Rivalries in football are very odd. Of course, you want to be better than your rival. You wish to score many goals against them and boast better players. But sometimes, it goes even further. The most vocal fans of Olympique Lyonnais protested against their players wearing green boots because that’s the colour of their fierce rivals Satin-Etienne!During their Ligue 1 match with Troyes last weekend, the boys from Lyon even went to the trouble of painting a banner to send the message to their players, something about the tradition and the need to respect it. They even demanded that their club officially ban the colour green from being used. Okay, boys.🚨 Lyon ultras are demanding players stop wearing green boots pic.twitter.com/vjNyXVUD9g— SPORTbible (@sportbible) August 28, 2022 Lyon’s great rivalry with nearby Saint-Etienne dates back to 1933. Known as the Derby Rhone-Alpes, the pair have clashed 123 times over the years, with Lyon winning 41 times and Saint-Etienne 39 alongside 32 draws.Previously, OL shared training images which showed their stars Malo Gusto and Rayan Cherki with the new Adidas-branded green boots, which prompted many Lyon fans to start moaning on social media. Former striker Sidney Govou also reacted and pointed out that he had worn green boots for one match and three training sessions before the former manager and Lyon legend Bernard Lacombe told him to throw them away. The man probably wanted to prevent his player from giving those in the stands reasons to protest.Gusto has light-heartedly asked Adidas for a red and blue pair, although it remains to be seen whether the brand will release a version of their new line in Lyon’s colours.##NAJAVA_MECA_6606560##The situation is reminiscent of Borussia Dortmund’s players risking a backlash for wearing boots in a shade of blue familiar to rivals Schalke.Glasgow Rangers had also had a “green crisis” a few years ago because their archrivals Celtic wear green and white. Former Rangers winger Barrie McKay and goalkeeper Wes Foderingham were insulted by Rangers fans for wearing green boots in a league match in 2017. Former Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha also banned green boots from the club when he took over later in the year, insisting green is “the colour of Celtic”.We can only imagine how disgusting it must be for Lyon and Rangers fans to see their teams playing on green turfs every week.
