Founded in 1950, Lyon achieved the only seven consecutive league titles in French football history between 2002 and 2008. Juninho Pernambucano, Michael Essien, and Karim Benzema were among the stars of that golden era.

Recent years have been turbulent off the pitch. After Jean-Michel Aulas' long tenure, American investor John Textor's Eagle Football Group acquired the club in 2022 as part of a multi-club model. In November 2024, the DNCG (France's financial watchdog) issued a provisional relegation warning over financial mismanagement. Player sales helped stabilise the accounts, and relegation was ultimately avoided.

The Parc Olympique Lyonnais (Groupama Stadium), completed in 2016, holds 59,186 spectators and served as a venue for Euro 2016. Located in Decines-Charpieu on Lyon's outskirts, it replaced the historic Stade Gerland.

The new stadium was former president Aulas' grand vision to strengthen the club's financial foundations. Ironically, the construction debt contributed to the very financial difficulties that later threatened the club's top-flight status.

The DNCG's November 2024 relegation warning sent shockwaves through French football. Mounting debts under the multi-club model, combined with reduced TV revenue, threatened the club's very existence. Emergency player sales in January — including Cherki and Mikautadze — kept the club afloat but at the cost of losing key players.

Yet Lyon's academy tradition proved resilient even in crisis. Having produced Benzema, Tolisso, Dembele, and many more international-calibre players, the youth system remains the club's greatest asset in rebuilding for the future.