Olympique Lyonnais–AS Saint-Étienne Rivalry
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The Olympique Lyonnais–AS Saint-Étienne rivalry, is a
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
rivalry between French clubs
Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...
and
AS Saint-Étienne Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire (), abbreviated as A.S.S.E. () and commonly known as Saint-Étienne, is a French professional football club based in Saint-Étienne, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The club was founded in 1933 and competes ...
, with matches between them referred to as the Derby rhônalpin or simply Le Derby. Both clubs are located in the
region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as areas, zones, lands or territories, are portions of the Earth's surface that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and ...
of
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (; AURA) or ; or ; . is a Regions of France, region in southeast-central France created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger of Auvergne and Rhône-Alpes. The new region came into e ...
. The term Derby du Rhône is sometimes mistakenly used by French media, despite the city of
Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...
not being located along the
Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...
River nor in the
Rhône The Rhône ( , ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Ròse''; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Rôno'') is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and Southeastern France before dischargi ...
département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...
.


Background

The two clubs first met in 1951 and, due to the clubs' close proximity, being separated by only , a hotly contested rivalry developed. The derby is cited as one of the high-points of the
Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...
season and, like other major rivalries, extends outside of the pitch. The rivalry is considered a symbolic challenge between the two cities locally, as the city of Lyon is considered white collar while its counterpart Saint-Étienne is viewed by the locals as more
blue collar A blue-collar worker is a person who performs manual labor or skilled trades. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involve manufacturing, retail, warehousing, mining, carpentry, electrical work, custodia ...
. During the 20th century, Saint-Étienne was the most successful club in French football winning ten league titles between 1957 and 1981, a record that still stands today. During that span, the club also won six
Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...
titles and performed well at the European level. However, the club's performance declined in the 1980s and it even suffered relegations to the second division in both 1984 and 2022, causing its stranglehold on the national and regional consciousness to weaken. Lyon began a similar ascension into French football at the beginning of the new millennium when the club won their first-ever Ligue 1 championship in 2002. The initial title started a national record-setting streak of seven successive titles. Currently, both clubs are among the best-supported in Ligue 1, and each has participated in European competition in recent years.


Head-to-head record


Switching clubs

Due to the clubs' ongoing rivalry, few players have played for Lyon and Saint-Étienne. Since the two clubs first contested each other in 1951, only 27 players have played for both Lyon and Saint-Étienne and only 13 players have transferred directly from Lyon to Saint-Étienne and vice versa. The first player to "commit" the offense was Antoine Rodriguez in 1951, when after having a nine-year spell at Saint-Étienne, he moved to Lyon, where he spent only one season. Other notable players who made the switch were
Aimé Jacquet Aimé Étienne Jacquet (born 27 November 1941) is a French former professional Association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He coached the France national football team, France national team that won the 199 ...
who, after having a successful 13-year career with Saint-Étienne, departed the club for Lyon, where he spent three seasons. Jacquet later went on to manage Lyon and coached the team to the 1973 Coupe de France Final. Similarly, striker Bernard Lacombe established himself as one of Lyon's all-time leading goalscorers before leaving the club for Saint-Étienne in 1978 where he was often booed and jeered, which led to the player departing the club for
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...
after one season. The other players who transferred directly between clubs are François Lemasson, Alain Moizan, André Calligaris, Romarin Billong, Jean-Luc Sassus, Christopher Deguerville, Grégory Coupet, Franck Priou, Lamine Diatta and Bafétimbi Gomis. Steed Malbranque, a product of Lyon youth system and a former Lyon first-team regular, signed for Saint-Étienne from
Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...
, but then resigned after one month, allegedly calling quit to his career. He surprisingly signed for Lyon a few months later.


OL, then ASSE


ASSE, then OL


References


External links

*
AS Saint-Étienne Official Site
*
Olympique Lyonnais Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Derby du Rhone Football derbies in France AS Saint-Étienne Olympique Lyonnais Football in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 1951 establishments in France Recurring sporting events established in 1951