Marseille fans protest American ownership following historically poor season

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FT Desk

Marseille fans have demanded the removal of American businessman Frank McCourt as owner of the club after a historically poor start to the new season.

Ahead of Le Classique against Paris Saint-Germain on Sunday, the supporters unveiled a banner which read: "2016: Champions Project. 2026: Ligue 2 Project? McCourt Out."

The Champions Project is in reference to promises made by McCourt when he took full ownership of Marseille from billionaire Margarita Louis-Dreyfus in 2016.

It was his aim to make OM competitive at the top of French football and regularly qualify for the Champions League.

McCourt invested heavily in players and appointed new sporting leadership, including Rudi Garcia and Andoni Zubizarreta. The club reached the 2018 Europa League final and finished second in Ligue 1 twice, but they have not achieved the sustained success or titles that supporters had hoped for.

They lost 2-1 against PSG and that means they are on a run of five defeats in a row across all competitions. Never in the history of Ligue 1 have they lost four of their opening five matches.

In April of 2025, sporting director Mehdi Benatia said it would be a "disaster" if the club failed to qualify for the Champions League. That happened, as they finished fifth in Ligue 1 and in their first Europa League game of this season they were defeated at home by Besiktas.

FootballTransfers' French football expert Robin Bairners explains:

"Marseille are getting to grips with a new status as Ligue 1 also-rans this season following McCourt’s decision to pull funding from the club. It’s left the team in a disastrous position – one that is not befitting of a club that pulls in 60,000 or more for every home game.

"The fans are behind Bruno Genesio’s side, who are not lacking effort or application, but are desperately short on quality.

"They failed to sign a single new player over the summer, and having sold off those of value, they have been left with a virtual reserve team compared to last season. Results have reflected this, though there were at least some signs of encouragement in a 2-1 loss against PSG on Sunday.

"Regardless, it’s going to be a long season for OM, and while they have too much quality to remain in serious relegation danger for too long, the type of battle for a European spot, which the club typically enjoys, is a long way off."

In the summer, three transfers were completed but it was all for players that were already on loan at the club before. Timo Weah, Facundo Medina and Hamed Traore all signed but the latter two don't even play for Marseille anymore.

Medina was immediately sold to Leverkusen, while Traore has went on loan to Genoa.

In terms of outgoings, they made around €90 million selling Mason Greenwood, Medina, Quinten Timber, Geronimo Rulli and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

Pretty much since McCourt took over, Marseille have spent beyond their means to try and bridge the gap to PSG and now he has decided to pull the plug on such these investments.

Even with the money that was spent, success was hard to come by as there are few clubs around Europe who have had as many head coaches and sporting directors as Marseille in the past decade.

In February, Roberto De Zerbi quit as head coach following a 5-0 defeat in Le Classique and Benatia subsequently quit as sporting director.

McCourt intervened and convinced Benatia to stay but the whole situation reeked of amaterism across the board.

It is anyone's guess what French football's financial watchdog, the DNCG, would have done to Marseille without UEFA revenues and McCourt's money. It is not outlandish to suggest that OM likely would have been forcibly relegated a long time ago.

Now, the McCourt millions are drying up, so it's certainly a worrying time for OM supporters.