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.
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. Fouroux already had close ties with the French media company
Canal+, the owners of
Paris Saint-Germain FC. At the time, under the leadership of Charles Biétry, PSG was seeking to establish itself as a multisport club in the tradition of
Stade Français or
Racing Club de France, maintaining active sections in
handball,
judo,
volleyball,
boxing, and
basketball. Leveraging its strong brand recognition and established connections within the broadcasting industry, Fouroux identified PSG as the ideal platform for his ambitions. A second team based in Toulouse was considered, but it was ultimately decided to focus the limited resources of French rugby on Paris. This decision generated discontent among several traditional clubs in southern France. 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. With the exception of Utoikamanu and Adams, all players were loaned from clubs competing in the French championship, which resulted in persistent scheduling conflicts. French clubs were often unwilling to grant PSG full release of their players, forcing them to either play for multiple teams in the same period or miss matches altogether. In addition, as most French championship clubs were based in southern France, PSG players trained in Toulouse and were frequently shuttled between the city, their parent clubs, and whichever venue PSG were playing at that week. On 26 March 1996, the squad was presented to PSG supporters during the football team's
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-final against
Parma at the
Parc des Princes. PSG Rugby League were also affected by instability at the administrative level. Midway through the season, in June 1996, the club lost two of its founding figures, Fouroux and Baitieri, leaving various RFL and
French Rugby League Federation executives to compete for control as the logistical and financial shortcomings of Fouroux's original plan became increasingly apparent. Baitieri was recalled to Australia to work for the ARL, while Fouroux resigned from the presidency and returned to rugby union, quickly rejoining his hometown club,
Auch Gers. Fouroux was succeeded as president by FRL head Jacques Larrose. The club's instability and uncertain business model fueled speculation that it would be relocated to Toulouse for the following season. Kear was offered the chance to remain as head coach but declined, citing concerns that the organization's logistical structure was not conducive to on-field performance. In parallel, the promised television coverage quickly disappeared from Canal+'s schedule. Despite these difficulties, the team survived into the following season, albeit at the cost of a reorganization that moved it further away from its developmental objectives, as the club ceased to rely on French players and instead recruited Australians. News Corp Australia subsequently increased its financial support, securing the team's participation and announcing that it would cover the cost of players remaining in Paris on a full-time basis, unlike the previous season. According to Lindsay, PSG also committed to assisting with the marketing of its rugby league section and to providing greater exposure on Canal+. The proportion of domestic players in the squad decreased sharply, due both to pressure from the RFL for improved results and to diminishing cooperation from established French clubs, which were increasingly reluctant to loan their players to a Paris-based side perceived as artificially supported. Combined with Australian head coach
Peter Mulholland's preference for Australian players, this resulted in only three French players—Chamorin,
Fabien Devecchi, and
Pascal Bomati—being included in the PSG squad. Of the 22 foreign players recruited (21 Australians and one New Zealander), only two—Australians
Deon Bird and Jason Sands—had been part of the team the previous season. PSG Rugby League held its main training camp in Australia until the end of January 1997 before travelling to the United Kingdom to participate in the
1997 Challenge Cup in February. In both matches, PSG did not field a single French player. As in the previous Super League season, PSG began their league campaign with an opening-day win, defeating the Eagles 18–4 away from home. However, the triumph proved short-lived, as the team immediately embarked on an eight-game losing streak, which led to the dismissal of Mulholland on 5 May 1997. Following Super League defeats to the Broncos and Wigan in late May, Goodway's squad participated in the
1997 World Club Championship in June, a competition envisioned by Murdoch that included all teams from the European Super League and the
Australian Super League. In July, PSG traveled to Australia for the return leg of the tournament, where they suffered defeats in both matches. Despite these losses, the team's lone victory was sufficient to advance to the playoffs, where they were eliminated by
St Helens. In July 1997, with PSG languishing at the bottom of the Super League table and home attendances declining sharply, the team produced its most impressive results of the season, registering three wins in five matches. A victory away to the
Halifax Panthers was followed by back-to-back home wins—against Wigan and Halifax—for the first time in the club's history. PSG staged a remarkable comeback against Wigan, overturning a 14-point deficit in the final thirteen minutes to secure a 30–28 upset, marking their first Super League home victory of the season. The club ultimately secured its Super League status in its final home match of the season, defeating relegation rivals Oldham at Stade Charléty to finish 11th once again. PSG's appearance in the
1997 Rugby League Premiership on 7 September 1997 was the team's final fixture. They were defeated 6–48 by Salford, with Devecchi scoring the team's last-ever try.
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. However, during the Super League's end-of-season meeting, spokesman Peter Rowe acknowledged that "the future of Paris is causing some concern". 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. 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. 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. At its worst, the club had been hemorrhaging £50,000 a week. 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. 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. ==Grounds==