High-Level Rivality With Saint-Etienne, Ultras Lyon For Players In Green Shoes

JAKARTA Hardline advocate Olympique Lyonnais or known as Ultras Lyon has banned their players from wearing green shoes in the aftermath of rivalry with Saint-Etienne.

The ban they put in the form of banners when Lyon drew 1-1 against hosts Reims in France's fourth week of Ligue 1 on Sunday, August 28 yesterday.

A black banner with a picture of green shoes crossed with a red line stretched across the tribune guardrail during that match. The banner is equipped with the words'respect nos couleurs' which means: respect our colors.

The green shoe in question is Adidas X Speed Portal. The shoe with a dominant light green color was used by seven Lyon players who started the match from the first minute against Reims.

Ultras Lyon is very allergic to green because that color is the color of their rival jersey Saint-Etienne. For that, as a solution, Lyon players can wear black from the same design.

Lyon and Saint-Etienne are very famous for their fierce rivalry in local derby from the same province. The rivalry between the two teams is known as Derby Rhone-Alpes.

In history, these two teams have clashed 123 times with details of Lyon winning 41 times, Saint-Etienne winning 39 times, and the remainder. The level of rivalry between the two is only below the rivalities of Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain.

The green shoe controversy used by Lyon players has happened before. At that time, their former player Sidney Govou wore green shoes in official and practice matches.

At that time, Lyon coach Bernard Lacombe immediately reprimanded Govou. He asked that green shoes should not be used anymore.