By Safiu Kehinde
Football/soccer has come a long way in becoming one of the most passionate sports of all time. It is the most watched sport across the world and has the largest fan base. With the establishment of football leagues and clubs, people from different parts of the world tend to become interconnected based on sharing similar allegiance to a club or league.
To this extent, football clubs boast of supporters that spread beyond their base. Fans who are thousands of miles away from a club develop strong relationship with the club which emits some kind of psychological proximity.
However, despite its contribution to the concept of global village, football clubs also gave rise to rivalry among people. The sport’s competitive nature creates divisions among individuals, friends, families, communities, and even people within the same community. Speaking of divisions among people within the same community, establishment of different football clubs with one community gave rise to this and an eventual match between these clubs is what we refer to as ‘Derby Match’ which is often characterized by fierce and sometimes holistic rivalry.
Interestingly, derby clubs do have a long enriched history between them. The likes of AC Milan and Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Atlectico Madrid, Manchester United and Manchester City, etc., all have intertwined histories — albeit some derby clubs have more fascinating histories than the others. Five among these derby clubs are:
1. Paris Saint Germain (PSG) and Paris FC
With the exception of few, football fans are more conversant with the big money Ligue 1 club, PSG. A club which boasts of world class players like Neymar, Kylan Mbappe, Lionel Messi, and Angel Di Maria will definitely override the other in terms of popularity and achievements. While PSG is bossing the Ligue 1, Paris FC currently sits fifth in Ligue 2 table.
The story of this two clubs is similar to that of Biblical Jacob and Esau’s story. Paris FC came to the limelight in 1969. Their quest to get to first division as early as possible made them seek another club they can merge with. Attempt to merge with a first division club proved abortive, leading to Paris FC stooping so low as they went to Ligue 2 where they found Stade Saint Germain. Both team came together to form Paris Saint-Germain.
However, their unison was short-lived following the disapproval of the Paris Mayor who was not pleased with the club’s location at the outskirts of Paris. Both clubs went their separate ways with Paris FC settling at the heart of Paris with Parc Des Princes being their home. Paris Saint Germain, on the other hand, remained at the Saint-Germain en Late district. They encountered couple of challenges and ended up relegating to the third division. Things were worse for PSG that Paris FC had to release their amateur players to the club. However, PSG stood tall amid their struggle, earning back-to-back promotion which saw them climbed into the top flight in 1978.
Ever since their emergence at Ligue 1, PSG has gone to enjoy stellar seasons and the purchase of the club by big spending Arab, Nasser Al-Khelaifi, saw the club winning back-to-back Ligue 1 trophy. While PSG kept thriving, Paris FC suffered a twist of fate as they went from hero to zero. The club eventually lost Parc Des Princes to PSG which claimed the Paris centre while they return to their coven, struggling to make a return to the top flight.
…to be continued
