1 2

Marseilles cosmopolitan city
The regenerated, cosmopolitan port of Marseille boasts the only French club to truly hold a city in its grip : Olympique de Marseille, known by all as simply l’OM. Founded by Phocaean Greeks in 600BC and thus the oldest city in France. Marseille’s position at the mouth of the Rhone and overlooking the Mediterranean saw it welcome Italian, Spanish, Armenian, North and West African communities.

It is a real melting pot, as personified by it flagship club and tens of thousands of supporters, dying for a repeat of the glory days ten years ago when they dominated the French championship and became the only French club to win the European Champion Clubs’ Cup. Loyal through hard times thereafter, if any set of fans deserve the highest level of success, it is Marseille’s.

Olympic Marseilles - Most titled club in all France
The most decorated club in French football history are back where they belong, among Europe’s elite. A remarkable decade has seen l’OM, as they are known to all, scale the very heights of European football and plunge to the depths of ignominy. Days after becoming the only French side to win European premier club tournament, the UEFA Champions League in its first final of 1993, Marseille. were involved in a bribery scandal that saw their then club president Bernard Tapie jailed and the club stripped of their championship and relegated. Fighting back through the 1990s, the club clawed their way back to the top flight and even made the UEFA Cup final of 1999. A creditable performance in the Champions League a year later may just be a taster of what’s to come with the latest talented squad in 2003/04.

Stadium Vélodrome
No arena in France can provide the kind of atmosphere generated at the fiery Stade Vélodrome. Backdropped by the beautiful hills of Provence, this 60,000-capacity venue has all the kind of fireworks you would usually only expect in the more passionate stadiums of Spain, Italy or Greece. Revamped to host the 1998 FIFA World Cup, which saw it successfully stage group matches and knock-out rounds up to the semi-final, the Vélodrome has been riding the wave of Marseille’s recent title challenges. Traditionally Marseille’s huge fan base gather at both the north (Ray-Grassi) and south (Chevalier-Roze) stands, but you will find few neutrals in the regular full houses accommodated here.

OM History
The amateur cup-winning Marseille side of the 1920s played at the tiny Huveaune Stadium, until their burgeoning status and demands of hosting key fixtures in the 1938 World Cup saw the construction of a superb cycling and soccer arena : the Stade Vélodrome. With two main stands, the Jean Bouin and the Ganay, both named after heroic sportsmen, and open bowls behind each goal, the Vélodrome was as good a ground as any in France. Under the ambitious leadership of Marcel Leclerc in the 1960s, the cycle track was built over to make way for a fiery, intimate, footballing arena, refurbished to host games in the UEFA European Championship of 1984. Under Tapie, private boxes were installed into the Jean Bouin stand, but after his demise the stadium was closed for complete refurbishment in 1996. With a 60,000 capacity, a new media centre and 32km of new terracing, the Vélodrome was the perfect stage for the World Cup of 1998. With its pre-match fireworks displays, no club ground in France is as colourful.

1 2