Did you forget it? He is always there ! Having been sidelined for many months as president of Olympique de Marseille, Jacques-Henri Eyraud has decided to say goodbye to the Phocaeans in a special way. Very discreet in the media, the former student of Sciences Po Paris decided to speak on… Linkedin! Through a long message, where he notably mentions Steve Mandanda, Luiz Gustavo and even Dimitri Payet, he bids farewell to the club with an… endless message. The brave will take the time to read it!
Eyraud’s farewell message
“To all those who allowed me to experience an exceptional adventure within McCourt Global and OM, I wanted to say goodbye.
It’s time for me to turn a page. And what a page!
These 7 years have been exceptional in intensity, in discoveries, in learning, in encounters.
I wanted to start by thanking Frank McCourt. From our first discussion to today, I have discovered a rare entrepreneur whose positive values are very strongly anchored and guide his daily actions. I will never forget his trust, his loyalty, his constant commitment to the service of OM and the causes of which he is the committed ambassador, starting with digital technology at the service of society. Deep down, Frank is a missionary like you rarely find in the world of business and certainly in that of football. We have gone through many adventures together with all the talented team around us. What memories accumulated!
At OM, I experienced one of the most exciting professional adventures of my life.
From 2017, we first improved sporting performance, our compass, since OM had caught up with Football Club de Lyon in 2020 in the cumulative ranking of the last four seasons to become in 2021 the second most successful French club in the world. last five years. And then there was this European Europa League campaign, a first in 14 years, which will remain forever in my memory. Witnessing the 5-2 against Leipzig was the greatest sporting emotion of my life, as was the match against Salzburg and Rolando’s improbable goal. Finally, we allowed supporters to relive the emotions of the Champions League, a first in 7 years.
We have also strengthened the foundations of OM. First, by regaining control of the Olympian team, which was under the management of the OM Association when we arrived, an anomaly for a club like ours. Then by becoming the manager of the Stade Vélodrome 365 days a year and for a long period of time: I remember the first days when we were only entitled to the keys to the Vélodrome the day before the matches, after hours of bailiff’s reports. Not ideal for becoming a great among the greats.
We also brought the club into the digital era, a field I immersed myself in 30 years ago. OM TV, despite its qualities, could not continue to represent the alpha and omega of the club’s media strategy. Because a football club is also a powerful media outlet. The team has done a huge amount of work to make OM one of the most modern and most active clubs on digital. And this was also the case for sports performance management with the creation of OM’s first data unit.
Finally, we tried to demonstrate that our club had an eminent social responsibility by acting well beyond the Vélodrome. I was particularly attached to it. OM is truly more than a football club, it is a beacon in the city, its primary source of pride. Our voices as managers, players and employees carry far. Going everywhere in Marseille, not only to launch this beautiful project of a Castellane football club, to get in touch with the people of Marseille, the football players in the neighborhoods (I will never forget the warmth of your “goodbye”), allowed us to experience extremely powerful moments. In fact, I felt as many emotions at the Vélodrome as in certain encounters I had in the city. Many of them will remain forever engraved in my memory, like the one with these women and children victims of domestic violence during the first confinement.
I tripped sometimes, I fell sometimes, I made mistakes. But I was immensely fortunate to be able to rely on very high quality collaborators in all departments of the club and within the McCourt group. Today, I wish Pablo all the best for the future.
I would therefore like to end by thanking my companions from the beginning as well as those I met later: Jean-François Richard, Jeff Ingram, Rudi Garcia (coaching OM is so difficult), Andoni Zubizaretta, Joe White, Baptiste Viprey, Thierry Aldebert, Laurent Colette, Fred Cozic, Hervé Philippe, Abdou Sbihi, Shéhérazade Semsar, Joe Riley, Nasser Larguet, Michael Drennan, Séverin Naudet, my dear Véronique Lopez and so many others that I cannot name here but who will recognize themselves. In fact, all those, within the club and McCourt, who allowed us to move forward, to chart our course, to define a long-term vision so necessary, but so difficult to maintain in modern football where the horizon rarely goes beyond the following Sunday.
A word also to thank the players. I could cite many. First the legend Steve Mandanda for his wisdom and everything he represents for this club. Dimitri Payet, this maestro, who brought us closer to the essence of sport: giving pleasure and producing unparalleled emotions. Finally, Luiz Gustavo, an exemplary man who does not cheat and who left an impression on me with his strength and above all his unlimited level of demands which OM so needs.
Perhaps more unexpectedly, I also wanted to thank President Emmanuel Macron. We, French, are a wonderful people. We cultivate our independence, our free will, our spirit of rebellion against all the powers in place…until a crisis intervenes and a cyclone puts us in danger. We then hasten to call on the State for help and take refuge in the ministries to find our salvation. And once the good weather returns, we quickly forget what life was like in the eye of the storm and return to our favorite game of denigration and criticism of power. The State, because it is what it is about, saved French football during this historic Covid crisis. What would have happened to our sport if we had not benefited from guaranteed loans, reduced charges or even operating subsidies? Yes, President Macron did indeed save the French clubs and he must be thanked here. At this moment, I also think of all the club’s employees who showed all their courage, their resilience, their spirit of sacrifice during this unprecedented crisis. I will not forget them.
It remains for me to pay a final tribute to those without whom nothing is possible: the supporters. From Miami to Shanghai, from Dakar to New York, from Paris to Pointe Rouge, I was moved and impressed by your limitless love for your club. Know that all our actions are aimed at one goal: to make you happy. We don’t always succeed but you are our driving force, which is why we get up every morning and work 24/24, 7 days a week. So for that too, thank you!
I also wanted to salute the entire Elemint team with whom I spent a wonderful last year and who worked miracles in a very short time. All fully focused on Web3, Elemint employees have been able to build the loyalty of major sports and entertainment brands to explore and analyze the potential of Blockchain and enable these brands to no longer be slaves to major social networks in order to favor direct relationship with their fans and customers. They are inventing the Web of tomorrow, a fairer, more equitable, more decentralized, more participatory Internet too. I had a great pleasure working alongside them. The entire team is now ready to lead the new technological revolution that the world so desperately needs.
Because business is above all teamwork, to all of you, thank you a thousand times and see you soon!”
To sum up
Jacques-Henri Eyraud, the former president of Olympique de Marseille, said goodbye to the Phocaeans on… Linkedin. He published an endless message on his Linkedin account, the bravest will take the time to read it.
2023-09-14 20:57:17
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