Olympique de Marseille (also known as l'OM or Marseille or OMerde) 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 the largest and most successful club in France. It is so far the only French team to have won the UEFA Champions League (in 1993), which rounded off their dominant run of four consecutive Ligue 1 titles. However, the club has not won a major trophy in over a decade. They also suffered from scandalous financial irregularities in 1994 which resulted in relegation from the top flight.
Nonetheless, the team is allegedly the most-supported club in France (especially by individuals referred to as "footix") and regularly fill their imposing home of the Stade Vélodrome, which seats 60,013. Marseille's vast support continues to show unwavering and impressive loyalty to the club, despite having a lot of average and mediocre seasons since their return to the top flight. The fans continue to hope that Marseille will regain its former glory. Marseille also has the largest number of supporters associations outside its region in France.
The club's motto is Droit Au But, French for "Straight to the Goal". Nicknamed l'OM - sometimes pronounced phoenetically as l'Ohème, [lo'ɛmɘ] - fans of the club can often be heard chanting "Allez l'OM, allez!" ("Go Marseille, go!").
The team was crushed by Zenit Saint Petersburg in the UEFA Cup on March 12, 2008.
