 | ||||
| Full name | Olympique Lyonnais Lyonnes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicknames |
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| Founded | 1970; 55 years ago (1970) (as FC Lyon) 2004; 21 years ago (2004) (as Olympique Lyonnais) | |||
| Ground | ||||
| Capacity | 59,186 | |||
| Owners |
| |||
| President | Michele Kang | |||
| Manager | Jonatan Giráldez | |||
| League | Première Ligue | |||
| 2024–25 | Première Ligue, 1st of 12 (champions) | |||
| Website | ol.fr | |||
 Current season | ||||
OL Lyonnes, formerly known asOlympique Lyonnais Féminin (French pronunciation:[ɔlɛ̃pikljɔnɛ]) and still commonly known asLyon or simplyOL, is a French women's professionalfootball club based inLyon. The club has been the female section ofOlympique Lyonnais since 2004. It is the most successful club in the history of thePremière Ligue, with eighteen league titles as Olympique Lyonnais and four league titles as FC Lyon before the acquisition.
Since the 2010s, Lyon has frequently been named thestrongest 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 eightUEFA Women's 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 fivetrebles when the top-level continental competition is considered, the most for any team.
The club was formed as the women's section ofFC 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 theDivision 1 Féminine fourteen times and theCoupe de France nine times. Lyon reached the semi-finals of the2007–08 edition of theUEFA Women's Cup and, during the2009–10 season, reachedthe final of the inaugural edition of theUEFA Women's Champions League, losing to German clubTurbine 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, defeatingFFC Frankfurt in the final.
From 2016 to 2020, the club won five consecutive Champions League titles, equaling the male record held byReal Madrid. Four players:Sarah Bouhaddi,Amel Majri,Wendie Renard, andEugénie Le Sommer have all won eight Champions League trophies. They are listed by theGuinness World Records as the "Most Women’s Champions League wins by a player".[6]
Lyon's main rivalry is withParis 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 ofD1 Féminine seven times. Lyon had never lost the D1 title to PSG until 2021 when PSG finished ahead of Lyon, and won fiveCoupe de France finals against Paris. In 2017 both teams reached theChampions League final, with Lyon beating Paris after a penalty shoot-out and winning its fourth title in the competition.[7]
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 largerParc Olympique Lyonnais (sometime called Groupama Stadium) where the male teams play. The women's team does host its "big" matches such as UEFA Women's Champions League at the 59,000-seat stadium.[8][9] Often identified as the "tallest [woman] footballer",[10][11]Wendie Renard had been a long-term captain (and also of the France women's national football team) of the team, having one of the most prolific careers, including most titles won (with Le Sommer), most final appearance and top all-time appearances in the Campions League.[12] According to theUEFA women's coefficient, Lyon was the highest-ranked club inUEFA in 2014,[13] and second in 2025, behindFC Barcelona Femení.[14]
AsMichele Kang took over the club in 2024, her immediate action was to have higher-capacity home ground. Groupama OL Training Center has only 1,200 seats. in 2024-25 season, home matches were played at different cities like Bourg-en-Bresse, Grenoble, and Bourgoin-Jallieu. She negotiated with theLyon OU Rugby to share their home stadium, theMatmut Stadium de Gerland, having a seating capacity of 25,000.[15] However, she was able to convince theOL Groupe to allow the use of Parc Olympique Lyonnais. On 19 May 2025, Kang announced that Parc Olympique Lyonnais will be their home ground from the following season,[16] and that she had taken over the men's training centre, which she will transform into one that is "better than most men's teams's training centres."[17]
On 1 June 2025, the club announced the departure of head coachJoe Montemurro, after one year of his contract.[18] He leaves with a league title under his belt, to take up an opportunity with theAustralian women's national team.[19] The following day, 2 June 2025, OL Lyonnes announced the appointment ofJonatan Giráldez as their new Head Coach, on a contract until June 2028[20]
The club's previous names (FC Lyon and Olympique Lyonnais Féminin) were direct references to the city of Lyon.[21][22] On 19 May 2025, Kang announced the new name as "OL Lyonnes"; OL referring to the parent club andlyonnes as a portmanteau of the city andlionnes, a French word for "lionnesses".[23][24] She explained thaty was used in place ofi to retain reference to the city,[17] and the parent club,[24] but entirely droppingféminin to designate the club as a separate management from that of the men's, as she said, "We wanted to emphasize that lionesses are different than lions."[25]
Along with unveiling the new name, a new logo was introduced which shows the head part of a roaring red lioness with blue and gold accents, and a crest above it.[24] To make a distinction from the counterpart men's club that has a lion as an emblem, Kang explained that she was inspired by her safari to Africa where she learnt that it was the lionesses who do most of the work such as hunting and caring for the pride, saying: "I'm talking in real life, male lions sleep 22 hours out of 24 hours. So if you think about the lioness, who's really roaring; the fears, competitiveness, protecting and surviving, all those things to us, that was the spirit of the lioness."[16] The golden crest signifies the club's success in the highest-level competitions.[26] The club will also adopt a new slogan:Nouvelle Histoire, Même Légende ("New Story, Same Legend").[27]
Lyon Féminin is part of OL Groupe, whose majority shareholder since December 2022 is Eagle Football Group, which is controlled by American businessmanJohn Textor. Club presidentJean-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][28][29]
As of April 2023[update],L'Équipe reported that Lyon Féminin operated at a €12 million annual deficit.[1]
On 16 May 2023, OL Groupe andMichele Kang announced the formation of a separate entity that would be composed of Kang'sWashington 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.[30][31][32][33] Kang's proposed deal for the women's side reportedly valued it at $54.4 million.[34] Kang attended Lyon's victory in theCoupe de France féminine finals on 13 May 2023 and raised the trophy with the team.[33][35]
In February 2024, Kang and Vincent Ponsot, the CEO of Lyon Féminin, jointly announced the completion of the ownership deal, with Kang becoming the majority owner at 52.9%.[36] In July 2024, Kang announced the launch of Kynisca Sports International, Ltd., a London-based company that would serve as the umbrella group for her multi-team sports ownership, including Lyon Féminin, Washington Spirit andLondon City Lionesses. The company was named afterCynisca ofSparta, the first woman to win an event in theancient Olympic Games.[37][38] Kang simultaneously announced the launch of $50 million in seed and matching funding for the Kynisca Innovation Hub, a non-profit research initiative specialized in female sports training.[39]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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French
| Australian Brazilian Canadian Chinese Costa Rican Danish Dutch English | German Icelandic Japanese New-Zealander Nigerian Norwegian | Portuguese Swedish Swiss American Welsh
|
| Position | Staff |
|---|---|
| Head coach |  Jonatan Giráldez |
| Assistant coaches |  Joe Palatsides Méline Gérard Patrizia Panico |
| Goalkeeping coach | Simon Pouplin |
| Director of Performance |  Jack Sharkey |
| Physical trainer | Hugo Roche
|
| Video analyst | Marceau Goguer |
| Doctor | Jad Dbouk |
| Physiotherapists |  Shingo Kitada Anthony Martin Ganaelle Rigondaud |
| Nutritionist |  Ana Martinez |
| Data Analyst |  Ana Sena |
| General manager/team delegate | Julien Legrand |
| Team manager | David Morreale |
| Kit manager | Amilcar Perez |
| Competition | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UEFA Champions League | 155 | 122 | 19 | 14 | 522 | 85 | +437 |
All results (away, home and aggregate) list Lyon's goal tally first.
| Season | Round | Opponents | Away | Home | Agg. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–08 | First qualifying round |  Slovan Duslo Šaľa | 12–0 | – | – |
 Škiponjat Struga (Host) | 10–0 | – | – | ||
 Sarajevo | 7–0 | – | – | ||
| Second qualifying round |  Brøndby | – | 0–0 | – | |
 Kolbotn | – | 1–0 | – | ||
 Sparta Prague | – | 2–1 | – | ||
| Quarter-final |  Arsenal | 3–2 | 0–0f | 3–2 | |
| Semi-final |  Umeå | 0–0 | 1–1f | 1–1 (a) | |
| 2008–09 | Second qualifying round |  Neulengbach | – | 8–0 | – |
 Zürich | – | 7–1 | – | ||
| Arsenal | – | 3–0 | – | ||
| Quarter-final | Verona | 5–0f | 4–1 | 9–1 | |
| Semi-final |  Duisburg | 1–3 | 1–1f | 2–4 | |
| 2009–10 | Round of 32 |  Mašinac Niš | 1–0f | 5–0 | 6–0 |
| Round of 16 | Fortuna Hjørring | 1–0f | 5–0 | 6–0 | |
| Quarter-final | Torres Sassari | 0–1 | 3–0f | 3–1 | |
| Semi-final | Umeå | 0–0 | 3–2f | 3–2 | |
| Final | Turbine Potsdam | 0–0 (a.e.t.)(6–7p) (Getafe) | |||
| 2010–11 | Round of 32 | AZ | 2–1f | 8–0 | 10–1 |
| Round of 16 |  Rossiyanka Khimki | 6–1f | 5–0 | 11–1 | |
| Quarter-final | Zvezda Perm | 0–0f | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
| Semi-final | Arsenal | 3–2 | 2–0f | 5–2 | |
| Final | Turbine Potsdam | 2–0 (London) | |||
| 2011–12 | Round of 32 |  Olimpia Cluj-Napoca | 9–0f | 3–0 | 12–0 |
| Round of 16 | Sparta Prague | 6–0f | 6–0 | 12–0 | |
| Quarter-final | Brøndby | 4–0 | 4–0f | 8–0 | |
| Semi-final | Turbine Potsdam | 0–0 | 5–1f | 5–1 | |
| Final | Frankfurt | 2–0 (Munich) | |||
| 2012–13 | Round of 32 |  Vantaa | 7–0f | 5–0 | 12–0 |
| Round of 16 | Zorky Krasnogorsk | 9–0f | 2–0 | 11–0 | |
| Quarter-final | Rosengård Malmö | 3–0 | 5–0f | 8–0 | |
| Semi-final | Juvisy | 6–1 | 3–0f | 9–1 | |
| Final | Wolfsburg | 0–1 (London) | |||
| 2013–14 | Round of 32 | Twente Enschede | 4–0f | 6–0 | 10–0 |
| Round of 16 | Turbine Potsdam | 1–0f | 1–2 | 2–2 (a) | |
| 2014–15 | Round of 32 | Brescia | 5–0f | 9–0 | 14–0 |
| Round of 16 | Paris Saint-Germain | 1–1f | 0–1 | 1–2 | |
| 2015–16 | Round of 32 |  Medyk Konin | 6–0f | 3–0 | 9–0 |
| Round of 16 | Atlético Madrid | 3–1f | 6–0 | 9–1 | |
| Quarter-final | Slavia Prague | 0–0 | 9–1f | 9–1 | |
| Semi-final | Paris Saint-Germain | 1–0 | 7–0f | 8–0 | |
| Final | Wolfsburg | 1–1 (a.e.t.)(4–3p) (Reggio Emilia) | |||
| 2016–17 | Round of 32 | Avaldsnes | 5–2f | 5–0 | 10–2 |
| Round of 16 | Zürich | 9–0 | 8–0f | 17–0 | |
| Quarter-final | Wolfsburg | 2–0f | 0–1 | 2–1 | |
| Semi-final | Manchester City | 3–1f | 0–1 | 3–2 | |
| Final | Paris Saint-Germain | 0–0 (a.e.t.)(7–6p) ( Cardiff) | |||
| 2017–18 | Round of 32 | Medyk Konin | 5–0f | 9–0 | 14–0 |
| Round of 16 |  Kazygurt Shymkent | 7–0f | 9–0 | 16–0 | |
| Quarter-final | Barcelona | 1–0 | 2–1f | 3–1 | |
| Semi-final | Manchester City | 0–0f | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
| Final | Wolfsburg | 4–1 (a.e.t.) ( Kyiv) | |||
| 2018–19 | Round of 32 | Avaldsnes | 2–0f | 5–0 | 7–0 |
| Round of 16 | Ajax Amsterdam | 4–0f | 9–0 | 13–0 | |
| Quarter-final | Wolfsburg | 4–2 | 2–1f | 6–3 | |
| Semi-final | Chelsea | 1–1 | 2–1f | 3–2 | |
| Final | Barcelona | 4–1 ( Budapest) | |||
| 2019–20 | Round of 32 | Ryazan-VDV | 9–0f | 7–0 | 16–0 |
| Round of 16 | Fortuna Hjørring | 4–0f | 7–0 | 11–0 | |
| Quarter-final | Bayern Munich | 2–1 (Bilbao) | |||
| Semi-final | Paris Saint-Germain | 1–0 (Bilbao) | |||
| Final | Wolfsburg | 3–1 (San Sebastián) | |||
| 2020–21 | Round of 32 | Juventus | 3–2f | 3–0 | 6–2 |
| Round of 16 | Brøndby | 3–1 | 2–0f | 5–1 | |
| Quarter-final | Paris Saint-Germain | 1–0f | 1–2 | 2–2 (a) | |
| 2021–22 | Round 2 | Levante | 2–1f | 2–1 | 4–2 |
| Group D | Bayern Munich | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1st | |
| Benfica | 5–0 | 5–0 | |||
| BK Häcken | 3–0 | 4–0 | |||
| Quarter-final | Juventus | 1–2f | 3–1 | 4–3 | |
| Semi-final | Paris Saint-Germain | 2–1 | 3–2f | 5–3 | |
| Final | Barcelona | 3–1 (Turin) | |||
| 2022–23 | Group C | Arsenal | 1–0 | 1–5 | 2nd |
| Juventus | 1–1 | 0–0 | |||
| Zürich | 3–0 | 4–0 | |||
| Quarter-final | Chelsea | 2–1 (a.e.t.) | 0–1f | 2–2 (3–4p) | |
| 2023–24 | Group B | Slavia Prague | 9–0 | 2–2 | 1st |
| St. Pölten | 7–0 | 2–0 | |||
| Brann | 2–2 | 3–1 | |||
| Quarter-final | Benfica | 2–1f | 4–1 | 6–2 | |
| Semi-final | Paris Saint-Germain | 2–1 | 3–2f | 5–3 | |
| Final | Barcelona | 0–2 (Bilbao) | |||
| 2024–25 | Group A |  Galatasaray | 3–0 | 6–0 | 1st |
| VfL Wolfsburg | 1–0 | 2–0 | |||
| AS Roma | 4–1 | 3–0 | |||
| Quarter-final | Bayern Munich | 4–1 | 2–0f | 6–1 | |
| Semi-final | Arsenal | 1–4 | 2–1f | 3–5 | |
| 2025–26 | League phase | Arsenal | — | 2–1 | |
| SKN St. Pölten | 3–0 | — | |||
| VfL Wolfsburg | 3–1 | — | |||
| Juventus | — | ||||
| Manchester United | — | ||||
| Atlético Madrid | — | ||||
f First leg.
Top scorers inbold were also the top scorers in theDivision 1 Féminine that season.
| Champions | Runners-up | Promoted | Relegated |
| Season | League | Cup | Europe | Top goalscorer(s) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Pos | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Name(s) | Goals | ||||
| 2001–02 | D1 | 3rd | 22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 53 | 26 | +27 | 66 | RU | Séverine Creuzet-Laplantes | 17 | ||
| 2002–03 | D1 | 2nd | 22 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 60 | 19 | +41 | 71 | W | Sandrine Brétigny | 26 | ||
| 2003–04 | D1 | 2nd | 22 | 14 | 4 | 4 | 52 | 25 | +27 | 68 | W | Claire Morel | 18 | ||
| 2004–05 | D1 | 3rd | 22 | 15 | 2 | 5 | 50 | 20 | +30 | 69 | RU | Séverine Creuzet-Laplantes | 13 | ||
| 2005–06 | D1 | 3rd | 22 | 10 | 8 | 4 | 34 | 12 | +22 | 60 | RU | Sandrine Brétigny | 11 | ||
| 2006–07 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 116 | 9 | +107 | 83 | RU | Sandrine Brétigny | 42 | ||
| 2007–08 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 93 | 4 | +89 | 80 | W | Women's Cup | SF | Sandrine Brétigny | 25 |
| 2008–09 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 114 | 11 | +103 | 86 | SF | Women's Cup | SF |  Kátia | 27 |
| 2009–10 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 93 | 11 | +82 | 78 | SF | Champions League | RU | Kátia | 17 |
| 2010–11 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 106 | 6 | +100 | 88 | QF | Champions League | W | Sandrine Brétigny | 19 |
| 2011–12 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 119 | 3 | +116 | 82 | W | Champions League | W | Eugénie Le Sommer | 22 |
| 2012–13 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 132 | 5 | +127 | 88 | W | Champions League | RU | Lotta Schelin | 24 |
| 2013–14 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 95 | 12 | +83 | 85 | W | Champions League | R16 | Eugénie Le SommerLaëtitia Tonazzi | 15 |
| 2014–15 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 147 | 6 | +141 | 88 | W | Champions League | R16 | Lotta Schelin | 34 |
| 2015–16 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 19 | 3 | 0 | 115 | 4 | +111 | 82 | W | Champions League | W | Ada Hegerberg | 33 |
| 2016–17 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 21 | 0 | 1 | 103 | 6 | +97 | 63 | W | Champions League | W | Ada HegerbergEugénie Le Sommer | 20 |
| 2017–18 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 104 | 5 | +99 | 64 | RU | Champions League | W | Ada Hegerberg | 31 |
| 2018–19 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 89 | 9 | +83 | 62 | W | Champions League | W | Ada Hegerberg | 20 |
| 2019–20 | D1 | 1st | 16 | 14 | 2 | 0 | 67 | 4 | +63 | 44 | W | Champions League | W | Ada Hegerberg | 14 |
| 2020–21 | D1 | 2nd | 22 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 78 | 6 | +72 | 61 | DNF | Champions League | QF | Nikita Parris | 13 |
| 2021–22 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 21 | 1 | 0 | 79 | 8 | +71 | 64 | R16 | Champions League | W |  Catarina Macario | 14 |
| 2022–23 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 69 | 9 | +60 | 61 | W | Champions League | QF | Signe Bruun | 8 |
| 2023–24 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 82 | 13 | +69 | 61 | W | Champions League | RU | Ada Hegerberg | 12 |
| 2024–25 | D1 | 1st | 22 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 99 | 8 | +91 | 62 | R32 | Champions League | SF |  Melchie Dumornay | 17 |
| 2025–26 teams | |
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| Seasons | |
| History |
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| Home stadium | |
| Training ground | |
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