The Coupe de France in 1924 was the club's first major title, won against FC Sète, a side that dominated French football at the time.

With the minots (young players) of the moment (Scotti, Robin, Dard, Pironti), Marseille won the cup in two matches against Bordeaux (4–0).

Thanks to Marseille mayor Gaston Defferre, Bernard Tapie became the new club president on 12 April 1986, and promptly proceeded to assemble the greatest football team seen in France up to that point.

Over the subsequent six years, in his pursuit of the European Cup, Tapie signed a number of highly regarded players such as Jean-Pierre Papin, Abedi Pele, Klaus Allofs, Eric Cantona, Chris Waddle, Enzo Francescoli, Manuel Amoros, Carlos Mozer, Jean Tigana, Didier Deschamps, Dragan Stojković, Basile Boli, Marcel Desailly, Rudi Völler, Fabien Barthez, Alen Bokšić, Martín Vázquez, Igor Dobrovolski, and François Omam-Biyik in addition to appointing high-profile coaches like Franz Beckenbauer, Gérard Gili and Raymond Goethals.

That triumph was the first time ever for a French club and it made Didier Deschamps and Fabien Barthez the youngest captain and goalkeeper, respectively, to capture the title.

He chose Rolland Courbis as coach, signed Fabrizio Ravanelli, Laurent Blanc and Andreas Köpke, and Marseille finished eleventh for his return.

The closest Marseille got to another trophy was when they reached the UEFA Cup Final in 2004, impressively beating Dnipro, Internazionale, Liverpool and Newcastle United along the way.

But they were beaten in the final by newly crowned Spanish champions Valencia and once again fans were forced to continue waiting for the next trophy to come along.

In January 2007, there was negotiation between Louis-Dreyfus and Jack Kachkar, a Canadian doctor and businessman (CEO of pharmaceutical company Inyx), about selling the club.

They only drew one more match, and in a winner-takes-all final group game they lost 4–0 to Liverpool, who became the first English team to win at the Stade Vélodrome.

[23][24] Marseille defeated rivals Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) on penalties to win the 2010 Trophée des Champions at Stade 7 Novembre in Rades, Tunisia, before the season began.

Marseille then became the first team to win back-to-back Coupe de la Ligue successes when they won the 2011 edition by beating Montpellier 1–0 on 23 April.

In 2011, Marseille lost the Ligue 1 championship title but qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the fifth time in a row, a club record.

On 27 July 2011, Marseille won the 2011 Trophée des Champions title by beating Lille 5–4 at Stade de Tanger in Morocco.

In February 2012, Marseille embarked on 13 games without victory,[25] but rallied to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time since winning the competition in 1993.

Despite an indifferent club form, OM lost to eventual finalists Bayern Munich, and slumped to an overall tenth-place finish in Ligue 1.

Elie Baup took over, leading the club to a surprising second-place finish in the 2012–13 season despite selling multiple key players, including Loïc Rémy, César Azpilicueta and Stéphane Mbia.

Marseille returned to the Champions League, spending close to €40 million on the likes of Dimitri Payet, Florian Thauvin and Giannelli Imbula.

After a solid pre-season, which included a 2–0 win over Juventus in the Robert Louis-Dreyfus Trophy and the signature of nine players, Bielsa resigned from his post, just minutes after the first Ligue 1 game of the 2015–16 season against Caen.

Marseille lost the game 1–0, and Bielsa shocked the footballing world with his unexpected decision, citing a lack of trust with the club's management, who he said had reneged on a previously agreed contract extension.

Bielsa's departure reportedly left his players in a state of shock, many of whom learnt the news via social media in the dressing room.

Under his direction, Marseille reached the Coupe de France final for the first time in nine years, losing out 4–2 to rivals Paris Saint-Germain.

In the summer of 2016, Marseille once more sold off a number of key players to meet financial obligations and to clear its wage bill ahead of an impending takeover.

[30] In February 2021, after this string of losses, conflict with players, and lack of support from sporting director Pablo Longoria and President Jacques-Henri Eyraud, head coach Andre Villas-Boas offered to resign, three days after a violent riot by protesting Marseille fans at the team training grounds had forced postponement of a league match with Rennes.

L'Huveaune, once named Stade Fernand Buisson in honour of a former rugby player of the club who became a member of the French National Assembly, was renovated at the beginning of the twenties, thanks to supporter's financial help.

The most recent form was revealed on 17 February 2004; the "O" and "M" are rendered as a single unit in turquoise without shading or borders, and the logo is capped by the golden star representing the victory in the Champions League and sits above.

The atmosphere in the Stade Vélodrome is created by the dominance of OM's own supporters who are located in the Curva style ends behind both goals.

The North Curve is home to the Marseille Trop Puissant, Fanatics, and Dodger's supporters associations who buy up the tickets at the start of each season and sell them on to their members.

In 2002, the Virage Nord was officially given the name of Patrice de Peretti (1972–2000), the late founder and leader of the supporters group Marseille Trop Puissant (MTP).

Marseille have won the French national championship nine times; with nine Ligue 1 titles they are behind only Paris Saint-Germain, who have twelve, and Saint-Étienne, who have ten.