Even if it has experienced a slack for a few weeks in its quest for accession to L1, Paris FC is the club that will have marked the year 2020 in Ile-de-France, excluding PSG. Created in 1969, ally at the departure of the PSG, it celebrated its 50 years last year and continues to grow. Several personalities behind the scenes and on the ground, and in different places, have marked its rich history that we invite you to rediscover. Today, the first part of our series with the leaders.
From Pierre-Etienne Guyot to Pierre Ferracci to Guy Crescent, Roger Zeppelini, Jean-Luc Lagardère (during the merger with Racing), Pierre Save, Bernard Caïazzo, Didier Bariani, Noël Le Graët and Guy Cotret, Paris FC has known in its history ten presidents, with diverse personalities and backgrounds. We chose to retain the pioneers (Guyot and Crescent) and the artisan of returning to the pros (Ferracci) without forgetting the iconic Christian Amara, the connecting link between these different eras.
Christian Amara, living memory
At 81, he never misses a match and still plays an active role in a club he joined in 1971 through… Noël Le Graët. “It was he who took me into football when we were in the Electrolux group (ex Arthur Martin-Faure), he had just bought the lay patronage of Guingamp”, recalls Amara, president of the pro section of the PFC between 1974 and 1982 and today vice-president, honorary president and minority shareholder.
“I am the guardian of the temple. I have the satisfaction of having always found my place alongside presidents with different personalities. At Paris FC, I found simple, social and family values which correspond to me, I am above all a humanist ”, explains this former companion of duty and of the Tour de France as a carpenter, who, after the Algerian war , climbed all the levels within the Electrolux group.
He still runs a household appliance business and is “the biggest collector of vintage aircraft in France”, his other passion. “The club is moving forward, the evolution is positive. We have long been a vagabond club and it’s fantastic to have a tool like Orly. My fondest memory is the jump-offs in L1 at Besançon in 1978. But my greatest pride is to have allowed several players from our first team to then find a job. We also helped kids who didn’t even have enough to buy a pair of socks. Mamadou Sakho, we had a lot … “
Pierre-Etienne Guyot and Guy Crescent, the pioneers
First president of the PFC, the entrepreneur Pierre-Etienne Guyot who also headed the French golf and international hunting federations, is at the origin of the creation, in difficulty, of the club in 1969 with Guy Crescent the CEO by Calberson. The latter had met Santiago Bernabeu, the president of Real Madrid who had convinced him to adopt the socios model.
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“The supporters will participate in the life of the club and will be full socios. I undertook to set up this great team in the capital. When I undertake something, I never give up ”, explained Guyot who had received the support of Pierre Bellemare and of Europe 1. After the split with the PSG in 1972, Guyot remains president one season before being replaced by Crescent . Roger Zeppelini will succeed him, then for eight years, will make the club go up a season in L1 (78-78) before the merger with Racing of Jean-Luc Lagardère in 1982.
Pierre Ferracci, the builder
Main shareholder (77%), the 68-year-old Corsican took the presidency in 2012 after having been a director and president of the Association. A recognized and influential actor in the social and work world through his company (Groupe Alpha), he has one of the thickest address books in Paris, between politicians and economic decision-makers. A network that this close friend of Emmanuel Macron has put at the service of his club even if he has never hesitated to draw on his personal funds to pass in front of the DNCG during difficult times.
The return to the pros thanks to two increases in L2 (2015 and 2017), the construction of the training and training center in Orly and the arrival of the State of Bahrain as a shareholder (20%) are to be credited of its successes. The PFC had never had so many financial resources (19.5 million euros in budget). Even if the collaboration with Jacques Santini was a failure, he also knew how to surround himself with personalities like Patrick Trotignon and especially Pierre Dréossi, who contributed to make his club grow. “The strength of Paris FC is that it never gives up, I too am persevering and optimistic. I am a builder and I am not here to compete with PSG. My model is training and a popular club ”, explains the president who has given himself“ 2 to 3 years ”to join the L1.
