Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (French pronunciation: [paʁi sɛ̃ ʒɛʁmɛ̃]), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris SG, or simply Paris or PSG, is a French professional football club based in Paris. Founded in 1970, the club has traditionally worn red and blue kits. PSG has played their home matches in the 47,929-capacity Parc des Princes in the 16th arrondissement of Paris since 1974.[1][2] The club plays in the highest tier of French football, Ligue 1.[3]
The Parisian club established itself as a major force in France, and one of the major forces of European football in the 2010s. PSG have won a total of 39 top-flight trophies, making it the most successful French club in history by this measure.[3][4] Paris SG is also the only club to have never been relegated from Ligue 1,[5] the club with most consecutive seasons in the top-flight (they have played 45 seasons in Ligue 1 since 1974),[6] one of only two French clubs to have won a major European title,[7] the most popular football club in France,[8] and one of the most widely supported teams in the world.[9]
Domestically, the Parisians have won eight Ligue 1 titles, a record twelve Coupe de France, a record eight Coupe de la Ligue, and a record nine Trophée des Champions titles. In European football, they have won one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. The capital club has also won one Ligue 2, regarded as a minor official title.[4] PSG have a long-standing rivalry with Olympique de Marseille. The duo contest French football's most notorious match, known as Le Classique.[10]
The State of Qatar, through its shareholding organisation Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), has been the club's owner since 2011.[11] The takeover made Paris Saint-Germain the richest club in France and one of the wealthiest in the world.[12] As of the 2017–18 season, PSG have the sixth-highest revenue in the footballing world with an annual turnover of €542m according to Deloitte, and are the world's eleventh most valuable football club, worth €825m according to Forbes.
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club was founded on 12 August 1970 after the merger of Paris Football Club and Stade Saint-Germain.[3] PSG made an immediate impact, winning promotion to Ligue 1 in their first season after claiming the Ligue 2 title.[2][15] Their momentum was soon checked, however, and the club split in 1972.[2] Paris FC remained in Ligue 1, while Paris Saint-Germain kept their name but were administratively demoted to Division 3.[16][17] Two seasons later PSG returned to Ligue 1 in 1974, moving into Parc des Princes that same year.[2][3]
The club's trophy cabinet welcomed its first major silverware in the shape of the French Cup in 1982, during a decade marked by players such as Safet Sušić, Luis Fernández and Dominique Rocheteau.[2][3] Four years later, Paris Saint-Germain claimed their maiden league title, after which they went into decline.[7][18] But a takeover by television giants Canal+ revitalised the club and PSG entered their golden era.[7][19] Led by David Ginola, George Weah and Raí, the club won nine trophies during the 1990s.[3][18] Most notably, the Parisians claimed a second league title in 1994 and their crowning glory, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996.[2][18]
At the start of the 21st century, PSG struggled to rescale the heights despite the magic of Ronaldinho and the goals of Pauleta.[3] Five more trophies arrived in the form of three French Cups, one League Cup and one UEFA Intertoto Cup, but the club became better known for lurching from one high-profile crisis to another.[4][18] Indeed, Paris Saint-Germain spent two seasons staving off relegations that were only very narrowly avoided.[19]
This changed in 2011 with the arrival of new majority shareholders Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).[12] Since the buyout, PSG have signed several stars like Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, and have dominated French football.[4][20][21] Despite this, the UEFA Champions League has proven to be a trophy beyond their reach.[20][21] PSG have never made it beyond the quarterfinals since 2012, exiting the competition at the last-16 round in each of the last three seasons.[22]
Club identity
Colours
Since their foundation, PSG have always represented both Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[19] As a result, red, blue and white are the traditional colours of Paris Saint-Germain. The red and blue represent the city of Paris, while the white stands for the nearby royal town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
In the club's crest, the French capital is represented by the Eiffel Tower in red and the blue background. For its part, the white cradle with the white fleur de lys on top is a hint to the coat of arms of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and to French royalty. In France, white is the colour of royalty and the fleur de lys is a royal symbol. The cradle and the fleur de lys also recall that French King Louis XIV was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638.[23]
Likewise, PSG's home shirt has always featured the three colours of the club. The three main home jerseys worn by Paris SG throughout their history have been predominantly red, blue or white. The club's first shirt was red, while the other two were predominantly blue (« Hechter shirt ») and white. However, all three have included the remaining two colours, as well as with further variations of the home jersey.[24]
Home shirt
The newly formed Paris Saint-Germain wore a red shirt during their first three seasons of existence.[24] The jersey also featured a blue and white collar to bring together the three colours of the club: the red and blue of Paris, and the white of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[25] During the 2010–11 season, PSG wore a red home shirt to commemorate their 40th anniversary
The connection between Paris Saint-Germain and the city's fashion houses is a longstanding one. French fashion designer Daniel Hechter served as the club's president for five years in the 1970s, and is regarded as one of the driving forces behind the team's foundation.[27] He became club president in 1973 and immediately designed PSG's traditional look — a red vertical stripe, bordered with white, on a blue background.[27][28]
The story goes that Hechter based his creation on the red-and-white jersey worn by Ajax, the Dutch champion dominating European competition at the time, but with the French flag in mind.[27][29] He would later admit that the story was true.[28] The so-called "Hechter shirt", first worn until 1980–81, returned as PSG's home identity in 1994–95, and has remained so ever since, despite Nike's several experiments along the way.[24][28][30]
PSG stars from the 1990s and 2000s like Raí, Ronaldinho and Pauleta are associated with the "Hechter shirt". It was with that jersey that PSG reached five European semi-finals in a row (1993–1997), claimed the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1995–96, and achieved the (first) eight consecutive wins against arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille (2002–2004).[24]
Promoted by PSG president Francis Borelli, the capital club changed its home identity in 1981–82.[28] The new shirt, worn until 1992–93, was white with blue and red vertical stripes on the left. PSG legends from the 1980s like Safet Sušić, Luis Fernández and Dominique Bathenay are associated with the white jersey. It was with this outfit that fans saw the first big Paris Saint-Germain team that won two Coupe de France titles (1982, 1983), experienced their first European campaign in 1983, and claimed their maiden league crown in 1986.[24][30]
Crest
The original logo of the club, also known as the Paris FC logo, was used from 1970 until 1973.[25][29] It featured a ball with a vessel (a historic symbol of Paris) as well as the club's name "Paris Saint Germain Football Club" or initials "PSGFC".[29][31] In 1972, PSG split from Paris FC and, a year later, the club changed its crest
Like with the club's iconic shirt, Daniel Hechter also designed their historic crest in 1973.[29] Also known as the Eiffel Tower logo, the new crest added Saint-Germain-en-Laye symbols for the first time.[29][31] These were the fleur de lys and the cradle that represented the royalty and birthplace of French King Louis XIV in the town.[29] The new crest, which finally represented both Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, mainly consisted of a blue background with the Eiffel Tower in red. Between the tower's legs sat the fleur de lys and the cradle in white.[31]
Parc des Princes was added to the crest in 1980, right under Louis XIV's cradle.[31] This logo lasted until 1991, with the exception of the 1986–87 and 1987–88 seasons, when the club used a special logo in support of the Paris candidature for the 1992 Summer Olympics.[31][32] In 1991, the stadium was removed from the crest.[31]
In 1993, former Paris SG shareholder Canal+ was the first to replace the iconic crest. The new model had the acronym "PSG" and underneath it "Paris Saint-Germain". Under pressure from supporters, the traditional crest returned in 1995. This time, however, the crest was surrounded by the club's name "Paris Saint-Germain" and year of foundation "1970". In 2002, it went through a slight facelift.[31]
The Eiffel Tower crest received a major makeover in 2013. Paris Saint-Germain, under the leadership of their Qatari owners and club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, made the choice of continuity for their identity, as well as to capitalise on the master asset of the brand: Paris. The City of Light, undisputed icon in the whole world.[33]
Conceived by global creative agency Dragon Rouge, the new logotype clearly puts forward the brand “Paris” instead of “Paris Saint-Germain”.[33][34] PSG's logo was redrawn, making the word “Paris” very big, above a large Eiffel Tower. Underneath it, “Saint-Germain”, written in smaller letters, remains associated with the fleur-de-lis, its emblem.[33][34] In contrast, Louis XIV's cradle and the club's founding year "1970" were left out.[33] As PSG general director Jean-Claude Blanc said: “We are called Paris Saint-Germain but, above all, we are called Paris.”[34]
Mottos, mascot and anthems
"Paris est magique!" ("Paris is magic!") and "Ici, c'est Paris!" ("Here is Paris!") have historically been the club's most popular mottos.[34][35] More recently, PSG introduced their official anthem and mascot in 2010, when they revived their Tournoi de Paris pre-season competition in commemoration of the club's 40th anniversary.[36]
Ahead of the tournament, PSG unveiled "Allez Paris Saint-Germain", to the tune of "Go West" by Village People, and Germain the Lynx as the club's anthem and mascot, respectively.[37] "Ville Lumière", to the tune of "Flower of Scotland", is considered a club anthem as well.[38]
Grounds
Paris Saint-Germain played their first game at Parc des Princes against Red Star on 10 November 1973, as a curtain-raiser for that season's opening Ligue 1 match between Paris FC (PFC) and Sochaux. PSG won 3–1 as Othniel Dossevi scored the club's first goal at the stadium.[39] The club moved into Parc des Princes upon its return to Ligue 1 in 1974, ironically the same year that Paris FC were relegated. Up until that point it had been the home stadium of PFC.[16][40]
Before that, PSG had been playing at several grounds including Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre, Stade Jean-Bouin, Stade Bauer, and even Parc des Princes a few times that season despite the reluctance of PFC.[41][42] PSG registered their record home attendance in 1983, when 49,575 spectators witnessed the club's 2–0 win over Waterschei in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals.[43]
Parc des Princes has a seating capacity of 47,929 spectators and its pitch is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands, officially known as Tribune Borelli, Tribune Auteuil, Tribune Paris and Tribune Boulogne.[1][44] Conceived by architect Roger Taillibert, the current version of Parc des Princes officially opened on 4 June 1972, at a cost of 80–150 million francs.[19][45] The stadium is the third to have been built on the site, the first opening its doors in 1897 and the second following in 1932.[46]
Camp des Loges
The first Camp des Loges, located in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris Region, opened in June 1904. Originally, it was a military camp reserved for soldiers of the French Army. In 1970, following the merger of Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain to form Paris Saint-Germain, it became the club's training ground. The venue also turned into the training facilities of the Paris Saint-Germain Youth Academy when it opened in 1975.[47]
The construction of a new Camp des Loges began in January 2008, on the same site as the old one. The first stone was laid in July 2008 and it was completed in October 2008. At a cost of €5m, the new training centre was inaugurated in November 2008.[48] In 2013, Paris Saint-Germain announced their sponsorship deal with international communications company Ooredoo. As part of the agreement, Camp des Loges was renamed Ooredoo Training Centre.[49]
Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre
Main article: Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre
The Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre, whose main stadium has a seating capacity of 2,164 spectators, is a sports complex located just across the street from Camp des Loges, the training centre of Paris Saint-Germain.[50] It was one of PSG's main grounds until 1974.[42] That year the club moved into Parc des Princes.[2] The stadium — as well as the other artificial turf and grass football pitches of the complex — hosts training sessions and home matches for the club's male and female youth academy sides.[50]
Paris Saint-Germain Training Center
The Paris Saint-Germain Training Center, sometimes referred to as Campus PSG, located in Poissy, Paris Region, will be the new training ground and sports complex of Paris Saint-Germain.[51][52][53] It will replace Camp des Loges — the club's current training facility in nearby Saint-Germain-en-Laye — upon its completion in 2022.[54]
Owned and financed by the club, the venue will bring together PSG's male football, handball and judo teams, as well as the football and handball youth academies.[51][54] Each division will have its own dedicated facilities.[55] PSG, however, will remain closely linked to their historic birthplace in Saint-Germain-en-Laye as Camp des Loges will become the training ground of the female football team and academy.[56][57]
The Campus PSG will have its own stadium, which will complement Parc des Princes.[51] With a total capacity of 5,000, including over 3,000 seats, the arena will be the largest football stadium in the Yvelines department. It will host matches for PSG's youth and female sides in official competitions such as the UEFA Youth League and the UEFA Women's Champions League.[58]
25 minutes away from Parc des Princes and 15 minutes from Camp des Loges, the 74-hectare site is part of PSG's global strategy to become one of the best-performing multi-sport clubs in the world.[52][59] Construction will start in spring 2020 and finish in summer 2022.[60] The capital club will invest between €250m and €300m.[54] PSG entrusted the project to French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and his architectural firm Wilmotte & Associés, known for designing the Allianz Riviera and the Kaliningrad Stadium.[61]
Supporters
Paris Saint-Germain is the most popular football club in France with 22% of fans identifying as Parisians. Le Classique arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille come second with 20%, while Olympique Lyonnais is third with 14%.[8] PSG is also one of the most widely supported teams in the world with 35 million supporters worldwide, more than any other French club.[9] Famous PSG fans include former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and retired NBA player Tony Parker.[62]
Since the mid-1980s, PSG supporters' groups have been linked to football hooliganism.[63] In 1976, PSG did not have a big passionate fanbase, so the club began offering cheaper season tickets to young supporters.[64] PSG placed them in the club's first fan space at Parc des Princes, the Kop K, located in the K section of the Borelli stand.[44][65] Following an increase in ticket prices, Kop K supporters moved to the Boulogne stand in 1978, and the Kop of Boulogne (KoB) was born.[63][65] There, the club's first Italian-style ultra group, Boulogne Boys, was founded in 1985.[63] Other KoB groups, however, took British hooligans as dubious role models and violence rapidly escalated.[66]
PSG owners Canal+ responded in 1991 by encouraging and financing non-violent fans of the KoB stand to take place in the Auteuil stand at the other end of Parc des Princes. The Virage Auteuil was born, alongside Supras Auteuil, its most notorious ultras.[67] At first the measure worked but, slowly, a violent rivalry arose between the two stands.[67][68] Things came to a head in 2010 before a match against Marseille in Paris. Boulogne fan Yann Lorence was killed following a fight between groups from both stands outside Parc des Princes, forcing PSG president Robin Leproux to take action.[69][70]
The club exiled all supporters' groups from Parc des Princes and banned them from all PSG matches in what was known as Plan Leproux.[69][70] It made PSG pay the price in terms of atmosphere, with one of Europe's most feared venues now subdued.[68][70] For their part, former Virage Auteuil supporters formed the Collectif Ultras Paris (CUP) in February 2016, with the aim of reclaiming their place at the stadium.[71] In October 2016, after a six-year absence, the club agreed to their return.[70] Grouped in the Auteuil end of the stadium, the CUP currently is the only ultra association officially recognized by PSG.[70][72] The ultra movement has also started to come back to life in the Boulogne stand with new groups Block Parisii, Paname Rebirth and Résistance Parisienne trying to convince the club of relaunching the Kop of Boulogne.[73]
Rivalries
Le Classique
Paris Saint-Germain shares an intense rivalry with Olympique de Marseille; matches between the two teams are referred to as Le Classique.[74] The term Le Classique is modelled after El Clásico, contested between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The Spanish press borrowed the term Clásico from South America, where most countries use it to label the biggest rivalries in the continent, such as the Superclásico between Boca Juniors and River Plate, and the Uruguayan Clásico between Nacional and Peñarol.[75]
The clash is considered France's biggest rivalry as well as one of the greatest in club football.[10][76] At the very least, it is France's most violent. Important security measures are taken to prevent confrontations between the fans, but violent episodes still often occur when they meet.[74] Like all the game's major rivalries, it extends beyond the pitch. PSG/OM has a historical, cultural and social importance that makes it more than just a football match. It involves the two largest cities in France: Paris against Marseille, capital against province and north against south.[10][74]
PSG and l'OM are the most successful clubs in French football history and the only French teams to have won major European trophies. They were also the dominant forces in the land prior to the emergence of Olympique Lyonnais at the start of the millennium. The duo remain, along with Saint-Étienne, the only French sides with a truly national fan base, being the most popular clubs in France, and the most followed French teams outside the country. Both clubs are at or near the top of the attendance lists every year as well.[10][74]
Friendly tournaments
Tournoi de Paris
Initially held by Racing Paris between 1957 and 1966, the Tournoi de Paris briefly returned in 1973 with new organizers Paris FC, before current hosts Paris Saint-Germain successfully relaunched the competition in 1975.[77][78] Abandoned in 1993 for financial reasons, PSG revived it in 2010 to commemorate the club's 40th anniversary.[36][79] Ahead of the tournament, the club introduced its official anthem and mascot.[37]
Not held in 2011, it was renamed Trophée de Paris in 2012, and featured a single prestigious match. This was the last edition of the tournament to date.[80] Paris Saint-Germain is the most successful club in the history of the competition, having lifted the trophy on seven occasions.[77] Regarded as French football's most prestigious friendly tournament, the Tournoi de Paris is also considered a precursor of both the Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.[77][81]
Tournoi Indoor de Paris-Bercy
The Tournoi Indoor de Paris-Bercy was a mid-season indoor football invitational competition hosted by Paris Saint-Germain at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France. The tournament was founded in 1984 and was held annually until 1991. Played indoors (synthetic field and seven-a-side), the competition featured host club PSG and five more teams. Paris SG is the most successful club in the history of the competition, having lifted the trophy on two occasions.[82]
Ownership and finances
During their first three years of existence, Paris Saint-Germain was fan-owned and had nearly 15,000 socios (associates, supporters, shareholders). The club was run by board members Guy Crescent, Pierre-Étienne Guyot and Henri Patrelle.[66][83] A group of wealthy French businessmen, led by Daniel Hechter and Francis Borelli, would then buy the club in 1973.[15] Paris changed hands in 1991, when Canal+ took over, and then again in 2006, with the arrival of Colony Capital.[84] The State of Qatar, through its shareholding organisation Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), has been PSG's owner since 2011.[11]
This means that PSG are one of only two state-owned clubs in the world, along with Manchester City.[85][86] As a result, Paris SG are also one of the richest clubs in the world.[12] QSI, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), became the club's majority shareholders in June 2011 and sole shareholders in March 2012.[11][84][87] For his part, QSI chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been PSG president since the takeover.[22] PSG's real boss, however, is the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.[88] He is both the chairman of the QIA and the founder of QSI.[89]
Upon their arrival, QSI pledged to form a team capable of winning the UEFA Champions League and making the club France's biggest name.[18] Consequently, since the summer of 2011, Paris Saint-Germain have spent more than €1b on player transfers such as Thiago Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Edinson Cavani, David Luiz, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.[7][20][21] These massive expenditures have translated in PSG's domination of French football, winning 20 national titles in the process. However, they have not yet brought home the coveted Champions League trophy and have caused the capital club problems with UEFA and its Financial Fair Play regulations (FFP).[4][22][90]
As of the 2017–18 season, Paris Saint-Germain have the sixth-highest revenue in the footballing world with an annual turnover of €542m according to Deloitte, and are the world's eleventh most valuable football club, worth €825m according to Forbes.[13][14] PSG's strong financial position has been sustained by the club's lucrative sponsorship deals with several commercial partners, including top sponsors Nike and ALL.[91][92] Throughout their history, though, PSG has rarely been profitable.[93] Prior to the Qatar buyout, the club's cumulative losses between 1998 and 2010 amounted to €300m.[93][94]
Records and statistics
Since their inception, Paris Saint-Germain have played 48 seasons, all of them within the top three levels of the French football league system: Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and Division 3.[95] PSG holds many records, most notably being the most successful French club in history in terms of major trophies won (with 39),[3][4] the only club to have never been relegated from Ligue 1,[5] the club with most consecutive seasons in top-flight (they have played 45 seasons in Ligue 1 since 1974),[6] and one of only two French clubs to have won a major European title.[7]
The Parisians have won the Ligue 1 seven times. The club's worst Ligue 1 finish to date is 16th, their placing at the end of the 1971–72 and 2007–08 seasons. The 2015–16 season was the club's best to date. PSG won all four domestic titles (Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions) and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.[95] In Ligue 1, the capital club finished with 96 points (national record), while Zlatan Ibrahimović scored 50 goals in all competitions (national record).[96][97] However, the club's record for most goals in a season was set in 2017–18, when the capital side scored 171 goals in all competitions.[96]
Paris SG are also the only club to have won the Coupe de la Ligue five times in a row (2014–2018),[98] the only club to have won the Coupe de France four times in a row (2015–2018),[99] the only club to win the Trophée des Champions seven times in a row (2013–2019),[100] the only European club to have won all four national titles (Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions) in a single season (2014–15, 2015–16 and 2017–18),[101] and the youngest European club to have won a European trophy.[102]
The Parisian club established itself as a major force in France, and one of the major forces of European football in the 2010s. PSG have won a total of 39 top-flight trophies, making it the most successful French club in history by this measure.[3][4] Paris SG is also the only club to have never been relegated from Ligue 1,[5] the club with most consecutive seasons in the top-flight (they have played 45 seasons in Ligue 1 since 1974),[6] one of only two French clubs to have won a major European title,[7] the most popular football club in France,[8] and one of the most widely supported teams in the world.[9]
Domestically, the Parisians have won eight Ligue 1 titles, a record twelve Coupe de France, a record eight Coupe de la Ligue, and a record nine Trophée des Champions titles. In European football, they have won one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. The capital club has also won one Ligue 2, regarded as a minor official title.[4] PSG have a long-standing rivalry with Olympique de Marseille. The duo contest French football's most notorious match, known as Le Classique.[10]
The State of Qatar, through its shareholding organisation Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), has been the club's owner since 2011.[11] The takeover made Paris Saint-Germain the richest club in France and one of the wealthiest in the world.[12] As of the 2017–18 season, PSG have the sixth-highest revenue in the footballing world with an annual turnover of €542m according to Deloitte, and are the world's eleventh most valuable football club, worth €825m according to Forbes.
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club was founded on 12 August 1970 after the merger of Paris Football Club and Stade Saint-Germain.[3] PSG made an immediate impact, winning promotion to Ligue 1 in their first season after claiming the Ligue 2 title.[2][15] Their momentum was soon checked, however, and the club split in 1972.[2] Paris FC remained in Ligue 1, while Paris Saint-Germain kept their name but were administratively demoted to Division 3.[16][17] Two seasons later PSG returned to Ligue 1 in 1974, moving into Parc des Princes that same year.[2][3]
The club's trophy cabinet welcomed its first major silverware in the shape of the French Cup in 1982, during a decade marked by players such as Safet Sušić, Luis Fernández and Dominique Rocheteau.[2][3] Four years later, Paris Saint-Germain claimed their maiden league title, after which they went into decline.[7][18] But a takeover by television giants Canal+ revitalised the club and PSG entered their golden era.[7][19] Led by David Ginola, George Weah and Raí, the club won nine trophies during the 1990s.[3][18] Most notably, the Parisians claimed a second league title in 1994 and their crowning glory, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996.[2][18]
At the start of the 21st century, PSG struggled to rescale the heights despite the magic of Ronaldinho and the goals of Pauleta.[3] Five more trophies arrived in the form of three French Cups, one League Cup and one UEFA Intertoto Cup, but the club became better known for lurching from one high-profile crisis to another.[4][18] Indeed, Paris Saint-Germain spent two seasons staving off relegations that were only very narrowly avoided.[19]
This changed in 2011 with the arrival of new majority shareholders Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).[12] Since the buyout, PSG have signed several stars like Zlatan Ibrahimović, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé, and have dominated French football.[4][20][21] Despite this, the UEFA Champions League has proven to be a trophy beyond their reach.[20][21] PSG have never made it beyond the quarterfinals since 2012, exiting the competition at the last-16 round in each of the last three seasons.[22]
Club identity
Colours
Since their foundation, PSG have always represented both Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[19] As a result, red, blue and white are the traditional colours of Paris Saint-Germain. The red and blue represent the city of Paris, while the white stands for the nearby royal town of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
In the club's crest, the French capital is represented by the Eiffel Tower in red and the blue background. For its part, the white cradle with the white fleur de lys on top is a hint to the coat of arms of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and to French royalty. In France, white is the colour of royalty and the fleur de lys is a royal symbol. The cradle and the fleur de lys also recall that French King Louis XIV was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye in 1638.[23]
Likewise, PSG's home shirt has always featured the three colours of the club. The three main home jerseys worn by Paris SG throughout their history have been predominantly red, blue or white. The club's first shirt was red, while the other two were predominantly blue (« Hechter shirt ») and white. However, all three have included the remaining two colours, as well as with further variations of the home jersey.[24]
Home shirt
The newly formed Paris Saint-Germain wore a red shirt during their first three seasons of existence.[24] The jersey also featured a blue and white collar to bring together the three colours of the club: the red and blue of Paris, and the white of Saint-Germain-en-Laye.[25] During the 2010–11 season, PSG wore a red home shirt to commemorate their 40th anniversary
The connection between Paris Saint-Germain and the city's fashion houses is a longstanding one. French fashion designer Daniel Hechter served as the club's president for five years in the 1970s, and is regarded as one of the driving forces behind the team's foundation.[27] He became club president in 1973 and immediately designed PSG's traditional look — a red vertical stripe, bordered with white, on a blue background.[27][28]
The story goes that Hechter based his creation on the red-and-white jersey worn by Ajax, the Dutch champion dominating European competition at the time, but with the French flag in mind.[27][29] He would later admit that the story was true.[28] The so-called "Hechter shirt", first worn until 1980–81, returned as PSG's home identity in 1994–95, and has remained so ever since, despite Nike's several experiments along the way.[24][28][30]
PSG stars from the 1990s and 2000s like Raí, Ronaldinho and Pauleta are associated with the "Hechter shirt". It was with that jersey that PSG reached five European semi-finals in a row (1993–1997), claimed the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1995–96, and achieved the (first) eight consecutive wins against arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille (2002–2004).[24]
Promoted by PSG president Francis Borelli, the capital club changed its home identity in 1981–82.[28] The new shirt, worn until 1992–93, was white with blue and red vertical stripes on the left. PSG legends from the 1980s like Safet Sušić, Luis Fernández and Dominique Bathenay are associated with the white jersey. It was with this outfit that fans saw the first big Paris Saint-Germain team that won two Coupe de France titles (1982, 1983), experienced their first European campaign in 1983, and claimed their maiden league crown in 1986.[24][30]
Crest
The original logo of the club, also known as the Paris FC logo, was used from 1970 until 1973.[25][29] It featured a ball with a vessel (a historic symbol of Paris) as well as the club's name "Paris Saint Germain Football Club" or initials "PSGFC".[29][31] In 1972, PSG split from Paris FC and, a year later, the club changed its crest
Like with the club's iconic shirt, Daniel Hechter also designed their historic crest in 1973.[29] Also known as the Eiffel Tower logo, the new crest added Saint-Germain-en-Laye symbols for the first time.[29][31] These were the fleur de lys and the cradle that represented the royalty and birthplace of French King Louis XIV in the town.[29] The new crest, which finally represented both Paris and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, mainly consisted of a blue background with the Eiffel Tower in red. Between the tower's legs sat the fleur de lys and the cradle in white.[31]
Parc des Princes was added to the crest in 1980, right under Louis XIV's cradle.[31] This logo lasted until 1991, with the exception of the 1986–87 and 1987–88 seasons, when the club used a special logo in support of the Paris candidature for the 1992 Summer Olympics.[31][32] In 1991, the stadium was removed from the crest.[31]
In 1993, former Paris SG shareholder Canal+ was the first to replace the iconic crest. The new model had the acronym "PSG" and underneath it "Paris Saint-Germain". Under pressure from supporters, the traditional crest returned in 1995. This time, however, the crest was surrounded by the club's name "Paris Saint-Germain" and year of foundation "1970". In 2002, it went through a slight facelift.[31]
The Eiffel Tower crest received a major makeover in 2013. Paris Saint-Germain, under the leadership of their Qatari owners and club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, made the choice of continuity for their identity, as well as to capitalise on the master asset of the brand: Paris. The City of Light, undisputed icon in the whole world.[33]
Conceived by global creative agency Dragon Rouge, the new logotype clearly puts forward the brand “Paris” instead of “Paris Saint-Germain”.[33][34] PSG's logo was redrawn, making the word “Paris” very big, above a large Eiffel Tower. Underneath it, “Saint-Germain”, written in smaller letters, remains associated with the fleur-de-lis, its emblem.[33][34] In contrast, Louis XIV's cradle and the club's founding year "1970" were left out.[33] As PSG general director Jean-Claude Blanc said: “We are called Paris Saint-Germain but, above all, we are called Paris.”[34]
Mottos, mascot and anthems
"Paris est magique!" ("Paris is magic!") and "Ici, c'est Paris!" ("Here is Paris!") have historically been the club's most popular mottos.[34][35] More recently, PSG introduced their official anthem and mascot in 2010, when they revived their Tournoi de Paris pre-season competition in commemoration of the club's 40th anniversary.[36]
Ahead of the tournament, PSG unveiled "Allez Paris Saint-Germain", to the tune of "Go West" by Village People, and Germain the Lynx as the club's anthem and mascot, respectively.[37] "Ville Lumière", to the tune of "Flower of Scotland", is considered a club anthem as well.[38]
Grounds
Paris Saint-Germain played their first game at Parc des Princes against Red Star on 10 November 1973, as a curtain-raiser for that season's opening Ligue 1 match between Paris FC (PFC) and Sochaux. PSG won 3–1 as Othniel Dossevi scored the club's first goal at the stadium.[39] The club moved into Parc des Princes upon its return to Ligue 1 in 1974, ironically the same year that Paris FC were relegated. Up until that point it had been the home stadium of PFC.[16][40]
Before that, PSG had been playing at several grounds including Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre, Stade Jean-Bouin, Stade Bauer, and even Parc des Princes a few times that season despite the reluctance of PFC.[41][42] PSG registered their record home attendance in 1983, when 49,575 spectators witnessed the club's 2–0 win over Waterschei in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals.[43]
Parc des Princes has a seating capacity of 47,929 spectators and its pitch is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands, officially known as Tribune Borelli, Tribune Auteuil, Tribune Paris and Tribune Boulogne.[1][44] Conceived by architect Roger Taillibert, the current version of Parc des Princes officially opened on 4 June 1972, at a cost of 80–150 million francs.[19][45] The stadium is the third to have been built on the site, the first opening its doors in 1897 and the second following in 1932.[46]
Camp des Loges
The first Camp des Loges, located in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Paris Region, opened in June 1904. Originally, it was a military camp reserved for soldiers of the French Army. In 1970, following the merger of Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain to form Paris Saint-Germain, it became the club's training ground. The venue also turned into the training facilities of the Paris Saint-Germain Youth Academy when it opened in 1975.[47]
The construction of a new Camp des Loges began in January 2008, on the same site as the old one. The first stone was laid in July 2008 and it was completed in October 2008. At a cost of €5m, the new training centre was inaugurated in November 2008.[48] In 2013, Paris Saint-Germain announced their sponsorship deal with international communications company Ooredoo. As part of the agreement, Camp des Loges was renamed Ooredoo Training Centre.[49]
Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre
Main article: Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre
The Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre, whose main stadium has a seating capacity of 2,164 spectators, is a sports complex located just across the street from Camp des Loges, the training centre of Paris Saint-Germain.[50] It was one of PSG's main grounds until 1974.[42] That year the club moved into Parc des Princes.[2] The stadium — as well as the other artificial turf and grass football pitches of the complex — hosts training sessions and home matches for the club's male and female youth academy sides.[50]
Paris Saint-Germain Training Center
The Paris Saint-Germain Training Center, sometimes referred to as Campus PSG, located in Poissy, Paris Region, will be the new training ground and sports complex of Paris Saint-Germain.[51][52][53] It will replace Camp des Loges — the club's current training facility in nearby Saint-Germain-en-Laye — upon its completion in 2022.[54]
Owned and financed by the club, the venue will bring together PSG's male football, handball and judo teams, as well as the football and handball youth academies.[51][54] Each division will have its own dedicated facilities.[55] PSG, however, will remain closely linked to their historic birthplace in Saint-Germain-en-Laye as Camp des Loges will become the training ground of the female football team and academy.[56][57]
The Campus PSG will have its own stadium, which will complement Parc des Princes.[51] With a total capacity of 5,000, including over 3,000 seats, the arena will be the largest football stadium in the Yvelines department. It will host matches for PSG's youth and female sides in official competitions such as the UEFA Youth League and the UEFA Women's Champions League.[58]
25 minutes away from Parc des Princes and 15 minutes from Camp des Loges, the 74-hectare site is part of PSG's global strategy to become one of the best-performing multi-sport clubs in the world.[52][59] Construction will start in spring 2020 and finish in summer 2022.[60] The capital club will invest between €250m and €300m.[54] PSG entrusted the project to French architect Jean-Michel Wilmotte and his architectural firm Wilmotte & Associés, known for designing the Allianz Riviera and the Kaliningrad Stadium.[61]
Supporters
Paris Saint-Germain is the most popular football club in France with 22% of fans identifying as Parisians. Le Classique arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille come second with 20%, while Olympique Lyonnais is third with 14%.[8] PSG is also one of the most widely supported teams in the world with 35 million supporters worldwide, more than any other French club.[9] Famous PSG fans include former French President Nicolas Sarkozy and retired NBA player Tony Parker.[62]
Since the mid-1980s, PSG supporters' groups have been linked to football hooliganism.[63] In 1976, PSG did not have a big passionate fanbase, so the club began offering cheaper season tickets to young supporters.[64] PSG placed them in the club's first fan space at Parc des Princes, the Kop K, located in the K section of the Borelli stand.[44][65] Following an increase in ticket prices, Kop K supporters moved to the Boulogne stand in 1978, and the Kop of Boulogne (KoB) was born.[63][65] There, the club's first Italian-style ultra group, Boulogne Boys, was founded in 1985.[63] Other KoB groups, however, took British hooligans as dubious role models and violence rapidly escalated.[66]
PSG owners Canal+ responded in 1991 by encouraging and financing non-violent fans of the KoB stand to take place in the Auteuil stand at the other end of Parc des Princes. The Virage Auteuil was born, alongside Supras Auteuil, its most notorious ultras.[67] At first the measure worked but, slowly, a violent rivalry arose between the two stands.[67][68] Things came to a head in 2010 before a match against Marseille in Paris. Boulogne fan Yann Lorence was killed following a fight between groups from both stands outside Parc des Princes, forcing PSG president Robin Leproux to take action.[69][70]
The club exiled all supporters' groups from Parc des Princes and banned them from all PSG matches in what was known as Plan Leproux.[69][70] It made PSG pay the price in terms of atmosphere, with one of Europe's most feared venues now subdued.[68][70] For their part, former Virage Auteuil supporters formed the Collectif Ultras Paris (CUP) in February 2016, with the aim of reclaiming their place at the stadium.[71] In October 2016, after a six-year absence, the club agreed to their return.[70] Grouped in the Auteuil end of the stadium, the CUP currently is the only ultra association officially recognized by PSG.[70][72] The ultra movement has also started to come back to life in the Boulogne stand with new groups Block Parisii, Paname Rebirth and Résistance Parisienne trying to convince the club of relaunching the Kop of Boulogne.[73]
Rivalries
Le Classique
Paris Saint-Germain shares an intense rivalry with Olympique de Marseille; matches between the two teams are referred to as Le Classique.[74] The term Le Classique is modelled after El Clásico, contested between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The Spanish press borrowed the term Clásico from South America, where most countries use it to label the biggest rivalries in the continent, such as the Superclásico between Boca Juniors and River Plate, and the Uruguayan Clásico between Nacional and Peñarol.[75]
The clash is considered France's biggest rivalry as well as one of the greatest in club football.[10][76] At the very least, it is France's most violent. Important security measures are taken to prevent confrontations between the fans, but violent episodes still often occur when they meet.[74] Like all the game's major rivalries, it extends beyond the pitch. PSG/OM has a historical, cultural and social importance that makes it more than just a football match. It involves the two largest cities in France: Paris against Marseille, capital against province and north against south.[10][74]
PSG and l'OM are the most successful clubs in French football history and the only French teams to have won major European trophies. They were also the dominant forces in the land prior to the emergence of Olympique Lyonnais at the start of the millennium. The duo remain, along with Saint-Étienne, the only French sides with a truly national fan base, being the most popular clubs in France, and the most followed French teams outside the country. Both clubs are at or near the top of the attendance lists every year as well.[10][74]
Friendly tournaments
Tournoi de Paris
Initially held by Racing Paris between 1957 and 1966, the Tournoi de Paris briefly returned in 1973 with new organizers Paris FC, before current hosts Paris Saint-Germain successfully relaunched the competition in 1975.[77][78] Abandoned in 1993 for financial reasons, PSG revived it in 2010 to commemorate the club's 40th anniversary.[36][79] Ahead of the tournament, the club introduced its official anthem and mascot.[37]
Not held in 2011, it was renamed Trophée de Paris in 2012, and featured a single prestigious match. This was the last edition of the tournament to date.[80] Paris Saint-Germain is the most successful club in the history of the competition, having lifted the trophy on seven occasions.[77] Regarded as French football's most prestigious friendly tournament, the Tournoi de Paris is also considered a precursor of both the Intercontinental Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.[77][81]
Tournoi Indoor de Paris-Bercy
The Tournoi Indoor de Paris-Bercy was a mid-season indoor football invitational competition hosted by Paris Saint-Germain at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France. The tournament was founded in 1984 and was held annually until 1991. Played indoors (synthetic field and seven-a-side), the competition featured host club PSG and five more teams. Paris SG is the most successful club in the history of the competition, having lifted the trophy on two occasions.[82]
Ownership and finances
During their first three years of existence, Paris Saint-Germain was fan-owned and had nearly 15,000 socios (associates, supporters, shareholders). The club was run by board members Guy Crescent, Pierre-Étienne Guyot and Henri Patrelle.[66][83] A group of wealthy French businessmen, led by Daniel Hechter and Francis Borelli, would then buy the club in 1973.[15] Paris changed hands in 1991, when Canal+ took over, and then again in 2006, with the arrival of Colony Capital.[84] The State of Qatar, through its shareholding organisation Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), has been PSG's owner since 2011.[11]
This means that PSG are one of only two state-owned clubs in the world, along with Manchester City.[85][86] As a result, Paris SG are also one of the richest clubs in the world.[12] QSI, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), became the club's majority shareholders in June 2011 and sole shareholders in March 2012.[11][84][87] For his part, QSI chairman Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been PSG president since the takeover.[22] PSG's real boss, however, is the Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.[88] He is both the chairman of the QIA and the founder of QSI.[89]
Upon their arrival, QSI pledged to form a team capable of winning the UEFA Champions League and making the club France's biggest name.[18] Consequently, since the summer of 2011, Paris Saint-Germain have spent more than €1b on player transfers such as Thiago Silva, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Edinson Cavani, David Luiz, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé.[7][20][21] These massive expenditures have translated in PSG's domination of French football, winning 20 national titles in the process. However, they have not yet brought home the coveted Champions League trophy and have caused the capital club problems with UEFA and its Financial Fair Play regulations (FFP).[4][22][90]
As of the 2017–18 season, Paris Saint-Germain have the sixth-highest revenue in the footballing world with an annual turnover of €542m according to Deloitte, and are the world's eleventh most valuable football club, worth €825m according to Forbes.[13][14] PSG's strong financial position has been sustained by the club's lucrative sponsorship deals with several commercial partners, including top sponsors Nike and ALL.[91][92] Throughout their history, though, PSG has rarely been profitable.[93] Prior to the Qatar buyout, the club's cumulative losses between 1998 and 2010 amounted to €300m.[93][94]
Records and statistics
Since their inception, Paris Saint-Germain have played 48 seasons, all of them within the top three levels of the French football league system: Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and Division 3.[95] PSG holds many records, most notably being the most successful French club in history in terms of major trophies won (with 39),[3][4] the only club to have never been relegated from Ligue 1,[5] the club with most consecutive seasons in top-flight (they have played 45 seasons in Ligue 1 since 1974),[6] and one of only two French clubs to have won a major European title.[7]
The Parisians have won the Ligue 1 seven times. The club's worst Ligue 1 finish to date is 16th, their placing at the end of the 1971–72 and 2007–08 seasons. The 2015–16 season was the club's best to date. PSG won all four domestic titles (Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions) and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League.[95] In Ligue 1, the capital club finished with 96 points (national record), while Zlatan Ibrahimović scored 50 goals in all competitions (national record).[96][97] However, the club's record for most goals in a season was set in 2017–18, when the capital side scored 171 goals in all competitions.[96]
Paris SG are also the only club to have won the Coupe de la Ligue five times in a row (2014–2018),[98] the only club to have won the Coupe de France four times in a row (2015–2018),[99] the only club to win the Trophée des Champions seven times in a row (2013–2019),[100] the only European club to have won all four national titles (Ligue 1, Coupe de France, Coupe de la Ligue and Trophée des Champions) in a single season (2014–15, 2015–16 and 2017–18),[101] and the youngest European club to have won a European trophy.[102]
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