Olympique Lyon: The club with the best youth academy in France
Olympique Lyonnais (or simply Lyon) is a French football club based in the city of Lyon. The club was founded in 1950. The club’s nickname is “Les Gones” which is a local expression meaning “The Kids”. They play their home games at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais, commercially known as the Groupama Stadium. Before that, they used to play in the Stade de Gerland from 1950 to 2015. Lyon are one of the most supported clubs in France. Their biggest rivalries are against AS St. Etienne, Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint Germain. The club’s owner is Jean-Michel Aulas who has been owning Lyon since 1987.
Lyon’s trophy cabinet haul includes seven Ligue 1 titles, five Coupe de France titles, one Coupe de la Ligue title, eight Trophee des Champions titles and one UEFA Intertoto Cup title. In fact, the seven Ligue 1 titles won by the club came consecutively in the noughties (2000s) from 2001-02 to 2007-08. The club also reached the UEFA Champions League semi-finals twice.
The Lyon academy is one of the best youth academies in France. A few players that came through the academy and who are in the current squad are Anthony Lopes (GK), Houssem Aouar (CM) and Rayan Cherki (AM). A few players who came through the Lyon Academy but have left and achieved success elsewhere include the likes of Alexandre Lacazette, Nabil Fekir, Anthony Martial, Karim Benzema, Samuel Umtiti and Corentin Tolisso. In fact, if Lyon didn’t sell these players, they would’ve won several more Ligue 1 titles and other trophies. CIES Football Observatory conducted a study in October 2018 and they found that Lyon have produced the 2nd highest number of players currently playing in one of Europe’s top five leagues, behind only Real Madrid. According to the club’s estimation, eight to twelve percent of the players in each age group who come through their system go on to sign professional contracts, either at the club or elsewhere, compared to an average of 5-6 percent in the rest of France. It is the result of hard work of the scouting department, expert coaching at youth level, sensitive pastoral care and unwavering financial support for youth development, but it is also a matter of principle. Jean-Francois Vulliez, the current head of the Lyon academy told Bleacher Report that the club has a culture of faith in young players and it is a part of the DNA of the club.
Having produced so many world class players as mentioned above, the Lyon academy shows no signs of slowing down. For this decade, Rayan Cherki is just the beginning. The academy will continue to produce world class talents who will succeed professionally at Lyon or elsewhere.
