SingaGones, the official fan club of Olympique Lyonnais (OL) in Singapore, ended their campaign in the recently concluded Fan Club Futsal League, as runner-up.
It was an impressive achievement for the debutante, as it stayed at the top of the league for quite some time before they were overthrown by the eventual champion of the eighth season, Lightning Tigers.
SingaGones was founded in 2021, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, by a group of friends who were actively involved in amateur football in the republic.
They saw the creation of fellow Ligue 1 fan clubs, Paris Saint-Germain Singapore Fan Club and Olympique Marseille Fan Club, and that drove them to create a fan club for Olympique Lyonnais.
They attracted members through word of mouth, via their friends, and the French community on social media. While a majority of their members are from France, they have two local members who lived in Lyon before, and love watching football.
Besides taking part in the Fan Club Futsal League, the members actively engage in a WhatsApp group chat, sharing views about their favourite French club.
They have also met up a few times at 3am for Ligue 1 games. The fan club’s main objective is to have fun and build a strong community that can be transferred to any fan living in Singapore.
They maintain regular contact through Gones World – an umbrella body of OL fan clubs worldwide – by informing them of their activities, which are mentioned on their network. Gones World has also given SingaGones members jerseys, scarves, and masks, and as official fan club members, they have access to a virtual behind-the-scenes tour of big matches.
SingaGones now hopes its inaugural participation in the Fan Club Futsal League will be featured on Gones World.
This is the personal opinion of the writer and does not necessarily represent the views of Twentytwo13.
