Olympique Lyonnais Reserves and Academy

The Olympique Lyonnais Reserves & Academy are the reserve team and academy of French club Olympique Lyonnais. The reserves squad play in the Championnat National 3, the fifth division of French football and the second highest division the team is allowed to participate in. Lyon have won the reserves title of the Championnat de France Amateur six times. They have won in 1998, 2001, 2003, 2006, and 2009, and 2010.

Olympique Lyonnais
Full nameOlympique Lyonnais
Nickname(s)Les Gones, Lyon, or OL
Founded1899/1950[1]
GroundStade Gérard Houllier,
Décines-Charpieu
Capacity1,524
ChairmanUnited States John Textor
ManagerFrance Gueida Fofana (National 3)
France Jérémie Bréchet (U-19s)
France Mohamed Chacha (U-17s)
LeagueChampionnat National 3
Championnat National Under-19
Championnat National Under-17
2022–23 (National 2)National 2 Group C, 14th (relegated)

Overview

The U-19 squad participates in their weekly league, the Championnat National U19, which is a league comprising four groups of fourteen clubs who play each other twice during the regular season. This session is dubbed Phase 1. Following the regular season, the four group winners are randomly selected to face each other in semi-final matches (dubbed Phase 2) to decide who will play each other in the Under-18 Championnat National championship match, usually held in Mayenne. There is also a third-place match, which is usually held just before the championship match. The Under-18 squad also regularly participates in the Coupe Gambardella. They have won the title on 4 occasions. They won the cup in 1971, 1994, 1997 and 2022.

The U-17 side participates in a league, the Championnat National U17, a youth league comprising six groups of twelve clubs who play each other twice during the regular season, dubbed Phase 1. Following the regular season, the six group winners and the two best second place clubs are randomly inserting into two groups of four, where they play each other at neutral venues once over a span of four days. This portion is dubbed Phase 2. The two winners of each group will then face each other in the championship match to determine the champion of the Under-17 Championnat National. The Under-17 squad also participates in regional cup competitions.

The current National 3 manager is Gueida Fofana, who played for Olympique Lyonnais before but had his career cut-short due to injuries. He has been the manager of Lyon's reserves team since 2019. The manager of the Olympique Lyonnais U-19s and U-17s are former Lyon defender Jérémie Bréchet, and Mohamed Chacha.[2]

Philosophy

According to Faouzi Djedou-Benabid, the scout for Niort and the co-author of Pourquoi le foot français va dans le mur (Why French football goes into wall) (2015), published by Hugo Sport, the training provided in Olympique Lyonnais academy favors the technical learning of football over match results, like FC Barcelona: thus, "Lyon educators do not hesitate to have defenders play in midfield so that 'they can learn to use their feet better". In addition, the formation does not favor any pattern of play, allowing the players to adapt easily to all positions during the game.[3]

as a result of this philosophy, since the 2010s, Lyon youth academy gained reputation all around Europe as being one of the top football academies in the continent, producing several players playing in European top tier competitions.[4] Between 2012 and 2019, Lyon appears successively eight times in top 4 of the International Centre for Sports Studies list of the best football academies in Europe. Lyon was also rated by the French Football Federation as the best football academy in France for six seasons in a row, between 2013 and 2019.[5]

In February 2014, L'Équipe writes that Olympique Lyonnais ranks second in terms of the number of players trained at the club and playing in the "five major European championships" (Germany, England, Spain, France and Italy) tied with Real Madrid, and the first being FC Barcelona.[6][7] In 2015, France Football rated Lyon youth academy as one of the best in Europe, as it is used to feed the first team, and also having a pool of players with value on the transfer market, without this being in the heart of the club's policy.[8] Indeed, the competition level in Lyon's youth team is very difficult for young players, they will regularly, voluntarily or not, emancipate themselves in other very young clubs. Just as regularly, a certain number of them manage to have a good national or international career such as Ludovic Giuly, Karim Benzema, Alexandre Lacazette, Samuel Umtiti, or Nabil Fekir.

Honours

Current squad

Reserve squad (Olympique Lyonnais II)

As of 15 October 2023[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
30 GK France FRA Justin Bengui
40 GK France FRA Matéo Pereira
GK France FRA Ilam Djailane
15 DF Morocco MAR Achraf Laâziri
29 DF France FRA Mamadou Sarr
35 DF France FRA Yacine Chaïb
36 DF Croatia CRO Téo Barisic
43 DF Niger NIG Philippe Boueye
45 DF France FRA Ahmed Djimé
DF France FRA Lilian Coponat
DF France FRA Gwendal Degorce
DF France FRA Ali Ali Hassan
DF France FRA Prince Mbatschi
DF France FRA Jérémy Mounsesse
34 MF France FRA Mahamadou Diawara
No. Pos. Nation Player
84 MF France FRA Mohamed El Arouch
MF France FRA Samuel Bossiwa
MF Portugal POR Mathys De Carvalho
MF Tunisia TUN Chaïm El Djebali
MF France FRA Islam Halifa
MF Guinea-Bissau GNB Celestino Iala
MF Senegal SEN Moussa Kanté
33 FW Algeria ALG Djibrail Dib
FW France FRA Thibaut Ehling
FW Senegal SEN Ibrahima Fall
FW France FRA Breyton Fougeu
FW Mauritania MTN Thiema Gueye
FW Algeria ALG Yannis Lagha
FW France FRA Romain Perret
FW France FRA Eli Wissa

U19 squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK France FRA Léo Ripert
GK Switzerland SUI Yvann Konan
DF France FRA Ali Alamine
DF France FRA Imdad Charifou
DF France FRA Emeric Etondé
DF France FRA Erawan Garnier
DF France FRA Mark Hérinirainy
DF Algeria ALG Steeve Kango
DF France FRA Baptiste Monveneur
DF France FRA Kelyan Yahia
MF France FRA Manny Allegret
MF France FRA Daryll Benlahlou
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF France FRA Elliot Branco
MF France FRA Lenny Djouad
MF Switzerland SUI Pape Fuhrer
MF France FRA Paul Guivier
MF France FRA Khalis Merah
MF France FRA Olivier Mvouama
MF France FRA Emerson Pedro Vanga
MF France FRA Khalil Rekaoui
MF Morocco MAR Ryad Talbi
FW Tunisia TUN Rayan El Djebali
FW France FRA Bryan Meyo
FW France FRA Enzo Molébé

U17 squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
GK France FRA Axel Barreau
GK France FRA Matthias Da Silva
GK France FRA Yann Llahona
DF France FRA Léo Bamballi
DF France FRA Amine Baghdad
DF France FRA Jalis Bouabdellah
DF France FRA Timothée Dutot
DF France FRA Wassim El Abrougui
DF France FRA Melvyn Otobo
DF France FRA Esteban Thyvent
MF France FRA Redouane Ben Baibeche
MF France FRA Kenan Doganay
MF France FRA Angel Garcia
No. Pos. Nation Player
MF Portugal POR Tiago Gonçalves
MF France FRA Ottman Katirag
MF France FRA Billy-Paul Mavudia
MF United States USA Axel Perez
MF France FRA Haktan Sener
FW France FRA Nourdine El Azzouzi
FW France FRA Adil Hamdani
FW France FRA Rémi Himbert
FW France FRA Mathieu Hoareau
FW France FRA Mohammed Karrou
FW France FRA Nehemie Lurika
FW France FRA Stelio Rubino
FW France FRA Nadhir Senouci

Staff

As of 1 July 2023
Position Name
General Director France Pierre Sage
Reserves Manager France Gueïda Fofana
Reserves Assistant Manager France Pierre Chavondrier
U-19 Manager France Jérémie Bréchet
U-19 Assistant Manager France Amaury Barlet
U-17 Manager France Mohamed Chacha
U-17 Assistant Managers France Nicolas Munda
France Martin Fabre
Preformation Director France Nicolas Brun
Sporting Coordinator France Guy Genet

Notable alumni

Many players from Lyon's youth system have managed to reach the professional level in football, whether at Lyon or at other clubs. As of October 2023, 34 players formed in the Lyon academy had capped for the France national football team.[10] Below is a non-exhaustive list of notable players who trained in the youth or reserve teams of Olympique Lyonnais:

Players in bold are those who capped for their National team.

References

  1. "According to Lyon's official website, it suggests that they consider this their foundation date rather than 1899 – (translation: "1950, date of the club's creation")". OLWeb.fr. Archived from the original on 10 December 2005. Retrieved 23 August 2006.
  2. "Academy : Notre nouvelle organisation". Olympique Lyonnais. 28 June 2023.
  3. "Football français : "L'incompétence est à tous les étages"". Le Point. Retrieved 19 February 2023..
  4. "The Talent Factory: How Lyon Built a Production Line for World-Class Talent". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  5. "PRESENTATION D'OL ACADEMY". Olympique Lyonnais. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  6. "OL : l'Équipe vante le deuxième centre de formation européen". L'Équipe. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  7. "Lyon: La fabrique à champions". L'Équipe. Retrieved 19 February 2023.
  8. "Umtiti, Tolisso, Lacazette : une fierté lyonnaise". Le Libéro. Retrieved 19 February 2023..
  9. "RÉSERVE EFFECTIF & STAFF". OLWeb.fr. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  10. "Aux Pays-Bas, Malo Gusto est devenu le 33e international A français formé à l'OL" (in French). Le Progrès. 14 October 2023.
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