Olympique Lyonnais (commonly referred to as Olympique Lyon , Lyon , or simply OL , by English speakers and international press) is a French football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1.
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. Their most successful period has been the 21st century. The club won their first ever Ligue 1 championship in 2002, starting a national record-breaking streak of seven successive titles. Lyon have also won a record seven Trophée des Champions, four Coupe de France titles, and three Ligue 2 Championships. They have appeared in the UEFA Champions League eleven times, but have not progressed further than the quarter-finals.
Olympique Lyonnais play their home matches at the 41,044-seat Stade de Gerland in Lyon. In 2013, they plan to move into their new stadia, tentatively named OL Land, in Décines-Charpieu, a suburb of Lyon. The club's home colours are white, red and blue. Lyon were a member of the G14 group of leading European football clubs and are founder members of its successor, the European Club Association. The chairman of Lyon is Jean-Michel Aulas and club is managed by Claude Puel.
Olympique Lyonnais is one of the popular football clubs in France. About 11% of the country's population support the club. Lyon share this number with Paris Saint-Germain and only trail Olympique de Marseille. Lyon do, however, hold the honor of being the richest club in the country having generated an annual revenue stream of €155.7 million for the 2007–08 season, according to accountants Deloitte.
Olympique Lyonnais also has a successful women's football team having won their league a record seven times, the last being the 2008–09 season. The women's team has also won three Challenge de France (women's version of the Coupe de France) titles.
The club's nickname, Les Gones , means "The Kids" in Lyon's regional dialect of Arpitan language.
History
Beginnings
Olympique Lyonnais was, initially, formed under the multisports club Lyon Olympique Universitaire , who was originally formed in 1896 as Racing Club de Lyon . In 1899, Lyon Olympique formed a football section. In the early years of the club, the football section was often overshadowed by local rivals FC Lyon, who won the French championship in the both the 1908 and 1909 seasons. Both LOU and FC Lyon also shared rivalries with local clubs CS Terreaux and AS Lyonnaise. In 1910, Lyon Olympique won the French Championship eclipsing their rivals. By 1917, the city of Lyon was divided with its citizens supporting only one of the four clubs.
By 1945, Lyon Olympique were managed by Félix Louot, who provided the leadership, determination, and faith in order to create professional football in the city of Lyon. His principles helped the club win the southern pool of the final wartime championship by two points over Bordeaux. In the national final, which pitted them against Rouen, Lyon Olympique lost the match 0–4. These successes propelled the club to the first division, but also led to problems regarding the cohabitation of amateurs and professionals within Lyon Olympique Universitaire. Due to numerous disagreements, Louot and his entourage began to contemplate 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. Due to the split, Lyon moved into the Stade de Gerland, a stadium designed by local architect Tony Garnier. The club's first manager was Oscar Heisserer and on 26 August , played its first official match defeating CA Paris-Charenton 3–0 in front of 3,000 supporters. In 1951, the club was crowned champions of the second division, thus moving up to the first division. Lyon were relegated back to the second division after just one season, despite Heisserer coming out of retirement as a player. Lyon spent the next two seasons in Division 2 building for the future by signing players such as Åke Hjalmarsson and Erik Kuld Jensen. Eventually, during the 1953–1954 season, the club achieved promotion back to the first division under the leadership of Heisserer, who departed the club after a four-year stint as manager. He was replaced by Julien Darui, who only managed the club in the first division for six months, before leaving his post. Lucien Troupel replaced him.
Troupel joined the club midway through the season, where Lyon ultimately finished in 12 th position. Despite the inconsistent start, Troupel developed a squad full of talent, which included savvy veterans like Swiss international Jacques Fatton and Antoine Dalla Cieca, and young emerging talent in Jean Djorkaeff, Marcel Le Borgne, and Bernard Gardon. The team responded the following season finishing in the top half of the table and also reaching the semi-finals of the Coupe de France. Over the next three years (1956–1959), Lyon finished mid-table. In 1959, Troupel was replaced as manager by Gaby Robert. The arrival of a new manager included the arrival of an influx of new players with the Argentine Nestor Combin, Cameroonian striker Eugène N'Jo Léa, and Frenchman Jules Sbroglia being the biggest signings. Despite the signings, Lyon still struggled finishing in 16 th position for the 1959–60 season.
Success in 60s and 70s
Olympique Lyonnais enjoyed limited success in the 60s, partly due to the play of strike force Fleury Di Nallo, known as The Little Prince of Gerland and arguably Lyon's greatest player ever, and the Argentine Nestor Combin. Under the guidance of manager Lucien Jasseron, the club achieved their highest first division finish, at the time, finishing in 5 th place. The successful season culminated into the club reaching the 1963 edition of the Coupe de France final, where they faced Monaco. Lyon secured a 0–0 draw in the first match, but lost the replay 0–2. The following season, the club captured their first-ever Coupe de France title defeating Bordeaux 2–0. The club also finished in 4 th position in the league. The 1964–65 season saw the departure of Combin to Italian club Juventus. Due to this, the team suffered from his absence, finishing in a respectable 6 th position in the league, but suffering elimination in the early rounds of both the Coupe de France and the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup. The 1965–66 season saw Lyon finish in 16 th position, their worst finish since the 1960–61 season. The disappointing finish ultimately led to the departure of Jasseron, but his stint at the club is remembered as being largely positive by supporters and he is known for being the first Lyon manager to win the Coupe de France.
Jasseron was replaced by Louis Hon, a former player of Real Madrid and a known tactician in the Spanish league. Along with the departure of Jasseron, Lyon also lost several prominent players, including Marcel Aubour, Jean Djorkaeff, Stéphane Bruey, and Michel Margottin. The loss of such talented players resulted in the team finishing in 15 th position for the 1966–67 season. However, on a positive note, the club won their second Coupe de France title, defeating Sochaux 3–1. The following season, Hon and the team again struggled finishing for the second straight season, finishing in the bottom half of the league. The club did reach the quarterfinals of that year's UEFA Cup Winner's Cup, losing to German side Hamburg. The struggles domestically led to the firing of Hon, and he was replaced by former Lyon legend Aimé Mignot.
Mignot first season was mostly timid as the club finished a modest 9 th in the league and were eliminated in the Round of 16 in the Coupe de France. This inconsistent season was primarily due to Di Nallo breaking his leg in just the fourth match of the season. Despite a healthy Di Nallo returning for the 1969–70 season, Lyon still suffered, finishing 15 th .
The 1970s saw the arrival of Serbian defender Ljubomir Mihajlović, commonly called Loubo in France, and also a changing of the guard with youth product Bernard Lacombe taking over as primary goalscorer from Di Nallo, who was now an aging veteran that left the team following the 1974–75 season. The new decade also saw the emergence of the Moroccan-born French midfielder Serge Chiesa, who formed a stellar partnership with Lacombe. The 1972–73 season saw Lyon win their third Coupe de France title, defeating Nantes 2–1 with Lacombe ultimately scoring the game-winning goal. The following two seasons over, Lyon finished 3 rd with Lacombe and Chiesa leading the way. The next season, despite getting off to a strong start in the league, Lyon struggled fighting relegation for most of the season. Due to this, halfway through the season, Mignot resigned and made way for Aimé Jacquet, who served in a player-coach role for the rest of the season. The coaching change successfully changed the club's focus and Lyon eventually finished in 16 th position. Jacquet also led the club to the Coupe de France final where they lost to Marseille 0–2.
Despite early positives in Jacquet's run as manager, his four-year run (1976–1980) was uneventful with the cl
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