French Ligue 2 side Paris FC have announced that they will play their home games at the Stade Jean-Bouin from the start of the 2025/26 season. It’s a ground located just 20 metres from their city rivals PSG’s Parc des Princes!
Paris FC’s current home, the Stade Charléty is primarily used for athletics, with a running track encircling the pitch—something that has prevented the creation of a strong matchday atmosphere.
It’s an aspect that new minority owners Red Bull’s Head of Football Jürgen Klopp pointed out last month when he watched Paris FC beat Amiens 1-0: “The stadium is a stadium where you cannot create an atmosphere. It is long ago since I watched a game from that far and I was in the stadium rather than in front of the TV.”
The five-year deal (until 2029) will see Paris FC share the 20,000-seater Stade Jean-Bouin with Rugby Union club Stade Français Paris, PSG Women’s team, and the American football side Paris Musketeers. The stadium also previously hosted another Ligue 2 side, Red Star Paris, during the 2016/17 season due to safety issues at their home ground.
The relocation means that Paris FC and PSG will be separated by just one street—Rue Claude Farrère—making it one of the closest footballing rivalries in the world. In comparison, Dundee United and Dundee FC in Scotland are separated by just 200 yards, a distance that Paris FC’s new ground will now rival.
Who are Paris FC?
Paris FC was founded in 1969 and has long existed in PSG’s shadow. The two clubs briefly merged between 1970 and 1972, but Paris FC was left to fend for itself while PSG grew into a European powerhouse. In fact, Paris FC only regained professional status in 2015.
Since the end of 2024 the club has been majority owned by the Arnault family. The Red Bull Group that own Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig and have a minority share in English side Leeds United, also bought a stake in the French team.
The club had been partly owned by the Kingdom of Bahrain in 2020, which prompted protests of ‘sportswashing’ when “Explore Bahrain” advertising was displayed around the club’s ground. The Kingdom sold their 15% share as part of the Red Bull purchase in 2024.
Notable former players include ex-AC Milan winger Jérémy Ménez, ex-Lyon forward Karl Toko-Ekambi, and Premier League center-backs Ibrahima Konate and Axel Disasi, who came through the club’s youth system.
This season…
The club are currently second in Ligue 2 table, just three points off Lorient who sit top with 46 points. The Paris side will be hoping to finish in the top two spots to secure automatic promotion to the French top flight for the first time since 1978/79.
Paris FC fans will be hoping that a move to their new stadium in 2025, which is the same size as their current ground, will help them improve fan experiences as they grow.
Now owned by some of the richest people in the world and potentially a top flight club, Les Bleus will be hoping to challenge their rivals, and new neighbours PSG, for the French crown in the future.