By: Ariel Touitou
Her fan base is the strongest and most stable in France; her stadium is bigger than any other club’s; no Ligue 1 club posts a higher average home attendance; she’s the only club in the country to have claimed the coveted Champions League title; and finally: she’s definitely not Paris Saint-Germain. Meet Olympique de Marseille, the French club that’s everything except the capital’s glitzy club of stars.
Marseille: Sun, Sea and Football
If a person is shaped by the landscape of his homeland, then a football club is shaped by the landscape of its fans. A club takes form through a constant interplay between the lifestyle of its supporters, significant historical patterns, regional narratives and an inherited culture of fandom. You can’t understand the story of FC Barcelona, for example, without engaging with the complex resentment between the Catalan minority and the Spanish government; you can’t understand the ongoing rivalry between the fans of Milan’s two great clubs without discussing the economic and social factors that polarize their supporters; and to an even greater extent: it’s impossible to really know Olympique de Marseille, its sporting roots, and its unique contribution to French football, without first understanding the sociological character of this enchanting city.
Tell Me What You’re Not, and I’ll Tell You Who You Are
In media portrayals, Marseille is often defined by how different it is from other French cities, especially Paris and its close neighbor, Aix-en-Provence. The people of Marseille take pride in an individualism that sets them apart from the rest of France: their rich heritage, the cultural pluralism that defines their city, the eclectic diversity of their culture, the unique geography of their sun-and-sea region, and their football club. Despite the presence of upscale neighborhoods and affluent residential areas, Marseille has been etched into the collective memory as a city where crime, drugs and illegal weapons are woven into its cultural fabric.
Many immigrant neighborhoods and an ethnically diverse population have helped fuel the myth of a tough, violence-ridden city. The reality, as you might expect, is far more complex than the monochrome image portrayed on screen and in books. A distinct geography, administrative policy and a rich history have all contributed to an independent identity that the city’s residents wear with pride. Ethnic diversity fades into the background in the face of the sense of belonging Marseille gives its residents. Locals have developed a regional consciousness built on a shared story that unites them. What is that story built on? Tolerance and cultural diversity, an original cuisine that draws on the natural resources and the sea the city is blessed with, music festivals, and football. Mostly football.
Civic Pride
When people talk about football in Marseille, nobody asks you to clarify what you mean. In this warm port city, the term refers simply to the local club, an object of civic devotion and a symbol of success across France. Say the name “Madrid” about a football club from the Spanish capital, and you’ll need to specify whether you mean Real Madrid or its neighbor Atlético. Manchester is split between the Red Devils and their powerful, wealthy rival, Manchester City. Even the name “Paris” is rarely used on its own to refer to Paris Saint-Germain. But say the word “Marseille” in a football context, and nobody will wonder what you mean. Marseille and Olympique de Marseille are one and the same.
The pride residents take in their beloved club. A club that has produced football legends on a historic scale, won coveted titles, and dominated French and European football for decades.
Olympique de Marseille: A Profile
Founding and Early History
Unlike its noisy rival from the northern part of the country, the history of “the young ones from Marseille” goes back a long way. A sports club named “Olympique de Marseille” was founded on August 31, 1899, 124 years ago. Seven years earlier, in 1892, a multi-sport club existed in the city, which laid the foundation for today’s football team. In those early days the club went by various names, including the (rather generic, if I may say so) name “Sporting Club.” It was only in 1899, to mark the 2,500th anniversary of the city’s founding by the Greeks, that the name “Olympique de Marseille” was chosen, in honor of the Olympic Games established by the fitness-loving people of classical antiquity.
Following trends popular in the sporting world at the time, rugby was actually the club’s main money-maker and source of attention at first. New winds blowing in from England, the sporting superpower of the day (as, sadly, it still sort of is), led to the creation of a football team within the club in 1902. Historians credit senior businessmen of English and German origin with its founding. Others point to public demand and residents’ desire for a club to represent them in the increasingly popular sport. Either way, success came quickly. Thanks to extensive infrastructure and foreign investment, Olympique de Marseille quickly earned prominence and a leading position in the city’s football scene. In 1904 it won the regional championship and qualified to compete for the French national title.
Even though the people of southern France could no longer ignore the budding footballing power growing before their eyes and building its reputation and financial standing, the club’s breakthrough into the national consciousness didn’t come until the 1920s.
An Empire of Titles Takes Shape
In 1924, “the Olympians” won the French Cup, the Coupe de France. A tense final victory over the local club of the city of Sète (in French: Sète, in Occitan: Seta) gave the club its first major title. From there, Marseille didn’t stop collecting achievements and began carving its name into the hall of fame of French football. Further cups in 1926 and 1927 set the stage for a thrilling league title in 1929, a win that capped off a remarkable decade for the southerners.
Leclerc and the Sin of Hubris
The following decades were marked by major swings; small ripples turned into a wave of defeats that sent the club down to the second division. The sleeping beauty needed a prince to restore her standing, and Marcel Leclerc was the right man at the right time. Leclerc, a French businessman, was appointed club president in 1965. His relentless ambition and fierce belief in his team allowed Marseille to rise from the bottom of the second division to the top of the first. The comeback story might have turned into a feel-good tale, but Leclerc’s temper and his troubled relationships with those around him brought the partnership between the club and its promising president to an end. Here’s what happened: Olympique de Marseille wanted to build a star-studded team, bringing together top talent from across the continent. But strict league rules allowed only two foreign players to be registered, which stopped Leclerc from signing Zoltán Varga, the renowned Hungarian veteran. The stubborn president decided to issue an ultimatum to the league’s management: if Varga’s signing wasn’t approved, Marseille would withdraw from Ligue 1. The league’s management was just as tough, and the steps toward leaving the league became very real. Then came the twist: instead of turning its back on the league, the board chose to fire the club’s own president. That closed out a turbulent, dramatic era. Like a Greek tragedy, the sin of hubris hurt everyone involved.
Rebuilding
After Leclerc’s departure, things were grim for “the Olympians.” In 1976, Marseille won the French Cup, but that victory did little to comfort its heartbroken supporters, whose club had been relegated to the second division. After several years in the second division, just when success seemed like a thing of the past, the tide turned. A group of young, local, talented and committed players showed heroic determination and managed to bring the club back up to the first division a second time. This was, if you like, the perfect counterweight. A crisis that began with a refusal to recognize the club’s homegrown, regional culture and a lack of appreciation for local players came to an end thanks to the “Minots,” the nickname given to those French players who secured the club’s return to the top flight. Eric Di Meco, the left-back from the era of the “Minots,” would later become one of Olympique de Marseille’s historic stars.
Tapie: A Controversial Legend
Football is a world of constant swings and unexpected surprises. But the era of Bernard Tapie (1943-2021) was scandalous and thrilling even by the standards of a club like Marseille. Tapie was the perfect example of what you’d call a “Renaissance man” (ahem, ahem, Netflix). He was a businessman who specialized in turning around struggling companies (the sportswear company Adidas being the most famous example); an actor and TV host; a singer of some renown; a politician when it suited him; and finally: the legendary owner of the football club from the port city. Finally? If you ask Tapie, or Marseille’s fans, that last title is also his most important one.
In 1986, Tapie took the helm of the sporting powerhouse from southern France. His distinctive management style quickly became apparent at the club: extraordinary determination, boldness, an admirable charisma, and a spirit of passion and commitment. The club was quickly remade in his image. The ambitious project became the biggest sporting venture France had ever seen. The roster of players brought to the club included some of the biggest names in world football. Jean-Pierre Papin, Abedi Pelé, Klaus Allofs and, above all, Eric Cantona, were among the famous names who wore the club’s colors during this era. Even the coaching position featured legendary former players, the most famous of whom was Franz Beckenbauer (1945-2024), “the Kaiser,” considered by many to be the greatest defender of all time.
The investment paid off immediately. Between 1988 and 1992, Marseille won four consecutive league titles. In 1991, the club reached the Champions League final for the first time in its history, but a painful loss to Red Star Belgrade (on penalties) sent heartbroken fans home in despair. Two years later, in 1993, came the defining moment for Olympique de Marseille, and for French football as a whole. “Les Bleus” reached the Champions League final for a second time, where they faced the Milan club in a particularly tense match. After ninety nerve-wracking minutes against the Rossoneri (Milan’s nickname), a massive roar of joy burst from the mouths of fans who had been through so much. Tapie’s players won the first (and, as of this writing, still the only) Champions League title in the history of French football. A single goal by defender Basile Boli, born in Côte d’Ivoire, decided the match at Munich’s Olympic Stadium and sent ecstatic supporters into a week of wild celebration. Didier Deschamps and Fabien Barthez, both players on the team, became the youngest captain and goalkeeper, respectively, to win the title.
The Sin and Its Punishment
But as it turns out, laurels were destined for other clubs’ fans. The “occupational hazard” of being a Marseille fan comes with a constant swing of emotions. The celebrations soon gave way to lasting sorrow, after the infamous match-fixing scandal came to light.
According to suspicions that were soon confirmed, as the winning season drew to a close, Olympique de Marseille faced a significant dilemma. The club had not yet secured the domestic league title, but devoting most of its resources to a match against Valenciennes, held close to the date of the Champions League final, risked wearing down the players ahead of the most important match of all. The memory of the previous final’s defeat was etched into Tapie’s mind, and he decided he had to make sure a loss under similar circumstances wouldn’t happen again. Working with Jean-Pierre Bernès, the club’s sporting director, he devised the following scheme: bribes were offered to Valenciennes players Jorge Burruchaga, Christophe Robert and Jacques Glassmann, through Marseille player Jean-Jacques Eydelie. In exchange for large sums of money, the players were asked to underperform in their match against “the Olympians.” “Throwing the match,” Tapie reasoned, would let his players secure the domestic title easily and preserve their strength ahead of the Champions League final.
Bernard Tapie told me: “You need to get in touch with two of your former teammates (at Nantes) who now play for Valenciennes. We do not want them acting like idiots and ruining us before the final against Milan,” Eydelie recounted in his autobiography. Glassmann refused to accept the bribe. His two teammates, however, jumped at the offer and convinced the rest of their team to hand Marseille the match on a silver platter. In the 21st minute the first goal of the match was scored, and in the 23rd minute Christophe Robert, an important Valenciennes player, was substituted off following a meaningless foul. “It was an unusual match,” the surprised referee later shared, “because, unlike usual, the Valenciennes players didn’t argue with the officiating decisions, while Glassmann kept running around the field nonstop, as if determined to prove something.” But bizarre behavior is no proof of match-fixing, and with no concrete suspicion, there was nothing the referee could do.
Luckily (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), Glassmann’s conscience wouldn’t let him rest. At halftime, he told his coach about the unfolding scandal. The coach passed this on to the referee (without naming anyone involved), who noted the suspicions in his match report. By the end of ninety minutes, the match had ended in a narrow win. The first goal scored was also the winning goal that secured the championship title for the southern club that year as well. In the Champions League final, as we know, they beat Milan by a similar score and won the two most coveted titles in the sport. But the suspicions soon piled up. Police showed up in Marseille’s locker room, trying to piece together the fragments of information they had. About two weeks after the match, the police investigation widened. Players and others involved admitted to the scheme and were detained pending the outcome of the investigation and sentencing. Marseille’s league title was stripped. Because runner-up Paris Saint-Germain refused to accept it (due to financial considerations related to Canal+), that season of Ligue 1 ended without a champion. Tapie was convicted and sentenced to prison, after his associates revealed that the bribery hadn’t been limited to a single match.
You can find more details on the life and deeds of this famous, and perhaps most controversial, figure in the history of French football in the Netflix series “Tapie.”
Marseille’s Fall From Grace
Following the conviction, Marseille was relegated to the second division, embarking on another decade-long ordeal. The club spent two years in the second tier, but even after returning to the top flight, it struggled to regain its former standing. Reaching the UEFA Cup final was the high point of this dark era for “Les Bleus,” but Valencia, Spain’s newly crowned champions, crushed that dream, winning the match held in Gothenburg, Sweden. During this forced absence, Marseille’s rival, Paris Saint-Germain, gained momentum, broke title records, and dethroned the former champion as the club most associated with French football in the public mind. But for Marseille’s fans, nothing changed. For them, romance matters far more than money and success. That same romance helped the club weather many hardships, win tough battles, survive impossible crises, and give honorable representation to southern football and to France’s social periphery.
The Current Era
Today, Frank McCourt, the well-known American businessman and philanthropist, owns 95 percent of the club’s shares. The remaining five percent belongs to Margarita Louis-Dreyfus, a Swiss businesswoman of Russian descent and the widow of Robert Louis-Dreyfus (1946-2009), the club’s former majority owner. Olympique de Marseille is run under the presidency of Spain’s Pablo Longoria. Its coach is the legendary former player Gennaro Gattuso, a legendary defensive midfielder known for his fiery temper and his dubious tendency to clash with those around him.
Naturally, without the generous funding that comes from a mighty oil power (anyone say Paris Saint-Germain?), Olympique de Marseille can’t boast a particularly star-studded roster. Still, besides its famous coach, the senior squad includes players well known to football fans. Among them is France-born Geoffrey Kondogbia (of the Central African Republic national team), known for his versatility and defensive skills; Brazilian Renan Lodi, who made his name at Spain’s Atlético Madrid; and above all, the towering Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, a former striker for Dortmund and Barcelona.
The Stadium of Olympique de Marseille
Big clubs boast titles. Big clubs boast fans. A soccer stadium can tell you a lot about a team’s character. From the neighborhood where it sits, through its design, to the symbols built into it, a stadium is a symbol of pride, belonging and identity for its fans. And at least when it comes to the pitch itself, Marseille fans have plenty to boast about.
The Stade Vélodrome, the name of the ground where Olympique de Marseille plays its home games, is larger than that of any other soccer club in the country. The old stadium is considered especially iconic across the continent (thanks to its distinctive architectural style) and is second in size only to the Stade de France, the national stadium where the French national team plays its games.
The stadium has earned a place of honor on the European stage too. Among the clubs of Europe’s five major leagues, only six clubs boast a bigger stadium. Soccer giants that enjoy enormous global reach make do with far more modest seating capacities, among them Atlético Madrid, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain.
The Story of a Place
The history of the site as a sports venue goes back to the second decade of the 20th century. A proud France was set to host the 1924 Olympic Games. Much to the dismay of sports administrators, Paris and Marseille, two of the tournament’s main cities, lacked Olympic-caliber facilities worthy of the name. In an ambitious, years-long project, large areas across the big cities were cleared and allocated for sports purposes. It was the beginning of a story that would grow far beyond anything the city’s engineers could have imagined.
The cornerstone of the Vélodrome was laid on April 28, 1935, but the inauguration was delayed a full two years, to June 13, 1937. The architectural firm Pollack-Pluquin, led by Henri Pluquin, won the bid.
The building stands out for its particularly curved stands, which carry the names of figures from the history of the club and the city: Jean Bouin, the famous runner; Gustave Ganay, the cyclist; Nicolas Roze (known mainly as “Chevalier Roze”), who showed extraordinary courage during the great plague that struck the city in 1720; and finally, a longtime fan who died unexpectedly in July 2000 (Patrice de Peretti).
Like the club itself, the stadium is considered multi-purpose and serves a variety of needs, sporting and otherwise. Soccer has been and remains the most important stronghold of the sports scene in the port city, but on top of that, the stadium hosts rugby cups and serves as the main venue where the national rugby team plays its games. As if that weren’t enough, concerts are held there from time to time, drawing enormous crowds. A concert by the French band Indochine, for example, drew 59,400 people! Other concerts have featured famous artists such as Beyoncé, Paul McCartney and others.
Changes with the Times
Since 2016, due to sponsorship agreements, the stadium has been called “Orange Vélodrome.” If you’ve gotten to know the ways of the club’s fans by now, you’ll understand that the change didn’t sit well with them. Whatever the financial needs, you won’t manage to pry the words “Orange Vélodrome” out of a Marseille fan’s mouth!
As a source of local pride, the stadium has undergone many changes meant to adapt it to shifting needs, a growing fan base and the strict requirements of UEFA (the European soccer confederation). Among other things, a modern roof was installed, the stands were made accessible for people with disabilities, new seats were added, and trees were even planted along the nearby avenue, as part of an effort to create a contemporary playing environment that still stays connected to the roots of the place and its people.
The Club’s Symbols
Slogan
The slogan that has accompanied the club since its founding is the famous Latin phrase “DROIT AU BUT,” meaning “straight to the point.” The phrase accompanied Marseille’s rugby team and symbolized a relentless drive for victory and a direct, unrestrained team spirit. Even today you can hear fans shouting the slogan at the top of their lungs, urging the players to fight for results, all the way to the top.
The Club’s Colors
The colors that adorn the club’s symbols are white and sky blue. The colors come from the flag of Marseille: a plain white cloth bearing a sky-blue cross. The flag has no official status; only the French flag flies over city hall. Even ships sailing out of the city’s port use Marseille’s emblem only as a secondary flag, flown in place of a “courtesy flag.” Even so, the colors are considered representative of the city, hinting at its clear skies and blue sea, and have been identified with the city’s team almost since its founding.
Emblem
Olympique de Marseille’s emblem has been changed several times over the years, inspired by design trends and commercial needs. Its origin lies in the personal seal of René Dufour de Montmirail, a professional rugby player, businessman and founder of Olympique de Marseille. The original seal featured the intertwined letters D and M, the initials of his first and last names. Designers later swapped the D for an O, creating the foundation for the design that has accompanied the club to this day.
From then on, the emblem went through a series of changes that reflected France’s longstanding connection between symbols of identity and movements in the art world. The Art Deco era produced a clean, simple design, stripping away the slogan; the Art Nouveau era brought a regal, rich and showy design; the slogan was removed and restored more than once; a star was added to mark a Champions League title; and finally, the graphic demands of the online era led to the current emblem, which combines flair and strength with a clean, clear line that’s pleasing to the eye.
Kit Design
The design of the team’s home kit has remained remarkably stable since its founding. Until 1986, the kit featured a white shirt and shorts, paired with sky-blue socks. Starting in 1986, under sponsorship from Adidas, the team’s official supplier at the time, the socks were changed to white and the blue shade was pushed toward a lighter tone. Since then, the kit hasn’t changed much, though in the 2012-2013 season, in a nostalgic flourish, the team decided to bring back the sky-blue socks.
The away kit and the third kit change according to design needs and the wishes of the manufacturer (Puma, since 2018). Every so often, the club launches a festive fourth kit, usually one that represents social values and local symbols. Especially memorable was the fourth shirt of the 2019-2020 season, designed in the spirit of the local flag, which became a favorite with both locals and tourists.
Club Nicknames
They say a nickname reflects love for its subject? Well, it turns out Olympique de Marseille is especially beloved by its fans. The club’s nicknames are many and represent different facets of its fan culture, the history of the place and local heritage. There’s “Les Phocéens” (the Phocaeans), named for the Greek Ionian city whose sons founded Massalia, today’s Marseille; “Les Olympiens” (the Olympians), referring to the city’s Olympic roots; and “Les Minots,” a term of endearment from Provence where the word means “the kids,” here meaning “the kids of Marseille.” Other, more generic nicknames exist too, such as “the Southerners” and “the Blues.”
The Club’s Fans
A culture of sports fandom runs deep in the bones of Marseille’s residents. From the early Olympic Games to today, locals have thrown themselves into sports with everything they have. Soccer is the sport beloved by most residents. In Marseille, as mentioned, the word “soccer” has only one meaning.
The average attendance at the team’s games is the highest in France and among the highest in all of Europe. Wealthier rivals can only watch with a mix of envy and admiration as tens of thousands of fans pack the iconic stadium week after week, screaming themselves hoarse and cheering their team on with tremendous passion. If the term “opera fans” is used mockingly to describe a friendly, touristy crowd that knows little about soccer and feels no real connection to the team on the field, then the crowd watching Olympique de Marseille’s games is made up of “heavy metal fans.”
Fans are divided into various ultras groups, some of which enjoy official or semi-official recognition from the club. The devoted supporters sit in the curved stands, fire up the players and create an exciting, turbulent sporting atmosphere. The choreography of Marseille’s fans is known around the world; displays, banners and record-breaking signs are a common sight in the stands of the Stade Vélodrome. Some of the banners declare solidarity with other clubs whose fans cooperate with Marseille’s ultras groups, including Greece’s AEK Athens and Italy’s Sampdoria and Livorno.
Olympique de Marseille: Sporting Rivalries
The famous rivalry between Olympique de Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain is fed by cultural, sociological, economic and social roots. When the two teams compete on the field, the players carry on their backs the weight of the history of two glamorous cities. While Paris Saint-Germain represents a proud France, traditional wealth and high culture, Marseille is seen as a symbol of cosmopolitan tolerance toward minorities and immigrants, of industrial tradition and of Mediterranean popular culture.
The match between the two teams is called “Le Classique,” inspired by El Clásico between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The media often frames the game as a clash between France’s wealthy, pampered “kids of the elite” and the “enfants terribles,” the unruly kids who trade elegance for passion and politeness for boundless devotion to their team.
Historical circumstances have pushed the rivalry to extremes, and every year a massive police presence is deployed ahead of the match between the two teams.
A Poetic Closing Thought
“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” – Bill Shankly.
So maybe soccer isn’t a matter of life and death, and “life itself” matters far more, but sports in general, and soccer in particular, offer a revealing snapshot of social characteristics. Rivalries between teams often turn into miniature “clashes of civilizations.” The choreography constantly underscores the tight bond between regional symbols and the teams that play on the field. Globalization is a process that reaches into every corner of life, but even though it’s now easy to watch different teams play and experience the thrill of sport at the push of a button, genuine fandom has to be built on local roots and cultural belonging.
Olympique de Marseille’s supporters know this well. Even as their wealthier rival grows stronger, builds global influence, racks up titles and keeps strengthening its squad through lavish signings, the asset Marseille holds is worth more than all of that. A club founded by fans, guided by fans and built for fans. If you want to see tactical, flowing, flashy soccer, go to the Parc des Princes. If you want to experience passionate intensity and devotion-soaked authenticity, visit the Stade Vélodrome (and don’t you dare call it anything else!). Your kids won’t run into Kylian Mbappé there (unless you choose a Marseille match against Paris Saint-Germain), but I can promise you won’t be disappointed.
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