OL Lyonnes, formerly known as Olympique Lyonnais Féminin (French pronunciation: [ɔlɛ̃pik ljɔnɛ]) and still commonly known as Lyon or simply OL, is a French professional women's 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.
Since the 2010s, Lyon has frequently been named one of the strongest women's teams 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 a record 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.
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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. 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".
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 (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. Often identified as the "tallest [woman] footballer", 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 Champions League. According to the UEFA women's coefficient, Lyon was the highest-ranked club in UEFA in 2014, and second in 2025, behind FC Barcelona Femení.
Club identity
The club's previous names (FC Lyon and Olympique Lyonnais Féminin) were direct references to the city of Lyon. 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". She explained that y was used in place of i to retain reference to the city, and the parent club, 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."
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. 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." The golden crest signifies the club's success in the highest-level competitions. The club will also adopt a new slogan: Nouvelle Histoire, Même Légende ("New Story, Same Legend").
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.
As of April 2023, L'Équipe reported that Lyon Féminin operated at a €12 million annual deficit.
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. 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.
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%. 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. The company was named after Cynisca of Sparta, the first woman to win an event in the ancient Olympic Games. 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.
In July 2026, Kang also acquired a majority stake at the men's team, creating a new umbrella group exclusively for Olympique Lyonnais and OL Lyonnes, under the name of Olympe BidCo.
Players
Current squad
As of 7 August 2026
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
Current staff
As of 7 August 2024.
Honours
Official
Division 1 Féminine (Champions of France) (level 1)
(19, 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, 2025–26
Coupe de France Féminine
(11, record): 2007–08, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20, 2022–23, 2025–26
Trophée des Championnes
(3, record) 2019, 2022, 2023
Coupe LFFP
(1, record) 2025–26
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
As of match played 23 May 2026
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.