Olympique de Marseille
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Olympique de Marseille is a football team that plays in Ligue 1, the top level of the French Football League, based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, Marseille is one of the largest and most successful clubs in France. It is the best-supported club in the country, and the only French team to have won the Champions League. However, having suffered from scandalous financial irregularities in 1994 and the resulting relegation, the club has not won a major trophy in over a decade.
Nicknamed l'OM - sometimes spelled phoenetically as l'Oheme - fans of the club can often be heard chanting "Allez l'OM, allez!" ("Go Marseille, go!"). The club's motto is Droit Au But, French for "Straight to the Goal".
History
Marseille was founded in 1899. The highlight of the club's history is winning the first Champions League in new format in 1993. This, 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 forced relegation to the second division.Upon returning to the top flight in 1996 with backing by Adidas boss Robert Louis-Dreyfus, l'OM reached the UEFA Cup Final in 1999; the closest Marseille to get another trophy was when they reached the UEFA Cup Final in 2004, impressively beating Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, Inter Milan, Liverpool and Newcastle United along the way, largely thanks to the efforts of Didier Drogba. 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 cup to come along. Marseille also lost Drogba to Chelsea, selling him for £24.5 million.
Recently, Marseille succeeded in winning the 2005 Intertoto Cup, beating the likes of SS Lazio and Deportivo La Coruna in doing so, and earning another shot at the UEFA Cup. In their recent seasons back in Ligue 1, Marseille have been beaten regulary by rival teams such as Lyon, Monaco and Paris Saint Germain, as chances for a title appear to be growing ever slimmer.
Stadium
The team regularly fills their imposing home of the Stade Vélodrome, which seats 60,000. Marseille's vast support continues to show unwavering and impressive loyalty to the club, despite having several average seasons since their return to the top flight. The fans continue to hope that Marseille will regain its former glory.Honours
Marseille has won 10 French championships and 10 French Cups. Marseille's latest title arrived in 1993, which had since been stripped off following a match fixing scandal involving then president Bernard Tapie. The club also won the Champions League in the same year, defeating A.C. Milan in the final. In January 2006, former player Jean-Jacques Eydelie claimed he and other Olympique players had been given doping prior to the Champions League final in Munich, and that only striker Rudi Völler refused to be injected with a needle before the match.
- French Division 1
- * Winners (10): 1929, 1937, 1948, 1971, 1972, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993
- French Division 2
- * Winners (2): 1984, 1995
- French Cup
- * Winners (10): 1924, 1926, 1927, 1935, 1938, 1943, 1969, 1972, 1976, 1989
- UEFA Champions League
- * Winners (1): 1993
- * Runners-up (1): 1991
- UEFA Cup
- * Runners-up (2): 1999, 2004
- UEFA Intertoto Cup
- * Winners (1): 2005
Players
Current Squad
As of January 31, 2006
(on loan from Liverpool)
In
Out
Former Greats
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External Links
- ()() [Official site]
- () [OMplanète - Best of Marseille (unofficial site)]
- ()() [Marseille fans worldwide (unofficial site)]
- () [Fabulous (unofficial site)]
- () [OM-Passion (unofficial site)]
- () [Olympique Marseille Fansite]
| Ligue 1 |
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|
Auxerre | Bordeaux | Le Mans | Lens | Lille | Lorient | Lyon | Marseille | Monaco | Nancy | Nantes Nice | PSG | Rennes | Sochaux | Saint-Étienne | Sedan | Toulouse | Troyes | Valenciennes 2003-4 season | 2004-5 season | 2005-6 season | 2006-7 season |
| Members of the G-14 | ||
Ajax | Arsenal | FC Barcelona | Bayer Leverkusen | Bayern Munich Borussia Dortmund | PSV Eindhoven | Inter | Juventus | Liverpool Manchester United | AC Milan | Lyon | Marseille | Paris Saint-Germain FC Porto | Real Madrid | Valencia | ||
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