Parc Olympique Lyonnais: Olympique Lyonnais
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The Stade des Lumières is the ground of French club Olympique Lyonnais. The official name of the stadium was originally under slight dispute, with Grande Stade OL, Grande Stade de Lyon and Parc Olympique Lyonnais all used in different locations. Since 2017 it has been known as the Groupama Stadium, thanks to a sponsorship deal with the French insurance company Groupama.
Lyon’s new stadium was built specifically with the 2016 European Championships in mind, so it is a state of the art development with the ability to host a range of sporting events and concerts alike. As well as the Euros it also hosted the European Rugby Champions Cup Final in 2016. The fact that it’s newly designed means that the areas around the stadium have also been redeveloped and brought up to a brilliant standard to benefit the people of Lyon, as much as the football going public.
Stats
| Parc Olympique Lyonnais Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Opened | 2016 |
| Capacity | 59186 |
| Record Attendance | 56506 (Lyon v Marseille (2016)) |
| Pitch Size | 105 x 68 (7140) |
| Former Name | Parc Olympique Lyonnais, Grand Stade de Lyon |
| Owner | OL Groupe |
| Sponsor | Groupma |
| Clubs Hosted | Olympique Lyonnais |
| First Fixture | Olympique Lyonnais v Troyes (09/01/2016) |
| Olympique Lyonnais Stats | |
|---|---|
| Year Founded | 1899 |
| Nickname | Les Gones (The Kids) |
| Rivals | Saint-Étienne, Marseille, Bordeaux, Paris Saint-Germain, and Lille |
| Previous Stadiums | Stade de Gerland |
| Kit | White, Red & Blue Stripe (Home) / Red Speckled (Away) |
| Training Ground | Centre Tola Vologe |
| Shirt Sponsor | Hyundai |
| Team Owner | OL Groupe |
| Record Goalscorer | Fleury Di Nallo (182) |
| Record Appearances | Serge Chiesa (541) |
Parc Olympique Lyonnais Photos
By TeZeD17 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0]
By ChoumX (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0]
By Vegas666 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
By David.Monniaux (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0]
By TwoWings (Own work) [Public domain]
By Sebleouf (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0]
Parc Olympique Lyonnais Seating Plan and Where to Sit
As with most newly designed stadiums, the Groupama Stadium is built in a bowl style of continuous seating. There are still technically four sides to the ground, though, with the virage Nord and virage Sud housing the most vocal of Lyon’s fans. Traditionally the two have sung to each other in order to create a cacophony of noise that intimidates both opposition fans and players. The sides of the ground are where the corporate seats or sedate supporters find themselves located. It has three tiers in it and they are separated by executive boxes in certain sections of the stadium.
Olympique Lyonnais Ticket Prices
Tickets to see Lyon play live range from around €20 for the cheapest and €99 for the most expensive, or at least these were the prices for a 2022 games against Lille. Obviously that differs depending on the opposition and the competition that the match is taking place in.
How To Get Olympique Lyonnais Tickets
The club’s website is a good place to start if you’re hoping to get tickets to see Lyon in a Ligue 1 match. You can also call the club directly and buy tickets from numerous official outlets throughout the city of Lyon. The club has recently announced an official partnership with viagogo, meaning that the online ticket sales experts are the number one place to go for foreign fans hoping to watch a match over in France.
Where to Buy
Getting To Parc Olympique Lyonnais
The stadium itself is about 10 km from the centre of Lyon, so don’t expect to jump off the train and walk straight into the ground. It’s been built with the supporters and the locals in mind, though, so don’t worry too much about access problems.
Train – Lyon is a city with an excellent tram service, rather than a train service, so you’ll be able to arrive at the stadium in style. You can get the tram shuttle from Dieu Villette in the South, Vaulx en Velin La Soie and Grange Blanche. You can also get the regular lines on the T3 Transit to The Grand Large Station, which is around 700 metres from the ground.
If you’re hoping to get to Lyon directly from London on the train then the Eurostar is the way to go. You’ll get to Lille Europe to begin with and you’ll then transfer onto one of France’s internal train lines in order to get to Lyon. It will take you about five and a half hours in total.
Bus – There is a good bus system in Lyon, but you’re best off getting the tram as the bus will almost certainly get snarled up in traffic heading towards the stadium.
Car – If you’re travelling from Lyon to the stadium you’ll have two good options. The N346 will be the quickest, but it has tolls on the route. If you opt for the Avenue Jean Jaures and the D317 then it will take you a bit longer but you won’t have to pay a toll, so it’s really up to you.
By Air – Lyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport is the place you’ll fly in to if you’re heading to Lyon from abroad. It is about 13 miles to the South-East of Lyon’s city centre. From the airport you’ll be able to get either the tram or a shuttle bus to Lyon. The tram is quicker but it’s also more expensive, so it’s up to you whether you want to lose money or time on your journey!
Taxi – Much like with the bus, a taxi can easily get caught up in traffic and if it does you’ll end up spending a lot of money for the pleasure. A taxi from the airport, for example, will cost between €25 and €45.
Parking Near Parc Olympique Lyonnais
There are several parking options near to the ground, all of which are explained well on the club’s homepage. The parking there is free if you’ve got a registered travel document, too.
Useful Resources
Parc Olympique Lyonnais Hotels
Lyon is the gastronomic capital of France, so it is a much-admired destination for reasons other than the football. There are a wealth of hotel options available to you for just that reason, but we’ve picked a few out for you too.
Comfort Hotel Stadium Eurexpo Lyon - £47+
Gatsby Hotel & Restaurant Chassieu - £65+
Best Western Plus Hotel De Chassieu - £113+
Pubs and Bars Near Parc Olympique Lyonnais
No trip to the football would be complete without a pre-match pint, and here are a few places where you can get yours in Lyon.
The Smoking Dog
The Antidote
Wallace
Facilities
The Groupama Stadium is a state-of-the-art ground that meets the requirements of a UEFA Elite Stadium, so we would be lying if we suggested that you’d be disappointed by your visit to the ground. It is a comfortable space that is intelligently designed and there are numerous places to buy food and drink throughout the ground. There is also a spacious upper concourse with 360 degree views back over the city of Lyon.
Hospitality
The Groupama Stadium has bars, meeting rooms, more than 100 executive boxes, banqueting halls and eight corporate lounges. It’s fair to suggest, then, that there will be a large amount of hospitality options at Lyon’s new ground. If you’re keen for more information then your best bet will be to contact the club directly. They will be able to let you know everything they have to offer and all of the hospitality options that you can take advantage of in one of the finest cities in France.
Private Hire
Much like with the hospitality options, you’re best off contacting the club if you want to see the private hire options available to you. The facilities are certainly there, though, including large bar and conference spaces and even an auditorium, so if you’re hoping to host an event in Lyon then why not do it in a location with cutting edge technology and stunning views of the city?
Stadium Tours & Museum
English language tours of Groupama Stadium take place at 11.30am every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, unless there’s some sort of official event taking place. As you’d expect, you get to visit all of the parts of the stadium that are normally closed to the public, such as dressing rooms and the players’s tunnel. They last for about an hour and a quarter and cost €19 for adults and €8 for juniors. There are also mini tour and VIP tour options costing €9 and €5 and €39 and €16 respectively.
About Olympique Lyonnais
Commonly referred to as just ‘Lyon’, Olympique Lyonnais was formed as a club in 1899. Back then they were part of Lyon university and were nationally recognised as a side in 1950. They won their first League 1 championship in 2002 and went on a streak of seven successive top-flight titles. That is a record that hasn’t been bettered yet.They’ve also won a record seven Trophee des Champions and five Coupe de France trophies. They have won the Ligue 2 championship twice in their history.
Lyon have taken part in the Champions League numerous times, though they have never won it. They have appeared in the quarter-finals of the competition three times and the semi-final once. According to a survey conducted in 2009 Lyon are believed to be one of the most popular club in France. It is perhaps because of their Champions League performance that they have attracted such attention, with the women’s football team also having the UEFA Women’s Champions League in both 2011 and 2012.
Parc Olympique Lyonnais History
Groupama Stadium was opened ahead of the 2016 European Championships, which were held across France. As well as four different group matches, the ground was also the venue for one of the last-sixteen games and the semi-final between Wales and eventual winners Portugal. Because of the standard a stadium needs to be in order to host UEFA matches, the French Football Association decided to make the most of the new venue and used it for the 2017 Coupe de la Ligue Final. On top of that, it was selected as the host venue for the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final and the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
If you’re wondering why we’re talking about the various matches that the stadium has been used to host, that’s because there isn’t much more of a history to talk about yet. A new stadium for Lyon was in the pipeline ever since the club’s president in 2008, Jean-Michel Aulas, announced plans for a new ground for the club that was intended to be called OL Land. The new venue wasn’t exactly popular with numerous different groups, including those that viewed it as socially, ecologically and financially wrong for the local community. Nevertheless, landscaping of the area began in 2012 and the construction began in 2013.
Future Developments
The relatively new opening of the ground means that future developments are unlikely, although the area around the ground is constantly being developed.