PSG (W)

A year after the foundation of the club, Paris Saint-Germain created their women's section in the summer of 1971 after the French Football Federation (FFF) gave the green light to female football. PSG signed 33 women for the 1971–72 season and the newly formed team began life in the Ligue de Paris, the lowest level of the football pyramid. They finished second that campaign, their best result ever, and continued life in the Parisian championship for seven more years, albeit with less success.

Ahead of the 1979–80 season, PSG were promoted to the top flight of French football, the Première Ligue, after it went from 20 to 48 teams. Their inaugural stint, however, only lasted three seasons, and PSG were relegated back to Seconde Ligue in 1982. The Red and Blues bounced between the two top divisions over the next 19 years. Following a dramatic 1999–2000 season in which they missed promotion to the elite by losing their last match against promotion contenders Schiltigheim, PSG finally steadied the ship in 2001. Led by coach Sébastien Thierry and young defender Laura Georges, the team won 16 out of 18 games played in Group A to claim back their place amongst the best in France. PSG would then clinch the 2000–01 Seconde Ligue title by defeating Group C leader Tours in the final. Since then, Paris SG have never been relegated from the Première Ligue.

Under incoming manager Cyril Combettes, Paris Saint-Germain remained without major problems in the Première Ligue but nowhere near the top teams. In the summer of 2005, starlets Sabrina Delannoy and Laure Boulleau signed from CNFE Clairefontaine. Together, they played more than 400 matches with PSG, being their two most capped players. The defending duo experienced everything with the capital side: relegation battles, mid-table finishes, title races and the club's first major trophy. Men and women confounded, Delannoy is PSG's sixth most capped player ever, only behind male counterparts Jean-Marc Pilorget, Sylvain Armand, Safet Sušić, Paul Le Guen, and Marco Verratti.

At the end of March 2007, Cyril Combettes resigned due to relationship problems with the players. He was replaced by Eric Leroy for the 2007–08 season. Despite a difficult start, including a heavy defeat to Montpellier in the first match, the season was a success. Under Leroy's direction, the team finished in fifth place and reached their maiden Challenge de France final. Having crashed out at the same stage in 2005, the Red and Blues learned their lesson and defeated Parisian Derby rivals Paris FC (at the time called Juvisy) in the semi-finals. OL Lyonnes, however, proved too strong for PSG in the title-decider at the Stade de France, easily taking home the cup with three unanswered strikes.

Following a disappointing 2008–09 season, Camillo Vaz replaced Éric Leroy in June 2009. PSG recruited French internationals Élise Bussaglia, Julie Soyer, and Jessica Houara during that summer. The women's team then celebrated their 38th birthday by making their debut at the Parc des Princes. Usually reserved for the men's side, PSG hosted city rivals Paris FC at the stadium on October 18, 2009. In front of 5,892 spectators, they defeated their guests thanks to an early goal from Camille Abily. The 2009–10 campaign ended with a third place, a first for them on the podium. Better yet, the Parisians also reached their second Challenge de France final after eliminating juggernauts Lyon in the semi-finals.

Noilhan had left the club shortly before the final, leaving Vaz as the sole coach. This, however, did not stop PSG from crushing defending champions Montpellier at the Stade Robert Bobin to claim their first major title as well as their second trophy ever and their first since 2001. Emblematic club striker Ingrid Boyeldieu, who would retire at the end of the season, opened the scoring in the first half. After the break, PSG added four more goals for a brutal 5–0 scoreline, the largest victory in the history of cup finals.

The 2010–11 season marked a turning point for Paris. In the summer, Brazilian star Kátia joined on a free signing from Lyon. PSG finished league runners-up behind heavyweights OL Lyonnes and qualified to the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time in their history. The Parisians dramatically defeated second-placed Montpellier in the final game of the season, with team captain Sabrina Delannoy scoring the winning penalty in stoppage time. Élise Bussaglia was named Première Ligue Féminine Player of the Season.

Exempted from the group stage, PSG made their European debut by comfortably eliminating Irish side Peamount in the Round of 16, before being themselves ousted by German giants and future finalists 1. FFC Frankfurt. The rest of the 2011–12 campaign, however, was not as successful. Undermined by the injuries of key players Léa Rubio, Laure Lepailleur, and Caroline Pizzala, the team lost its grip and finished in fourth place after suffering a heavy defeat at home to Île-de-France rivals Paris FC. As a result, coach Camillo Vaz left the club at the end of the season.

PSG bounced back immediately with the professionalisation of the team by new club owners Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) ahead of the 2012–13 campaign. They spent big to build a team capable of competing with the best clubs in France and Europe, including Lyon, and signed its 21 players to a federal contract, something unprecedented in women's football. Renowned international players Shirley Cruz, Kosovare Asllani, Annike Krahn, and Linda Bresonik were the first to arrive, as well as Farid Benstiti, the coach who guided Lyon to four consecutive league titles. A season later, PSG recruited Marie-Laure Delie, the first women's football transfer in France, for €50k. As part of this revolution, PSG also moved to the Stade Sébastien Charléty in 2012 and then to the Stade Jean-Bouin in 2018, abandoning the smaller Stade Georges Lefèvre, which had been their home stadium since 1971.

These investments allowed PSG to challenge OL Lyonnes, with the duo developing a heated rivalry dubbed as Le Classique. Lyon still kept a head start over Paris during the 2010s, clinching a record 14 consecutive league titles between 2007 and 2020. PSG managed a few important victories during that time, though. League and cup runners-up behind Lyon in 2013–14, they recorded their first ever win over the champions in January 2014, with a solitary goal from Laura Georges at the Stade de Gerland. It was Lyon's first league defeat at home since March 2010, an unbeaten streak spanning 87 matches.

PSG repeated the feat in 2014–15, this time in the Champions League, as Fatmire Alushi scored the only goal at Gerland to eliminate Lyon in the last 16. Nonetheless, the season ended in disappointment; Paris finished second to Lyon and lost the 2015 UEFA Women's Champions League final to Frankfurt at the last second. Lyon retaliated in 2015–16 by claiming the championship and then crushing PSG in the Champions League semi-finals. They scored seven times without response, inflicting PSG's biggest defeat in the continental competition and one of their biggest ever. Even worse, Paris finished third in the league and missed qualification to the Champions League. The club did not renew Farid Benstiti's contract and was replaced by Patrice Lair, another former Lyon coach.

The two sides were back at it again in 2016–17. PSG first beat their rivals, also by a 1–0 margin, in December 2016 despite Lyon still managing to retain the league title. Then, they crossed paths in the Coupe de France Féminine final, won by Lyon after an endless penalty shoot-out, and in the 2017 UEFA Women's Champions League final, which also had to be decided on penalties. The teams could not be separated after seven kicks each until PSG goalkeeper Katarzyna Kiedrzynek stepped up and missed. Her counterpart Sarah Bouhaddi converted her effort and handed Lyon the European victory. With Bernard Mendy on the bench, filling in after the surprise departure of Lair, the capital outfit exacted revenge on Lyon in the 2017–18 season by defeating them in the Coupe de France final in May 2018, with a solitary goal from French international striker Marie-Antoinette Katoto.

Olivier Echouafni was named manager in June 2018, while Mendy stayed on as his assistant. Paris finished league runners-up in 2018–19 and 2019–20, while losing the Coupe de France and Trophée des Championnes to Lyon as well. In Echouafni's third season in charge, PSG ended Lyon's 80-game unbeaten league streak in November 2020 to leapfrog them and go top of the table. Once more, Katoto scored the lone goal of a game played behind closed doors at the Parc des Princes.

PSG subsequently secured a crucial goalless draw away to Lyon before defeating Dijon on the final matchday to claim their first Première Ligue title, ending their rivals' run of 14 consecutive league championships. They also brought an end to Lyon's dominance in the UEFA Women's Champions League by staging a notable comeback to deny them a sixth consecutive European title, although PSG were later eliminated by Barcelona in the semifinals.

However, PSG subsequently struggled, reflecting years of transfer mismanagement and strategic inconsistency. The club's only notable successes were two additional Coupe de France titles, both achieved after eliminating Lyon, first with an 8–0 victory over second-tier Yzeure in 2022 and later with a 1–0 win against Fleury in the 2024 final, decided by a goal from Lieke Martens.

Despite a substantial budget, PSG allowed several core French players to leave for Lyon or abroad and failed to establish a coherent long-term sporting strategy. The club also experienced significant managerial instability, appointing a different manager each season since Olivier Echouafni's departure in 2021, including Didier Ollé-Nicolle (2021–22), Gérard Prêcheur (2022–23), Jocelyn Prêcheur (2023–24), Fabrice Abriel (2024–25), and Paulo César (2025–26), who launched a youth-focused project.

Under sporting director Angelo Castelazzi, recruitment remained inconsistent, with Sakina Karchaoui and Griedge Mbock Bathy among the few notable signings. Numerous leading French players—such as Marie-Antoinette Katoto, Kadidiatou Diani, Sandy Baltimore, Constance Picaud, and Grace Geyoro—alongside prominent foreign players including Christiane Endler, Lieke Martens, Tabitha Chawinga, Ashley Lawrence, and Sara Däbritz, departed in successive seasons. This period of stagnation, and at times regression, culminated in PSG's elimination from the 2025–26 UEFA Women's Champions League after finishing 17th out of 18 in the league phase, following a shock qualifying-round exit to Juventus the previous year. Domestically, PSG also fell behind Paris FC, who defeated them in the 2025 Coupe de France final.