Paris Saint-Germain Rugby League (), also known simply as
Paris Saint-Germain and familiarly as
PSG-RL (), was a
French professional
rugby league club based in
Paris. One of the founding members of the
Super League, Europe's top rugby league competition, they competed for two seasons, from 1996 to 1997. PSG-RL was affiliated with the professional
association football club
Paris Saint-Germain F.C., and played their home games at
Stade Sébastien Charléty.
The team was established in late 1995 by Paris Saint-Germain Sports Centre in an attempt to add a more European dimension to the new Super League. They played in the first ever Super League game on 29 March 1996, defeating
Sheffield Eagles 30–24 before a crowd of 17,873. However, they performed poorly both on and off the field during their run, narrowly avoiding
relegation to the second division and drawing diminishing crowds. During their two years of existence they won only nine, drew one, and lost thirty-four. In May 1997, at the end of the
Super League II season, following financial difficulties and the withdrawal of their officers, PSG-RL was dissolved and the experiment was generally considered to be a failure.Philip Dine,
French rugby football: a cultural history, Berg Publishers, 2001, pp. 179
History
On 8 April 1995, after a meeting of presidents of the professional clubs of the
English Rugby League unanimously voted their support for the principles of the
Super......
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