecutive times, with Marseille winning it twice. occasions.

On the 7th of August 2009 Lyon made it clear that the club had signed a 10-year agreement with German brand of sportswear Adidas that will take effect from the beginning of the 2010-11 season. Lyon making EUR5 million per year from the agreement, in addition to potential royalty payments dependent on the sales of its products.

After the 2008-09 season, Lyon's sponsorship deal with French multinational company Accor along with Renault Trucks ended. On July 22, 2009, the online bookmaker BetClic signed the agreement Lyon to promote its brand on the team's kit. Because of French law banning gambling on the internet, Lyon could not wear its kits with its BetClic logo. On August 12, 2009, just prior to the league opener with Le Mans, the club was stripped of its BetClic sponsored shirt by the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) who warned the club that they could risk losing points if it did not wear the shirts. Lyon accepted the warning and, following after the Le Mans match, wore shirt that were not sponsored while playing on French territory. Lyon could wear their BetClic sponsored shirts outside of France On the 25th of august 2009 the club debuted the shirt in Belgium during their match against Anderlecht at the Champions League. On the 15th of January, 2010 Lyon signed a partnership agreement Japanese video game manufacturer Sony Computer Entertainment to display the company's PlayStation logo on their shirt. The contract lasted until conclusion this season. In 2010 the French prohibition on online gambling advertising was lifted, and Lyon started wearing BetClic-sponsored jerseys on French territory. The club signed a sponsorship agreement in August 2012. team signed to a two-year partnership with Korean automakers Hyundai which would begin in the 2012-13 and replace BetClic as the primary sponsor on their shirts for Ligue 1 matches.

The club's minor sponsors are LG, APICIL, and MDA Electromenager. In Coupe de France matches, the club wears kits that are which are sponsored by SFR, Caisse d'Epargne and Pitch because they are major supporters of the FFF. When playing Coupe de la Ligue matches, Lyon wear shirts with the Speedy Triangle logo on the front of their shirts, because they are the primary supporters of the LFP.

On July 27, 2005 the team unveiled the 24/7 channel OL TV, which is entirely dedicated to club programs and events, along as reserve matches and female matches.

• In seasons where there are multiple shirt sponsors, a different sponsor would appear for corresponding kits, e.g. home, away, and alternate kits.

As of 20 November 2021

Rank	Team	Points
20	Villarreal	63.000
21	Red Bull Salzburg	63.000
22	Lyon	62.000
23	Napoli	62.000
24	Atalanta	58.500

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16 –  retired in 1999 in recognition of goalkeeper Luc Borrelli. 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 Anthony Lopes.

17 –  retired in 2003 in recognition of midfielder Marc-Vivien Foé. Foé died while playing for Cameroon in the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup at the Stade de Gerland, Lyon. The number was brought out of retirement in 2008 to allow Cameroonian player Jean Makoun to wear it. Following Makoun's departure, the number went without use for a year. In 2011, it was given to Alexandre Lacazette.

UNFP Player of the Year

The following players have won the UNFP Player of the Year while playing for Lyon:

•  Michael Essien – 2005
•  Juninho – 2006
•  Florent Malouda – 2007
•  Karim Benzema – 2008
•  Lisandro López – 2010
•  Alexandre Lacazette – 2015

UNFP Young Player of the Year

The following players have won the UNFP Young Player of the Year while playing for Lyon:

•  Florian Maurice – 1995
•  Sidney Govou – 2001
•  Hatem Ben Arfa – 2008
•  Nabil Fekir – 2015

UNFP Goalkeeper of the Year

The following player have won the UNFP Goalkeeper of the Year while playing for Lyon:

•  Grégory Coupet – 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006
•  Hugo Lloris – 2009, 2010, 2012

Bravo Award

The following players have won the Bravo Award while playing for Lyon:

•  Karim Benzema – 2008

Olympique Lyonnais has had 22 permanent coaches as well as two assistant coaches, since they inaugural hired Oscar Heisserer as a professional coach in 1950. He also was the first coach for players at the club, and came from retirement to play in his final season with the club. The coach with the longest tenure duration was Aime Mignot, who was the coach of Lyon for eight seasons from 1968 until 1976. Alain Perrin, who coached the team from 2007 until 2008 was the very first Lyon coach to complete the double.

As of 19 August 2022.

Position	Name
Head coach	Peter Bosz
Assistant coaches	Claudio Caçapa  Rob Maas  Ludovic Giuly
Goalkeeping coach	Rémy Vercoutre
Head of performance	Antonin Da Fonseca
Fitness coaches	Terry Peters  Cédric Uras  Alexandre Farhi
Video analysts	Anthony Michel  Yannick Pothier  Geoffrey Garcia
Head of Medical	Franck Pelissier
Doctors	Jean-Marc Laborderie  Yann Fournier
Physiotherapists	Sylvain Rousseau  Abdeljellil Redissi  Jérémy Jacquemot  Johann Howse
Nutritionist	Isabelle Mischler
Reserves coach	Gueïda Fofana
Team managers	Julien Sokol  Guy Genet
Kit manager	Jérôme Renaud
Assistant kit managers	Lotfi Eladjabi  François Lopez
Head of Recruitments and Technical Advisor	Bruno Cheyrou

Olympique Lyonnais Feminin currently play in France's highest divisioncalled Division 1 Feminine. The women's team was put in the 1970s and was an affiliate of FC Lyon, but was affiliated to OL during the summer of 2004. The team plays their home matches at the Groupama OL Training Center, just 200 meters from the Parc Olympique Lyonnais which is the main stadium.

Lyon has been crowned Ligue 1 seven times, which is the sixth most on the list of French soccer history. Lyon is also the only club to have the distinction of launching an unbeaten streak in national history of seven consecutive titles that began in the 2001-02 season. Lyon has also been named champions in Ligue 2 three times, and has won the five Coupe de France titles, one Coupe de la Ligue title and eight Trophee of Champions. While Lyon is an active player in the UEFA Champions League, they have not made it in the semi-finals. This was completed in the seasons 2009-10 and 2019-20. Lyon has also won in the UEFA Intertoto Cup, achieving this award in 1997.

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• Ligue 1

Winners (7): 2001–02, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08

Runners-up (5): 1994–95, 2000–01, 2009–10, 2014–15, 2015–16

• Ligue 2

Winners (3): 1950–51, 1953–54, 1988–89

 

• Coupe de France

Winners (5): 1963–64, 1966–67, 1972–73, 2007–08, 2011–12

Runners-up (3): 1962–63, 1970–71, 1975–76

• Coupe de la Ligue

Winners (1): 2000–01

Runners-up (5): 1995–96, 2006–07, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2019–20

• Trophée des Champions

Winners (8): 1973, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2012

Runners-up (4): 1967, 2008, 2015, 2016

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• UEFA Champions League
  • Semi-finalists (2): 2009–10, 2019–20
• UEFA Europa League
  • Semi-finalists (1): 2016–17
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
  • Semi-finalists (1): 1963–64
• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners (1): 1997

• Emirates Cup
  • Winners (1): 2019
• Eusébio Cup
  • Winners (1): 2018
• Peace Cup
  • Winners (1): 2007