Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Marseille play their home matches at the Stade Vélodrome. OM is one of the most popular football clubs in the country, having regularly averaged the highest attendance in French football. They have a long-standing rivalry with Paris Saint-Germain, against whom they contest Le Classique.
Behind PSG, Marseille is the second most decorated French football team with a total of 29 trophies, including 28 major titles. They have won 26 domestic trophies: nine league titles, one Ligue 2 title, ten Coupe de France, one Coupe Charles Drago, three Coupe de la Ligue, and three Trophée des Champions. Internationally, OM won the UEFA Champions League in 1993, becoming the first French side to claim the trophy and one of just two French clubs to secure a major European title. The UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2005 marked the club's second continental triumph. They were also runners-up at the European Cup (currently the Champions League) in 1991 and at the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) in 1999, 2004 and 2018.
American businessman Frank McCourt bought 95% of the club's stake in 2016 and Marseille was listed in the Deloitte Football Money League at the end of the 2023–2024 season, making it the football club with the 19th highest revenue in the world, approximated at €287 million. In 2025, Marseille was 26th in the global ranking by British consultancy organisation Brand Finance in terms of brand value, and 21st in terms of brand strength with a rating AA ("very strong").
History
Olympique de Marseille was founded as an omnisport club in 1892 by René Dufaure de Montmirail, a French sports official. Known as Football Club de Marseille in the first seven years after its foundation, the club adopted the name Olympique de Marseille in 1899, with the name Olympique coming from ancient Olympic Games in honour of the Greeks from Phocaea, founders of Marseille's some 25 centuries earlier.
At first, rugby union was the most important team sport of the club, the motto Droit au but coming from rugby. Affiliated with the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA) since 1898, it was only in 1902, thanks to English and German people (according to André Gascard), that football began to be played by Olympique de Marseille. Richer and better organised than other football teams of Marseille (Sporting, Stade, Phocéenne), Olympique de Marseille, then playing at the Stade de l'Huveaune, took the leadership in the city. In 1904, Olympique de Marseille won the first Championnat du Littoral, involving opposing teams from Marseille and its suburbs, and took part in the final rounds of the 11th French championship. At that time, the word "football" applied to rugby, and people used the word "Association" (which would be soccer in North America) for football.
During the 1920s, Olympique de Marseille became an important team in France, winning the Coupe de France in 1924, 1926 and 1927. The team won the French championship in 1929, defeating Club français. The Coupe de France in 1924 was the club's first major title, won against FC Sète, a side that dominated French football at the time. In the '20s, numerous French internationals, such as Jules Dewaquez, Jean Boyer or Joseph Alcazar, played for Marseille. In 1930, Marseille lost against Sète, which would be the winner, in the semi-final round. In 1931, the team became champion of the South-East, with victories against rivals such as Sète. In the Coupe de France, OM lost in five matches to Club français, winning the second match that was cancelled due to the disqualification of Marseille striker Vernicke. Even though the 1931–32 season was less successful, Marseille easily entered the professional ranks, becoming a member of the union of professional clubs in 1932. On 13 January 1932 at 9:15 pm, at the Brasserie des Sports, Mr. Dard, Mr. Bison, Dr. Rollenstein, Mr. Etchepare, Mr. Leblanc, Mr. Mille, Mr. Anfosso, Mr. Sabatier, Mr. Seze, Mr. Bazat, Mr. Molteroj and Mr. Pollack elected the following committee: Honorary presidents: Paul Le Cesne, Fernand Bouisson; President: Mr. Dard; Vice-Presidents: Mr. Leblanc, Mr. Bison, Mr. Etchepare, Dr. Rollenstein, Mr. Anfosso; General secretary: Mr. Possel-Daydier; Treasurer: Mr. Bison (assisted by Mr. Ribel).
For the first championship, Division 1 was divided into two pools. Marseille finished second in the first, behind Lille. For its first match of the championship, Marseille defeated the future champion, Lille. In 1937, Marseille won its first professional French championship thanks to goal difference (+30 for Marseille, +17 for Sochaux). The arrival of Vasconcellos made the defence stronger, whereas former goalkeeper Laurent Di Lorto shone with Sochaux and France. In the meantime, Marseille won the Coupe de France in 1935 and 1938 but failed a double success in 1934, due to FC Sète. In 1938, Larbi Benbarek signed with Marseille and became "the black pearl" for the team. World War II would cut his career short. The 1942–43 season was full of records: 100 goals in 30 matches, including 20 in one match (20–2 against Avignon), in which Aznar scored nine goals, including the first eight (Marseille was leading 8–0), playing only 70 minutes. Aznar scored 45 goals in 30 matches, plus 11 in cup games, for a record of 56 goals in 38 matches. With the minots (young players) of the moment (Scotti, Robin, Dard, Pironti), Marseille won the cup in two matches against Bordeaux (4–0). In 1948, thanks to a draw against Sochaux, Marseille became the champions of France. The two last victories at the Stade Vélodrome against Roubaix (6–0) and Metz (6–3) were important, as Aznar and Robin's returned in spring.
In 1952, Marseille were about to be relegated, but Gunnar Andersson saved his team, finishing as top scorer with 31 goals. The team won (5–3) on aggregate against Valenciennes. The same year, Marseille lost at the Stade Vélodrome against Saint-Étienne 10–3, but Liberati was injured. In 1953, Gunnar Andersson would take the record of goals scored in one season with 35. Andersson also became the all-time top scorer of Olympique de Marseille during his time there with 194 goals. A record he still holds (2023). Marseille was runner-up in the Coupe de France (Nice won 2–1) in 1954 and won the Coupe Charles Drago in 1957. Marseille were struggling at the time and were relegated for the first time in 1959. From 1959 to 1965, the team played in the second division, except during the 1962–63 season, finishing 20th out of 20 in the first division. In 1965, Marcel Leclerc became president.
1965–1986: Leclerc era and crisis
The first period of Olympique de Marseille's domination of the French League started in the early 1970s under Marcel Leclerc's presidency (1965–1972). His ambition allowed Marseille to return to the First division in 1965–66. They went on to win the Coupe de France in 1969 as well as the First division in 1971 with a record of 44 goals by Josip Skoblar, helped by Roger Magnusson. The arrival of Georges Carnus and Bernard Bosquier from Saint-Étienne helped them to win the Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France in 1972. Marseille played in the European Cup in 1971–72 and 1972–73, but were knocked-out by Ajax of Johan Cruyff and Juventus, respectively. However, success was not to last. Marcel Leclerc was forced to leave the club on 19 July 1972. Notorious to be a stubborn man, Leclerc threatened the league to withdraw his professional team from Ligue 1 in response to the federation refusing to register three foreign players per team (Leclerc wanted to acquire the Hungarian star Zoltán Varga, but had already the maximum number of two foreigners in his team). Marseille decided, instead of following Leclerc against the league, to fire him.France Football, N°2936 bis, PP 28–29 La nuit des longs couteaux à l'OM Then followed an era of crisis, with Marseille only winning a Coupe de France in 1976 and being relegated to the second division. Struggling financially, the club relied mainly on young local players: the Minots who allowed the team to return to First division in 1984. Éric Di Meco, future French international, was one of them.
1986–1996: Tapie era, Champions League win, bribery scandal, and decline
Thanks to Marseille mayor Gaston Defferre, Bernard Tapie became the new club president on 12 April 1986, and promptly proceeded to assemble the greatest football team seen in France up to that point. His first signings were Karlheinz Förster and Alain Giresse, who were bought after the 1986 FIFA World Cup. Over the subsequent six years, in his pursuit of the European Cup, Tapie signed a number of highly regarded players such as Jean-Pierre Papin, Chris Waddle, Enzo Francescoli, Abedi Pele, Klaus Allofs, Eric Cantona, Carlos Mozer, Jean Tigana, Didier Deschamps, Dragan Stojković, Basile Boli, Marcel Desailly, Rudi Völler, Fabien Barthez, Alen Bokšić, Martín Vázquez, and François Omam-Biyik in addition to appointing high-profile coaches like Franz Beckenbauer, Gérard Gili and Raymond Goethals. Between 1989 and 1992, Olympique de Marseille won four league titles in a row and the French Cup. The team also reached the European Cup final for the first time in 1991, losing on penalties to Red Star Belgrade. The highlight of the club's history is winning the new format Champions League in 1993. Basile Boli scored the only goal against Italy's Milan in the final held in Munich's Olympic Stadium. That triumph was the first time ever for a French club and it made Didier Deschamps and Fabien Barthez the youngest captain and goalkeeper, respectively, to capture the title.
This triumph, however, was followed by a decade of decline. In 1994, due to financial irregularities and a match-fixing scandal involving then-president Bernard Tapie, they suffered enforced relegation to the second division, where Marseille stayed for two years before returning to the First division. Moreover, they lost their 1992–93 Division 1 title and the right to play in the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, the 1993 European Super Cup and the 1993 Intercontinental Cup. This scandal, called l'affaire VA-OM (VA for Union Sportive Valenciennes-Anzin and OM for Olympique de Marseille), was exposed by Valenciennes, whose players Jacques Glassmann, Jorge Burruchaga and Christophe Robert were contacted by Marseille player Jean-Jacques Eydelie to let OM win and, more importantly, not to injure any OM player ahead of the UEFA Champions League final.
1996–2009: Return to success
Marseille returned to the top flight in 1996 with backing from Adidas's CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus. He chose Rolland Courbis as coach, signed Fabrizio Ravanelli, Laurent Blanc and Andreas Köpke, and Marseille finished eleventh for his return. For the 1998–99 season, the team celebrated their centenary and built a team of stars: Robert Pires, Florian Maurice and Christophe Dugarry, culminating in a second-place finish in the French championship, behind Bordeaux and an appearance in the UEFA Cup Final in 1999, losing to Parma. Courbis left the team in November 1999 after a poor start to the season.
The closest Marseille got to another trophy was when they reached the UEFA Cup Final in 2004, impressively beating Dnipro, Internazionale, Liverpool and Newcastle United along the way. But they were beaten in the final by newly crowned Spanish champions Valencia and once again fans were forced to continue waiting for the next trophy to come along. In 2005, Marseille succeeded in winning the Intertoto Cup, beating the likes of Lazio and Deportivo de La Coruña in doing so, and earning another shot at the UEFA Cup.