A (slightly) more local preview ahead of Newcastle United fans visiting Marseille | OneFootball

Marseille – away day blues?

One ray of light for me this season has been our form in the Champions League and next up it’s Olympique de Marseille in the Stade Velodrome on Tuesday 25 November.

It’s an away game, then, and this will be getting the nerves twitching.

Judging by the noises coming out of the club and the French police, though, this is less because of our away form but more about the venue itself – Marseille.

The travel advice issued appears to be extremely negative and restrictive, more so than for previous European games, I would say. So, what’s it all about?

Marseille is a Mediterranean port city of just under 900,000, which makes it the second largest city in France. In May, 2025, it was rated by travelsafe-abroad.com as the most dangerous city in France and described as having a crime rate 5 times higher than “most other cities in France”. Gun related deaths occur roughly once every 4 days with a further 30 homicides per year. 40% youth unemployment is largely blamed for à high incidence of property theft.

As a major Mediterranean port linking Europe to North Africa, Marseille is regarded as the French gateway for drug running and much of the violent crime there is connected to drug gangs and their turf wars.

BBC News, 14 November 2025 : “Marseille has been experiencing a surge in drug-related violence, with numerous killings linked to gang turf wars. In 2025 alone, there have been at least 14 drug-related murders, highlighting the city’s ongoing struggle with criminal gangs and drug trafficking “

The BBC article goes on to describe the murder of the brother of an anti-drugs campaigner which authorities believe was a personal warning from the gangs.

But what about the football?

Quite frankly, the picture is almost as bleak!

Looking back over recent years, the fans of Olympic de Marseille have built up quite an infamous reputation both at home and abroad. They seem to have particular problems with Lyon and PSG. Marseille and PSG are the two richest and most successful clubs in France and their match is referred to as Le Classique.

Marseille’s recent history is a litany of fines, partial ground closures and condemnation by political figures for their homophobic chants.

In September, 2015, they were ordered to close two sections of their Stade Velodrome for the Ligue 1 clash with Angers following crowd trouble during a recent game with Lyon. During that match, the players were forced from the field after missiles, including glass bottles, were thrown from the stands. The closure related to the two behind goal sections of the ground are where the more fanatical fans meet.

Later, in October 2023, perhaps their most infamous attack on the opposition took place as the coach carrying visiting Lyon team approached the Stade Velodrome. Fans attacked the coach, throwing rocks and beer bottles which resulted in the Lyon coach, Fabio-Grosso left bloodied and requiring medical attention. This prompted the French Minister for Sport, Amelie Oudea-Castera, to say, “We have seen just about everything you would not want to see …… It was distressing, revolting, disgusting.”

Marseille fans were banned from travelling to the away fixture against Lyon in the following season because the police were so concerned about the risk of violence between the two sets of fans,

Only this season, Marseille have found themselves in trouble during Champions League matches. In September, the kick-off of against Real Madrid was marred by unfortunate scenes outside the Santiago Bernabéu when French fans clashed with the police, leading to scenes of violence and chaos.

Then, most recently and most relevantly, Uefa have handed Marseille a partial stadium closure punishment over a series of incidents in their 1-0 defeat at home to Atalanta in the Champions League. Home fans at the Stade Velodrome had set off flares, thrown projectiles and used lasers.

Uefa fined Marseille €71,000 and ordered them to close a part of the south stand for the Champions League match against Newcastle on November 25.

On the positive side…

Marseille does have interesting and safe attractions for the discerning visitor.

I have never been there myself but living in France, I have travelled quite extensively to the North and West of the city and thoroughly enjoyed myself.

In Marseille itself, there are various touristic attractions beyond the normal bars, cafés and restaurants. The culture vulture footy fan with a day to fill could take a boat ride out to the magnificently picturesque Chateau d’If, spend a couple of hours marveling at the prehistoric artwork in the Casques Cave, soak up the atmosphere at the Museum of European and Mediterranean civilisations, soothe their existential fears in the Basilica of Norte Dame de La Gare, take a traditional Calanque ride (maybe into the National Park of the same name), or simply wander around the streets of the Le Panier district which the tourist board describe as an open air museum.

I haven’t included the Old Port because the police have declared it off limits. I look forward to the photos!

Places within 90 minutes which I have been to but which require transportation would include Nîmes with it’s fantastic array of Roman remains, Avignon, featuring the Pope’s palace and the dancing bridge, Arles and it’s Van Gogh connections and the magnificent Pont du Gard – which must rank as one of the wonders of the world.

In conclusion, I would say that, as a busy port city, Marseille demands respect from any visitor.

Ardent football fans follow their team all over the globe and learn some basic rules.

Don’t wander off on your own (and especially not decked out like a Christmas tree), don’t wave your highly illuminated iPhone 17 ProMax around in dark alleys and, on public transport, when that young, scantily clad girl starts to rub up against you, please be aware that her boyfriend is picking your pocket!

I’m sure you’ll have a great time down there and you could even make new friends – Marseille fans do have good relationships with some other clubs!