OL Lyonnes

This article is about the women's association football team. For the men's association football club, see Olympique Lyonnais.

"Lyonnaises" redirects here. For other uses, see Lyonnaise (disambiguation).

OL Lyonnes, formerly known as Olympique Lyonnais Féminin (French pronunciation: [ɔlɛ̃pik ljɔnɛ]; then commonly referred to as Olympique Lyon) and still commonly known as 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 the Première Ligue, with eighteen league titles as Olympique Lyonnais and four league titles as FC Lyon before the acquisition.

OL Lyonnes

Full name	Olympique Lyonnais Lyonnes
Nickname(s)	Les Fenottes Les Lyonnaises
Founded	1970; 55 years ago (1970) (as FC Lyon) 2004; 21 years ago (2004) (as Olympique Lyonnais)
Ground	Parc Olympique Lyonnais Décines-Charpieu
Capacity	59,186
Owner	Michele Kang (52%)[1] OL Groupe (48%)
President	Michele Kang
Manager	Jonatan Giráldez
League	Première Ligue
2024–25	Première Ligue, 1st of 12 (champions)
Website	ol.fr
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Since the 2010s, Lyon has frequently been named the strongest 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 eight UEFA 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 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.^[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, 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. Four players: Sarah Bouhaddi, Amel Majri ,Wendie Renard, and Eugénie Le Sommer have all won eight Champions League trophies. They are listed by the Guinness World Records as the "Most Women’s Champions League wins by a player".^[6]

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.^[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 larger Parc 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 the UEFA women's coefficient, Lyon was the highest-ranked club in UEFA in 2014,^[13] and second in 2025, behind FC Barcelona Femení.^[14]

As Michele 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 the Lyon OU Rugby to share their home stadium, the Matmut Stadium de Gerland, having a seating capacity of 25,000.^[15] However, she was able to convince the OL 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 coach Joe Montemurro, after one year of his contract.^[18] He leaves with a league title under his belt, to take up an opportunity with the Australian women's national team.^[19] The following day, 2 June 2025, OL Lyonnes announced the appointment of Jonatan Giráldez as their new Head Coach, on a contract until June 2028^[20]

Name

The club's previous names (FC Lyon and Olympic 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 and lyonnes as a portmanteau of the city and lionnes, a French word for "lionnesses".^[23][24] She explained that y was used in place of i to retain reference to the city,^[17] and the parent club,^[24] but entirely dropping féminin 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 distinction from the counterpart men's club that has a lion as an emblem, Kang explained that she was inspired by her safari in Africa from where she learnt that it was the lionesse who do most of the works such as hunting and caring the pride, saying: "I'm talking in real life, male lions sleep 22 hours out of 24 hours. So if you think about lioness, who's really roaring, the fears, competitiveness, protecting and surviving, all those things to us, that was the spirit of lioness."^[16] The golden crest signifies the club's success in the highest competitions.^[26] The club will also adopt a new slogan: Nouvelle Histoire, Même Légende ("New Story, Same Legend").^[27]

Ownership and finances

Main articles: OL Groupe and John Textor

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.^[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 and 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.^{[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 the Coupe 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 and London City Lionesses. company was named after Cynisca of Sparta, the first woman to win an event in the ancient 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]

Players

For a list of all former and current Olympique Lyonnais Féminin players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:OL Lyonnes players.

Current squad

As of 18 July 2025.^[40]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  CHI Christiane Endler 3 DF  FRA Wendie Renard (captain) 4 DF  FRA Selma Bacha 5 DF  SWE Elma Junttila Nelhage 6 MF  HAI Melchie Dumornay 7 MF  FRA Amel Majri 8 MF  USA Korbin Albert 9 FW  FRA Marie-Antoinette Katoto 11 FW  FRA Kadidiatou Diani 12 DF  CAN Ashley Lawrence 13 MF  NED Damaris Egurrola 14 FW  NOR Ada Hegerberg 15 MF  NOR Ingrid Syrstad Engen 16 GK  FRA Féerine Belhadj 18 DF  FRA Alice Sombath 19 MF  FRA Julie Swierot

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  USA Lily Yohannes 21 GK  AUS Teagan Micah 22 FW  MWI Tabitha Chawinga 23 DF  DEN Sofie Svava 25 MF  FRA Inès Benyahia 26 MF  USA Lindsey Heaps 27 FW  FRA Vicki Bècho 28 DF  FRA Wassa Sangaré 29 FW  GER Jule Brand 31 FW  FRA Liana Joseph 32 MF  FRA Maeline Mendy 33 DF  BRA Tarciane — DF  FRA Maïssa Fathallah — MF  NOR Elida Kolbjørnsen — FW  FRA Sofia Bekhaled

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 19 DF  FRA Kysha Sylla (at Washington Spirit until 31 December 2025)

Notable former players

French Eugénie Le Sommer Camille Abily Mylène Chauvot 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 Amandine Henry Griedge Mbock Bathy Delphine Cascarino Melvine Malard Perle Morroni

Australian Ellie Carpenter Brazilian Kátia Rosana Simone Jatobá 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

As of 7 August 2024.^[41]

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	Emmanuel Vallance Rémi Pullara
Video analyst	Marceau Goguer
Medical director	Franck Pelissier
Doctor	Jad Dbouk
Physiotherapists	Shingo Kitada Anthony Martin Ganaelle Rigondaud
Nutritionist	Ana Sena Martinez
General manager/team delegate	Julien Legrand
Team manager	David Morreale
Kit manager	Amilcar Perez
OMS cell manager	Nadi Ferran
Team coordinator	Manon Eleure

Honours

Celebration of the sixth UEFA Women's Champions League in 2019.

Official

• Division 1 Féminine (Champions of France) (level 1)
  • (18, 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, 2023–24, 2024–25
• 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).^[42]

Record in UEFA Women's Champions League

Main article: Olympique Lyonnais Féminin in European football

As of match played 27 April 2025

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD
UEFA Champions League	152	119	19	14	514	83	+431

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	0–0 f	3–2
	Semi-final	Umeå	0–0	1–1 f	1–1 (a)
2008–09	Second qualifying round	Neulengbach	–	8–0	–
		Zürich	–	7–1	–
		Arsenal	–	3–0	–
	Quarter-final	Verona	5–0 f	4–1	9–1
	Semi-final	Duisburg	1–3	1–1 f	2–4
2009–10	Round of 32	Mašinac Niš	1–0 f	5–0	6–0
	Round of 16	Fortuna Hjørring	1–0 f	5–0	6–0
	Quarter-final	Torres Sassari	0–1	3–0 f	3–1
	Semi-final	Umeå	0–0	3–2 f	3–2
	Final	Turbine Potsdam	0–0 (a.e.t.) (6–7 p) ( Getafe)
2010–11	Round of 32	AZ	2–1 f	8–0	10–1
	Round of 16	Rossiyanka Khimki	6–1 f	5–0	11–1
	Quarter-final	Zvezda Perm	0–0 f	1–0	1–0
	Semi-final	Arsenal	3–2	2–0 f	5–2
	Final	Turbine Potsdam	2–0 ( London)
2011–12	Round of 32	Olimpia Cluj-Napoca	9–0 f	3–0	12–0
	Round of 16	Sparta Prague	6–0 f	6–0	12–0
	Quarter-final	Brøndby	4–0	4–0 f	8–0
	Semi-final	Turbine Potsdam	0–0	5–1 f	5–1
	Final	Frankfurt	2–0 ( Munich)
2012–13	Round of 32	Vantaa	7–0 f	5–0	12–0
	Round of 16	Zorky Krasnogorsk	9–0 f	2–0	11–0
	Quarter-final	Rosengård Malmö	3–0	5–0 f	8–0
	Semi-final	Juvisy	6–1	3–0 f	9–1
	Final	Wolfsburg	0–1 ( London)
2013–14	Round of 32	Twente Enschede	4–0 f	6–0	10–0
	Round of 16	Turbine Potsdam	1–0 f	1–2	2–2 (a)
2014–15	Round of 32	Brescia	5–0 f	9–0	14–0
	Round of 16	Paris Saint-Germain	1–1 f	0–1	1–2
2015–16	Round of 32	Medyk Konin	6–0 f	3–0	9–0
	Round of 16	Atlético Madrid	3–1 f	6–0	9–1
	Quarter-final	Slavia Prague	0–0	9–1 f	9–1
	Semi-final	Paris Saint-Germain	1–0	7–0 f	8–0
	Final	Wolfsburg	1–1 (a.e.t.) (4–3 p) ( Reggio Emilia)
2016–17	Round of 32	Avaldsnes	5–2 f	5–0	10–2
	Round of 16	Zürich	9–0	8–0 f	17–0
	Quarter-final	Wolfsburg	2–0 f	0–1	2–1
	Semi-final	Manchester City	3–1 f	0–1	3–2
	Final	Paris Saint-Germain	0–0 (a.e.t.) (7–6 p) ( Cardiff)
2017–18	Round of 32	Medyk Konin	5–0 f	9–0	14–0
	Round of 16	Kazygurt Shymkent	7–0 f	9–0	16–0
	Quarter-final	Barcelona	1–0	2–1 f	3–1
	Semi-final	Manchester City	0–0 f	1–0	1–0
	Final	Wolfsburg	4–1 (a.e.t.) ( Kyiv)
2018–19	Round of 32	Avaldsnes	2–0 f	5–0	7–0
	Round of 16	Ajax Amsterdam	4–0 f	9–0	13–0
	Quarter-final	Wolfsburg	4–2	2–1 f	6–3
	Semi-final	Chelsea	1–1	2–1 f	3–2
	Final	Barcelona	4–1 ( Budapest)
2019–20	Round of 32	Ryazan-VDV	9–0 f	7–0	16–0
	Round of 16	Fortuna Hjørring	4–0 f	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	3–2 f	3–0	6–2
	Round of 16	Brøndby	3–1	2–0 f	5–1
	Quarter-final	Paris Saint-Germain	1–0 f	1–2	2–2 (a)
2021–22	Round 2	Levante	2–1 f	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	1–2 f	3–1	4–3
	Semi-final	Paris Saint-Germain	2–1	3–2 f	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.)	0–1 f	2–2 (3–4 p)
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	2–1 f	4–1	6–2
	Semi-final	Paris Saint-Germain	2–1	3–2 f	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

^f First leg.

List of seasons

Main article: List of Olympique Lyonnais Féminin seasons

Top scorers in bold were also the top scorers in the Division 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 Sommer Laëtitia 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 Hegerberg Eugénie 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