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 League. Then they aligned themselves with the company of Rupert Murdoch, which will inject 77 million pounds in this new league. 14 teams are announced, including two French clubs, Paris and Toulouse. But soon this number will decrease to 12, with only one French club, Paris. On 23 December 1995, during a press conference, Charles Biétry, President of Paris Saint-Germain Sports Centre, with the support of former rugby union coach Jacques Fouroux, announced the creation of Paris Saint-Germain Rugby League, the rugby league section of the successful football club, in an attempt to give the new Super League a Continental European dimension. The assumption was that the larger population of the capital city and its transport links and accessibility for English supporters would give a French franchise the best chance of success. John Kear was head coach and Dave Ellis his assistant. Other French rugby league clubs loaned their players to the new club for the first year but the players still had to play for the original clubs.[1] The Super League began in March 1996 and saw the British season switch from winter to summer for the first time in over 100 years.[2] Most of the teams are based in Great Britain, though initially the league was intended to be European, and indeed the first ever edition featured all eleven teams from the 1995–96 Rugby Football League season plus one expansion club, PSG-RL, which contested the first ever Super League match. On 29 March 1996, the Super League I kicked off in Paris before 17,873 people at the Stade Sébastien Charléty when new team Paris Saint-Germain overcame Sheffield Eagles 30–24. Jacques Fouroux, the PSG-RL president, described that night:[1]
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Ninety eight per cent of the crowd were new to the game, but they understood it right away. They saw tries, lots of commitment and lots of movement. They saw beauty. They attended a great party. |
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—Jacques Fouroux, 29 March 1996
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After a few weeks the attendances tailed off as the defeats mounted. The club finished 11th and narrowly avoided relegation in their first season, winning only three and drawing one. The following season, other French clubs refused to loan players to Paris Saint-Germain. As a consequence the team was filled with Australian players which was very costly and the absence of French players did little to help gain the club a following in Paris.[3] In their first match of the season, PSG-RL, who finished second bottom of the Super League last season, claimed their first victory on English soil with an 18–4 win over Sheffield Eagles. The Eagles, beaten only twice at home last season, had no answer as the team of Australian imports built on their impressive defence to run in tries from Anthony Wall, Phil Bergman and Wayne Sing.[4] The club finished in 11th place again in the Super League II, narrowly avoiding relegation for the second consecutive campaign, albeit this time with six wins. Their coach, Peter Mulholland, who replaced John Kear, was sacked part-way through the season.[5]Andy Goodway took over as head coach.[6] At this stage the attendances were low and the cost of paying players and travelling to England meant the club was losing money. In May 1997, following financial difficulties and the withdrawal of their officers, PSG-RL was dissolved and the experiment was generally considered to be a failure.[1] The French Rugby League Federation regrouped around its core clubs in the south and began to post good results in the Challenge Cup culminating in a semi-final appearance for Toulouse Olympique in 2005. During the competition they beat Widnes Vikings, then a Super League club. Following Paris Saint-Germain's departure, the league was solely English until Catalans Dragons were admitted for the Super League XI. In 2009, the Celtic Crusaders, from Wales, entered the competition.
