Marseille

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Olympique de Marseille (also known as l'OM IPA: , locally ) or simply Marseille, is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club play in Ligue 1 and have spent most of their history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions ten times (nine times in Ligue 1) and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In 1993, the club became the first and only French club to win the UEFA Champions League. In 1994, Marseille were relegated because of a bribery scandal, losing their domestic trophy, but not the UEFA Champions League title. In 2010, Marseille became French champions again, under the stewardship of former club captain Didier Deschamps. Marseille's home ground is the 67,000-person-capacity Stade Vélodrome located in the southern part of the city, where they have played since 1937. The Stade Vélodrome is renowned for its lively atmosphere. The club have a large fan-base having regularly averaged the highest all-time attendance in French football. Marseille's average home gate for the 2008–09 season was 52,276, the highest in Ligue 1. The stadium underwent renovation in 2011, going from its previous capacity of 60,031 to 42,000. Following completion in August 2014, the final capacity will be 67,000 ahead of France's hosting of UEFA Euro 2016. The club is sixteenth globally in terms of annual revenue, generating €135.7 million in 2012. In 1997, Marseille was purchased by Franco-Swiss businessman Robert Louis-Dreyfus. Following the death of Louis-Dreyfus, his widow Margarita became the club's majority shareholder in 2010.

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