Olympique Marseille, led by the Minots , finished in an honorable fourth place in the second division in the 1982-1983 season. But the following season was much more convincing for the Marseillais.
OM strengthened in the summer of 1983. Experienced players came to enhance the Minots (Anigo, Levy, De Bono, Pascal, Lopez ...). Boubacar, Bracci, Olarevic, Rubio, Kerjean, Boubarcar and Dehon and Gilles are recruited. Les Olympiens then had a full complement of troops prepared to go up to the D1. The mix between the experienced and Minots paid off. The training and the preparation for the matches were then more serious and on the pitch, Les Olympiens showed an attractive style.
THE RETURN AT VÉLODROME
Note that Marseille again played at the Vélodrome. The previous season, the Boulevard Michelet was being renovated for the Euro 1984 and Les Olympiens played their home matches at the Huveaune stadium, a place where the atmosphere was less.
The Phoceans quietly started the championship at the Vélodrome with a draw against Nice (1-1). A week later, OM were defeated by La Roche-sur-Yon (2-0). But the Provencal team then won 11 matches in the first half of the season, including offensive festivals in Sete (0-5), Beziers (2-4) and against Villefranche (4-1).
Roland Gransart’s men - the Blue and White - feasted throughout the second half of the season. The Marseillais were distinguished by wide successes. A 4-0 against La Roche-sur-Yon, a 5-1 in Cuiseaux, a 5-0 against Angouleme, a 5-0 against Grenoble, a 4-1 against Montpellier and a 6-0 against Beziers. A victory against Thonon (5-0) at the Vélodrome, on Matchday 37 on 14 April, 1984, allowed Les Olympiens to find the elite. The climb was celebrated at the Vélodrome during the next match with a big win over Thonon (5-0). Pascal scored a hat-trick and Boubacar had a brace.
The Marseillais finished first in the second division and had the best attack with 92 goals scored and only 32 goals conceded. Boubacar and Pascal are OM's top scorers (22 goals) while Olarevic is the creator of 19 goals. Marseille lost in the final match of the season against Tours by a score of 3-2 in May 1984 but the necessary points were there, Marseille is back in D1!
