Lyon Villeurbanne XIII are a semi-professional rugby league club from the town of Lyon, Rhône-Alpes in France. Formed in 1934 they are one of the oldest clubs in France. During the 1950s they won both the league and cup. They currently play in the Elite Two Championship which is the second tier. Their home stadium is the Stade Georges Lyvet and their player-coach for 2018-19 season is Sebastien Aguerra. On Tuesday 1 May 1934 the touring Yorkshire XIII played against a France XIII in Villaurbanne the tourists winning 35–22 in front of a crowd of 6,000 at the Stade Georges Lyvet. From this it was agreed to set up a rugby league club in the region, thus was born Union Sportive Lyon Villaurbanne based in the Villaurbanne area of Lyon. Founded by Charles Mathon a leading player in the formation of rugby league in France, Mathon would be the club's first player-coach-captain. The chairman of the new club was local businessman Joseph Pansera. Having been beaten by another touring side in Salford the club competed in the inaugural French Championship in 1934–35 finishing 3rd with top players like Antonin Barbazanges, Bob Samatan, Gaston Amila, Laurent Lambert and of course Charles Mathon amongst their players. The club did win silverware in that debut season when they won the Lord Derby Cup beating XIII Catalan 22–7 in the final, scoring 15 unanswered points in the second half. As cup winners Lyon took on Challenge cup winners Castleford at the Stade Buffalo in Paris losing only to a last minute try 21–24. The club undertook a pre-season tour to England prior to the second French season becoming the first club side to do this. They lost matches against St. Helens 10-19, Castleford 8-18, Barrow by just one point and York F.C. 19-23. Season 35/36 on the field they reached the league play-offs semi-finals and the cup semi-final and beat the touring Bramley 25–19 off the field was where the real drama was. In December 1935 a dispute between player-coach 'Mathon' and chairman 'Pansera' led to Pansera leaving the club, meaning the French rugby league authorities got involved. The outcome was that Mathon was banned from the sport for allegedly leading a player revolt, after which Pansera returned to the club as chairman. Prior to the start of season 37/38 'Joseph Pansera' was shot dead outside his home, 'Charles Mathon' was questioned then released. It later turned out that Pansera owed money to some people from Marseilles, he was smuggling arms and using the rugby club ... More information...
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