Don’t Forget the Ladies

By: Inara | August 9th, 2007

I’m ashamed to say that in the 140 posts I’ve written for this blog, I haven’t devoted a single one to OL Féminines. I did mention them in passing here and there, but considering their achievements and the fact that the Offside is an equal opportunity blog, they deserve to be more than footnotes.

Like their male counterparts, OL Ladies will be looking to defend their title this season.

OL Ladies are the current French champions, and for the first time ever, Lyon will be taking part in the UEFA Women’s Cup, where they will hope to dethrone current title holders Arsenal FC. Because Lyon are unseeded, they will be entering the first qualifying round, which take place this upcoming week, and if they do well, they will advance to the second qualifying round in October.

Their first European match will start in half an hour, when they’ll be facing Slovan Duslo Sala, a (you guessed it) Slovakian football club. I wish I had more detailed information about them, but I don’t really follow the Slovak league. Lyon’s website, however, has a ton of information on them and on the competition, so check it out.

The schedule for the entire tournament can be found here.

Some background info: Lyon’s women’s team was created in 1970 as a part of FC Lyon, where they won four titles in the first division. But in 2004, after a great deal of lobbying from Jean-Michel Aulas, they were attached to Olympique Lyonnais and became OL Féminines.

Not content to dominate the men’s division, Aulas began strengthening OL Ladies in order to compete with the traditional female powerhouses of Juvisy FC and Montpellier HSC. He brought in better coaches, better players, had them train in the same facilities as the men, and basically infected them with Lyon’s winning mentality.

All that effort led to the women’s side getting progressively better, with strong showings in both the Championnat D1 and the Challenge de France (the women’s French Cup).

They were rewarded for their perseverance when they clinched the title last season, enabling Lyon to become the first French football club with domestic champions in both the male and female senior divisions.

Lyon boast a very talented roster which features 19 internationals at various levels. At one point, Lyon were home to five members of the US Women’s National Team, including Hope Solo, Danielle Slaton, Aly Wagner, Lorrie Fair, and Christie Welsh.

While the Americans are no longer at the club, Brazilian internationals Katia da Silva and Simone Gomes, as well as Costa Rican star Shirley Cruz, complement a strong lineup featuring Laure Lepailleur, Sonia Bompastor, Hoda Lattaf, and of course, Camile Abily. For those of you who don’t know who she is, Abily was voted French Female Footballer of the year in 2006 and 2007, and is a mainstay on the national team.

Abily is one of the best out there.

Aulas also recruited Louisa Necib and Élodie Thomis, affectionately known as “Zidane and Henry,” from Montpellier this summer. All in all, Lyon have built themselves a strong ladies team, one that looks to make their mark both inside and outside the hexagon.

Though I don’t follow women’s football diligently, I have to appreciate the efforts Lyon are making in developing their women’s side along with their men’s. To put things into perspective, only two other L1 clubs (PSG and Toulouse) are also represented in D1 féminine. PSG has never won a title while Toulouse’s last win was in 2002.

Nor do the men’s side get all the spoils. During Lyon’s extensive title celebrations (remember the lions?), OL Ladies were honored too, and were included on the trip to St. Tropez. It’s also caught my notice that Lyon’s website has recently been making an effort to publish up-to-date and extensive information about the women’s side.

Aulas and his harem.

D1 féminine starts September 2nd. Given the dearth of information on women’s football in general, I can’t promise weekly posts about OL Ladies, but as your faithful OL blogger, I will try to keep everyone updated as they progress through their season.

Honors:

Championnat de France (5):
– Champion: 1991, 1993, 1995, 1998 et 2007.
– Vice-champion: 1985, 1994, 2003, 2004.

Challenge de France (2):
— Vainqueur: 2003 et 2004.
— Finaliste: 2002, 2005, 2006, 2007.

Further Information:

Olympique Lyonnais
FFF – D1 féminine
Football365 – Feminines Info
foot-femimin