are a French professional football club based in Paris. Founded in 1970, they compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Since their inception, PSG have played 50 seasons, all of them within the top three levels of the French football league system: Ligue 1, Ligue 2 and :fr:Championnat de France de football de Division 3 |Division 3. The Parisianclubhold the record for most consecutive seasons playing in the top-flight and have won the competition nine times. PSG have only been relegated once. It happened in 1971–72, when they were administratively relegated to Division 3. The club returned to the first division in 1974–75 and have never looked back since. The club's worst Ligue 1 finish to date is 16th, their placing at the end of the 1971–72 and 2007–08 seasons. Paris SG experienced their best season to date in 2015–16. The capital club won all four domestic titles and reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League. In Ligue 1, PSG finished with 96 points, while Zlatan Ibrahimović scored 50 goals in all competitions. However, the club's record for most goals in a season was set in 2017–18, when PSG scored 171 goals in all competitions.
Background
Paris Saint-Germain were formed on 12 August 1970 after an ambitious group of businessmen decided to create a major club in the French capital. Guy Crescent and Pierre-Étienne Guyot chose to merge their virtual side, Paris Football Club, with Henri Patrelle's Stade Saint-Germain after the team from Saint-Germain-en-Laye, west of Paris, won promotion to Ligue 2. Paris FC were created a in 1969, while Stade Saint-Germain were founded in 1904. The new Parisian club made an immediate impact, winning promotion to Ligue 1 and claiming the Ligue 2 title in its first season. Their momentum was soon checked, however, and the club split in 1971–72. Paris FC remained in the top flight, while Paris Saint-Germain kept their name but were administratively relegated to :fr:Championnat de France de football de Division 3 |Division 3. Two seasons later PSG returned to Ligue 1 in 1974–75. Since then, the club have always played in the first division, breaking several records. Ironically, Paris FC were relegated to Ligue 2 that same year and PSG moved into Parc des Princes, which up until that point had been the home stadium of PFC. Before that, PSG had been playing at several grounds including Stade Municipal Georges Lefèvre, Stade Jean-Bouin, Stade Bauer, and even Parc des Princes a few times that season despite the reluctance of PFC. Paris Saint-Germain are today the city's largest club by far and the most successful French club in history in terms of trophies won.
