The marriage of the City of Light and professional football was not an easy one. In the late 1960s a group of prominent investors tried to create a new team from scratch – Paris Football Club – however, following the bankruptcies of Racing Club de Paris, Stade Français and CA Paris, it wasn’t until neighbouring amateurs Stade Saint-Germain (founded in 1904) earned promotion to the second division in 1970 that the French League gave the merger the green light.
The new Paris Saint-Germain FC – led by France captain Jean Djorkaeff – won the second division at their first attempt. Unfortunately, the city’s Town Hall demanded that the ‘Saint-Germain’ be dropped from the name for the club to continue receiving financial support and be allowed to play at the Parc des Princes. The resulting infighting saw the club split back into two with Paris FC remaining in the top-flight and Paris Saint-Germain FC dumped to the amateur third division.
Two years (and two promotions) later, PSG – with President Daniel Hechter pulling the strings – were back in Ligue 1, where they have remained ever since.
PSG won their first championship in 1986 under Gérard Houllier, but it wasn’t until television station Canal Plus bought the club in 1991 that PSG grew into one of the country’s biggest outfits. Champions in 1994, PSG – boasting names such as Weah, Ginola, Le Guen, Ricardo and Valdo – charged to three consecutive European semi-finals before finally claiming the 1996 Cup Winners' Cup.
Despite finishing second behind Lyon in 2004, the 2004-05 season was a disastrous one with the club equalling its worst League position ever (15th) and firing the President-Coach duo of Francis Graille and Vahid Halilhodzic along the way.
