The scene in Bilbao, in 2024, foreshadowed the change that would come. Michele Kang, the owner of OL Lyonnes, strode around the edge of the pitch in the San Mames to greet the travelling supporters of the women’s football powerhouse, who were buoyed by her ambition and intent to invest. Barcelona won 2-0 to lift their third Women’s Champions League title in four years, thanks to goals from their two Ballon d’Or winners Aitana Bonmati and Alexia Putellas. But while Kang, the South Korean-born American billionaire and philanthropist, vowed that Lyonnes would return stronger, her sphere of influence was also primed to have an impact elsewhere.
As well as the French champions, Kang owned two other teams as part of her multi-club Kynisca group, the US side Washington Spirit and the London City Lionesses, based out of Bromley and playing in the second tier of English women’s football. Two years on, driven by Kang’s vision and fuelled by her deep pockets, London City have secured promotion and undergone a remarkable makeover. From that Champions League final alone, they have signed not just Putellas, making the Spain international and World Cup winner the biggest overseas signing in Women’s Super League history, but two of her Barcelona team-mates in Mapi Leon and Jana Fernandez. From sister club Lyonnes, London City have signed two of their starting forwards in Kadidiatou Diani and Delphine Cascarino, as well as midfielder Danielle van de Donk.
