Jean-François Pérès, edited by Gauthier Delomez
modified to
06:38, February 19, 2023
“Go home, Marseillais!” said Pascal Dupraz, then coach of Toulouse FC in 2017, during a home match against Olympique de Marseille. The phenomenon does not actually date from yesterday: OM supporters are traditionally very numerous in the stands of the Stadium, sometimes more than the people of Toulouse themselves! The ex-coach of the Violets had ended up cracking when he saw Marseille jerseys everywhere in the stands, and he did not understand why, in an agglomeration of one million inhabitants, it was difficult to mobilize a majority of supporters favorable to the locals. .
In reality, there may be three factors. First, the Pink City is first and foremost a rugby city. Then the contemporary TFC charts are hopelessly blank. Finally, Olympique de Marseille has, like everywhere in France, kept a very strong popular base since winning the Champions League in 1993.
“This time the game has changed,” says Montanier
This Sunday, for the Toulouse-Marseille meeting to be experienced in full in Europe 1 Sport (every evening from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.), the leaders of the Toulouse club have decided to take the bull by the horns to reverse the trend with some original ideas, to say the least. Indeed, the astute Toulouse marketing teams have worked hard to avoid a new colonization of the stands. They have reserved for Stadium faithful a priority of purchase for additional places.
Also, the TFC can capitalize on rather attractive results this season (11th place in Ligue 1, qualification for the quarter-finals of the Coupe de France) capable of attracting Toulouse spectators. In any case, the club’s current coach Philippe Montanier hopes for a good atmosphere. “Inevitably there will be Marseille supporters, as always. But this time the situation has changed and our supporters will shine with their fervor and their voices,” he promises.
Replace numbers 13 in town… with numbers 31
And if all this were not enough, Toulouse FC has very seriously invited its supporters to hide all the numbers 13 (that of the Bouches-du-Rhône) which hang around town, in the streets, cinemas, motorway exits, to replace them with stickers 31 (that of Haute-Garonne).
So, with all this, will the TFC win the match from the stands? Answer this Sunday evening, for the end of the 24th day of the championship. On the pitch, it has been more than 15 years since Toulouse beat OM at the Stadium in Ligue 1, and the Marseillais inflicted a severe 6-1 on Toulouse in the first leg, on December 29, 2022.