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Football rivalry in France
Paris derby
PSG, the dominant club in Paris, in 2001.
Other names
Derby de Paris, Derby de la Capitale, Le Derby Parisien
Since the origins of French football, several rivalries have existed within the capital city. The first French football championship, held in 1894, was limited to Paris and its surrounding areas and featured six Parisian clubs: Standard Athletic Club, International Athletic Club, The White Rovers, Neuilly Athletic Circle, Club Français, and Cercle pédestre d'Asnières. As a result, top-flight derbies were frequent during this early period. The most prominent rivalry involved Standard, the Rovers and Club Français, which emerged as the dominant teams of the era. These three clubs contested the first five league titles, with Standard winning four, Club Français claiming one, and the Rovers finishing runners-up on four occasions.[1][2]
Played in a knockout cup format, the inaugural championship was won by Standard, who defeated the Rovers over two matches in the first-ever all-Paris final.[1][2] The Rovers had entered as favourites after beating Club Français 1–0 in the semi-finals, courtesy of a late goal by Mac Bain from a Jack Wood corner.[3] The final, played on 29 April 1894, ended in a 2–2 draw after extra time, before a replay on 5 May saw Standard prevail 2–0 through goals by Hunter and Vines. In 1895, Standard again overcame the Rovers, winning the final 3–1.[1][2][4]
In 1896, the championship adopted a league format. The Rovers won seven of their eight matches, recording a goal difference of 35–2, with their only defeat coming against champions Club Français, and finished runners-up for the third consecutive season. In 1897, the Rovers finished level on points with Standard at the top of the table. As goal difference was not used as a tiebreaker at the time, a deciding match was arranged. Although the Rovers had defeated Standard during the league season, they lost the final 3–2, leaving them without a title for the fourth consecutive year.[4][5] The club subsequently declined, struggling to attract players, and after two further seasons without contending for the title, the Rovers were dissolved in 1899.[6]
Standard won the championship again in 1898, defeating Club Français in the final, and went on to claim their fifth and final title in 1901, despite the competition being opened to clubs from outside Paris in 1899. The British-only club withdrew from football in 1928 after the French Football Federation (FFF) required all players to hold French residency, but continued to exist thereafter as a British social club in Paris.[2][7] During the amateur era of the French championship (25 editions between 1894 and 1932), clubs from Paris won ten titles: five by Standard, one by Club Français, and one each by Gallia Club Paris, Racing Paris, CA Paris-Charenton, and Stade Français.[1][2]
Parisian clubs were equally dominant in the Coupe de France, winning 15 of the first 32 editions, including the first six. Olympique de Paris claimed the inaugural title in 1918, followed by CASG Paris—who denied Olympique a second consecutive crown in the first all-Paris final in 1919—and CA Paris in 1920.[8]Red Star FC, the dominant Parisian side during the 1920s, then secured three consecutive victories, becoming the first club to achieve a hat-trick of titles.[9][10][11] In the 1921 edition, Red Star notably defeated Racing 4–3 in the semi-finals at the Parc des Princes before winning the final against Olympique, with goalkeeper Pierre Chayriguès hailed as the hero of the match.[8][12][13] At the time, the club played in blue and white, but in 1926 it merged with Olympique and adopted the green and white colours still used today.[10][14]
The hegemony of Parisian clubs continued as Red Star defeated Stade Français 8–2 in the semi-finals and CA Paris 3–1 in the 1928 Coupe de France final, capturing their fourth title in what remains the last all-Paris final to date.[2][8][15] CASG and Club Français later added two further Parisian cup victories.[8] In 1932, Red Star, Racing, CA Paris, and Club Français were among the founding members of the professional league launched for the 1932–33 season.[2][8][16] The first Parisian derby of the professional era was played on 11 November 1932, when Red Star lost 4–3 to CA Paris at the Stade Bauer.[17]
Racing and Red Star were at the center of the Parisian rivalry from the 1930s to the 1960s, with Racing holding the upper hand, most notably by winning the Ligue 1 and Coupe de France double in 1936.[8][9][16] Racing went on to claim four additional Coupe de France titles, the last in 1949, while Red Star lifted the trophy once more in 1942, marking their final major honours to date.[2][8][16] As French football gradually professionalized, the national landscape shifted, and Parisian clubs fell behind major provincial sides such as Sète, Sochaux, and Marseille.[9] CA Paris was relegated in 1934, while Club Français dissolved due to financial difficulties in 1935.[18][19][20] Gallia Club Paris, despite a 1926 merger with Stade d'Ivry, also disbanded in 1940.[20][21] CASG Paris opted not to join the professional ranks in 1933 and instead remained an amateur club until its dissolution in 1951.[22]
In 1946, Stade Français returned to the top flight but proved less successful than Racing and Red Star.[1][16][23] That year, they lost 3–2 to Red Star in a memorable Coupe de France semi-final, decided by a last-minute goal from Paul Bersoullé; Red Star went on to finish as runners-up in the competition.[8][24][25] Racing reached another Coupe de France final in 1950, finished as Ligue 1 runners-up on two occasions, and became the first Parisian club to compete in European competition, entering the 1963–64 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup. Stade Français also participated in the Fairs Cup on two occasions, defeating Real Betis 2–0 in the 1964–65 edition to become the first Parisian side to record a European victory.[8][23][26] The two clubs met in the relegation play-offs in 1954, with Racing retaining their Ligue 1 status after a 4–3 aggregate victory, sending Stade Français down. Stade Français returned to the top division in 1959.[24][27]
The late 1960s marked a period of decline for the capital's historic clubs. Racing, based in the northwestern suburb of Colombes, and Stade Français were confined to the amateur leagues, while Red Star, located in the northern suburb of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine, had passed its prime. To address this void, the FFF initiated the creation of a major inner-city club. Paris FC (PFC) was officially founded in 1969, initially without players, a stadium, or a place in any league. A year later, in 1970, Paris FC merged with Stade Saint-Germain, a club from the western suburb of Saint-Germain-en-Laye that was then competing in Ligue 2. This merger gave rise to Paris Saint-Germain FC (PSG).[28][29][30]
PSG won Ligue 2 in their first season, earning promotion to Ligue 1.[31][32][33] In their inaugural top-flight campaign, they finished 16th, retaining their status, and claimed their first Parisian derby victory by defeating Red Star 4–1 at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir in front of 8,305 spectators.[1][16][34] At season's end, the Council of Paris, unhappy that the capital's club was based in the suburbs, threatened to withdraw financial support unless it changed its name to Paris FC.[31][32][35] PSG president and former Stade Saint-Germain president Henri Patrelle refused, and on 20 June 1972, the club split.[32][36] PSG kept their name but were administratively relegated to the third tier, while Paris FC retained Ligue 1 status, moved into the Parc des Princes, and won both derbies against Red Star in the 1972–73 season.[16][35]
History soon turned in PSG's favor, as they achieved back-to-back promotions to the top flight. On 10 November 1973, they played their first match at the Parc des Princes against promotion rivals Red Star, winning 3–1, with Othniel Dossevi scoring the club's first goal at the stadium.[31][34][37] Both clubs reached Ligue 1 in 1974, the same season Paris FC was relegated. PSG took full ownership of the Parc des Princes and established themselves as the dominant club in Paris.[1][16][29] Their first Parisian derby in Ligue 1 saw them defeat Red Star 2–0 in front of 27,840 spectators, while a draw in the return fixture marked the clubs' final meeting, as Red Star were relegated at the end of the 1974–75 season.[1][16][34]
PSG and Paris FC met again in the 1978–79 season, with both matches ending in draws, each featuring a goal from PSG's Argentine striker Carlos Bianchi. Paris FC was relegated that season, leaving PSG as the capital's sole top-flight club.[1][16] The PSG–Paris FC rivalry remained mild, with few encounters and limited fan hostility. By contrast, Red Star developed a far more intense rivalry with Paris FC. Their first top-flight meeting in 1973 ended in a 3–2 victory for PFC, but tensions peaked in 1978 during a second-tier match at Stade Bauer. Red Star, under administration and needing a win to stay in the promotion race, lost 1–0 amid controversy over a disputed goal, fuelling allegations of favoritism by the Council of Paris. The match was marred by crowd disorder after the PFC coach was struck by stones following an obscene gesture and concluded with a pitch invasion by Red Star supporters. Red Star then fell into the amateur ranks, while PFC also faced financial difficulties. The rivalry resurfaced years later, reaching renewed intensity in 2014 amid clashes between ultras with opposing cultural and political identities.[9][29][38]
Racing's challenge to PSG
PSG quickly established themselves in the top flight and began to gain national recognition, winning the Coupe de France in 1982 and qualifying for the 1982–83 European Cup Winners' Cup. It was the first time in more than 30 years that a Parisian team had won the trophy—the previous one being Racing in 1949—as well as the first appearance in European competition by a Parisian club since Stade Français in 1965. PSG won a second consecutive Coupe de France in 1983, another first for a Paris club since Racing achieved the feat 40 years earlier, in 1939 and 1940.[8][1][26] Three years later, in 1986, the club was crowned French champion for the first time in its history, becoming one of only two Paris-based clubs to have won the national title in the professional era.[2][1][16] The only other was Racing, which had claimed the title 50 years earlier, in 1936.[16][39] That same year, Racing also won the Coupe de France, becoming the only club from the capital to achieve the domestic double until PSG repeated the feat in 2015.[2][8]
Simultaneously, French businessman Jean-Luc Lagardère, through the Matra group, acquired Racing in 1982 with the aim of challenging PSG's hegemony in the capital.[30][40] In 1984, led by Algerian 1982 FIFA World Cup star Rabah Madjer, Racing earned promotion to Ligue 1.[40][30] The club won the promotion playoff 2–0 against Saint-Étienne at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, following a draw in the first leg at a packed Stade Yves-du-Manoir in Colombes in front of 40,000 spectators. However, Lagardère chose to relocate the club from its historic home to the Parc des Princes, where it shared the venue with PSG. This decision was later widely regarded by insiders and players as a strategic mistake. Although a new rivalry emerged, public interest remained limited, and the project struggled to generate a clear identity or lasting emotional attachment.[23][41]
Racing survived only one season in Ligue 1, but returned at the first attempt in 1986. Lagardère oversaw an ambitious recruitment drive that summer, signing Uruguayan star Enzo Francescoli, West Germany playmaker Pierre Littbarski, and French international Luis Fernandez, recruited from city rivals PSG.[40][42] Despite Francescoli's goals, the team finished 13th, closer to the relegation places than to qualification for European competition. In 1987, Lagardère appointed Portuguese manager Artur Jorge, who had just won the UEFA Champions League with Porto. Despite a promising third place at mid-season, Racing ended the 1987–88 campaign in seventh place, their best finish during the Matra era. The following season, the club avoided relegation to Ligue 2 only on goal difference and failed to qualify for European competition throughout the period.[23][40]
Having already invested around 300 million francs, Matra and Jean-Luc Lagardère withdrew their backing in 1989. Racing had been playing in front of near-empty crowds at the Parc des Princes, making it impossible to recoup the heavy expenditure on players and management. Attendances rarely exceeded 10,000 spectators, while PSG regularly attracted at least twice as many.[40][41][42] In 1990, Racing finished second from bottom in the league and lost the Coupe de France final 2–1 after extra time against Montpellier, but did record a derby victory before being relegated to Ligue 2. On 25 February 1990, talented young winger and future PSG legend David Ginola featured for Racing in a 2–1 victory at the Parc des Princes, with Aziz Bouderbala scoring both goals. After ten Paris derbies against PSG with a broadly balanced head-to-head record, Racing began the following season back at amateur level, where the club has remained ever since.[1][16][40]
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