Olympique Lyonnais (French pronunciation: [ɔlɛ̃pik ʎɔnɛ]; commonly referred to as simply Lyon, or OL) (Euronext: OLG) is a French association football club based in Lyon. It plays in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The club's most successful period has been the 21st century. The club won its first ever Ligue 1 championship in 2002, starting a national record-breaking streak of seven successive titles. Lyon has also won a record seven Trophée des Champions, four Coupe de France titles and three Ligue 2 Championships.
Lyon has participated the UEFA Champions League 12 times, and during the 2009–10 season, reached the semi-finals of the competition for the first time after three previous quarter-final appearances. Olympique Lyonnais plays its home matches at the 40,500-seat Stade de Gerland in Lyon. In 2013, their new stadium will be ready, tentatively named OL Land, in Décines-Charpieu, a suburb of Lyon. The club's home colours are white, red and blue. Lyon was a member of the G14 group of leading European football clubs and are founder members of its successor, the European Club Association.
Olympique Lyonnais is one of the most popular clubs in France. About 11% of the country's population support the club. Lyon shares this number with Paris Saint-Germain and trails only Olympique de Marseille.[3] Lyon holds the honor of being the richest club in the country, having generated an annual revenue stream of €139.6 million for the 2008–09 season.[4] The club's nickname, Les Gones, means "The Kids" in Lyon's regional dialect of Arpitan. The chairman of Lyon is Jean-Michel Aulas and club is managed by Rémi Garde. Olympique Lyonnais also has a successful women's football team having won its league a record nine times. The women's team has also won three Challenge de France titles and the UEFA Women's Champions League in 2011.