Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (French pronunciation: [paʁi sɛ̃ ʒɛʁmɛ̃]), commonly referred to as PSG, is a French professional association football club based in Paris, whose first team play in the highest tier ofFrench football, the Ligue 1. The team was formed in 1970 by the merger of Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain.
Domestically, PSG have won six Ligue 1 titles, nine Coupes de France, a record six Coupes de la Ligue, five Trophées des Champions and the Ligue 2 title once. In international club football, the Parisian side have won one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and one UEFA Intertoto Cup. PSG is the most successful club in French football and one of only two French clubs (with Olympique de Marseille) to win a major European club competition.
The Parc des Princes has been the home stadium of PSG since 1974. The Camp des Loges has served as the club’s training centre since 1970. The Tournoi de Paris has been hosted by the capital club at Le Parc since 1975. PSG shares an intense rivalry with Marseille and contest the most notorious football match in France, known as Le Classique. PSG is the second-highest supported football club in France after rivals Marseille. Qatar Sports Investments became the club’s sole shareholder in 2012. The takeover made PSG the richest club in France and amongst the richest in the world.
The crest and shirt of the club were mainly designed by Daniel Hechter. The traditional shirt is blue with a red central vertical bar framed by white edgings. “Allez Paris Saint-Germain”, to the tune of “Go West” by Pet Shop Boys, is the official anthem of PSG.However, “Ville Lumière” is considered by the fans to be one of PSG’s most emblematic songs. Germain the Lynx is the club’s mascot. “Ici, c’est Paris!” and “Paris est magique!” are the club’s most popular mottos.
History
Towards the end of the 1960s, an ambitious group of businessmen decided to create a major club in the French capital. They chose to merge their virtual side, Paris FC, with Stade Saint-Germain after the team from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, located 15 kilometres west of Paris, won promotion to Ligue 2. Paris Saint-Germain Football Club was founded on 12 August 1970. PSG made an immediate impact both on and off the pitch; the club built a substantial fanbase, won the Ligue 2 title and celebrated their first birthday inLigue 1. Their momentum was soon checked, however, and the club split in 1972; Paris FC remained in the top-flight while PSG were demoted to Division 3. Two seasons later, however, PSG returned to Ligue 1, moving into the Parc des Princes in 1974.
The club’s trophy cabinet welcomed its first major silverware in the shape of the Coupe de France in 1981–82. On 15 May 1982, PSG defeated Saint-Étienne, and a certain Michel Platini, in the final, and on June 11, the following year, made it back-to-back cups in beating Nantes. Coach Gérard Houllier then led the team to their maiden league success in 1986, with Safet Sušić pulling the strings in midfield. Success on the domestic front meant PSG flew France’s colours on the European stage. The best result was a quarter-final appearance in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup in March 1983, against the Belgian outfit Waterschei.
An even brighter era dawned when Canal+ took over in 1991. Thanks to the investment of their owners and with successful coaches Artur Jorge and Luis Fernández, an avalanche of trophies followed. 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 semi-finals once and twice advanced to the same stage of the UEFA Cup. Domestically, they were enjoying as much success as George Weah, Raí,Leonardo and a strong spine of homegrown talent became the darlings of French football. PSG celebrated their second league title in 1994, lifting the Coupe de France three times, the Coupe de la Ligue twice and Trophée des Champions twice before the turn of the century.
PSG launched the new millennium by claiming the 2001 UEFA Intertoto Cup, followed by three French Cups and one League Cup. Cup successes notwithstanding, the early 2000s were tough for PSG, who flirted with relegation on occasion as a combination of high expectations and intense media pressure took their toll. It was not until the club was purchased by Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, following two years of solid progress and stability under coach Antoine Kombouaré and President Robin Leproux, that PSG finally restored a sense of balance. Club legend Leonardo was brought back in a sporting director capacity and oversaw a spending spree that has so far been unprecedented in Ligue 1 history.
Reinforced by new star Zlatan Ibrahimović and under famous coach Carlo Ancelotti, Paris warmed up for the 2012–13 season with the aim of winning the club’s first league title since 1994. Zlatan’s 30-goal haul almost single-handedly led the capital side to the crown. Now led by Laurent Blanc, who succeeded Ancelotti, PSG won the Trophée des Champions against Bordeaux (2-1) in the 2013–14 season curtain-raiser. And for the first time in the club’s history, Les Parisiens defended the title and also secured a maiden league and domestic cup double thanks to Edinson Cavani’s brace in the 2014 Coupe de la Ligue Final win over Lyon. Paris then left their mark on French football in the 2014–15 season by claiming an unprecedented domestic quadruple: the Ligue 1, the Coupe de France, the Coupe de la Ligue and the Trophée des Champions.
source:https://en.wikipedia.org