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Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, or PSG, is a French football club based in Paris. The club stadium is the 49,000-seat Parc des Princes.
History
The club was founded in August 1970. 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.
Ownership
In 1994 PSG was purchased by the French media company Canal Plus, but despite major investment did not win the French league under its ownership. In April 2006 it was sold to a consortium of investment companies comprised of U.S. firms Morgan Stanley and Colony Capital and Butler Capital Partners of France for a reported sum of 41 million euros ($49m; £34m). It is expected that the club will be floated on the stock market later in 2006. *
Honours
- French Division 1
- French Cup
- French League Cup
- European Cup Winners' Cup
- UEFA Intertoto Cup
- Winners (1): 2001
- French Division 2
- Winners (1): 1971
Current Squad
As of 16 June, 2006
"Paris Saint-Germain F.C."