Lyon Olympique Universitaire or LOU is a French rugby union team based in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

that currently competes in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the French National Rugby League, also known by its French initialism o ...

, the highest level of the country's professional league system, having been most recently promoted for the 2016–17 season after winning the 2015–16 title of the second-level

Pro D2 Rugby Pro D2, also known as Pro D2 is the second tier of rugby union club competition division in France. It is operated by Ligue Nationale de Rugby (LNR) which also runs the division directly above, the first division Top 14. Rugby Pro D2 was in ...

. The club has bounced between the top two levels in recent years, having also been promoted in 2011 and 2014 and relegated in 2012 and 2015. They were founded in 1896 and play in red and black. In 2011, the team left the

Stade Vuillermet Stade Vuillermet is a sports stadium in Lyon, Rhône-Alpes in France. The stadium was mostly used for rugby union by Lyon OU, until the club moved to Matmut Stadium Matmut Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in Vénissieux, Lyon, France wi ...

to the new

Matmut Stadium Matmut Stadium is a rugby union stadium located in Vénissieux, Lyon, France with a capacity of 11,805, with slightly over 10,000 of those seated. It was the home stadium of Lyon OU and replaced Stade Vuillermet. It opened on 19 November 2011, wi ...

. In 2017 the team moved to the Matmut Stadium de Gerland.

History

''Le LOU'', as it is traditionally known, is one of the oldest sports clubs in France and among the first outside Paris to have set up a rugby section. The club’s original name was Racing Club, the result of a merger of the Racing Club de Vaise and the Rugby Club de Lyon. It was renamed Racing et Cercles Réunis in 1902 after several other clubs joined it, then a few months later Lyon Olympique. Finally, in 1910, it became Lyon Olympique Universitaire. The red and black were adopted in 1902. The club developed several sections (it now has 13), one of the most successful being the rugby union section, which is now known as ''LOU Rugby''. The rugby club took part in three successive French championship finals (1931–33), losing the first one to

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

(3-6) but winning the next two against

Narbonne Narbonne (, also , ; oc, Narbona ; la, Narbo ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the ...

(9-3 and 10-3). It then played in lower amateur leagues until it was promoted back to the second professional division (

). In 2006-07, it had the second biggest budget of the championship and its ambition was to rejoin the

in the next two years, under the leadership of their coach

Christian Lanta Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

, who formerly led

Racing Club de France Racing Club de France, also known as RCF, is a French omnisport club that was founded on 20 April 1882 under the name Racing Club. Racing Club changed its name to Racing Club de France (RCF) on 21 November 1885. The club is located at the Bois d ...

, Italian club

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

and

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department ...

. However, they would not succeed in their promotion quest until 2011. Since then, they have been a proverbial "yo-yo team", having been either relegated or promoted four times in the six seasons since their 2011 promotion.

Honours

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

: ** Champions: 2022 * Champion de France: ** Champions: 1932, 1933 ** Runners-up: 1931 * Rugby Pro D2: ** Champions:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, 2014, 2016 *

Challenge Yves du Manoir The Challenge Yves du Manoir was a rugby union club competition that was played in France between 1931 and 2003 under different names. It is named after former player Yves du Manoir. History The Challenge Yves du Manoir was officially created on ...

: ** Champions: 1933 *

Fédérale 1 Le championnat de France de première division fédérale, a.k.a. Fédérale 1, is a French rugby union club competition, the fifth highest level of amateur rugby. The competition has been organised by the Fédération Française de Rugby since 2 ...

: ** Champions: 2002 * Deuxième Division: ** Champions: 1989, 1992 Juniors: 2012 Cadets: 1984,2017

Finals results

French championship

Challenge Yves du Manoir

European Challenge Cup Finals

Current standings

Current squad

The Lyon squad for the 2022–23 season is:

Espoirs squad

The Lyon OU Espoirs squad is:

References

External links

*
Lyon OU
Official website
LOU Omnisports
Sportsclub {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyon OU French rugby union clubs Rugby clubs established in 1896 Sport in Lyon