Just some random odds and ends for you to read as you bide your time waiting for Lyon’s Champions League clash with Liverpool.

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<— Sid’s Serious Captain-y Face.

If you’re wondering why the captain’s armband showed up on Cris last Saturday, despite Sidney Govou also being on the pitch, it’s because our dear (former?) captain was seen drunk in public only two nights before the derby. He was at the Grand Prix de tennis de Lyon (part of the ATP World Tour, for you tennis junkies) with Remy Vercoutre, Florent Laville, and Sylvain Wiltord, another ex-Lyon bad boy. Sadly, pictures of a wasted Govou have yet to circulate on the internet (damn French media – in England they have no scruples about this sort of thing), but video tapes have made their way to Claude Puel’s desk.

Puel wasn’t very happy and took away Govou’s armband, though no word yet on whether this is a permanent change. Puel was pragmatic enough to realize that captain or not, Govou was needed on the pitch, which is why he was in the starting XI against St. Etienne. For Puel, it seems the matter is closed, but Jean-Mimi naturally had more to say. While he did say that Govou is willing to make amends, Aulas also called his leadership abilities into question and said that he’d consider Govou’s punishment carefully. Aulas met with him on Sunday to discuss the situation with him.

I guess this probably seems like an overreaction from Lyon, but given Govou’s hard partying history – and don’t forget that he was arrested for drunk driving less than a year ago – it’s no surprise that the club is so concerned.

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Just for lulz.

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I was going to write about the latest blow to French football’s eternal quest for equality on the global markets, but since Xavier of the Lens Offside has already done such an excellent job in telling us why getting rid of the DIC is really bad news for Ligue 1, I figure, why reinvent the wheel?

Aulas is desperately sounding the alarm. According to him, this change will mean that Lyon lose an extra €6m a year. It doesn’t seem like a lot, at least on the surface, but keep in mind that France already has really strict rules on club finances. Aulas fears that he may not be able to offer extensions to Sidney Govou, Francois Clerc, and other players nearing the ends of their contracts.

Also, here is a great interview (in English!) of Jean-mimi on UEFA.com.

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Kader Keita is the latest ex-OL player to accuse the club of mistreating him. Honestly, all these disgruntled former players make Lyon sound like an abusive ex-husband. Should I be more disturbed?

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I have so much love for these two. Bafe and Lisandro are this, but without the ~dramah~.

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The two latest recruits at Lyon are Norwegian pair Christine Colombo Nilsen and Isabell Hervolsen Both women left Kolbotn for OL Féminines, though their transfer fee remains undisclosed. They were signed just in time for them to be eligible for the club’s CL match against Fortuna Hjørring. Along with Arsenal and Bayern Munich, Lyon are one of three clubs that are still represented in both the men’s and women’s UEFA Champions League. Let’s hope that one of them actually win the damn trophy this time.

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The spot for a third blogger on the Lyon Offside still remains open. John and I post when we can, but I know many of you would prefer more frequent updates. If you think you can post at least once a week, have decent grammar, and are such a diehard fan that you want to share your love of OL with the rest of the world, please read this post.

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Phrase of the day week month: “The unstoppable groin-pocalypse going on at Lyon….What in the name of Cleber’s crotch is going on here?” Found on Dirty Tackle.

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Most of the major roadblocks in the development of OL Land have been removed, as 74% of the population of Greater Lyon are in favor of the new stadium. The biggest obstacle has had to do with the construction of more public transportation to the Decines area, or more accurately, the funding of that new transportation. Right now, there is one dinky tram line that goes out there, which is not enough to support the amount of people expected to utilize public transportation to get to the games (which is estimated at 65%). Some citizens don’t want the city to take on the added burden of these costs (OL wouldn’t be paying for it as it’s the city’s expense), though others argue that the area has long been in need of new train lines regardless, and that the increased revenue to the businesses in the area would make up for the expenses.

In any case, Aulas expects the final plans to be approved this spring, and that applications for the building permits will be completed by fall next year. The expected date of the new stadium is December 8th, 2013.

Lyon have also launched a new website that will keep everyone up to date with the latest news and pictures of the stadium. The site is chock full of interesting stuff, like details about the stadium’s eco-friendly design, the transportation and traffic surveys, a map showing all the sites of interest, and information on how the stadium will be funded (€450m from OL and its private partners and an additional €180m from public funds for transportation purposes).

The architectural firm chosen by Aulas is Populous (formerly HOK Architecture). They have a lot of impressive projects to their name, so we can expect good things from them.

And of course, the photos. I don’t think I’ve posted these pictures before. If you want to see the other pics I’ve posted of the new stadium, just click of the “OL Land/New Stadium” category on the right.

(click to enlarge)

The biggest news is the medical update on Bafetimbi Gomis. Two days ago at Guingamp, Gomis collapsed during practice with the France squad. He was out for a minute or two but revived enough to walk out of the field. He apparently felt fine afterward, and though the team doctor insisted he stay off his feet for the rest of the day – and though his fellow players were scared shitless – he’s been cleared to go back to full training today.

Gomis periodically suffers from Vasogoval episodes, which is a malaise of the vagus nerve. Certain situations can trigger attacks, which is stress, in Gomis’s case. Jean-Michel Aulas raised the red flag stating how alarmed he is over Gomis’s health – this is his third attack since joining Lyon – but Emmanuel Ohrant, OL’s club doctor, says that Gomis is just fine. His health is carefully monitored, and he does not have any heart problems, which is the number one worry in these situations. He undergoes frequent medical checkups, and so far, the club is satisfied with the state of his health. Ohrant even points out that not only were Lyon aware of this issue before they signed Gomis, but that St. Etienne knew about it before they offered him a pro contract, so it is clearly not that much cause for concern.

All the same, it’s still scary to think about, especially when footballer deaths seem to be occurring on an almost yearly basis. While I do trust both OL and Le Bleus when they say that Gomis is fine, it’ll take a long time before this picture is wiped from my memory.

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Here is a quick run down of all the international action involving OL players.

France (vs. Faroe Islands – 10/10/09, vs. Austia – 10/14/09): Jeremy Toulalan, Hugo Lloris, Sidney Govou, Bafetimbi Gomis.

France U21 (vs. Netherlands – 10/09/09, vs. Belgium(h) – 10/12/09, vs. Belgium (a) – 10/14/09): Clement Grenier, Yannis Tafer, Thimothée Kolodziecziak, Alexandre Lacazette

Cameroon (vs. Togo – 10/10/09, vs. Angola – 10/14/09): Jean II Makoun

Sweden (vs. Denmark – 10/10/09, vs. Albania – 10/14/09): Kim Kallstrom

Bosnia (vs. Estonia – 10/10/09, vs. Spain – 10/14/09): Miralem Pjanic

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On to the good news. OL Féminines, who are participating in Europe for the third year in a row, defeated Serbian club Masinac to reach the Round of 16 in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. The ladies defeated Masinac 1-0 at home and then beat them 5-0 away (check out this link on the main webpage for lots of pictures). They’ll be facing Danish side Fortuna Hjørring in the next round. For those of you who keep track of women’s football, UEFA overhauled this tournament, renaming it from the previous moniker, the Women’s Cup, and also changing around the format so that it was closer to the men’s format.

I’m also pleased to report that Aulas continues to take OL Féminines seriously – not only is he still continuing to let them use the Stade de Gerland for their European and major domestic matches, but he’s continuing his policy of aggressive recruiting and extensive financial support. Many of the women are now on pro-contract, and he’s trying to lure in more players from abroad. The latest target is Kolbotn’s goalkeeper and Norweigian international Christine Colombo Nilsen, who is being considered to replace Sarah Bouhaddi, France’s #1 gk. Bouhaddi herself was brought on this past summer (ironically to replace Bente Nordby, Norway’s previous #1), but due to an injury she picked up, she’ll be out for six months.

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The FFF had a great article on its website about the long standing friendship between Yannis Tafer and Clement Grenier, two of the youth players Puel is integrating into the senior squad. The article provides a nice look into their experiences and insights of growing up together in Lyon’s training center. Reading it, I got the feeling that these two are being groomed as the next Karim Benzema/Hatem Ben Arfa duo, which would be great on one hand, but on the other hand (all that ~dramah~), maybe it’d be better to let the boys grow up without the shadows of their currently troubled predecessors looming over them.

*Bonus question: Who is the next Samir Nasri to complete the latest golden trio?

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And since we’re on the subject of young prodigies, I’m sure you’ve all heard by now of Karim Benzema’s now famous interview in which he admitted to not trying very hard for both France and Lyon. He also blamed Claude Puel as the reason for his leaving (yeah right). Raymond Domenech is pissed while Jean-mimi is patting himself on the back for getting rid of Benzema before his megalomania began taking serious effect – and for 35 million euros, no less.

I’m rather sad about Benzema’s words because until last season, he was such a hard working and humble kid. He loved OL, and we loved him. But the press and stardom got to him, and pretty soon he was thinking that he was bigger than the club. Regardless of that, I was still upset to see him leave this past summer, but it looks like Lyon’s strategy of cutting loose players has once again worked out. Because for all of Benzema’s talents, his attitude would have further poisoned the atmosphere among the players, and no amount of goals would make that worthwhile (plus, it’s not like Benzema was all that great last season anyway). It was time for him to leave and time for OL to lose their dependence on him.

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Hugo Lloris has been voted September’s Player of the Month by the L’Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels (UNFP). Lloris beat out team mate Bafetimbi Gomis and Bordeaux’s Alou Diarra. I don’t think there’s anyone out there who can say that Lloris doesn’t deserve it – he’s been the best player in L1 this past month, and his performances in the Champions League have been equally impressive. Despite picking up a harsh red card against Serbia during France’s WC qualifiers this past month, he still remains an integral part of Domenech’s plans, and most expect him to continue being the first gk choice over Steve Mandanda.

Buttttttttt…

I happened to watch Lloris’s latest interview on the FFF website, and wow, that was cringe-worthy. Somehow, he’s managed to pick up Jeremy Toulalan’s bad camera habits. The poor boy can’t stop touching his face (nor can he look into the camera) during his less than three minute interview. The entire time I was watching it, I was having nightmare flashbacks to this video. You all know how much I adore both Lloris and Toulalan, but really, someone needs to tie their hands down and keep their eyes up any time they give an interview.

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Lyon’s new stadium, which still hasn’t left the drawing board yet, has been officially selected by France’s Euro 2016 committee as one of the 12 sites for the games. While France hasn’t officially been named as hosts, their competitors are Sweden/Norway, Turkey, and Italy. The first two have never hosted the Euros while Italy’s financial situation is rather dire at the moment, which makes France the favorites.

Aulas is hoping to get the final plans approved, though the stadium being selected as part of the tournament will no doubt speed the process along. The costs have jumped up another one hundred million, raising the estimated costs to 350 million euros. In addition, Aulas is working with the city to address the issue of accessibility to the new stadium site, which is the biggest concern among those opposed to the project.

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And to cap off this massive post, here are the latest transfer fallacies blurbs.

*Inter Milan is keeping tabs on Jeremy Toulalan and may make a move for him either this January or the next summer. They need to replace their aging DMs, and France has proved to be the best source of those. While I’m tempted to brush this off, I worry over how long we’ll be able to keep Toulalan, who said that he has no plans to leave any time soon and definitely not until after the World Cup. Personally, he’s one of the players I want to keep at OL for life, and so hopefully Aulas will do whatever it takes to keep Toulalan at Lyon.

*At least Ederson has denied that he’s tempted by the cow eyes that Inter has also been making at him, though unlike Toulalan, I don’t anticipate Ederson to stay at OL for more than another two years or so. For now, Ederson is happy at OL (though he is chafing at losing his starting place), but Inter have been following him for over a season, and Jose Mourinho is no stranger when it comes to buying expensive players from OL.

*Manchester City’s interest in Miralem Pjanic gave me a good laugh. If Pjanic leaves, it won’t be for a while and not for Manchester City. And DEFINITELY not for 5 million pounds.

*Marouane Chamakh has finally put an end to rumors of a potential move to Lyon. In all honesty, this hasn’t been a serious option for the past few years, but Aulas really likes him and has wanted him at OL for a long time. But Chamakh says that while a transfer to OL was enticing a a few seasons back, he can’t imagine playing for another French club anymore, so when he does leave Bordeaux, it’ll be for a club abroad.

*While this isn’t exactly a transfer rumor, Mathieu Bodmer said recently that he doesn’t regret changing positions from midfield to central defense. It’s a fairly lengthy interview full of details, but the salient points are that he gets more playing time as a CB and that his bust up with Puel (which occurred before he left Lille, a full year before Puel followed him to Lyon) is old history, and that the two have a completely professional relationship. Which basically means that Puel is on the bottom of his Christmas card list. But at least Bodmer isn’t trying to move to another club, which is often the case when players are forced to play in positions they don’t really like.

The agreement was signed by six parties: Olympique Lyonnais, the State, the department of the Rhone region, Grand Lyon (the greater agglomeration of Lyon), the city of Decines, and Systral (in charge of transporation in Lyon).

This new agreement now includes a clause to improve public transportation to the Decines stadium site, which was the major holdup in the original project. The details are still a big foggy, but according to L’Equipe (from what I understood from google translate), one of the routes to the stadium that was only accessible by the bus will now be accessible by a tram.

Of course, this hasn’t wiped out all opposition. Early estimates claim that at least €180m of public money will be required to finance parts of the stadium project – mostly having to do with transportation. But it’s not just the use of taxpayer money that some citizens feel could go elsewhere, it’s also the worry that a huge stadium with games every three days will cause severe traffic congestion in the Decines community and have an adverse affect on the expansion of suburbs in that region.

Furthermore, in this unhealthy economy, there are some criticisms that OL Land is too extravagant and a waste of energy and resources, especially when the Stade de Gerland remains a perfectly acceptable stadium that could be expanded if need be (though I don’t know how that would be possible because the Gerland is classified as a historical monument). But those complaints are in the minority, and for the most part, city officials support the project because a flashy stadium housing a trophy winning team with a constantly growing fanbase would mean a boon to business in the growing city of Lyon.

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Fabio Grosso is back in training and is expected to play against Lille on October 18th. This is good news because if he does well, he play against Steaua a few days later. Kader Keita is also training normally, and Cesar Delgado (remember him?) is starting light training.

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Our beloved Jean-mimi has threatened to leave Lyon if stadium plans continue to stall. Originally, construction on OL Land was supposed to begin June 2008 – which was almost five months ago. Now it’s looking like the earliest construction can start would be June 2010 – which was when the stadium was scheduled for completion.

The reason for the delay is due to a few upstart groups who don’t want a stadium near their neighborhood for fear of extra traffic and noise. Unfortunately, this handful of people have the support of some obnoxious city officials, who are holding up the paperwork.

I for one don’t think Aulas is making an idle threat. He’s right in that Lyon have peaked as much as they can under current conditions, and the next logical step is a new stadium. Every year that there is a delay, Aulas will be forced to sell off players to make up for the increased revenue he could potentionally be earning from increased ticketing and marketing, and that in turn pushes back Lyon’s entrance into the Big Boyz Club.

If Aulas does leave, it would be catastrophic, not just for OL, but for the whole of French Football and even for the city of Lyon. People hate him outside of OL, but he is responsible for helping modernize French football and raising the standards across the entire league. Any other club would be damn lucky to have him.

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Laurie has already covered this on the main page, but matters between the UNFP (the players union) and the UCPF (the club management union) are threatening to boil over. What has their knickers in a twist is the proposed makeup of the LFP’s management board, which currently features 12 club presidents amongst the 25 members. The UCFP, backed by the LFP, is demanding that the number of club presidents on the board be increased to 14, which is something that UNFP doesn’t want because that might mean further changes to the season’s calendar and the clubs’ payroll.

The UNFP is threatening to go on strike the weekend of October 24th if the LFP continues to push this matter, so things could get ugly. Remy Vercoutre, who is the representative of the Lyon players to the UNFP, has confirmed that all the players have unanimously agreed that they would go on strike if necessary.

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OL Féminines have gotten to a fantastic start, both domestically and in Europe. They are currently topping Division 1 (the women’s topflight) with five wins and one draw and 25 goals scored and only two conceded. However, their rivals Montpellier are right on their heels with only one less point.

Today the ladies started their UEFA Women’s Cup campaign (they were seeded directly into the second qualifying phase) with an 8-0 victory over Austrian side Neulengbach. Goals were scored by Camille Abily (8, 77), Louisa Necib (10, 43), Lotta Schelin (12), Sonia Bompastor (18), Laura Georges (37), and Elodie Thomis (40).

Their next opponents will be FC Zurich on Saturday and then Arsenal on Tuesday. If Lyon win their next match, which they are likely to do, they will pretty much be qualified for the quarterfinals, though they will want to win all three matches so that they can win the group and therefore be paired with another group’s runner up for the next round.

All games in Lyon’s group for this stage of the competition are taking place in Lyon. OL Féminines are playing all their matches at the Gerland, and the other group matches are taking place in one of the smaller Lyon stadiums.

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Chelsea’s website posted an interview of Florent Malouda, who had some nice things to say about Lyon and the future of the club, so check it out here.

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And speaking of interviews, the LFP also posted a selection of interviews from the various clubs interested in Karim Benzema, among them Manchester United, Inter Milan and Barcelona, who recently admitted that their bid for him this summer had been rejected.

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Anthony Mounier – who some of us predicted would have his breakout year this season – is currently the latest media darling. In fact, he’s been getting more attention than Karim Benzema in recent weeks! Claude Puel says that if he continues to improve, he may earn a starting spot (thereby making Lyon’s entire forward line homegrown). Mounier has even caught the attention of Raymond Domenech, who told Mounier that if he could play more regularly, he might even find himself on the way to South Africa in two years.

Mounier on the other hand isn’t letting this get to his head. He’s aware that he’s only started a couple of games and isn’t anywhere near as consistent. But he would like to extend his contract with Lyon (it expires in 2010), so hopefully that will be taken care of soon.

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Fred has been granted leave until Friday to go to Brazil and visit his daughter. You can read the interview John posted here about the troubles in Fred’s personal life and why he often acts like he’s bipolar.

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Finally, here is the list of players away on international duty this week.

France (vs. Romania – 10/11/08, vs. Tunisia – 10/14/08): Karim Benzema, Hugo Lloris, Jeremy Toulalan, Jean-Alain Boumsong

France U21 (vs. Germany – 10/10/08, vs. Germany 10/15/08 – yes, they are playing the Germans twice): Anthony Mounier

Bosnia-Herzegovina (vs. Turkey – 10/11/08): Miralem Pjanic

Ghana (vs. Lesotho – 10/11/08): John Mensah

Cameroon (vs. Mauritius – 10/11/08): Jean II Makoun

Sweden (vs. Portugal – 10/11/08): Kim Kallstrom

Fabio is not having a fabulous time in France

Unfortunately, I wish Grosso had restrained his rather volatile temper. Who knows how long the LFP will suspend him, but there are only three games left to play, and he might end up missing all of them (there are also two potential French Cup matches). Worse, Grosso is Lyon’s only LB, and while Anthony Reveillere can take his place on occasion, he’ll also be suspended from Wednesday’s match against Sedan for too many yellow cards. So who knows what tactics Perrin will come up with for the French Cup semifinal.

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In more positive news, Karim Benzema’s brace against Caen today has raised his tally to 30 goals for Lyon in all competitions (19 in the league), and 32 goals if you include national team games. He’s three games away from being the youngest ever best scorer in the French Championnat. Not bad, huh?

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This Monday, OL players will be packing their bags and heading to Evian, where they will spend the next week in peaceful isolation as they prepare for the grueling few weeks ahead of them. Sounds more like a week at the spa, but if it makes the boys play better, I hope they get all the manicures and pedicures they need.

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Lyon have signed Clement Grenier and Yannis Tafer to professional contracts. Both are graduates of Lyon’s academy and currently ply their trade in Lyon’s U16 and U18 teams. I’ve never heard of Tafer, but Grenier has been in the news quite a bit.

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Not done with collecting midfielders, Lyon are apparently frontrunners to land the signature of Miralem Pjanic, who would prefer Lyon as a destination as opposed to Marseille, PSG, or a big club abroad. Pjanic has also received a concrete offer from Barcelona and is the subject of heavy interest from Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester United, Valencia, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Napoli, Schalke, Wolfsburg, Fenerbahce, and Fiorentina.

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Lyon’s request to move the date of their French Cup match against Sedan forward one day was rejected by the French Football Federation (FFF). The match, which is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 7th, leaves only two full days of rest before Lyon receive Nancy, who are in third place. Aulas wanted an extra day because Lyon-Nancy is a game that could potentially decide the title, but no one else agreed. Sedan coach Jose Pasqualetti took Lyon’s request really personally:

“Mr. Aulas mustn’t forget that football doesn’t belong solely to him. If he wants to play his B team, we’ll be happy…He’s not the boss of French football. The LFP has also refused to shift our Friday match at Clermont. We’re not crying about it. If he doesn’t want to play, that’s his problem. Despite all the respect I have for Olympique Lyonnais, we shouldn’t be browbeaten. He’s not the president or the pope, he’s just Mr. Aulas, president of OL.”

Lyon didn’t get why Sedan’s knickers were in such a twist since pushing the match back by a day doesn’t affect Sedan. Not to be deterred, Lyon then asked the LFP to shift their league match against Nancy back one day, from Saturday, May 10th to Sunday, May 11th. The LFP also refused their request, saying there was no regulatory reason for the postponement.

Now Aulas is threatening to boycott the French Cup semifinal by either not showing up or by taking a reserve team. Great. Talk about taking the high road.

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Lyon’s stadium plans have hit a roadblock (the first of many, I’m sure). The new secretary of the UMP du Rhône, Michel Forissier, has said that OL Land will cost too much of the taxpayer’s money and that for now, he plans to block plans for the stadium by not allowing the building permits to be filed. The problem is that Decines, the site of the stadium, is currently served by a dinky old tram that can’t sustain huge match day audiences, and the 9,000 parking spaces are hardly enough to accommodate 50,000+ people. The only way to make the stadium more accessible is for the city to extend the metro, but as Forissier says, public transportation is paid by the public, even if the stadium itself will mostly be privately funded.

No wonder French stadia are so far behind…it’s nearly impossible to build them!

So unless Lyon can resolve the transportation situation, Forissier doesn’t intend to approve anything because he’s worried such a traffic disaster will disturb the neighboring communities. He suggested as an alternative that Aulas look into expanding the Gerland’s capacity and that Forissier himself will be happy to sell the stadium to him (which probably won’t be allowed either because the Gerland is classified as a historical monument). He also said that he resents the fact that the stadium is being imposed on Decines and that he doesn’t see how OL Land can possibly be built.

Lyon have angrily responded to Forissier by saying that Project OL Land is progressing as it should and that they plan to do whatever it takes to build their new stadium. Luckily, the opposition to OL Land is a minority, and Gérard Collomb, the mayor of Lyon, is fully behind the project. And we can trust Aulas to bribe convince whoever is necessary to see that Project OL Land gets the green light. However, it looks like the projected completion date of 2010 won’t be happening – 2011 looks more likely.

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OL Féminines, like their male counterparts, are in the semifinals of the Challenge de France, the women’s French Cup. They will be facing Soyaux tomorrow, and if they win, they will face either PSG or Juvisy in the final. And for the first time ever, the Challange de France will be held at the Stade de France, which is where the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France finals are also held.

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Lyon have scheduled a friendly in Dubai in the last week of May against Al-Shabab. Since most players will be off getting ready for Euro 2008 or other sorts of international duty, it’s a good opportunity for players like Anthony Mounier, Cesar Delgado, Marc Crosas, etc.

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And finally, I’ll be on this week’s Offside Podcast to talk about French football. If you have any topics you’d like me to address, stop by here.

The mother ship has landed.

Lyon’s new stadium – still unnamed because the bidding for the naming rights haven’t taken place yet – is listed among these top ten “Super-Stadiums.” Extravagant and in your face, the stadium alone will make you want to come to games. And it’ll go a long way into making those higher ticket prices worthwhile (OL tickets are already the most expensive in France).

Positives are that the stadium is eco-friendly, using recycled materials, solar power, reusable water, and a “green design.” And it should hopefully force other stadiums in France to modernize. France, as you all know, is woefully behind in terms of stadium quality.

So what does it take to build a Super-Stadium? According to Forbes, the formula is:

Build new facilities with fewer seats and more luxury boxes, charge higher prices, earn more revenue, hire better players and reap more wins. Then turn around and raise ticket prices. It’s a sports business model that originated in America and is now spreading across the globe.

No wonder Jean-Michel Aulas insisted on having a Super-Stadium. He’s the poster boy of foot-business, a guy who knows how to blend together marketing, sports, and profit quite seamlessly. If all goes according to plan, Lyon will be able to host more games for the France National Team as well as a a Champions League final in the next ten years.

What we know for sure is that Lyon’s new €240m stadium will outclass all those in France and all but a select few in Europe…at least until another group of Super-Stadiums is built.

Top 10 Super-Stadiums:

Name/Team/Sport/Capacity/Cost

1. Unnamed – New York Jets+New York Giants – Baseball and American Football – 82,500 – $1.3 billion
2. Yankee Stadium – New York Yankees – Baseball – 51,800 – $1.3 billion
3. Unnamed – Dallas Cowboys – 80,000 – American Football – $1 billion
4. Lucas Stadium – Indianapolis Colts – American Football – 63,000 – $625 million
5. Citi Field – New York Mets – Baseball – 45,000 – $600 million
6. Landsdowne Road Stadium – Irish National Team – Soccer – 50,000 – $576 million
7. Beijing National Stadium – Beijing Summer Olympics – Multi-use – 91,000 – $500 million
8. Unnamed – Olympique Lyonnais – Soccer – 60,000 – $379 million
9. Unnamed – Pittsburgh Penguins – Hockey – 18,500 – $300 million
10. Red Bulls Park – New York Red Bulls – Soccer – 25,189 – $140 million
11. Unnamed – Real Salt Lake City – Soccer – 20,000 – $110 million

Edit: If you’re wondering why the Top 10 has eleven teams, you aren’t alone.

To get the boring details out the way, the poll surveyed the people of Lyon, Decines, and the surrounding region to see what they thought about OL as a club as well as about OL Land. Apparently, 95% of the people surveyed agree that OL have a strong reputation, and 92% of those believe that OL enhance the reputation of Lyon in France, and another 74% believe that OL do so abroad as well. Regarding OL Land specifically, 73% of those polled have heard of the project (91% of those in Decines). Of those 73%, approximately 76% are in favor of Project OL Land. Only 10% strongly oppose it, and the other 14% have minor complaints.

So what’s the point of the poll? Well, it tells Aulas what areas they need to work on with OL Land. If residents are worried about noise, the club will have to appease their fears. If traffic control is a problem, better roads will have to be built. See the full presentation here. But the most important news is that Lyon will be applying for a building permit this June!! They hope to start construction at that time, and by then, the stadium should have a name.

Stadium Presentation Video:

Pictures:

For up to date stadium news and pics, visit here.

Today, Lyon unveiled the official website of Project OL Land, which will feature press releases, news, important information, and of course, a lot of high-res pictures. According to the new information, the exact number of seats is 61556 though operating capacity will be something like 58000-60000. This as of yet unnamed stadium will be a UEFA 5 Star Stadium, which will make it only the second stadium in France able to host the finals of the Champions League (the other is the Stade de France).

Better than Percoset.

As you can also see from the pictures, this stadium will be as transparent as possible, in order to maximize light entering the stadium, as well as for reflecting it outside the stadium. In fact, it is quite possible that this stadium will be visible from outer space.

Of course, building OL Land won’t be so easy. A small group was created in the Decines community to protest OL Land, and they plan on holding a protest tomorrow (!!). Called Carton Rouge (website), they will be departing from Decines at 10 AM (France time), march through the city, and hold a sit-in at a construction site. Great.

Pictures (click to enlarge):

View from the north

Detailed map

Interior

Exterior: entrance

Cafe

Interior

Tribunes

Acoustics

Roof

To see the previously posted pictures, go here.

The reason I’m even bothering to report this (to my knowledge, I’m the only blogger on the Offside who even cares about club finances) is because economic development is responsible for Lyon being where it is – and where it will be in the next few years (read a more thorough overview on club finances here). There are no rich investors to aid Lyon in their quest for global domination. Every penny the club has ever earned has been due to the brilliance and dedication of Jean-Michel Aulas.

We love you, Jean-mimi.

Anyway, so here’s the good news. Lyon’s revenue has jumped 28% to reach €214.1m (the previous year it was at €166.1m). Excluding sale of player contracts, the revenue is €140.6. Net profit is up by 16% at €18.5m. This is after paying €10m in taxes, btw. For those of you who follow clubs in Serie A and the EPL, where clubs are regularly in the red – yes, it is possible to make a profit.

As most of you know, Lyon is the first French club to be floated on the stock market, which it did in February 2007. OL Groupe has reported it as a success, with offers oversubscribed 6.5 times. OL Groupe raised €90.6m. As of June 30, 2007, net cash stands at €128m and shareholders equity at €151m.

Third and fifth columns represent percentage of total turnover (revenue).

BREAKDOWN

Gate receipts (ticketing): This went up 2.4% to bring in €21.5m (due to the fact that 27 home games were played at the Gerland last season, as opposed to 26 from the season before). Despite the loss of possible revenue by missing out on the Champions League quarterfinals, Lyon’s participation in the French League Cup final offset that loss. A record 1,012,000 spectators came to the Gerland in 2006/2007.

Sponsoring and advertising: There was an increase of 29.8%, yielding €18.1m, thanks to improved deals with Accor Group and Umbro.

Broadcasting: This sector improved only slightly, going from €68.9m to €69.9m. Domestic rights increased but international rights fell by 12.4% for three reasons: Three French clubs participated in the Champions League in 2006/2007, Lyon did not participate in the quarterfinals of the Champions League, and the French share of European rights declined.

Other sources: This includes merchandising, derivative products, OL Images, and others and brought in €31m, up 30.6%. Lyon sold 200,000 shirts in 2006/2007, up from 110,000 the season before.

Sale of player contracts: This totaled €73.5m, a rise of 91.3%.

What Lyon will do with the money:

The bulk of this money will go towards the building of OL Land, which includes the new stadium (more details here). Despite facing some opposition from the Decines community, the target is to start building by September 2008. Once building starts, the club will look into the sale of marketing rights (including giving the stadium a name). In fact, the club have already taken a step in that direction by closing a ten-year deal with Sportfive that is worth €28m. Sportfive, a subsidiary of Lagardere Sports, helps clubs broker deals with companies over stadium naming rights.

The new stadium will cost between €250m to €300m.

Additionally, Lyon are building a new, state of the art academy building according to the strictest environmental guidelines. Given that 9 out of the 27 players on the professional squad are homegrown, Lyon would like to confirm their role as developers of elite players. Plans are to open this building by June 2008.

Outlook:

Given the club’s growing platorm not just in France but also in Europe, OL Groupe are attempting to match the needs of the club by providing a stable and ever-increasing source of income. Already the results are visible, with Lyon a regular member of the top 20 richest clubs in the world, both in terms of revenue and marketability.

The goal is now breaking the top 10.

Last week, I posted some information on Lyon’s new stadium project. Today (perhaps because Aulas thought the fans needed some reassurance that we weren’t headed to Ligue 2), the official website posted the first artistic renderings of their as of yet unnamed stadium. I personally think it looks like an underwater sea creature, but I guess that’s kind of cool.

Edit: I added more pictures.

The inside.

Recap:

The stadium will have 60,000 seats, 7,000 parking spaces, and be built over 6 hectares of property. Cost is expected to be between 250 million and 300 million euros. A retractable roof and lawn are strong possibilities. In addition, OL Land will be built over 50 hectares and contain not just the stadium but Lyon’s main offices, training grounds, two hotels, a shopping center, and a leisure park (as well as a smaller “stadium” – more like a nicer pitch with bleachers – for OL Ladies and the reserves). Completion date is envisioned to be July 2010.

There are some hiccups though. A group known as Carton Rouge (Red Card) is protesting the plans for this stadium, saying that it will be too disruptive to the Decines community (Decines is a suburb of Lyon). Also, there will be a massive amount of construction for a few years, not only on the stadium and surrounding OL Land, but also, the city will have to expand the tram and bus services to make the stadium accessible for commuters.

Aulas has promised that they are looking into the best materials for construction and will do their best to soundproof the stadium and manage traffic so that it doesn’t harm the community.

Thanks to OLWEB and Olympique et Lyonnais for the info.