Olympique Lyonnais Féminin

Olympique Lyonnais Féminin
(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 Division 1 Féminine, with fifteen 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, and has been cited as a model for the development of women's football in both economic and cultural terms. The team has won eight Champions League titles, including a record five successive titles from 2016 to 2020, as well as 14 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. 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 Eugenie 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.
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 president of the club is Jean-Michel Aulas 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.
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.
, L'Équipe reported that Lyon Féminin operated at a €12 million annual deficit.
On 16 May 2023, OL Groupe and Y. 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. Kang's proposed deal for the women's side reportedly valued it at $54.4 million. Kang attended Lyon's victory in the Coupe de France féminine finals on 13 May 2023 and raised the trophy with the team.
Players
Current squad
Out on loan
Notable former players
French
Camille Abily
Élodie Thomis
Corine Petit
Sonia Bompastor
Louisa Necib
Laura Georges
Élise Bussaglia
Hoda Lattaf
Sabrina Viguier
Sandrine Brétigny
Sandrine Dusang
Delphine Blanc
Laëtitia Tonazzi
Jessica Houara
Claire Lavogez
Pauline Peyraud-Magnin
Kenza Dali
Kheira Hamraoui
Ève Périsset
Claire Morel
Séverine Creuzet-Laplantes
Sarah Bouhaddi
Brazilian
Kátia
Rosana
Simone
Canadian
Kadeisha Buchanan
Chinese
Wang Fei
Costa Rican
Shirley Cruz
Danish
Dorte Dalum Jensen
Line Røddik Hansen
Dutch
Shanice van de Sanden
English
Lucy Bronze
Izzy Christiansen
Alex Greenwood
Nikita Parris
German
Josephine Henning
Pauline Bremer
Carolin Simon
Icelandic
Sara Björk Gunnarsdóttir
Japanese
Saki Kumagai
Shinobu Ohno
Ami Otaki
New-Zealander
Erin Nayler
Nigerian
Cynthia Uwak
Norwegian
Christine Colombo Nilsen
Isabell Herlovsen
Bente Nordby
Ingvild Stensland
Andrea Norheim
Portuguese
Jéssica Silva
Swedish
Amelie Rybäck
Lotta Schelin
Caroline Seger
Swiss
Lara Dickenmann
American
Lorrie Fair
Megan Rapinoe
Hope Solo
Aly Wagner
Christie Welsh
Alex Morgan
Morgan Brian
Welsh
Jess Fishlock
Current staff
Honours
Official
Division 1 Féminine (Champions of France) (level 1)
(16, record): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22, 2022–23
Coupe de France Féminine
(10, record): 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2022–23
Trophée des Championnes
(3, record) 2019, 2022, 2023
UEFA Women's Champions League
(8, record): 2010–11, 2011–12, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2021–22
Invitational
International Women's Club Championship
Winners: 2012
Valais Cup
Winners: 2014
Women's International Champions Cup
Winners: 2019, 2022
Trophée Veolia Féminin
Winners: 2020
Others
Guinness world record for most consecutive victories in all competitions: 41 wins (from 28 April 2012 to 18 May 2013).
Record in UEFA Women's Champions League
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.
See also
Division 1 Féminine
Olympique Lyonnais, the main men's team in Lyon, owned by 's owner OL Groupe
OL Reign, a women's team in Seattle, also owned by OL Groupe
References
External links
Club at uefa.com
Women's football clubs in France
Football clubs in Lyon
Olympique Lyonnais
Association football clubs established in 1970
Association football clubs established in 2004
1970 establishments in France
2004 establishments in France
Division 1 Féminine clubs