Paris Saint-Germain FC
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Paris Saint Germain was also the name of a now defunct rugby league team: see Paris Saint Germain (rugby league).
- Saint-Germain may refer to various things.
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| Full name | Paris Saint-Germain Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | PSG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Founded | 1970 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Parc des Princes, Paris |
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| Capacity | 48,527 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Alain Cayzac | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager |  Guy Lacombe |
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| League | Ligue 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005-2006 | Ligue 1, 9th | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, or PSG, is a French football club based in Paris. The club stadium is the 48,527-seat Parc des Princes.
Paris Saint-Germain is well known for its fierce rivaly with Olympique Marseille.
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[edit] History
The club was founded in August 1970 (in fact, we should consider 1904 as the fusion between newly founded Paris FC and Stade Saint-germanois, founded 1904). Gathering funds from 20,000 subscribers, the founding of FC Paris marked the reappearance of a major club in Paris after the demise of R.C. Paris, Red Star and Stade Français (among others). The union of F.C. Paris and Stade Saint-Germain (from Saint-Germain-en-Laye and created in 1905), motivated by the need to find players, structures, and a place in a higher division, resulted in the creation of Paris Saint-Germain Football Club. The new club played in the Nationale (second) division for the 1970–71 season. The club won the division and was promoted to the top division in their first season.
After finishing 16th in 1971–72 the club split in May. Under pressure from the Paris City Council to remove the reference to Saint-Germain, the professional part of the club joined C.A. Montreuil and remained in the top division as Paris F.C., the amateur part of the club continued in the third division as amateur side Paris Saint-Germain.
PSG was promoted to D2 in 1972–73, as champions following the disqualification of Quevilly. The following season the club returned to professional status and finished second in the league, winning promotion to the top division in a play-off with Valenciennes. In a pleasing symmetry for PSG supporters, Paris F.C. were relegated in that season and PSG would henceforth always play at the newly rebuilt Parc des Princes, once the ground of Paris F.C.
The club has remained in the top division since 1974, winning the league twice, in 1985–86 and in 1993–94. The club has also won the Coupe de France seven times (1982, 1983, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2004 and 2006). In Europe, the club became famous by making at least five semi-finals in a row (1993 to 1997) in various European cups, securing the title in the Cup Winners' Cup in 1996, only to lose the next year when they made the final again, against Barcelona. PSG has also had a number of runs in the Champions League, but never beyond the semi-finals.
[edit] Ownership
In 1991 PSG was purchased by the French media company Canal Plus. In April 2006 it was sold to a consortium of investment companies consisting of U.S. firms Morgan Stanley and Colony Capital and Butler Capital Partners of France for a reported sum of 41 million euros. It is expected that the club will be floated on the stock market later in 2006. [1]
[edit] 2006-07 Season
PSG began the 06-07 season poorly, dropping their first match 3-2 to FC Lorient at home. In the 5th week, they lost 3-1 to rivals Olympique de Marseille at the Parc des Princes, putting the team into 15th position in Ligue 1. After a strong rebound including a win in the Coupe de la Ligue and a win against Derry City FC in the UEFA Cup, PSG once again began to slide. One of the most dissapointing and memorable matches during this run included a loss to Olympique Lyonnais in the Coupe de la Ligue, in which PSG had held a 1-0 lead into the very last moments when Sylvain Wiltord netted two dramatic goals to give the home side the victory. Most recently, the club has dropped two at home versus RC Lens and FC Girondins de Bordeaux. Many believe Guy Lacombe's tenure as manager is ready to end at any moment. Rumors have surfaced that PSG and Brazil legend Raí will be the next manager.
In this years UEFA Cup First Round, PSG were drawn against against Eircom League side Derry City FC. The first-leg game at the Brandywell in Derry on the 14th of September ended in a 0-0 score. The second-leg ended 2-0 to PSG, and they went forward to the Cup's group stage. After their second group match against Hapoel Tel Aviv in Paris on November 23rd, which they lost 2-4, angry fans (in particular members of the non-recognized independant groups in Boulogne, associated with far-right political ideals which include racism and anti-semitism) used violence as a means of showing their discontent with their team's poor performance. Incensed by the shock defeat, in conjunction with the club's poor domestic league form, and the fact PSG were beaten by an Israeli team, a group of supporters chased and threatened a fan of Hapoel Tel Aviv (important to mention that this fan was of french nationalitiy). In response, a lone policeman came to the defense of this threatened Israeli fan (also important to mention that this policeman's skin color was black). The large crowd reportedly shouted many derogotory phrases towards both the policeman and the Israeli. When the policeman who had attempted to help the fan was overwhelmed, he fired tear gas, then fired his gun twice in self defence. One PSG fan was killed and others injured along with the policeman and the fan.
[edit] Team honours
- Ligue 1: 2
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- 1986, 1994
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- 1982, 1983, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2004, 2006
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- 1995, 1998
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- 1996
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup runners-up: 1
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- 1997
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- 1995, 1998
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- 2001
- Ligue 2: 1
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- 1971
[edit] Current squad
As of September 1st, 2006
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[edit] Out on loan
[edit] Notable former players
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