They did not experience Basile Boli’s goal live, nor the saves of Fabien Barthez, an intractable goalkeeper against the AC Milan attack. They did not participate in the celebration that set the Old Port ablaze, nor in the triumphant return of the footballers and their president, Bernard Tapie, to the Stade-Vélodrome, “cup with big ears” in hand. On May 26, 1993, they were simply not born yet. Or else far too young to feel the euphoria that swept the city when Olympique de Marseille (OM) signed in Munich (Germany) the first French victory – and the only one to date – in the Champions League (1- 0).
Thirty years later, as OM prepare to celebrate the anniversary of their feat in style, these supporters now form the majority in the stands of the Stade-Vélodrome. According to club figures, 55% of spectators or subscribers for matches in the 2022-2023 season are under 34 years old. That’s more than 30,000 people per match, in this 67,000-seat stadium, full – or almost – since August.
What does the victory in Munich for these new generations of fans? That gold star embroidered atop the club logo? This bravado slogan, “Forever the first” ? “It’s legendary. The greatest moment in the history of OM, assures Franck Ferrucci, sparkling blue eyes above his brown beard. Born in Marseille in February 1992, this specialist educator was barely over a year old when Didier Deschamps, captain of an OM cut out for combat, lifted the European Cup against the stars of “greater Milan”, chaired by Silvio Berlusconi. “I have no memory of it and yet it is ultra-present, the founder of what OM is today, insists this Marseillais by birth, a subscriber to the Stade-Vélodrome for ten years. It’s a benchmark on which everyone agrees, our cement. When I think of that, I see us as Greeks at the bow of their ships, sword in hand, ready to conquer. »
” Collective memory “
” “Forever the first”it’s something you hear at all family meals,” confirms Emma Rebuffat, 21 years old. This young blonde woman, alternating in a food factory, was only one year old when her parents subscribed her to the south turn. The 1993 final, she discovered it as a teenager, during a television rebroadcast: “I watched it with my grandparents. It was crazy to see how emotional they were still. Marseille have always been passionate about football, but since this victory, something is different. This plays on the way in which the old pass on their love of OM to the young people. »
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