Formed: 1950
Nickname: Les Gones (The Kids)
UEFA club competition honours
• None
Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
League title: 7 (2008)
French Cup: 4 (2008)
League Cup: 1 (2001)
History
• Though they can trace their origins back to the end of the 19th century, Lyon in their current form were founded by a group of local enthusiasts as late as 1950. Local surgeon Albert Trillat suggested the team’s name and that the players wear the city’s colours of red and blue; a year later the club won the French second division.
• Lyon spent the bulk of the next 30 years in the top flight, winning the French Cup three times and revelling in the exploits of Jean Djorkaeff, Nestor Combin and the hero of the 1960s, Fleury Di Nallo. Until recent years, those cup exploits were Lyon’s only major honours, the club spending a long period in the shadows of local rivals AS Saint-Étienne.
• After losing several key players towards the end of the 1970s, including Bernard Lacombe and Raymond Domenech, Lyon were relegated in 1983 after 29 years in the élite division.
• The gloom was lifted with the arrival of ambitious young software magnate Jean-Michel Aulas in 1987, the new chairman promising to get Lyon into Europe within four years. They met that target too, after first securing promotion under Domenech in 1988/89, and with Florian Maurice and then Sonny Anderson grabbing the goals they started making headway in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League.
• With Jacques Santini at the helm, Lyon lifted the League Cup in 2000/01, a triumph that presaged a sustained era of success. They claimed their first ever Ligue 1 title the following season and went on to pick up six more in a row as a succession of coaches, including Paul Le Guen and Gérard Houllier, profited from the club’s excellent organisation behind the scenes.
• Lyon reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals three years running between 2004 and 2006 and surpassed that feat in 2009/10, losing against FC Bayern München in the last four.
Club Records
Most appearances: Serge Chiesa (541 matches)
Most goals: Fleury Di Nallo (222 goals)
Record victory: 10-0 twice, most recently at home against Sports Réunis Dellois (French Cup, 8 January 1956)
Record defeat: 7-0 three times, most recently at AJ Auxerre (Ligue 1, 25 October 1996)
From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/clubs/club=5312/profile/index.html
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