Paris Saint-Germain Rugby League

This article is about the rugby league team. For the men's football team, see Paris Saint-Germain FC. For other uses, see Paris Saint-Germain (disambiguation).

Paris Saint-Germain
Club information
Full nameParis Saint-Germain Rugby League
Nickname(s)Les Parisiens (The Parisians)
Les Rouge-et-Bleu (The Red-and-Blues)
Short namePSG Rugby League, PSG RL
ColoursRed and Blue
Founded23 December 1995 (23 December 1995)
Exited3 November 1997 (3 November 1997)
Former details
Ground
ChairmanJacques Larrose
ManagerAndy Goodway
CaptainDavid O'Donnell
CompetitionSuper League
199711th
Active departments of
Paris Saint-Germain
Football
(Men's)		Football
(Youth Mixed)		Football
(Women's)
Handball
(Men's)		EsportsJudo
(Mixed)
Closed departments of
Paris Saint-Germain
Boxing
(Men's)		Rugby League
(Men's)

Paris Saint-Germain Rugby League, commonly referred to as PSG Rugby League or PSG RL, was a French professional rugby league club based in Paris, France. It was the rugby league department of parent club Paris Saint-Germain FC. Established in 1995, PSG RL played in the Super League, the top division of the British rugby league system, until its closure in 1997. The Stade Sébastien Charléty, with a capacity of 20,000 spectators, served as the team's home ground.

Led by club president and former French rugby union and manager, Jacques Fouroux, PSG Rugby League was founded on 23 December 1995.

History

Creation and PSG partnership

In 1994, veteran rugby union executive Jacques Fouroux, having lost his political support within the French Rugby Federation (FRF), switched codes and announced the creation of France Rugby League (FRL). Conceived as a summer rugby league tour for regional teams, the competition was staged between seasons of the long-established French Rugby League Championship and aimed to expand the sport beyond its traditional heartlands. The initiative bore similarities—albeit on a more modest scale—to media mogul Rupert Murdoch's proposed Super League.[1][2] Rugby Football League (RFL) chairman Maurice Lindsay publicly supported the project and, in February 1995, identified Fouroux as the ideal figure to lead the RFL's expansion into France.[3]

Fouroux already had close ties with senior executives at French television channel Canal+, the owners of Paris Saint-Germain FC, which at the time was seeking to establish itself as a multisport club in the tradition of Stade Français or Racing Club de France.[4][5] Owing to its strong brand recognition and established links to the broadcasting world, Fouroux identified PSG as the ideal vehicle for his ambitions.[6] A second team based in Toulouse was also considered, but it was ultimately decided to concentrate the French game's limited resources on Paris.[7][8] This decision was resented by the leadership of several traditional clubs in southern France.[8]

Led by Fouroux, Paris Saint-Germain Rugby League was officially announced as PSG's newest department on 23 December 1995.[9] With the backing of Canal+, Lindsay, and Murdoch, the club joined the newly formed Super League—then composed exclusively of English teams—for its inaugural 1996 season.[10][11][12][13] As a result, the FRL was repositioned as a developmental circuit for PSG Rugby League, with its Paris–Île-de-France team renamed PSG Espoirs.[14][15] The alliance also produced a landmark three-year broadcasting agreement with Canal+.[8]

The team, based at Stade Sébastien Charléty, was assembled rapidly. Veteran French manager Michel Mazaré and his assistant, Englishman David Ellis, were appointed within two weeks of one another in December 1995.[16][17] Fouroux assumed the role of club president, while Tas Baitieri—a France-based Australian former player turned executive with extensive experience acting as an intermediary between his adopted country and English rugby league authorities—was named football manager.[1][8][18] Baitieri was permitted to work for PSG while remaining employed by the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARL).[19] The entire PSG Rugby League organization was established in just eight months, from conception to competitive debut—a pace Baitieri later compared unfavourably with the three years typically afforded to an ARL expansion franchise.[20]

Inaugural season and Super League debut

Main article: 1996 Paris Saint-Germain season

PSG's squad for their 1996 Super League season consisted of seventeen French players and eleven foreign players: six Australians, one New Zealander, one Moldovan, Tongan Kava Utoikamanu, the first Polish player ever to compete in the Super League, Grzegorz Kacała, and Englishman Darren Adams.[11][12][21][22][23] All of these players, except Utoikamanu and Adams, were loaned from the concurrent French championship, which led to persistent scheduling conflicts. French clubs were often unwilling to grant PSG full release of their players, forcing them to either perform double duty or miss matches altogether.[24][25] In addition, because most clubs in the French championship were based in the south of the country, PSG players trained in Toulouse, and were frequently shuttled between Toulouse, their home clubs, and wherever PSG were playing that week.[19][26][27]

On 26 March 1996, the squad was presented to PSG supporters during the football team's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarterfinal against Parma at the Parc des Princes.[27] PSG RL played their first official match on 29 March 1996 against the Sheffield Eagles at Stade Charléty. It was both the first match in Super League history and the first rugby league fixture held in Paris since 1972. Mazaré's team made an ideal start. With the score level at half-time, Paris took the lead after the break when Renaud Cervello intercepted a pass and ran 80 metres to score in the 65th minute. Cervello scored again five minutes later to secure a 30–24 victory for the home side.[10][11][28] Former Eagle Frédéric Banquet scored the first try in the history of both PSG and the Super League, while Pierre Chamorin served as team captain.[29][30] The match attracted 17,873 spectators, the largest crowd for a rugby league match in France in 38 years.[12][31]

Two wins and a draw from their opening five matches had initially yielded great optimism, but a disastrous end to the season followed.[11][12] PSG came back down to earth after the 76–8 thrashing away to Wigan Warriors.[11] It triggered a losing run of eleven games, and saw Mazaré replaced by rising English manager John Kear, under whom the club registered its third and last win of the season against London Broncos, before six straight defeats more in as many matches.[11][12][31] With only three wins and one draw in 22 matches, PSG barely escaped relegation, finishing in 11th place with seven points, ahead of the five points accrued by last-place Workington Town.[11][12] This was, however, in line with management's own pre-season projections.[32]

PSG RL were not sparred by instability at the administrative level either. Halfway into the season, in June 1996, the team lost founding figures Fouroux and Baitieri, leaving various RFL and French Rugby League Federation executives to wrestle for control of the team as the logistical and financial challenges of Fouroux's initial plan were fast becoming apparent.[19][33] Baitieri was called back to Australia to work for the ARL,[19][24] while Fouroux resigned from the presidency and returned to rugby union, quickly rejoining his hometown club Auch Gers.[28][34] Fouroux was succeeded by FRL president Jacques Larrose.[35] The team's instability and questionable business model spurred rumors that it would be relocated to Toulouse the following season.[24] Attendance figures decreased as well, although not to the same extent as they would have in a traditional, box office-driven club.[36]

Kear was offered to continue as manager at the end of the season, but declined as he did not feel the organization's logistics lent themselves to performance.[27] The club only finished the season thanks to additional contributions from Super League backer News Corp Australia, and the relationship with parent organization PSG was left strained.[11][37][38] Additionally, the promised television coverage had quickly disappeared from Canal+'s schedule.[39] The team would nonetheless survive, at the cost of a reorganization that took it even further away from its developmental goals, as it stopped putting its trust in French players and instead brought in Australians.[27][28]

Second season and World Cup

Main article: 1997 Paris Saint-Germain season

Under new president Larrose, the club were five million francs short of the projected budget of 13 million, and came close to not partaking in the 1997 Super League (UK) season.[12][40] News Corp Australia increased its support, securing the team's participation and announcing that it would pay for the players to stay full time in Paris, which was not the case the previous season.[41][42] RFL chairman Lindsay also claimed to have obtained a commitment from PSG to assist with the rugby league section's marketing and to better showcase it on Canal+.[43][44]

The club from the capital was therefore saved, but the share allocated to domestic players greatly decreased under both the RFL's pressure for better results, and an increasing lack of cooperation from more storied French clubs, who resented loaning their talent to a propped-up Paris side.[42] This, coupled with Australian manager Peter Mulholland's predilection for Australian players, led to only three French players making up the PSG squad: Chamorin, Fabien Devecchi and Pascal Bomati.[27] Only two of the 22 foreign players (21 Australians and one New Zealander) were present the previous season: Australian duo Deon Bird and Jason Sands.[12][40][45]

PSG RL had its main training camp in Australia until the end of January and then travelled to the United Kingdom for the 1997 Challenge Cup in February.[43] The team made its debut in the knockout competition winning against second-tier Batley Bulldogs before bowing out to fellow Super League members Salford Red Devils in the next round.[43][46] In both matches, PSG did not field a single French player.[47] Like in the previous Super League season, PSG started with a 18–4 win over the Sheffield Eagles, this time on away soil. Again, the opening day triumph was short-lived and the team immediately embarked on an eight-game losing streak, which resulted in the dismissal of Mulholland on 5 May 1997.[12][40]

Australian David Miles, former assistant to Mulholland, served as interim manager, beating bottom side Castleford Tigers to cut off the negative run and then losing his second match against Sheffield, before the team was taken over by former Great Britain international Andy Goodway, who had just been let go as manager of relegation threatened Oldham.[12][40][48] Following Super League defeats against Broncos and Wigan in late May, Goodway's men took part in the 1997 World Club Championship in June, a competition envisioned by Murdoch, which included all teams playing in the Super League and the Australian Super League.[12][40]

The Parisians started their campaign on a relative high, leading against Australian side Hunter Mariners before succumbing, then achieving a surprising 24–0 victory over the Australian Western Reds at Stade Charléty.[49][50] In July, PSG traveled to Australia for the return leg of the World Cup, which proved less flattering. Paris lost both matches, yet the team's lone win was enough to advance to the playoffs, where they exited the competition at the hands of St Helens.[12][40] Goodway opted to rest key players to focus on avoiding relegation in the Super League.[51]

In July 1997, with PSG dead last in the standings at that point and home attendance falling to alarming levels, the team against all odds produced its best results yet, registering three wins in five matches: a victory away to the Halifax Panthers was followed by back-to-back wins for the first time in their history over Wigan and Halifax at home.[12][40][52][53] PSG overcame a 14 point deficit in the last thirteen minutes to cap a stunning 30–28 upset of powerhouse Wigan, their first Super League home win of the season.[54][55][56] They eventually secured their Super League spot in its last home game of the season, defeating relegation rivals and Goodway's former employer Oldham at Charléty, to finish 11th once more.[40][57] PSG's 1997 Rugby League Premiership appearance on 7 September 1997 was the team's final fixture. They lost 6–48 to the Salford Red Devils and the team's last ever try was scored by Devecchi.[58]

Scandal and dissolution

The end of the season was marked by a highly-publicized scandal. Following the club's shock victory over Wigan, two club officials, the Dabe brothers, in dispute with the Super League, reported that the majority of the players—mostly Australians—lacked proper employment contracts and were instead playing on tourist visas to avoid certain taxes in France. With profitability at an all-time low, attendances falling to between two and three thousand, and a controversy that damaged the reputation of the still-nascent Super League, the RFL was hesitant to continue supporting the Parisian project. Disengaged from the rugby league heartland in the south of the country, PSG RL was probably doomed from the start.[12][31][40] In early September 1997, Goodway met with RFL officials to discuss a potential return to the team in 1998. His demands focused on better availability of French players and more games played in the south.[59] However, during the Super League's end-of-season meeting, spokesman Peter Rowe acknowledged that "the future of Paris is causing some concern".[60]

Maurice Lindsay said that a demotion to the second tier, which he felt would be more in line with the Paris market's short-term prospects, would be considered.[61] A rumor had circulated during the season that the RFL, which had long desired a club in Newcastle, would solve both problems by moving PSG there in 1998.[62] That did not prove to be the case and on 3 November 1997, it was announced that second tier runners-up Huddersfield Giants had been promoted to Super League, while PSG was disbanded due to the financial burden it represented for the British clubs and poor interactions with French rugby league authorities.[63][64][65] At its worst, the club had been hemorrhaging £50,000 a week.[62] During PSG's second season, the RFL and Lindsay, desperate for the experiment to succeed, sent his deputy, Robert Elstone and chief administrator, Harry Jepson, to Paris to try to save the club, and covered £200,000 worth of the team's expenses.[60] According Lindsay, had it not been for the pressure of the British clubs, the RFL would have eagerly entered Paris for a third Super League campaign.[63]

Grounds

See also: Stade Sébastien Charléty

The team's regular home ground was Stade Sébastien Charléty, located in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, France, which has a capacity of 20,000.[29][66] PSG Rugby League played their first match at the venue on 29 March 1996 against the Sheffield Eagles, in front of a club-record crowd of 17,873 spectators.[31][67] The stadium was shared with French rugby union club Paris UC.[68] During the 1996 season, with players loaned from French championship clubs clubs largely based in southern France, PSG RL trained at the CREPS de Toulouse, a sports institute in Toulouse. As the players had no permanent residence in Paris, they stayed in a hotel for home matches and were regularly shuttled to away fixtures.[19][26][27] For the 1997 season, financial backing from Super League sponsor News Corp Australia enabled players to remain full-time with PSG, training and living at a sports resort located just west of Paris.[41][42]

Over their two seasons of existence, PSG played 24 home matches, recording seven wins, one draw, and sixteen losses. Of these, 22 were played at Stade Charléty, where the club registered six wins, one draw, and fifteen defeats.[67] The Parisians also staged two home matches in southern France: one in Narbonne against the Halifax Panthers on 9 August 1997, and another in Bayonne against the Warrington Wolves on 16 August 1997, which coincided with the Fêtes de Bayonne, a major local festival.[69][70] PSG defeated Halifax but lost to Warrington.[67] It had been decided during the off-season that the club would relocate two or three fixtures to other markets, as August is typically a slow business period in the French capital due to many residents leaving the city for summer holidays.[38][46][71] Using the team as a touring attraction, following the model of France Rugby League, had been an objective of founder Jacques Fouroux since the club's inception.[6] PSG were also forced to relocate their two 1997 Challenge Cup fixtures to the United Kingdom, as Stade Charléty was unavailable at the time. Although a permanent move away from the venue was considered, Charléty was ultimately secured for the remainder of the season.[43][46]

Legacy

Effects on English clubs

Rugby Football League (RFL) chief executive Maurice Lindsay devised Super League, a new league featuring teams from cities across the continent, with the help of £87 million from media mogul Rupert Murdoch, who in turn dreamed of a rugby world championship to which he would own all the television rights.[11][31] PSG were granted a place in the competition for the 1996 season to give British rugby's top flight a French and European dimension. However, their inclusion had serious consequences for several clubs and the sport in general.[12]

The 12-team Super League replaced the original 16-team First Division. PSG and the London Broncos, who had just finished fourth in the Second Division, were given places in the top flight, while teams finishing lower than 10th in the First Division were excluded, such as Featherstone Rovers, Wakefield Trinity, Hull F.C. and Widnes Vikings. Also left out were the Keighley Cougars, who had just finished first in the Second Division and would have been promoted had the Super League not existed. Featherstone never returned to the top flight, while Hull collapsed financially and had to merge with Newcastle Thunder, which had catastrophic consequences for rugby league in the North East, with a fan base that remains bitter to this day.[12]

Dragons and Toulouse

PSG's victory over Sheffield in the inaugural Super League match was a pivotal moment in the history of rugby league in France. It created a French legacy that still endures, proving that a French team could compete and be popular in the top flight, as well as boosting the Super League's image as something new and innovative, as well as European, rather than merely English. As a result, the original Paris experiment would be one of the key reasons why French clubs Catalans Dragons and Toulouse Olympique eventually secured places in the Super League.[12]

French Rugby League Federation president Jean-Paul Ferré promised to return with a new team as part of an expansion proposal in 1999. Paris was briefly considered, but the most likely location this time was Toulouse.[64][72] Neither option materialized, but the door was reopened in 2002 when French clubs were invited to apply for a Super League spot. The Perpignan-based Catalans Dragons were chosen ahead of Toulouse Olympique, who were again considered by some to be the favorites at the start of the selection process. The Dragons made their debut in 2006.[73] Toulouse would finally join the Super League 20 years later, in 2026.[12]

The professional experience that PSG players brought back to their French league clubs was credited with making the Dragons' transition to the Super League smoother.[27] Fouroux's aggressive promotional tactics at PSG were also cited as a precursor to the more widely recognised marketing efforts of rugby union team Stade Français under chairman Max Guazzini.[74] The club also became known for being the first in the RFL system to entrust a managerial role to a woman, Rebecca Cove.[75]

Business model

PSG Rugby League attempted to expand the sport beyond its traditional demographic and geared itself entirely towards a casual audience.[76] The spectator experience was promoted as much as the on-field product, with a pre-match show featuring pyrotechnics and musical performances.[19][77] To further maximize the team's reach, most tickets were distributed free of charge and offered as incentives to sponsors, who could distribute them as rewards to customers.[78] The spectacle of generous crowds, amplified by the expected extensive television coverage from Canal+, owners of parent club Paris Saint-Germain FC, was supposed to create a virtuous circle, attracting more corporate sponsors and propelling the team towards profitability.[4]

Based on spectacular attendance figures for the early matches, the strategy was praised, with Bradford Bulls chairman Chris Caisley crediting PSG RL with being the only club other than his own to have made a genuine effort to live up to Super League aspirations.[76] However, the hastily formed team was launched without any major corporate sponsors, and beyond a prestigious name, the partnership with Paris Saint-Germain offered little financial security as PSG did not own the team.[32][79] With only a peripheral involvement, Canal+ had little incentive to bet heavily on rugby league, and the much-vaunted broadcast deal rarely resulted in more than highlights packages.[80]

Ultimately, PSG RL never developed the necessary network of corporate partners, as many tickets were distributed through public institutions, while Murdoch and the RFL had to absorb most of their losses. In late October 1997, RFL chairman Rodney Walker, a political rival of RFL chief executive and PSG cheerleader Lindsay, declared: "We have decided that we can no longer offer subsidies to PSG. They have to find ways of generating income, something they have failed to do to date."[81]

While the team managed to avoid relegation on the pitch, it had little hope of surviving on their own and was dissolved at the end of the season in November 1997.[65] Former PSG player Laurent Lucchese commented: "I understand why Jacques Fouroux wanted a team in Paris, to promote the sport and have television coverage at the Stade Sébastien Charléty, but I think we should have moved the club to be closer to the fans and play in different locations in the south of France. A club without roots cannot last for long."[27]

Statistics

Seasons

As of 1997 season.[82]
Winners Runners-up Promoted Relegated
Season League CC WCC RLP MP W D L PF PA PD WP% Attendance Top point scorers
1996 SL 11th N/a N/a N/a 22 3 1 18 398 795 −397 013.64 8,026 Patrick Torreilles 54
1997 SL 11th Fifth round Elimination qualifier Preliminary round 30 8 0 22 462 766 −304 026.67 5,201 Matt O'Connor 70

Competitive record

As of 1997 season.[83]
Competition MP W D L PF PA PD WP%
Super League 44 9 1 34 760 1,367 −607 020.45
Challenge Cup 2 1 0 1 42 12 +30 050.00
World Club Challenge 5 1 0 4 52 134 −82 020.00
Rugby League Premiership 1 0 0 1 6 48 −42 000.00
Total 52 11 1 40 860 1,561 −701 021.15

Notable former players

As of 1997 season.[84]

Most points

Rank Player Position Paris Saint-Germain Points
1 Matt O'Connor Five-eighth, Halfback 1997 70
2 Deon Bird Fullback, Centre, Loose forward, Wing 1996–1997 64
3 Phil Bergman Stand-off 1997 64
4 Jeremy Robinson Centre, Five-eighth 1997 60
5 Patrick Torreilles Centre, Stand-off 1996 54
6 Pascal Bomati Stand-off, Centre, Wing 1996 40
7 Pierre Chamorin Centre, Stand-off 1996–1997 38
8 Frédéric Banquet Fullback, Wing, Centre 1996 36
9 Jamie Olejnik Centre 1997 36
10 Paul Evans Wing, Centre, Halfback, Hooker 1997 36

Most appearances

Rank Player Position Paris Saint-Germain Appearances
1 Deon Bird Fullback, Centre, Loose forward, Wing 1996–1997 37
2 Pierre Chamorin Centre, Stand-off 1996–1997 34
3 Fabien Devecchi Scrum-half 1996–1997 31
4 Jason Sands Prop 1996–1997 31
5 Phil Bergman Stand-off 1997 29
6 Didier Cabestany Prop 1996–1997 29
7 David O'Donnell Hooker 1997 28
8 David Lomax Prop 1997 27
9 Adam Peters Second-row 1997 25
10 Paul Evans Wing, Centre, Halfback, Hooker 1997 25

Personnel

Presidents

No. President Tenure Source
1 Jacques Fouroux Dec. 1995 – Jun. 1996 [11][34]
2 Jacques Larrose Jun. 1996 – Nov. 1997 [40][34][35]

Managers

No. Manager Tenure M W D L PF PA PD Win % Source
1 Michel Mazaré Dec. 1995 – Jul. 1996 15 2 1 12 288 582 −294 013.33 [11][16]
2 John Kear Jul. 1996 – Aug. 1996 7 1 0 6 110 213 −103 014.29 [11][27]
3 Peter Mulholland Aug. 1996 – May 1997 11 2 0 9 192 260 −68 018.18 [40]
4 David Miles May 1997 2 1 0 1 27 40 −13 050.00 [40]
5 Andy Goodway May 1997 – Nov. 1997 17 5 0 12 251 467 −216 029.41 [40][64][63][85]

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