\n<\/p>\n
One defining feature of the club is the strength of its women’s side.<\/p>\n
Previously known as Juvisy before a merger with Paris FC in 2017, the team are six-time national champions and regularly qualify for European competition, usually finishing behind only Lyon and PSG in the league table.<\/p>\n
Matching their neighbours, with whom they already have an established rivalry, is a more immediate objective here.<\/p>\n
Fittingly, the women’s team’s first match after the takeover went through was a home fixture at Stade Charlety against PSG, with a late strike from France international Clara Mateo clinching a point for the hosts.<\/p>\n
“The idea is to aim higher, to develop women’s football to the same degree as men’s. I can’t promise that we’ll be at Lyon’s level straight away, but we’ll look to break into the top two and then set new objectives when we get there,” Ferracci adds.<\/p>\n
Where exactly in the capital the club’s ambitions take shape will be another matter entirely. Both the men’s and women’s first teams play at the multi-purpose Charlety, nestled against the Peripherique ring road in the south-east of Paris.<\/p>\n
The open-air stadium is hardly an ideal logistical fit, chiefly due to its athletics track and the little scope for expansion. Sparse attendances were a recurring issue until a free-ticket scheme, introduced midway through last season, saw average attendances grow to over half of the 20,000 capacity.<\/p>\n
For Ferracci, a move to the Stade Jean-Bouin, a more compact ground which sits in the literal shadow of the Parc des Princes and currently hosts rugby club Stade Francais, would be the ideal short-term option.<\/p>\n
“I hope that, one day, the 20,000 seats won’t be enough,” Ferracci says. “We could aim for something from 40,000, which we don’t have at either of those grounds. If we go up to Ligue 1 in the next few years, we’ll make do with one of them, though.”<\/p>\n
While the prospect of a more contested derby has dominated headlines, the Paris FC decision-makers have sidestepped talk of a confrontational rivalry – with Antoine Arnault himself even professing to be a long-time fan of 12-time league champions PSG.<\/p>\n
“I think there’s room for two clubs in Paris, for two different stories that could be complementary,” explained Arnault, who is CEO of Christian Dior, in a news conference.<\/p>\n
Ferracci adds: “There’s no hostility, I myself was a season ticket holder [at PSG] with my son back in the day.”<\/p>\n
The club president also highlights that PSG and Brazil legend Rai and former PSG president Michel Denisot are involved at Paris FC.<\/p>\n
Whether that cordial, bridge-building approach survives the potentially bitter reality of a battle for supremacy in Ligue 1 and in Paris remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
For now, though, Paris FC have a promotion campaign to get back on track.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n