 | |||
| Full name | Paris Football Club | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Blues The Parisians | ||
| Founded | 1 August 1969; 55 years ago (1969-08-01) | ||
| Ground | Stade Sébastien Charléty | ||
| Capacity | 20,000 | ||
| Owner | Agache Sport (52.4%) Alter Paris (29.8%) Red Bull (10.6%) BRI (7.2%) | ||
| President | Pierre Ferracci | ||
| Head coach | Stéphane Gilli | ||
| League | Ligue 2 | ||
| 2023–24 | Ligue 2, 5th of 20 | ||
| Website | parisfc | ||
 Current season | |||
Paris Football Club (French pronunciation:[paʁifutbolklœb]), commonly referred to asParis FC or simplyPFC, is aFrench professionalfootballclub based inParis, that competes in theLigue 2, the second tier ofFrench football. Paris FC play their home matches at theStade Sébastien Charléty, which is located in the13th arrondissement of Paris.
Founded in 1969, the club merged withStade Saint-Germain to formParis Saint-Germain in 1970. In 1972, the club split from Paris Saint-Germain resulting in the current Paris FC. Unlike its counterpart, which has gone on to establish a solid foundation, Paris FC has struggled to establish itself, having spent the majority of its existence playing in the amateur divisions, regaining professional status in 2015. Paris FC last played inLigue 1 in the1978–79 season.
Since 2024, Paris FC have been majority-owned byArnault family's Agache Sport, which currently holds 52.4% of the shares. Austrian conglomerateRed Bull owns 10.6%,Alter Paris led byPierre Ferracci owns 29.8%, and BRI owns 7.2% of the club's shares, making Paris FC one of the richest clubs in France.
In an effort to re-launch professional football in the city of Paris, Paris Football Club was founded on 1 August 1969. The objective of the club was to be playing in thefirst division by 1970. An attempted merger withCS Sedan Ardennes was refused so Paris went looking in thesecond division and, subsequently, merged withStade Saint-Germain to formParis Saint-Germain, the professional club that plays inLigue 1. The current incarnation of Paris FC came into being in 1972 when the club split from Paris Saint-Germain after coming under pressure from the capital city's mayor, who refused to support a non-Parisian club (the club had originally been situated in nearbySaint-Germain-en-Laye). As a result, a bitter split occurred and both Paris FC and Paris Saint-Germain remained as separate football club with the main agreement being that Paris FC had the right to keep the splitting entity's first division and professional status, as well as all the professional players. Paris Saint-Germain were, on the other hand, administratively relegated to the third division and given all the former entity's amateur players.
At the beginning of the1972–73 season, Paris were playing in the first division hosting matches at theParc des Princes. Two seasons later, the club was relegated to the second division, which coincided with Paris Saint-Germain's rise to top-flight and the installation in the Parc des Princes. After four years of playing in Division 2, Paris returned to the first division for the1978–79 season. However, the season was a difficult one and resulted in the club falling back to Division 2 after one season. Paris FC have since yet to return to the top-flight league of France.
In 1983, Paris FC, then led by the industrialistJean-Luc Lagardère, merged withRacing Club de France. While Racing remained in the first division, the remaining entity that was PFC was administratively relegated to the fourth division. Due to having limited resources, Paris fell to the Division d'Honneur after one season and, subsequently, spent four seasons in the fifth division before returning to Division 4 in 1988. Another promotion the following season saw Paris earn a place in Division 3. Paris remained in the division for 12 years becoming inaugural members of the Championnat National in the process. In 2000, the club finished 17th and were relegated to theChampionnat de France amateur. Paris spent six years in the league before returning to National for the 2006–07 season.
After a successful 2014–15 campaign, the club gained promotion to Ligue 2, the French second division, alongside its local rivalRed Star F.C. However, it would stay in Ligue 2 for only one year and was relegated back to the Championnat National for the 2016–17 season. In the 2016–17 season, Paris FC made the playoff/relegation final againstUS Orleans but lost over the two legged game on aggregate. Paris FC were then administratively promoted toLigue 2 afterSC Bastia were demoted to the third division for financial irregularities.[1] For the 2017/2018 Ligue 2 season, Paris FC finished 8th in the table but at one stage occupied the promotion places.[2]
In the 2018–19 season, Paris finished 4th and contested theplay-offs againstRC Lens, but lost the penalty shoot-out after a 1–1 draw.[3]
On 30 April 2021 Paris FC, along withAngers, were handed a transfer ban by FIFA for violation of regulations regarding relay transfers in August 2020. The ban was effective for the summer 2021 transfer window.[4]
In July 2020, a new strategic economic partner joined Paris FC to support the club's development and ambitions: the Kingdom of Bahrain. The deal was completed with a capital investment to improve the finances of the club, giving the kingdom 20 percent of the equity.Pierre Ferracci, the founder of the December 1983 establishedAlpha Group (French:Groupe Alpha) which owns its subsidiary the consulting and auditing firmAlpha-Secafi,[5] remained the main shareholder with a contribution of 77 percent. In addition to this investment, the Kingdom of Bahrain became the main sponsor of the club.
The Council of Paris was to vote on renewing the yearly subvention that the City of Paris allocates to the Paris Club, several non-profit organizations based in Paris, including ADHRB called for the City of Paris to hold a dialogue on the abuse of human rights and death penalty practiced in the Kingdom ofBahrain, a 20% share holder of the club. The Council of Paris accused the kingdom of distracting the general public from its abuses via a popular sport like football, committing a practice known as ‘sportswashing’. The council also demanded the release of detainees put on death row by Bahrain on the basis of confessions acquired via torture methods. As one of the oldest partners of the Paris FC club, Mairie de Paris was called for pursuing its commitment towards the defense of human rights.[6][7]
The NGOs had highlighted the human rights records and the sportswashing attempts of Bahrain, under which the club's jerseys promoted “Victorious Bahrain” and the grounds ofCharléty stadium had “Explore Bahrain” advertisements. Such publicity was considered inappropriate, as Bahrain was seen as a repressive regime. Following the appeal from the NGOs, the Council of Paris voted an amendment for the allocation of a subsidy of €500,000 to the club. In the amendment, all the issues were kept in mind to ensure the inclusion of an “organization of additional actions to raise awareness of human rights and fight against all forms of discrimination”. Besides, the mention of private financial partnerships in the amendment was believed to prompt a withdrawal of the “Explore Bahrain” advertising panels in the Charléty stadium.[8][9]
In October 2024, it was reported that theArnault family would purchase a future majority ownership stake along with a minority ownership byRed Bull GmbH.[10]
The club used to be the biggest and most well supported in the city, with over 20,000 supporter members at the time of the club's formation.[11]
In 1970 the club merged with Stade Saint-Germain to formParis Saint-Germain F.C., but quickly left the merger. In the 1973 season, the first after leaving, the club still averaged an attendance of 13,202.[12] However, after that, the two clubs' fortunes varied drastically, and as PSG's popularity rose, PFC fell into obscurity and languished in the amateur divisions. It is only when it reached thethird tier its popularity started growing again. The club currently attracts thousands of fans for each league match.[13]
In 2000s the club used to have asupporter group calledBlue Wolves founded in 2008. Officiallyapolitical, they tended to haveright-wing views. However they were disbanded in 2010 after severalhooligan incidents occurred, the last of which during a match againstFC Gueugnon.[14][15][16]
They were replaced by the groupOld Clan, founded in 2010, andultras groupUltras Lutetia founded in the summer of 2014. After theexpulsion of PSG fans from Parc des Princes in 2010,[17] PFC has attracted some of that support, particularly from theleft-wing groupVirage Auteuil,[18] but also a few fromright-wing groupBoulogne Boys.
The fans have a friendship with fans ofSR Colmar,Hereford FC and in the past also fans ofStade de Reims.
The club has rivalries with fellow neighboursUS Créteil andRed Star F.C.[19] with whom they contest theParisian derbies.[20] Although both clubs are officially apolitical, due to Red Star fansleft-wing political tendencies and PFC's pastright-wing political tendencies, the derby is particularly fierce. The derby with US Créteil is a geographical one as both clubs play in the southern suburbs of Paris.
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as defined underFIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Below are the notable former players who have represented Paris and its predecessors inleague and international competition since the club's foundation in 1969. To appear in the section below, a player must have played in at least 80 official matches for the club.
For a complete list of Paris players, seeCategory:Paris FC players
| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| President of the club | Pierre Ferracci |
| General Manager | Fabrice Herrault |
| Sportive Director | Frederic Hebert |
| Head coach | Stéphane Gilli |
| Assistant coach | Fabien Lefèvre Armand Séné |
| Goalkeeper coach | Mickael Boull |
| Performance manager | Christophe Manouvrier |
| Doctor | Nicolas Jubin |
| Physio | Erwann Le Corre Stephen Hall Brice Chevalier |
| Osteopath | Geoffroy Kevorkoff |
| Masseur | Hervé Gallorini |
| Intendant | Pierre Garbin Souleymane Samassa |
| Team Manager | Olivier Perez |
| Director of academy | Jean-Marc Nobilo |
