Established on 12 August 1970 after a merger between Stade Saint-Germain and Paris FC, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club have always represented both Paris and nearby Saint-Germain-en-Laye. And with so many people eager to see a big club wearing the capital's colours once again, the nascent team grew at a stunning pace early on. Top-tier status was attained within four years and by the end of the 1970s, "Les Rouge-et-Bleu" were ready to embark upon a historic decade. PSG tasted French Cup honours in 1982 and 1983, before capturing their first league crown in 1986 - breakthroughs that opened the doors to Europe and some memorable encounters, particularly with Juventus.[1]
As significant as those successes were, however, the 1990s proved even more fruitful, with Paris Saint-Germain entering a golden age after television giants Canal+ bought the club in May 1991. Now enjoying serious investment, the capital outfit were able to set their sights steadily higher. PSG were on the move and between 1992 and 1998 they contested two UEFA Cup Winners' Cup finals – winning in 1996 – reached the UEFA Champions League semifinals once and twice advanced to the same stage of the UEFA Cup. On the domestic scene, results were just as satisfying, with PSG celebrating another League title, three French Cups, two League Cups and just as many Champions Trophy wins.[1]
To the considerable chagrin of the club's supporters, Paris Saint-Germain has never threatened to hit those same heights again. Three more trophies have been landed but crisis has never lain far away. PSG's form slipped to 9th in 2004–05 and 2005–06. In 2006–07, they did not impress, failing to reach either cup final and finishing 15th, just three places from relegation. Following their sale by Canal+ to Colony Capital, Butler Capital Partners and Morgan Stanley, PSG continued to lose momentum in the league eventually finishing 16th, just three points above the relegation zone. PSG nonetheless won the League Cup and reached the French Cup Final, losing to Ligue 1 champions Olympique Lyonnais. In 2008–09, PSG regained fitness and struggled for the title the most part of the season, but finished 6th and out of European action. Colony Capital then acquired all the shares of Morgan Stanley, becoming owners of 95% of the club. The 2009–10 season, became the first time in French football history that both the male and female sections of a club won both the country's national cups. PSG claimed the French Cup, while the Ladies landed the Challenge de France.[1]
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The club is a little over 40 years old, almost a baby amongst the older mercurial statesmen of French football today.[2] PSG's predecessor began life in humble beginnings in the regional Division d'Honneur de la Ligue de Paris in 1904. A small omni-sport outfit known as Baptisé Stade Saint-Germain. The Stade Saint-Germain was founded in June 1904, celebrating the inauguration of the Camp des Loges, a sports facility located in the forest of Saint-Germain-en-Laye. The first president of the club was Félix Boyer. The Stade joined the French Football Federation (FFF) and was sent back to the last division in 1921. The club, however, began a slow ascent to the Ligue de Paris. It took 50 years for the club to make any notable success on the world of football, even within the French capital. Under the guidance of coach Roger Quenolle and President Henri Patrelle, the Stade won the DH Ligue de Paris and claimed a place in the Championnat de France amateur (CFA) in 1957. At the time, it was the French equivalent of the third division.[3][4]
Stade Saint-Germain maintained their presence there for three whole years. It was the end of the 1960s that the Saint-Germain-en-Laye based club began their flittering first footsteps to glory. In 1968-69, the club reached the French Cup quarter finals, but were edged out by Olympique de Marseille.[5] It was an encounter that had driven the Parisian public out of hiding, as they played amid a crowd of just over 14,500 spectators. The following year brought even more success as the club finished third in the CFA, thus gaining promotion to the second division.[2] But all this success couldn't mar the fact that Paris, the capital city of France didn't have a renowned team. Teams from other major cities had successful and historically prestigious clubs, such as Nantes, Girondins de Bordeaux, Saint-Étienne and Olympique de Marseille. The lack of Paris-based teas was apparent to see, mainly in fact between the two world wars, famous clubs like Olympique de Paris, Club Français, CA Paris all had disappeared from the French footballing spectrum.[1] Only Red Star, remained in the first division, and they were marooned at the bottom of the table, and the only other Parisian teams of note were the second division outfits, Paris-Jonville and Paris-Neuilly - but even they were more obscure with no real ambitions or means to gain a decent fan base or reputation.[2][4]
Towards the end of the 1960s, an ambitious group of businessmen decided to create a major club in the French capital and asked the directors of Stade Sangermanois to become part of their project. A large seal of approval was met from both sides of the project. They chose to merge their virtual side, Paris FC, with the little Yvelines team, Baptisé Stade Saint-Germain, after the team from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, 15km west of Paris, won promotion to Ligue 2.[6] Thousands of famous Parisians backed the plan, everyone from politicians and businessmen like Guy Crescent, CEO of Claberson, and Pierre-Étienne Guyot, Vice-President of Racing Club de France, to the local man on the street.[2] Thanks to the financial backing and huge media and public support mixed with 20,000 subscriptions from individuals desperate to see an elite football club in Paris, the merger was ratified by the French Football Federation and the new outfit, Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, came into being on 27 August 1970. Pierre-Étienne Guyot was named President, while Henri Patrelle and Guy Crescent were appointed Vice-Presidents. Patrelle would also become the President of the Sports Commission. PSG made an immediate impact both on and off the pitch, building a substantial fanbase and winning promotion in their first season.[7][4]
The club as a result benefited hugely from the merged fan-base and squad full of better players. Ironically it was the Stade Saint-Germain players who constituted the majority of the team. The club indeed was to strengthen its squad by the capture of the French National team captain Jean Djorkaeff. Pierre Phelipon became the first ever coach of Paris Saint-Germain in 1970, replacing symbolic Stade Sangermanois coach Roger Quenolle. He alternated his job as coach and played to help out make a competitive team consisting of both amateur and professional players. Phelipon managed to make the club attain top-tier status, despite the harsh relations between Parisians and Sangermanois. He quit the club in 1972.[8] On 1 August 1970, Paris Saint-Germain opened their preseason campaign with a friendly match against Quevilly at the Stade Jean-Bouin.[9] The fixture became the club's first match and saw a logic triumph from Quevilly by marker of 2-1. Under the view of 2,000 spectators and with the presence of then France manager, Georges Boulogne, Jean-Claude Bras scored the first goal in PSG's history.[10] The famous day came on the 23rd of August 1970, when the newly created PSG grabbed a 1-1 draw in Poitiers. As a result, in the 1970–71 season, PSG were simply too much for the Division 2, sealing the title, taking their rightful place in the top-flight for the following season and celebrating it's first birthday in the first division.[7] Their first year was a modest effort, claiming 16th place in the league. PSG, however, were involved in a running battle with the local Paris authorities. They demanded to the PSG authorities to give a more ‘Parisien’ name to the club, in exchange for 800,000 francs.[2] The PSG authorities refused point blank the name change that they offered. It was at this time, that the Paris FC authorities who had acted so vehemently in the merge, pulled out of deals with the Saint-Germain backers and as a result decided to go their separate ways, and back to perusing their club. The split was as messy and bitter as a divorce.[4] After the split was oficialized, Pierre-Étienne Guyot and Guy Crescent promised that Paris FC would be "a great team for the capital". PSG captain Jean Djorkaeff, however, showed his disappointment over the club's split:[11]
| “ | It was good in Saint-Germain, we felt at home ... When we became Paris FC, we felt as lost children. | ” |
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—Jean Djorkaeff, May 1972 |
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The professional arm of the club joined CA Montreuil and continued life in the first division under the name of Paris FC, while Paris Saint-Germain kept the new name, but assumed amateur status and started over as they were sent back down to the third division.[7] Several sanctions were harshly brought upon PSG. Many felt that the date of formation on the club's badge should be 1904, their exact date of their birth, not the old merging date. They appealed, but in the end, it stood. PSG were simply just too good for the rest of the third division and promptly clinched second spot, missing out on promotion by a whisker. But where it appeared that PSG fortunes in recent years had taken a decline, they received a piece of good fortune. Quevilly were to be officially wound up and dissolved at the end of the season. PSG, who had finished in second place, took their place in the second division. From a period of being down and out, within a year, the club had fought back all within 12 months. Luck was now on their side.[2][4] And with so many people eager to see a big club wearing the capital's colours once again, the nascent team grew at a stunning pace early on.[1]
Paris SG then shocked everyone in France, when President Henri Patrelle signed French footballing legend Just Fontaine to form a coaching duo with Robert Vicot. They accepted the challenge of building a great club in the French capital.[8] Thanks to smart financial backing, the club could start to rebuild and make an assault for the first division. In May 1973, PSG received support from fashion designer Daniel Hechter, who later became President of the Management Committee, though Henri Patrelle retained the Presidency. The relationship between the two was fierce. Hechter also collaborated with the club to design an iconic shirt which would become a strong symbol of the club. The shirt was blue with a red central vertical bar framed by white edgings.[12] According to former coach Robert Vicot, PSG's crest was the inspiration behind Hechter's shirt.[13] At the time, the club went through several grounds, their old Parc des Princes home, to their Camp des Loges in Saint-Germain and then to the Stade Jean-Bouin. On 10 November 1973, Paris SG held their first match at the newly rebuilted Parc des Princes against Red Star Saint-Ouen.[7] PSG won the match 3-1. In 1973-74, PSG the club presided over its new found professional stature. As a second division club with a first division team, PSG ran rings around the league, even in the cup as PSG beat Metz 2-1 in front of 25,000 spectators.[4] Even better was the second-placed league finish which saw PSG take on Valenciennes in a play-off tie for promotion to the first division. Beaten 2-1 away, PSG won 4-2 at the Parc des Princes on 4 June 1974 and returned to Division 1 after two seasons, promoting attacking and seductive football.[8] PSG then left the Stade Georges Lefèvre and moved into the Parc des Princes in 1974, their home ever since.[6] And by a bitter twist of irony, Paris FC were relegated from the top-flight that year as well. Since then, PSG has never been relegated from the Division 1.[2]
Although Henri Patrelle was the President, Daniel Hechter, President of the Management Committee, played a major role at the club. PSG began looking for new financing, causing a conflict between the two men for the full control of the club. On 9 June 1974, Patrelle made way for Daniel Hechter and the club attained professional status.[7][14] PSG held their nerve well in the league, never hitting the heights with some slight inconsistency in league finishing. 15th their worse, 5th their best. PSG though, remained a consistent force, always finishing in the top half of the league table. Several stars also passed through the Parc at that time, many who would be classed as eternal greats at the club. In 1974, PSG paid Sedan 1.3m francs for Mustapha Dahleb, a then French transfer record. In 1977, Carlos Bianchi played for the club after leaving Stade de Reims. In 1978, Dominique Bathenay left Saint-Étienne for the capital, later to be followed by Dominique Rocheteau. However several high-profile incidents off the pitch affected PSG as well. Vicot quit the club and Fontaine became the sole coach at the start of the 1975-76 season. Vicot refused the club's offer to be in charge of the reserve team and recruitment before leaving Paris. Fontaine continued his tenure at the capital club until 1976, when his relationship with Hechter deteriorated and had a disastrous end, with law suits and contractual disputes in the background.[8] On 8 January 1978, although the rivalry did not exist yet, PSG recorded Le Classique's biggest win and crushed Olympique de Marseille's title aspirations. Led by Carlos Bianchi and Mustapha Dahleb, PSG dedicated this match to President Hechter, who was involved in a case of double ticketing at the Parc des Princes.[4] The following day, as the case had become a scandal, Hechter was dismissed and Francis Borelli came in to replace him. The smiling President Borelli remained in the Presidency for 13 seasons.[2]
Top-tier status was attained within four years and by the end of the 1970s, the Red-and-Blues were ready to embark upon a historic decade. With charismatic presidents Daniel Hechter and, later, Francis Borelli setting the tone, the likes of Carlos Bianchi, Mustapha Dahleb, Safet Sušić and Luis Fernández became the club's first stars, followed closely behind by its first titles.[1] Francis Borelli's PSG was placed under tight control by the financial authorities after the double ticketing case at the Parc des Princes. This control helped the club reduce its debts. On 2 August 1978, meanwhile, the Kop of Boulogne (KoB) was born, following a change in pricing at Le Parc.[15] The KoB is an area in the Parc des Princes which houses supporters groups associated with the club. It is known as the "most notorious stand in French football" due to its links with violence and far-right political groups and is a symbol for football hooliganism and political extremism within French culture.[16] After coach Jean-Michel Larqué resigned, Pierre Alonzo was named his substitute. His tenure was short-lived as Francis Borelli quickly replaced him with Velibor Vasović. The results weren't good, however, with the club finishing 13th despite the fact that Carlos Bianchi became the league's top scorer with 27 goals. Vasović left after the end of the season.[8][4]
Georges Peyroche joined PSG in 1979. Under his charge, Paris Saint-Germain tasted their first honours. During his first season, the club experienced a great improvement in the league, finishing 7th, thanks in part to the great partnership between Saar Boubacar and Jean-François Beltramini. In 1980, during the transfer market, PSG successfully signed Dominique "Green Angel" Rocheteau, the best striker in France at the time. He scored 100 goals with PSG's jersey, becoming the club's all-time top scorer. In 1981, PSG finished 5th, their best ever league position, and missed European action by only 3 points.[17] In 1982, PSG made history when their trophy cabinet welcomed its first major silverware. Jean-Marc Pilorget's match-winning penalty giving PSG a 6-5 shootout win over Saint-Étienne to clinch the French Cup after it had finished 2-2 in normal time. The club became the seventh club from Paris to won the French Cup and the first to win a title for the capital in 33 years. It was the first ever trophy for a club that risen from nowhere, but it wasn't going to be the last. Indeed, the following year, PSG retained the trophy winning 3-2 against Nantes. In 1985, they even looked for a third cup in four years, but lost out to Monaco.[2][4]
And it was a little over two years later after the cup loss to the principality side, that coach Gérard Houllier led PSG to their maiden French title, going an amazing 26 matches without defeat with Safet Sušić pulling the strings in midfield.[6] It was this domestic success that had opened the door for Europe for Paris. They excelled at all levels, their best performance being a Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final appearance in Belgium against Waterschei. PSG even produced one of the most famous nights in their history cruelly going out to Juventus on away goals, a squad including no other than Michel Platini and the majority of the 1982 FIFA World Cup winners. But where ecstasy lies, there is always painful disturbance. In the late 1980s, PSG flirted with danger of relegation and the effects of football hooliganism began to plague France. PSG was no exception, with games in the stands becoming a battleground for fighting, distastefulness and racism. Moreover, the competition of RCF Paris forced PSG to increase their budget, thus failing to pay off their debts between 1986 and 1990. Racing abandoned their professional status in June 1990 and left PSG with a deficit of 50 million francs.[18] But as the economic and social lull of France took a stranglehold on French football, a shining light was to give reprieve for the ailing sport. An even brighter era then dawned when broadcasters Canal+ took over in 1991.[2][4]
In 1991, Canal+, owning the broadcasting rights for the French Division 1, wanted to find a means of making the league more interesting by finding a powerful opponent to the then dominant Olympique de Marseille. The French TV channel chose to invest into Paris Saint-Germain, a move that would change the club's destiny forever. Francis Borelli left his post in favour of Michel Denisot. Artur Jorge, who had won the European Cup with FC Porto in 1987, was hired as coach and this, added to the signing of several major players (Paul Le Guen, Valdo, David Ginola), led the club to a podium finish (3rd).
The following year, further reinforcements arrived in the form of Alain Roche, Vincent Guérin, Bernard Lama and George Weah. Having led the way during the first half of the season, Paris collapsed and finished second to eternal champions OM. The club did win the Coupe de France with a 3-0 success over Nantes, and excelled in the UEFA Cup, most notably beating Real Madrid 4-1 on their way to the semi-finals, where they were knocked out by eventual winners Juventus F.C.
In the summer of 1993, Brazilian playmaker Raí joined the squad. He struggled initially but when he hit his best form, PSG took the lead in October and never surrendered it. The club won its second league championship after 8 years; Raí, David Ginola and several teammates of theirs became cult heroes at the Parc des Princes. In spite of this, Artur Jorge, accused of being too cautious with his tactics, was replaced on the bench by former PSG midfielder Luis Fernández, who had established his reputation as an attacking coach with Cannes.
With Fernández, PSG could only finish third in the league, but won the first edition of the Coupe de la Ligue and another Coupe de France. The club also reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions league, memorably knocking out Johan Cruyff's FC Barcelona along the way. In the semi-final that followed against AC Milan, they were within minutes of sealing a place in the final before two late goals by the Italians killed off their chances.
The summer of 1995 brought several changes. Several major players, including Weah, Ginola and Valdo, left the club with Patrice Loko and Youri Djorkaeff arriving. The season began brightly with PSG playing a sparkling brand of football and topping the table with a large gap. But the early months of 1996 proved difficult and the Parisian club saw AJ Auxerre closing in on them. A crisis ensued. Michel Denisot then called Yannick Noah to remotivate the troops. This wasn't enough to prevent Auxerre from winning the league but PSG did win the Cup Winners' Cup in May. The success made Paris the second French club to win a European trophy after Marseille's success in 1993.
Luis Fernández left for Athletic Bilbao and was replaced by former club defender Ricardo Gomes. The club began to suffer from the early effects of the Bosman ruling with Djorkaeff departing for Italy. Once again, PSG led the way in the league only to collapse in the second half of the season to see AS Monaco clinch the title.
In Europe, another heroic run followed in the Cup Winners' Cup, with the most memorable moment coming in a semi-final clash with Liverpool FC. In the first leg played at the Parc des Princes, PSG brought down the English giants, who had players like Robbie Fowler and Steve McManaman in their ranks, with a resounding 3-0 win. The second leg was lost 2-0 at Anfield, which proved enough to reach the final. There, in spite of a spirited display, the French side had to concede defeat to a superior FC Barcelona side, with Ronaldo grabbing the winner. More bad news followed when Bernard Lama failed a drugs test and had to leave the club. At the end of the season, Canal+ brought its share in the club from 34 to 51% and thus became the main shareholder.
In the summer of 1997, Christophe Revault, Marco Simone and promising striker Florian Maurice were purchased. The season started well but went downhill in autumn as goalkeeper Revault made a series of mistakes. The period thus saw PSG dumped both from the group stages of the Champions League and from the Top 3 in the league. The season finished on a brighter note with wins in the Coupe de la Ligue and Coupe de France but the 8th place finish in the league was a huge disappointment. Michel Denisot stepped down and Charles Biétry, who was the other candidate for club president in 1991, replaced him.
In an attempt to recapture past glories, Biétry made a lot of new signings, with Jay-Jay Okocha, Yann Lachuer and Christian Wörns being the major names. Bernard Lama even rejoined the club, while coach Ricardo left to be replaced by Alain Giresse. Soon it became evident that this approach was not working, with the team languishing in mid-table and humiliatingly crashing out of Europe against Maccabi Haifa. Giresse was fired and Artur Jorge was brought back to take his role, even though Biétry had criticized him previously. In spite of that change, results showed no improvement and Jorge openly criticized his squad. At the end of 1998, Biétry ended his ill-fated reign as president and stepped down with Laurent Perpère replacing him. By then, the season was already doomed. Perpère began preparing the following campaign and replaced Jorge with Philippe Bergeroo.
PSG finished the season 9th, even worse than in 1997-98. However, the few moments of pleasure for the club's fans arrived in May when PSG played an important role in determining whom of Girondins Bordeaux and Olympique Marseille would win the league. On 4 May 1999, with three games to go, PSG's bitter rivals Marseille headed to the Parc des Princes for a showdown. Led at the time by such players as Laurent Blanc and Robert Pirès, the visitors took the lead through former PSG player Florian Maurice, and looked like they would cruise to victory. However, in the last 10 minutes of the game, the Parisians rallied and scored twice through Marco Simone and Bruno Rodriguez to take the 3 points and hurt their rivals' title challenge.
25 days later, on the final day of the season, PSG were again playing at home, this time against Girondins de Bordeaux, who were vying with Marseille for the title. With OM winning their fixture in Nantes, Bordeaux had to beat PSG to capture the title. Such an outcome looked unlikely when Adailton scored for the capital club with 13 minutes to go, to make the score 2-2. Then something unimaginable happened. The home fans in the stands, knowing that a draw would see their enemies Marseille take the title, stopped supporting the PSG players. In this bizarre atmosphere, 18 year-old Pascal Feindouno took the ball past several PSG defenders to score a third goal for Bordeaux on 89 minutes. The Girondins were crowned French champions and Parisian fans were able to rejoice about OM being unsuccessful in their title challenge.
Even today, Olympique Marseille fans continue to believe that they were the victims of a conspiracy between Paris Saint-Germain F.C. and Girondins Bordeaux. To make matters worse, Marseille and Bordeaux had been sharing a fierce rivalry since the late 1980s and the days of Bernard Tapie and Claude Bez. OM supporters have been known to attribute their club's failures to conspiracy theories instead of finding genuine causes, and in this case, their rivalry with both PSG and Bordeaux provided a ready-made excuse to explain this unhappy ending to their season. As for PSG fans, they continue to mention this incident with glee at the thought of having played a role in extending Marseille's trophy drought, which had then been lasting for 6 years.
Following this highly unsatisfactory season, PSG again set out to rebuild. Many of the players who had arrived in 1998 left the club, who swooped for the likes Ali Benarbia, Laurent Robert and others. With this new look side, Paris Saint-Germain enjoyed a convincing league campaign, finishing second behind Monaco. The negatives in that season were a set of two defeats against Marseille and a humiliating loss in the Coupe de la Ligue final at the hands of minnows FC Gueugnon.
PSG began the following season with renewed ambitions. Several millions of francs went into transfers to purchase promising French youngsters like Peter Luccin and Stéphane Dalmat and even bring back Nicolas Anelka from Real Madrid. In the first three months of the 2000-01 campaign, the side was performing very convincingly at home but poorly on their travels. As from November, results began to plummet, and it was during this season that the term "November crisis" was coined to describe PSG's recurrent autumn struggles. A heavy defeat (5-1 at Sedan) led to the dismissal of Philippe Bergeroo. Luis Fernández reclaimed his former post on the bench, but that did little to improve results. In the second round of the Champions League, the club collapsed spectacularly against Deportivo La Coruña, losing 4-3 after having led 3-0. The result meant the side was out of the competition. In the league, PSG finished 9th.
The summer of 2001 saw Canal+ increase its ownership of the club to 98%. Again, much money is spent on transfers to sign José Aloísio, Gabriel Heinze, Hugo Leal and, most importantly, Ronaldinho. Once more, huge spending wasn't matched by the level of performances on the pitch, though improvements were noticed. PSG only reached a Top 3 spot in January 2002, while Anelka was being shipped out to Liverpool. The club only finished 4th in the league, missing out on a Champions League spot.
2002-03 signalled a new approach on the transfer market, with no big signings and several loan deals. At the end of October 2002, following a resounding 3-0 win over Marseille in Le Classique, Paris Saint-Germain topped the table. This result, together with another win on the same scoreline at the Vélodrome in March 2003, would turn out to be the only highlights of the season. As from November, the club began its downfall towards mid-table. Ronaldinho was dropped to the bench, and Luis Fernández only managed to hang on to his post by beating reigning champions Olympique Lyonnais 2-0 in December 2002, and then by appealing to the faith Parisian supporters had in him. PSG ended the season ranked 11th, their worst position since the late 1980s, and lost the Coupe de France final to Auxerre. In the light of this dismal statistical and financial record (65 million euro of losses for 2002-03), Canal+ fired Laurent Perpère and Fernández. Francis Graille and Vahid Halilhodžić, who were credited with stabilizing Lille OSC in the French top flight in the early 2000s, were brought to turn things around.
While Graille was charged of bringing back financial stability, Halilhodžić had the duty of improving the team's performances. Ronaldinho was sold to FC Barcelona, while hitman Pauleta arrived from Bordeaux. Juan Pablo Sorín and Branko Bošković also reinforced the squad. The start to the season was a stuttering one marked by the departure of club icon Jérôme Leroy. After a few months, Halilhodžić managed to strike a balance and led the club to the podium, where it would remain till the end. A strong finish to the season even saw PSG overtake former leaders Monaco for 2nd place, and winning the French Cup in May. The run included a 2-1 win over Marseille at the Parc des Princes with Pauleta scoring a cheeky lob over Fabien Barthez. But, in typical Paris fashion, even when things seemed to be going well, the season had to end on a bitter event: former captain Frédéric Déhu left for arch-rivals OM.
More departures followed: Sorín, Fabrice Fiorèse (also to Marseille) and, most crucially, Gabriel Heinze, who had been a rock in defence for his three years in the French capital. PSG tried to compensate by recruiting Jérôme Rothen, Sylvain Armand et Mario Yepes. But the team had lost its unity. The 2004-05 season began disastrously. Adding insult to injury, an insider had lifted the lid on events occurring inside the dressing room, and fans were angry at the management's policy. In January 2005, Halilhodžić attempted to reverse the decline by bringing Sergei Semak, who had shone against PSG in the Champions League, but all to no avail. Graille had to fire his Bosnian friend and named Laurent Fournier as team manager. Results improved slightly leading to a 9th place finish. At the end of the season, Canal+ purchased the few shares still owned by Alain Cayzac, thus becoming 100% owners of the club. Graille departed to make way for Pierre Blayau.
Bonaventure Kalou, Vikash Dhorasoo and David Rozehnal arrived to revitalize the squad. On paper, the team was looking good[says who?] and it was playing quite well in the early months of the season, being third in late 2005. But in a surprising[says who?] turn of events, Blayau expressed his dissatisfaction and fired Fournier to hand over the team management to Guy Lacombe. This appointment turned out to be a disaster[says who?] as results nosedived, the club dropping to a final position of 9th in the league. While another Coupe de France was being won against Marseille, Canal+ were in the process of selling the club to Colony Capital, Butler and Morgan Stanley. The sale was completed in June and Pierre Blayau was replaced by Alain Cayzac.
The purchase of the club by Colony Capital and the Coupe de France win of 2006 had brought some hope back to the Parisian club. Wishing to break away from the spendthrift habits of Canal+ in the 1990s, the new owners opted for stability with Guy Lacombe staying on the bench and few new signings (Mickaël Landreau, Amara Diané and David Hellebuyck).
In spite of this stability, PSG fans who were expecting an improvement on the 1997-2006 period were to be heavily disappointed. In fact, the club was performing even worse than it did between 2004 and 2006, which had already been considered crisis seasons at the time. In 2006-07, Paris Saint-Germain never even formed part of the top half of the league standings. Problems also emerged off the field. In October 2006, Vikash Dhorasoo's contract was rescinded after he had accused manager Guy Lacombe of lying. November brought even worse moments. Following a humiliating home defeat in the UEFA Cup against Hapoël Tel-Aviv, a PSG was shot dead by a police officer.
In early January 2007, Guy Lacombe was sacked and replaced by former club player Paul Le Guen. Having achieved brilliant results as the manager of Olympique Lyonnais between 2002 and 2005, Le Guen was well received by the supporters; his status as a prominent former PSG player also mattered to them. Initially, the club continued to struggle, even dropping to the relegation zone in March. Then, performances improved and Paris Saint-Germain ended the season ranked 15th, its worst rank since the 1987-88 season, thus avoiding the drop.
The following season was supposed to be the one where Paris Saint-Germain would reclaim a top five spot. Again, Colony Capital opted for cautious moves in the transfer market, bringing in Grégory Bourillon, Didier Digard and Zoumana Camara. The first 8 games of the campaign saw the team specialize in draws, churning out 5 of them for one defeat and just two wins. In late September and early October, the season took a turn for the worse with two home defeats to Girondins Bordeaux and Stade Rennais. This kind of home performance became typical of a side that performed decently away from home but looked afraid to play on its own turf. The French press and fans alike began to mention the "Parc des Princes syndrome". From this moment on, PSG would be involved in a frustrating battle against relegation.
Attempting a shock therapy, Paul Le Guen fielded 5 youngsters in an away fixture at Valenciennes, with 17 year-old Mamadou Sakho captaining this rejuvenated side. The move backfired and soon the media were turning on Le Guen for trusting very average youngsters like Younousse Sankharé and Granddi Ngoyi. A 2-3 home defeat to Olympique Lyonnais in late October further illustrated the incongruity of Le Guen's youth policy. Unlike PSG, Lyon had youngsters who were ready for top flight football, such as Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa.
By December, Paris Saint-Germain had fallen into the drop zone. A brief respite followed a win against Lens, but the signing of Brazilians Everton Santos and Williamis Souza in January proved to be absolute flops. When spring began, the club was again being seriously threatened with relegation. The win in the Coupe de la Ligue against Lens in March did little to improve things. On 19 April, PSG collapsed to a heavy 3-0 loss to mid-table side Stade Malherbe Caen. This result had been preceded with other defeats: 2-3 at home to OGC Nice and 0-1 at Nancy. The club had reached its lowest point in an already catastrophic season and Alain Cayzac stepped down. Michel Moulin arrived as Director of Football.
Paris Saint-Germain had just four games to save its status in the top flight, which it had never left since 1974. In the first three games, just one was won and the other two ended as draws. The Parisians travelled to Sochaux on matchday 38 contemplating relegation. There, two goals by Amara Diane provided an unexpected victory which proved to be vital in achieving safety. The club also contested the final of the Coupe de France, looking for a 3rd success in 5 years in this competition, but lost out to Olympique Lyonnais in extra-time.
To replace Alain Cayzac, Charles Villeneuve, former sports director for TV channel TF1, was designated. While Villeneuve opted to maintain Paul Le Guen on the bench, his arrival signalled a new approach in transfers, with experienced internationals Ludovic Giuly and Claude Makélélé arriving to inspire the squad. They were joined by promising striker Guillaume Hoarau. Several players, including Mario Yepes and Pauleta, were out of contract, while Bernard Mendy, Amara Diané, Didier Digard and David N'Gog were all sold. A hesitant start to the season was followed by major successes, with PSG beating the 3 clubs that had topped the table in 2007-08: Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille. The most memorable of those successes was a 4-2 win in late October at the Vélodrome against bitter rivals Olympique Marseille, after the Marseillais had led 2-1.
When the winter break arrived, PSG were 4th of the table, their best performance at this stage of a season since three years. A mini-crisis occurred when Charles Villeneuve was forced to step down when the media published a letter he had sent to shareholders, and in which he was expressing criticism of the club top's management. Colony Capital's CEO for Europe, Sébastien Bazin, temporarily took his spot. This change had few effects on the club's fortunes on the pitch. In the 8 games leading to the clash against Marseille on 15 March, Paris Saint-Germain registered 6 wins and one draw in 8 games. The team arrived on the pitch filled with confidence, and motivated by the fact that a win would take them past Lyon at the top of the table. However, Marseille played very well and won 3-1 at the Parc des Princes. Soon after, it was announced that Paul Le Guen's contract as manager would not be renewed, because he had a poor relationship with part of the club staff. A series of bad results followed, leading the club to missing out on a Europa League spot, let alone Champions League qualification.
Le Guen was replaced by his former teammate at both FC Nantes and Paris Saint-Germain, Antoine Kombouaré, a hugely popular character among the supporters for his achievements in Paris. Mevlüt Erdinç, Christophe Jallet and experienced goalkeeper Grégory Coupet joined the club while Mickaël Landreau, Kežman and Jérôme Rothen departed. The side made an excellent start to the season, topping the table with Bordeaux and Lyon at the end of August. Colony Capital purchased Morgan Stanley's shares in the club, while Robin Leproux, a specialist of the media, replaced Bazin as Chairman.
Kombouaré began to struggle with the limited squad he had at his disposal. Injuries to key attackers Hoarau and Erding further complicated matters. PSG dropped to mid-table as from autumn and never recovered, finishing 13th at the end of the season, while rivals Marseille were winning the league. However, Kombouaré did manage to strengthen the club's reputation as a cup competition specialist, delivering another Coupe de France title in May 2010. AS Monaco were the losers on that occasion.
Disregarding the disappointing 13th place finish, Colony Capital maintained Leproux and Kombouaré in their roles. Reinforcements arrived in the form of Côte d'Ivoire international Siaka Tiéné, Brazilian winger Nenê and gifted attacking midfielder Mathieu Bodmer. In the first half of the season, Nenê performed brilliantly and dragged the side towards the top quarter of the table. The Brazilian, a summer signing from Monaco, was getting the plaudits and even earning comparisons with former PSG legends Raí, David Ginola, Leonardo and Ronaldinho. Kombouaré encouraged his players to display an attacking brand of football, and for the first time since the mid-1990s, PSG was praised for the quality of its football. Nevertheless, the season ended in disappointments with the Coupe de France being lost to Lille OSC, while a 4th place finish was not enough to deliver Champions League qualification. A few days after the season had ended, the sale of the club, often mentioned in the media, was finalized, with Qatar Investment Authority becoming the new owners.
The new owners did not take long to make some drastic changes at the club. They brought in then F.C. Internazionale coach Leonardo Araújo as a director of sport and added many new faces to the team most famously Javier Pastore in a deal worth almost 40m euro's. In the same summer transfer window PSG also brought in Fenerbahçe defender Diego Lugano by paying out his full buy-out clause of 3m euro's, Pastore's ex-Palermo team-mate and goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu for 3m, Mohamed Sissoko from Juventus F.C., Blaise Matuidi from Saint-Étienne, Jérémy Ménez from A.S. Roma, Kévin Gameiro for 13m among others concluding a very busy transfer window for the club who spent the second most of all clubs in the world, behind fellow Qatari backed club Manchester City F.C. according to transfermarkt.de.
| Preceded by Real Zaragoza |
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Winner 1996 Runner up: Rapid Vienna |
Succeeded by Barcelona |
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