First, a quick history lesson on OL will offer some context. The football club was founded in 1950 and the OL Groupe, a media and sport entertainment company, was created in 1999. The men's team plays in the top French league, Ligue 1, regularly making appearances in the UEFA Champions League. The women's side was started as a seperate entity, FC Lyon, in 1970 and then officially became OL in 2004. OL women have captured the league title for six straight seasons and have appeared in all three UEFA Champions League Finals, winning twice (2011, 2012).
"Message from the Management Team" leads with mention of women's program.
The image below is the "Message from the Management Team" on one of the first few pages of the OL Groupe's Annual Report, which opens with reference to their successful women's program:
"During the 2010/11 football season, the women’s team performed exceptionally well. They became the first French team to win the Champions League and secured their fifth consecutive French Championship title. We are proud to promote women’s football through our team and contribute to the development of women’s football..."
Considering it's the Annual Report of the entire club (men's, women's, academy) it shows commitment that they lead with results of the women's program. And it's not like the men's team tanked, they went 17-8-13 good enough for a top-three league finish qualifying them for the Champion's League.
Women's football part of five year strategy.
The end of the message reveals the OL Groupe's four priorities, one of which is women's football:
"Our five-year strategy features four priority objectives: (i) ensuring economic sustainability, (ii) training young players and promoting women’s football, (iii) making ethical, sustainable and responsible choices, and (iv) building the new stadium, offering development potential for OL Groupe, Greater Lyon and Lyon’s eastern suburbs."
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| The opening statement of the club's Annual Report leads with result's of the women's program - shows commitment. |
Gender equality policy of the club.
The report mentions the club's policy as such:
The club looks to attract equal numbers of men and women for the Academy (football, general education). The club believes the Academy will be one of the drivers to sustainable economic performance (this refers to the men's side since player trading - the sale or purchase of player registrations - has yet to feature in the women's game). It seems the equal men's/women's policy is stated to be an important policy for some of the club's sponsors like GDF Suez.
New partners for the women's team.
For the 2011/12 financial year, OL Groupe signed contracts with new partners Renault Trucks and GDF Suez for the women's team, whose "fresh, dynamic image and sporting performance are attracting new partners". Renault Trucks acquired the right to display its brand on the back of OL's women's first team shirts during Division 1 and Champions League matches. The GDF Suez brand appears on the front of the women's team home shirts during Champions League matches and in the front pocket position of the shirts during the Division 1 home and away matches. The brand also receives visibility at the Gerland stadium during women's matches. [Click here for details on jersey sponsor 2012 onwards.]
Internationals and international players.
OL's roster includes 21 players all of whom are internationals (ie. national team players). This includes a young Japanese player the club signed to "help strengthen the OL brand internationally".
Agreement between OL and the City of Lyon.
In 2009, a three-year agreement was signed stating that an annual subsidy of 196,000 euros is paid to OL to finance activities that promote the development of amatuer football and women's sports in Lyon.
Venue.
OL women host matches at the Plaine des Jeux de Gerland, a 2,500-capacity stadium that is not far from the men's venue, the Stade de Gerland (41,044 seats).
Board of Directors.
The OL Board of Directors has 14 members, including 11 individuals and three legal entities. Currently, no women serve on the Board. The report calls out that the next Shareholder Meeting will ask for appointments of one or more women as new members of the BOD, for a period of six years.
It may seem like a tiny detail, but symbolically it's powerful - the Annual Report features a page highlighting the results of OL teams, and as you can see here below, they have integrated both the men's and women's team onto the same page, instead of relegating discussion of the women's program to a section in the back. This integration is evident throughout the report and elsewhere, indicating a strong level of commitment and inclusion of the women's team as a valued entity within the club.
OL has put a stake in the ground granting professional status to it's woman's team, making itself a positive European model of how women's programs can function in partnership with men's programs. Whether this model will grow long term is still to be seen - follow here for further updates on how this evolves. Professional clubs across Europe are being held to UEFA's Financial Fair Play standards, which were created to ensure long term viability of European football by introducing more financial austerity. Clubs must achieve break-even status by the 2012/13 season. There is nothing indicating that this will negatively or positively affect the women's program.
Source: Olympique Lyonnais.
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