General Information
The Parc des Princes, located in the southwest of Paris, is the third largest football stadium in France. Named after the Monarch’s hunting grounds that it sits on, it was initially opened as a multi-purpose venue in 1897. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1973.
Additional Information
Parc des Princes has hosted many major sports events. It was an Olympic site in the 1900 Games of the II Olympiad and has hosted two FIFA World Cups, two Euro finals, three UEFA Champions League finals, two UEFA Cup finals, one UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final, two Latin Cup finals, four USFSA championship finals, one Coupe Sheriff Dewar final, 128 matches of the France national football team, 33 French Cup finals, three League Cup finals, 30 Tournoi de Paris editions, 31 Top 14 finals, 59 Five Nations Championships, one UCI Track Cycling World Championships and 54 Tour de France finishes. The stadium also witnessed the first live sports report in France and has even hosted boxing championships and music concerts.
History: Highlights
Originally a velodrome, it was the finish line of the Tour de France from the first event in 1903 until General Charles de Gaulle ordered the track demolished in the late 1960s. He decided in 1967 that the Parc des Princes should be dedicated to football and rugby games with a capacity of under 60,000 seats.
History: Explained
The current Parc des Princes, designed by the architect Roger Taillibert, was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed with a very avant-garde architecture for the period. PSG became the resident club of the new stadium in June 1973 and its image and history has since been associated with Le Parc.
The Parc des Princes was the national stadium of the France football team and the France rugby union team until the construction of the Stade de France for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. The stadium and grounds are owned by the Paris city council and the Société d’Exploitation Sports-Evénements (SESE) has held the concession to the Parc des Princes since 1990.