The Fans: Loving Lyon From VERY Far Away

By: Inara | September 11th, 2007

My next ~~victim~~ interviewee is Scott. He grew up in Lyon and witnessed Lyon’s rise from Ligue 2 to where they are today. However, Scott has spent a greater portion of his life abroad and is currently forced to follow Lyon from the Japanese countryside. But being the loyal Lyon fan he is, he kindly agreed to take the time to answer my questions.

You mentioned that you have been a fan of Lyon since you were eight years old. In 1989, Lyon were still a small club that had only just made the jump from L2 to L1. Do you remember what it was that drew you to the club? Or did your family support Lyon and you just grew into the team?

What brought me to support Lyon is the game against Ales, which allowed us to go back up in then “division 1” [now Ligue 1]. I saw the atmosphere in the street of Lyon (I lived in Lyon for 12 years), and I felt really Lyonnais then. So I started following the games as best as I could. My parents didn’t want me to go to see games at the Gerland when I was young, but I followed the results after every game. Then, when I was old enough, I went to see games and really loved it. When I started living abroad, I followed the games through streams and radio…Still, every time I go to France, I go to the Gerland to watch some games.

Back in the early and mid nineties, did you ever think Lyon would grow as big as it has? Do you think Lyon can grow even bigger?

I really didn’t expect Lyon to grow as big. Ok, I did hope they would win “Le championnat” and always be one of the big teams up there, but I didn’t expect them to become as good as they are now. Lyon has worked really hard in the long run, but I didn’t think they would have made it that easily to the top for 6 years. I think it is also the other big French teams (Marseille, Paris, Monaco, Bordeaux, Nantes) that have lost their football at the same time.

I think Lyon will have difficulties to improve before the new stadium is built. I think we can beat any team in the world, but we still are slightly inferior to teams like Manchester/Chelsea/Milan/…etc. But as long as Aulas is the president, I don’t think we will stop growing.

In the 18 years you’ve been an OL fan, is there a particular moment that stood out for you? A victory or defeat, or something simple, like a moment from the game?

Lots of games stood out for me. One is obviously the win 3-1 over “RC Lens” (then first of table) on the last day for our first title. Also, I will always remember Lyon winning the return leg against “FC Bruges” 3-0 after having lost the away game 4-1. But even before the game was played in Gerland, I knew Lyon would qualify and score 3 goals because of how the players reacted in the interviews before the game. For me, this game was when the “never give up” attitude really appeared, and it never left the team since that game. Anything was possible. The two wins against Real in Gerland also stay in my memories. Lyon beginning to frighten the big European teams.

Some defeats did hurt: The 1/4 final we lost against Eindhoven… for me, that was the closest we ever were to a semi-final, and I was really gutted…

As for special moments: I was lucky enough to see the game at the Gerland against Paris after Jean-Yves and Mattias died. The silence was simply incredible. I will never forget.

Who is your favorite player? Which player do you think has had the most impact at Lyon in the past two decades?

I am not going to be really original there. Two players have changed the team… two Brazilians: Anderson and Juninho. Those two have not just improved the level of football, they changed the perception other clubs had of Lyon. All the teams would fear to meet Anderson, and all the teams fear to meet Juninho. They are not ordinary players. As soon as you manage to make the opposing team think you are better than them, your team is respected and feared. They were/are also real leaders and have this “we can do it” attitude. They dragged the team up.

There have been eight different managers at Lyon since you became a fan. Is there one that you liked in particular? Disliked?

For me, the two best were Tigana and Le Guen. If I had to choose one of those two, I would say Le Guen. He created a great atmosphere in the team, and understood that the results would come by keeping it simple. The players all loved him, and this is what I want to see. The manager I disliked the most was Houiller, because he created unnecessary tensions in the team. Also, I hated his mentality of “score one goal, and keep the result”. I want to see some “football champagne” with Lyon, I don’t want to see all the players in their 45 meters! He gave the players a bad mentality and thus problems.

What is your opinion on Jean-Michel Aulas? Savior or devil in disguise?

For me Jean-Michel Aulas is the best president you could wish for. People always say that Lyon only win “Le championnat” because of the money, but those same people forget that less than 20 years ago, we were still in “division 2″ with a ridiculous budget. Aulas didn’t bring a lot of money, the money came with the good results, and still nowadays, all the money comes from small investors compared to the big guns like Chelsea (Abramovic), Manchester (Glazer), Madrid (The king of Spain wipes off all the debts), AC Milan (Berlusconi),… etc.

Aulas has a vision on a grand scale. He only made promises on the long run and did achieve them all. He didn’t as we say in French “bruler les etapes”. The only risk he took in the 20 years in charge of Lyon was to buy Sonny Anderson, but the risk was successful, and it is actually this risk that allowed Lyon to win the title.

Okay, JMA often talks too much especially nowadays, but I think he only does it to protect the players. All the big clubs in Europe have a lot of internal problems after some success. JMA avoided those internal problems by staying up front all the time and focusing all the attention on him more than on the players. It is genius!

I think he also knows Lyon has reached a limit in their development, and that for the time being, they can’t really improve the team a lot more (Lyon can’t afford any of the big names salaries). So the new stadium will allow Lyon to take another step forward. He won’t have to lose money on the stadium anymore and will actually make some! Aulas understands better than anyone that Football is not just about football anymore, but about a “trade mark” and “money”. Aulas is no devil, he is always one step ahead of everyone. He is an economic genius and works a lot for the team.

How difficult is it following Lyon from Japan? Are you the only Lyon fan over there, or have you met any others?

It is quite tough to follow Lyon here in COUNTRYSIDE Japan. I am lucky enough to live just 10 kms from J-Village: a national youth training ground. The future stars of Japanese football are going to come out of this academy. And the coach is French (Claude Dusseau). He used to train the youngsters in Clairefontaine, and now that he is retired in France, he is working here. So I can stay in contact with the French football when I go and teach there. But I haven’t met any Lyon fans here in the countryside. They know about Juninho, but most of them don’t even know the team. So I am covering the walls of the school with OL posters and have also put up a Champions League poster so the students can follow the results of the team. So Lyon had better do well this season!

Sidney Govou: a waste of space or a brilliant and misunderstood player?

I loved him alongside Sonny Anderson… but since then he hasn’t done a lot to me. Nevertheless, he is good for the team’s spirit (if you put aside what he said about Juninho), so I’d rather have him than anyone else on the right… Lyon is doing well thanks to the team’s spirit, and Govou is part of it.

Is there anything else you would like to share with us?

I am happy, and I think Lyon can bring back the 3 points from Nou Camp.