International superstar Taylor Swift could play an important role in the potential relegation of French Ligue 1 side, Lyon, who currently sit bottom of the French premier league table.
Lyon are currently on track for their worst ever finish in Ligue 1, having taken only 7 points from 13 matches so far this season.
There are, of course, 21 matches remaining in their 2023/2024 campaign, but the 6 times Champions of France may well find themselves fighting to retain Premier club status.
If this is the case, international music sensation Taylor Swift may well play an unexpected, but pivotal role in their relegation chances…
Olympique Lyon began their history in Ligue 1, which was established to take over from the French Division 1 from the 2002/2003 season, in incredible form – becoming the first Champions of the new French setup and winning the title for 6 consecutive years.
Despite their last title coming in 2007/2008, they remained a Top 5 club right up until their 2019/2020 campaign – earning 3 runner up trophies and placing third 5 times during that period.
Sadly for the club, they have only placed in the top 5 once in their last 4 seasons, with 7th and 8th positions being their highest achievements since 2020/2021.
Their 2023/2024 season has so far been their worst-ever start to a Ligue 1 campaign, with the club achieving 0 victories in their first 9 games and only 3 points.
They currently sit in very last place with 7 points from 13 matches – with only 1 win so far added to their tally.
With 21 matches left to play, there is no mathematical danger for the ex-champions to claw their way back to safety in the French top flight, but based upon their performances, a relegation battle may well be on the cards.
If this is the case, and Lyon have to play in the relegation playoff, they will not be able to play their home leg of the playoff fixtures in their own stadium.
This is on account of the fact that a rather well known musician has the venue booked out for a sellout concert the evening that the fixture would be scheduled to be played.
Taylor Swift, who is currently well underway with her international Eras Tour, will be beginning the Europe leg of the tour in Paris on the 9th of May. Unfortunately for Lyon, their Groupama Stadium is also fully booked up for both the 2nd & 3rd of June.
This means that even if they had the option of pushing their home leg playoff to the following day, ‘Swifties’ would still be piling into their home arena for the second leg of the pop star’s visit, making it somewhat difficult to conduct a football match!
It goes without saying that, if Lyon are forced to play their potential relegation playoff’s home leg in an unfamiliar stadium, this could be the slight disadvantage that could tip the scales against them.
It remains to be seen whether a rescheduling will be made available to the club if the stars do align and they do end up looking for somewhere to play a relegation battle. It would, however, certainly be a unique problem for the club to have, if they are faced with a standoff with Taylor Swift and her army of loyal fans!
