Just skim through the book for the memories to flood in. The publication ofA century in 100 and gold, written by Nicolas Balique and illustrated by Thibaud Lebellegard, closes the festivities, disrupted by the Covid, celebrated on the occasion of the centenary of the Football club of Martigues, born in 1921. After a first work published in the form of a comic strip, it returns in an original form on the trajectory of one hundred players who have worn the “blood and gold” jersey. “It’s definitely a subjective choice.explains Nicolas Balique, journalist. All eras are represented, from the origins of the club to the glorious years in the first division, through the long lease in the second. My favorite player ? Everyone knows it, it’s Armand Audibert, I was 12 when I saw him play, he was a terrible scorer.“
The great names of more recent history, such as Ali Benarbia, Rod Fanni, Didier Tholot or the irremovable Foued Kadir are of course cited, as well as “legends” such as Di Lorto. “If the FCM has a particular history? But of course ! It’s not just football, it’s also a heritage… In the department, there has always been OM first, and Martigues comes second. In shadow, but it’s a beautiful shadow. It is the only other Bouches-du-Rhône club involved for so long at the top level.“And its history, as much for Nicolas Balique as Alain Nersessian, the president of the club, is intimately linked to that of the city.”It is the story of a small town of 12,000 inhabitants, which rose to 30,000 in the 1960s, and is close to 50,000 today, which resembles that of the club: it started playing at the Pommé , which was installed in front of the Jourde asylum, then in Chave, on the edge of the pond, then at the Turcan stadium. The FCM has evolved at the same pace as its city, which has become the fourth in the Bouches-du-Rhône.”
And the thousands of supporters who followed one another experienced some Homeric matches. “People always talk to me about the 3-3 against Nantes, the 3-0 against Bastia, the 2-1 against Créteilsays Alain Nersessian, but I have great memories of the first match of D1. It was against Sochaux. I accompanied the young people of Mas de Pouane, and that Martigues was in the elite of French football, it was just fantastic.“
One hundred players, eleven matches, victory in Gambardella, renowned players, Homeric epics, the centenary of the FCM is rich in anecdotes, memories, and emotions. “It would be great if the club came back to Ligue 2, concludes Nicolas Balique, thirty years after the rise of D1 in 1993. Current players would thus make the link with their elders“. We believe in !
Three fan clubs
The Maritima Supra, the Ultras, and the Fanatics. It is now three supporters’ clubs that are responsible for creating the atmosphere in the “Canal” stands during FC Martigues’ home matches. If the “Supra” have been around for a long time, the “Ultras” are more recent, while the “Fanatigues” are made up of high school students from Lurçat and Langevin. “They have been grouped together in the same podium, which gives more strength to their encouragement“. The sign also that the results of the first team galvanize the entourage of the club, strong today of 500 licensees divided into about thirty teams.
