Paris Saint-Germain F.C. supporters

Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (PSG) is the most popular football club in France and one of the most widely supported teams in the world. Famous PSG fans include Nicolas Sarkozy, Tony Parker, Fabio Quartararo, Tom Brady, Patrick Dempsey, Victoria Azarenka, Teddy Riner and DJ Snake. Lacking a big passionate fanbase, the club began offering cheaper season tickets to young supporters in 1976. These fans were placed in the Kop K, located in the K section of the Paris stand at the Parc des Princes. Following an increase in ticket prices, Kop K supporters moved to the Boulogne stand in 1978, and the Kop of Boulogne (KoB) was born. There, the club's first Italian-style ultra group, Boulogne Boys, was founded in 1985. Other KoB groups, however, took British hooligans as dubious role models and violence rapidly escalated. PSG supporters' groups have been linked to football hooliganism ever since. PSG owners Canal+ responded in 1991 by encouraging and financing non-violent fans of the KoB stand to take place in the Auteuil stand at the other end of the Parc des Princes. The Virage Auteuil was born, alongside Supras Auteuil, its most notorious ultras. At first the measure worked but, slowly, a violent rivalry arose between the two stands. Things came to a head in 2010 before a match against Le Classique arch-rivals Olympique de Marseille in Paris. Boulogne fan Yann Lorence was killed following a fight between groups from both stands outside the Parc des Princes, forcing PSG president Robin Leproux to take action. The club exiled the supporters' groups from the Parc des Princes and banned them from all PSG matches in what was known as Plan Leproux. It made PSG pay the price in terms of atmosphere, with one of Europe's most feared venues now subdued. For their part, former Virage Auteuil supporters formed the Collectif Ultras Paris (CUP) in February 2016, with the aim of reclaiming their place at the stadium. In October 2016, after a six-year absence, the club agreed to their return.