PSG before the Qatari money
Today, we all know Paris Saint-Germain and its dominance in France. We're also familiar with many of the players who have played for the club over the last decade and a half. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Neymar, Kylian Mbappé, Sergio Ramos, and Lionel Messi, to name a few. But this only represents part of PSG's history. In 2011, this wasn't their first experience with major investments, and in a way, it has been part of their story. Today, we'll talk about PSG before the Qatari investment arrived and some of their stories in French football.
The ancestors
The current Paris Saint-Germain FC is a relatively young football club compared to most of Europe's top-flight clubs, having been founded in August 1970 following the merger of the city's two clubs at the time, Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain. The former was formed just a year earlier, as the club sought to establish a major club in Paris, comparable to teams from other major European capitals, while also promoting football in the city. Stade Saint-Germain, for its part, was founded in 1904 as a multi-sport club, including football. It began its journey in the French football system in the fourth tier and played in the lower divisions until 1970.The birth of PSG
A group of three businessmen wanted to form a Paris-based football club that would be part of the top clubs in Europe. To that end, they contacted Santiago Bernabeu, president of Real Madrid, hoping he would guide them in this endeavor. Following the model of Spanish clubs, businessmen formed PSG through the merger of Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain and sought to recruit fans to become season ticket holders of the fledgling club. They managed to attract around 20,000 supporters, and with that support, Paris Saint-Germain was created. Paris FC provided financial support, while Stade Saint-Germain provided the sporting infrastructure including the manager and most of the players.The Parisian club made a star signing for their debut season, Jean Djorkaeff (father of world champion Youri Djorkaeff), a regular international with the France national team at the time and who was playing for Marseille, showing that PSG was serious. In the 1970-71 season, Paris Saint-Germain began its journey in professional football in Division 2 (second tier of French football) and in its first season, it was crowned champion and achieved promotion to the first tier.
In that second season of existence and first in Division 1, the club finished in 16th place, something that allowed them to continue for another year in that category, however, what seemed to be a financially stable club was not and that is where the City Council appeared, starting internal problems within PSG that led to problems between the founding businessmen that ended in the dissolution of the institution: on one hand there was Paris FC, who would remain in Division 1 and on the other hand, Paris Saint-Germain who would be the ones who would suffer the punishment from the City Council and end up in Division 3, third tier in France, where they were no longer a professional club.
Rebirth
The situation wasn't easy, as not only did they lose their place in professional football, but they could only count on five first-team players, as the rest remained at Paris FC. Additionally, in Division 3, they had to replace their reserve team, and these would form the team for the 1972-73 season. This generation of young players had several interesting talents, including Christian André, an important player in achieving second place in Division 3 and coming within striking distance of promotion.Or at least, that's what it seemed, as first place went to US Quevilly-Rouen, who folded at the end of that season due to financial problems, leaving the Parisian club with its spot in Division 2. The team signed François M'Pelé to be their main offensive reference and with him they achieved the necessary synergy to achieve a second consecutive promotion, this time to Division 1, where they would remain to this day.
The first golden age
The rest of the 1970s saw PSG consolidate their position in the top tier, where they didn't really have any seasons that put their league in jeopardy. Additionally, they gradually gained status, allowing them to sign higher-profile players like Carlos Bianchi and promote prominent players from their academy, like Luis Fernandez. The rest of the 1970s saw PSG consolidate their position in the top tier, where they didn't really have any seasons that put their league at risk. Additionally, they gradually gained status, allowing them to sign higher-profile players like Carlos Bianchi and promote prominent players from their academy, such as Luis Fernandez. The 1980s began with the Parisian club winning its first major title, the Coupe de France in 1982, defeating Platini's Saint-Etienne on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regular time.This achievement allowed them to make their European debut by participating in the Cup Winners' Cup the following season, where they repeated their Coupe de France title, this time against Nantes in the final. The league trophy eluded them for a few more years, until 1986, when the club's progressive growth materialized in its first French league title, with Dominique Rocheteau and Luis Fernandez as their main figures. The achievement was a bit bittersweet as it also meant the departure of several of their best players and this also meant two very tough seasons where they finished seventh and fifteenth, respectively.
Canal+ became the new owners of Paris Saint-Germain
The second golden era
Although the situation gradually began to improve, it required significant investments that were not reflected in titles, and this led to the club going into debt. It was then that, in 1991, Canal+ took over the club, turning it into an economic powerhouse in French football. The club brought in almost a new squad, including names like Valdo, a Brazil international, and David Ginola, and this led to a third-place finish in their first season under new ownership. A year later, the investment continued, with the arrival of Bernard Lama, Alain Roche, and the star of this era for the club, George Weah.This time, they achieved a second-place finish in the league and won their third Coupe de France, although this wasn't enough for Canal+, which brought in Rai from São Paulo FC the following season to finally crown them league champions for the second time in their history. This became an era where PSG won several domestic titles and their first European title, the 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. That era also saw the birth of a rivalry, one of France's hottest, the famous Le Classique, the name given to the clash between PSG and Marseille, the two dominant teams in the 90s.
At the beginning of the new century, Canal+ decided to abandon its ownership of the club, and this began what would become the era before the arrival of petrodollars: an irregular team that, while winning local cups and an Intertoto Cup and producing top-flight players like Pauleta, Okocha, and Ronaldinho, never won another league title or established a significant presence in Europe. In 2011, Qatar Sports Investments emerged, with Nasser Al-Khelaifi as the main public face of the investment group, and the rest is fairly well known to most.