Parc des Princes

The Parc des Princes (French pronunciation: [paʁk de pʁɛ̃s], lit. 'Park of Princes') is an all-seater football stadium in Paris, France. It is located in the southwest of the French capital, within the 16th arrondissement, directly opposite the Stade Jean-Bouin.^[1] The stadium, with a seating capacity of 47,929 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain FC (PSG) since July 1974.^[2][3] The pitch is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands: Tribune Auteuil, Tribune Paris, Tribune Borelli and Tribune Boulogne.^[4]

The area surrounding the stadium was a forest used as a private hunting ground by the king's sons (the princes) for centuries, hence the name Parc des Princes. Following the French Revolution of 1789, the area passed into the hands of the central government. Finally, in 1852, with the proclamation of the Second French Empire, Emperor Napoleon III ceded ownership to the Council of Paris.^[5][6][7] The first Parc was built there in 1897 as an open-air velodrome, hosting prestigious cycling competitions including the Tour de France. Destroyed and rebuilt in 1932, the second Parc adopted a more modern design, opening the door to new sports such as football and rugby.^[8][9]

Under the leadership of French presidents Charles de Gaulle and Georges Pompidou, and Minister of Sports Maurice Herzog, a project to rebuild the stadium to contemporary standards began on 8 July 1967. Architect Roger Taillibert envisioned an avant-garde, bold, and sculptural building. Inaugurated on 25 May 1972, with a gala match between the France Olympic football team and the Soviet Union Olympic football team, the third Parc des Princes impressed with its futuristic lines, suspended concrete stands, and formidable acoustics.^[1][9][10]

Before the opening of the Stade de France in 1998, it was the home stadium of the France national football team and the France national rugby union team.^[1] PSG recorded their record home attendance in 1983, when 49,575 spectators watched the club's 2–0 victory over Waterschei in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals.^[11] However, the French rugby team holds the all-time record for attendance at the stadium. They defeated Wales 31–12 in the 1989 Five Nations Championship in front of 50,370 spectators.^[12]

For centuries, the French royal family maintained control of the area surrounding the stadium which back then was a forest called the Forêt de Rouvray and preserved it as a private hunting ground for the king's sons (the princes), inspiring the stadium's name: the Parc des Princes. After the French Revolution in 1789, the area became the possession of the central government, and it fell into disrepair as successive regimes came and went. Finally, in 1852 when the Second French Empire was declared, the Emperor Napoleon III ceded the property to the Council of Paris and instructed it to be turned into a public park, which was inaugurated in 1854 under the name of Bois de Boulogne.^[5][6][7] Next to it, the Council of Paris also built the original Parc on 18 July 1897. With a seating capacity for 3,200, it is the oldest Parisian stadium.^{[5][6][8][13][14]}

Henri Desgrange, a French cyclist and sports journalist, was appointed director of the Parc des Princes, which was initially a velodrome, a stadium for track cycling, as it was the most popular sport in France at the time.^[1][6][13] Seven thousand people attended the opening, and by 25 July 1897, nearly 15,000 cycling fans had gathered at the stadium. At the time, the press was delighted with the turnout, but noted that the central field was not yet suitable for athletics.^[13]

The first match was played a few weeks after the inauguration.^[1] It was a rugby match between French club Union Athlétique and English team Swindon RFC on 14 November 1897.^[8][13] The first football match took place on 26 December 1897.^[13] Club Français, a local amateur side, played the English Ramblers, a team made up of English footballers who played for Parisian clubs, mainly Standard AC. Club Français won 3–1 in front of 500 spectators.^[1][8]

French sports club Racing Club de France were granted exclusive use of the Parc des Princes, becoming the stadium's first tenant in 1900.^[1][13][15] The 1900 UCI Track Cycling World Championships were also held there, but the Parc had to be content with being a backup to the main venue of the 1900 Summer Olympics, the Vélodrome de Vincennes.^[1][13] That same year, the cycling newspaper L'Auto was founded to compete with rival sports magazine Le Vélo. Desgrange and his business partner Victor Goddet, who were making a name for themselves managing the Parc, were hired to act as editor and financial controller respectively.^[1][16]

In an attempt to counter the popularity of Le Vélo, Desgrange took up the idea of a colleague, Géo Lefèvre, to organize a large-scale race: the Tour de France. Goddet secured the necessary funding and the first edition of the race was held in July 1903, finishing, unsurprisingly, at the Parc des Princes, also managed by Desgrange. The Tour leader wore a yellow jersey, matching the color of the newspaper in which L'Auto was printed, as a promotional strategy. The Tour was a resounding success and L'Auto dominated the sports press for the next forty years, while Le Vélo never recovered and ceased publication in November 1904.^[1][16][17] Between 1903 and 1967, the Tour completed its course on the 454-meter pink cycle track of the Parc.^{[8][15][6][13]}

The first decade of the 20th century was an eventful one for the Parc des Princes.^[1] In 1903, a team of top Parisian players lost 11–0 to their English counterparts in front of 984 spectators. It was the stadium's first international football match.^[6] Four USFSA Football Championship finals (1903, 1905, 1907 and 1910) and the 1905 Coupe Dewar final were also played at the stadium.^{[1][8][6][13]} The France national football team played their first home game at the Parc on 12 February 1905, beating Switzerland 1–0. The following year, 3,000 spectators spectators watched the France national rugby union team play their first official match at the same venue against the New Zealand All Blacks on 1 January 1906. France lost 38–8, 10 tries to two.^{[1][8][6][13][18]}

With the growing success of multiple sports, the Parc's capacity was increased to 10,000 seats just before World War I. After the war, the stadium hosted its first Coupe de France final in 1919 between Parisian clubs CASG Paris and Olympique de Paris in front of 10,000 spectators. The Parc was expanded again to 20,000 seats ahead of the 1924 Summer Olympics.^{[1][8][6][13]} However, the stadium's capacity was deemed inadequate by the International Olympic Committee and the Council of Paris refused to fund further expansion work. Thanks to funding from Racing Club de France, which had moved there from the Parc in 1920, the Stade Yves-du-Manoir was expanded to 60,000 spectators and was thus chosen to host the event. For half a century, the Yves-du-Manoir was a strong competitor to the Parc as the best stadium in Paris.^{[1][8][6][19]}

Following the Olympic Games, the Council of Paris signed a 40-year concession contract with L'Auto in 1925 in exchange for 4% of the revenue and a guaranteed minimum of 25,000 francs.^[6] After Victor Goddet's death in 1926, his shares in the newspaper and the Parc passed to his sons, Jacques Goddet and Maurice Goddet.^[16] Desgrange and Jacques demolished and rebuilt the stadium in 1931. After nine months of work, the second Parc was opened on 23 April 1932, with a seating capacity of 26,000 spectators.^{[1][8][6][13][14]} The four stands surrounding the field were called Tribune Présidentielle (or Tribune L'Auto), Tribune Paris (or Tribune Tour de France), Tribune Auteuil and Tribune Boulogne.^[13] Racing Club de France Football, created in 1932 as the professional football section of Racing Club de France, moved into the Parc that year.^[19]

It hosted the opening match of the 1938 World Cup between Switzerland and Nazi Germany as well as the Hungarian victory in the semi-final against Sweden. Stade de Colombes hosted the final in which the Italians beat Hungary 4-2.^[1]

In the 1930s, L'Auto founder Henri Desgrange and his business partner Victor Goddet carried out a thorough reconstruction of the Parc des Princes and expanded it so that the sports arena had seats for 45,000 visitors, including 26,000 covered.^[1] The new stadium opened on 19 April 1932. Its capacity, however, was quickly reduced to 38,000 seats to improve comfort.^[10]

The opening match of the 1938 FIFA World Cup between Switzerland and Germany was played at the Parc des Princes, as well as the victory of Hungary in the semi-final against Sweden. But Stade Yves-du-Manoir continued to be more important, hosting the 1938 FIFA World Cup final in which Italy beat the Hungarians 4–2 to claim its second consecutive world title.^[1]

Following the Liberation of Paris in August 1944 and the end of World War II in September 1945, the French football championship returned, with big Parisian clubs Stade français-Red Star and Racing Paris regularly playing at the Parc des Princes. Still equipped with a cycling track of 454 metres, the Tour de France was not the only major sporting event hosted at this stadium.^[1]

The Parc des Princes also hosted the 1954 Rugby League World Cup final, which saw Great Britain defeat hosts France in the first Rugby League World Cup;^[20] Real Madrid's win over Stade de Reims in the first European Cup final in 1956;^[1] and the 1960 European Nations' Cup final, which saw the Soviet Union claim the first edition of the tournament after beating Yugoslavia.

Conceived by French architect Roger Taillibert and Iranian artist Siavash Teimouri, the third and current Parc des Princes is one of the continent's most emblematic and historic venues.^[1] It is a landmark and legally protected icon of French architecture.^[21] It was also the first stadium with lighting systems integrated onto its elliptical roof, and to this day is praised for its unique acoustics and its distinctive concrete ribs or razors. The Parc was inaugurated on May 25, 1972, for the football match between France and the Soviet Union. It also hosted the 1972 Coupe de France Final between Olympique de Marseille and Bastia on 4 June 1972, and the 1972 Rugby League World Cup.^[1][22]

Paris Saint-Germain took on Ligue 2 promotion rivals Red Star on 10 November 1973, for the club's first match at the Parc des Princes. PSG won 3–1 as Othniel Dossevi scored the club's first goal at the stadium.^[23][3] PSG were promoted to Ligue 1 in July 1974, the same year that Paris FC were relegated. They immediately moved into the Parc des Princes, which up until that point had been the home stadium of Paris FC. PSG have been the stadium tenants ever since.^[24][25] Thereafter, Paris FC and Racing Paris also played at the Parc des Princes while they were in Ligue 1 (until 1990), but never reaching the numbers of attendance leaders PSG.^[10]

The Parc des Princes hosted every single Coupe de France final from 1972 to 1997, the 1975 European Cup Final, the 1978 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, the 1981 European Cup Final, and the 1991 Rugby World Cup.^[1][22] Most importantly, the Parc saw France defeat Spain in the UEFA Euro 1984 Final to claim its first title. In 1992, France was named to host the 1998 World Cup, and construction of a new arena began in May 1995, at the same time that Parc hosted the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final.^[1]

Inaugurated in January 1998, the Stade de France was the stadium of the future, while the Parc des Princes hosted its last international final that same year: the 1998 UEFA Cup Final.^[1] France have only played twice at the Parc des Princes since 1998: against Scotland during the UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers in September 2007, and versus Australia in a friendly match in October 2013.^[26] Nonetheless, the stadium has still staged games at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, 2007 Rugby World Cup, UEFA Euro 2016 and 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.^[1]

In November 2013, PSG reached an agreement with the Paris City Council, owner of the Parc des Princes, to extend their stadium lease for a further 30 years until 2043, based on a fixed rent plus a variable share of their income.^[1][27][28] Subsequently, under the guidance of American architect Tom Sheehan, PSG completed a three-year €75m upgrade of the Parc des Princes (2012, 2013–2014, 2015–2016) ahead of the UEFA Euro 2016 in France.^[21][28] The stadium remained at its current capacity, but the seats were improved to be larger and more comfortable.^[28]

PSG owners Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) are also seeking to increase its stadium capacity to 60,000 in the coming years to consolidate the club's position as one of Europe's leading teams. Initially, two options were considered: moving to the Stade de France or expanding the Parc des Princes. The former was ruled out following renovations carried out ahead of Euro 2016.^[28][29] There have also been rumours that QSI are interested in buying the Parc des Princes for a fee believed to be around €150m.^[1]

Since the 1930s, the Parc des Princes has appeared in several films.^[13][34]

Since the 1980s, the Parc des Princes has hosted several major concerts.^[13][35]

• Camp des Loges
• Stade Georges Lefèvre
• Campus PSG

• PSG.FR - Site officiel du Paris Saint-Germain