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 south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin and Stade Roland Garros.

The stadium, with a seating capacity of 47,929 spectators, has been the home of football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) since 1974. Before the opening of the Stade de France in 1998, it was the home stadium of France's national football team and national rugby union team. The Parc des Princes pitch is surrounded by four covered all-seater stands, officially known as Tribune Borelli, Tribune Auteuil, Tribune Paris, and Tribune Boulogne.

Conceived by architect Roger Taillibert and Siavash Teimouri, the current version of the Parc des Princes officially opened on 25 May 1972, at a cost of 80–150 million francs. The stadium is the third to have been built on the site, the first opening its doors in 1897 and the second in 1932.

PSG registered its record home attendance in 1983, when 49,575 spectators witnessed the club's 2–0 win over Waterschei in the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finals. However, the France national rugby union team holds the stadium's absolute attendance record. They defeated Wales, 31–12, in the 1989 Five Nations Championship in front of 50,370 spectators.

History

Original stadium (1897–1932)

Originally called Stade Vélodrome du Parc des Princes, the stadium was inaugurated on 18 July 1897. Situated in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, the area was a forested parkland used by the royal family before the French Revolution. This gave the Parc des Princes its name.

With more than 3,000 seats, the velodrome had a 728-yard track. The director of the stadium, Henri Desgrange, was a former racing cyclist and founder of the cycling magazine L'Auto (predecessor of L'Équipe). The Parc des Princes marked the finish of the Tour from its first edition in 1903 until 1967. The 1900 UCI Track Cycling World Championships was held at the Parc des Princes.

In 1903, an English side easily defeated a team composed by the best Parisian players (11–0) in front of 984 paying spectators, in what was the first international football played at the Parc des Princes. In 1905, the France national football team contested its first ever home match against Switzerland, winning 1–0 at the Parc des Princes. Subsequently, the stadium welcomed further prestigious friendly games, but also four USFSA French Championship finals, as well as the 1919 Coupe de France Final between CASG Paris and Olympique de Paris in front of 10,000 spectators.

PSG's home also boasts a long history as an international rugby venue. In 1906, the France national rugby union team played their debut international, against the New Zealand national rugby union team. Other tenants included the Racing Club de France.

The stadium capacity was increased to 20,000 by the start of the 1924 Summer Olympics, held in Paris. However, Stade Olympique Yves-du-Manoir, which had been expanded to 60,000 seats, hosted the event.

Second stadium (1932–1972)

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. The new stadium opened on 19 April 1932. Its capacity, however, was quickly reduced to 38,000 seats to improve comfort. The Parc des Princes hosted the opening match of the 1938 FIFA World Cup between Switzerland and Germany as well as the victory of Hungary in the semi-final against Sweden. But Stade Olympique 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.

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

Current stadium (1972–Present)

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. It is a landmark and legally protected icon of French architecture. 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 inauguration of the Parc des Princes took place on 25 May 1972 on the occasion of the football match between France and USSR. The new stadium 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. That same year, Paris Saint-Germain – a fusion between Paris FC and Stade Saint-Germain – went through a bitter divorce. Paris FC remained in Ligue 1, while PSG kept their name but were administratively demoted to Division 3.

PSG played their first game at the Parc des Princes against Ligue 2 promotion rivals Red Star on 10 November 1973, as a curtain-raiser for that season's league season between Paris FC and Sochaux. PSG won 3–1 as Othniel Dossevi scored the club's first goal at the stadium. PSG returned to Ligue 1 in 1974, ironically 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. Before that, PSG had been playing at several grounds including the Stade Georges Lefèvre, the Stade Jean-Bouin, the Stade Bauer, and even the Parc des Princes a few times that season despite the reluctance of Paris FC. 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.

Following its opening, the Parc des Princes finally became France's biggest stadium. This was where the national and international cup finals took place, including every single Coupe de France from 1972 to 1997, and three European club finals (the 1975 European Cup Final, the 1978 European Cup Winners' Cup Final, and the 1981 European Cup Final), and the 1991 Rugby World Cup. Most importantly, the Parc des Princes saw France defeat Spain in the UEFA Euro 1984 Final to claim its first-ever title. In 1992, France was named to host the 1998 World Cup. It was the country's first since 1938 and construction of a new arena began in May 1995, at the same time that Parc des Princes hosted the 1995 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final.

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. 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. 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.

Renovation and expansion

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. Subsequently, under the guidance of American architect Tom Sheehan, PSG completed a three-year €75 million upgrade of the Parc des Princes (2012, 2013–2014, 2015–2016) ahead of the UEFA Euro 2016 in France.

Two additional rows of seats were added, allowing the ground to remain at its current capacity, despite now boasting larger and more comfortable seats. Hospitality capacity went from 1,200 to 4,500, and new substitutes' benches and spacious, modern changing rooms that include warm-up and treatment rooms were installed. Carrying out this renovation work saw PSG's stadium revenue swell from €20m to €100m.

PSG are also looking to increase the capacity of their home to 60,000 in the coming years. From the start of their ownership at the club, Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) made it clear that a larger stadium is necessary to establish PSG as one of leading European clubs. Originally, there were two options under consideration: move to the Stade de France or expand the Parc des Princes. The former was discarded following the redevelopments made to the Parc des Princes ahead of the Euro 2016. There have also been rumours that QSI are interested in buying the Parc des Princes for a fee believed to be around €150m.

Major tournament matches

FIFA World Cup

FIFA Women's World Cup

UEFA European Championship

UEFA Champions League

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup

UEFA Europa League

UEFA Super Cup

Latin Cup

Rugby World Cup

Rugby League World Cup

European Rugby Champions Cup

2024 Summer Olympics

Concerts

Since its musical debut in June 1988, when Michael Jackson took the stage, the Parc des Princes has often hosted major concerts. Jackson played there again in 1997. The stadium was also used as a venue by other major artists, including The Rolling Stones and Prince in 1990, Johnny Hallyday in 1993, and David Bowie in 1997, as part of the Rock Festival in Paris. Following a show from U2 in 1997, the venue had a six-year musical hiatus.

Johnny Hallyday's second stint in June 2003, with four concerts to celebrate his 60th anniversary, reactivated the music scene at the Parc des Princes. He remains the singer who performed the most live concerts, seven in total. It subsequently welcomed the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers (2004), Metallica (2004), Moby (2005), Iron Maiden (2005), Robbie Williams (2006), Muse (2007), Genesis (2007), Bruce Springsteen (2008), and Coldplay (2009). In June 2010, French hip hop group Suprême NTM and American rock band Green Day marked the last music chapter at the stadium in a long time.

In June 2022, DJ Snake became the first artist to perform at the Parc des Princes in twelve years. He was followed by French singer Dadju later that same month.

Gallery

See also

• Camp des Loges
• Stade Georges Lefèvre
• Campus PSG

References

External links

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