Michele Kang giving European powerhouses Lyon a new lease of life

Another of Kang’s priorities is increasing attendances at Lyon fixtures.

“If you ask many female players what is at the top of your wishlist, they don’t say I want to get paid more, I want bigger cars. They say, ‘I want to play against the best players and best teams in a sellout stadium’. It’s my job that we fill the stadium,” she said.

Lyon will travel to Emirates Stadium on Saturday (12:30 BST) for the first leg of their Champions League semi-final with Arsenal – a stadium where the Gunners recorded an average attendance of 52,029 across six matches last season.

“When you see that Arsenal are filling Emirates Stadium, there is no reason why we can’t,” said Ponsot. “We realised that women’s football has an audience with a strong increase in appetite, but we are having trouble making it a reality.”

Lyon are on course for a record-extending 18th league title this season, having already booked their place in May’s end-of-season play-offs. Indeed, they have only lost two league matches over the past four seasons.

That sustained success, coupled with Aulas’ unmatched support, is seen by some as having had a negative impact on crowds, media interest, and investment in France.

Women’s football journalist Assile Toufaily said: “Some will say ‘why should we come and watch football that isn’t attractive because the level isn’t that good?’ We know OL are going to smash the other clubs 7-0. Fans aren’t intrigued to come and watch.

“They say if you want to have a better level of football, investors have to invest. Investors will then say why should we invest if the media isn’t promoting the game? So you find yourself in a vicious circle and it’s been like this for years.”

But she does not see Aulas’ investment as the problem.

“If he didn’t invest in 2004, maybe no-one would ever have done it in France. Aulas isn’t to blame, but maybe the problem is others didn’t follow along.”

Kang, unsurprisingly, is undaunted by this, working with Ponsot to “find the profile” of women’s football fans, with their own research indicating only a 5% overlap between fans who watch men’s and women’s matches.

She will likely find a powerful ally in Aulas, who was elected vice-president of the French Football Federation in December 2023 and has taken over responsibility for development of women’s football.

“The French league is going to be very strong in years to come,” vowed Aulas.

“If I acted badly before by being too strong [when I was] with Lyon, you can expect me to act badly [in my role] with France.”