In February 1970, Pierre Bellemare made an unprecedented appeal on Europe n ° 1: he asked Parisians to become a supporter and shareholder of Paris Football Club, the ancestor of PSG. Without this unprecedented communication operation, the legendary club that we know might never have seen the light of day, says Julien Froment in the second episode of the podcast "Associate n ° 1, the birth of a great club in Paris" .

50 years ago, on February 1, 1970, Pierre Bellemare launched a historic and unprecedented appeal: he must convince at least 10,000 Parisians to join a project as crazy as it is delightful: to become supporters of the Paris Football Club, and finally to offer to Paris a big football club. At the time, there was no longer a professional club in the capital. The Federation, helped by industrialists, then decided to create a club, the Paris Football Club, which thanks to Europe n ° 1 would grow to become PSG.

It is 9 a.m. on February 1, 1970, at 26 bis rue François 1er, the historic headquarters of Europe n ° 1. A well-known credits sounded, that of "You are formidable". The broadcast of Pierre Bellemare, without knowing it, will give a decisive boost to a project launched a year earlier, that of Paris FC. The aim of the program is simple: ask listeners to go to newsstands and subscribe to a 25-franc bulletin. Amount that will partially finance this new project. Stars of the time participate, such as Mireille Mathieu, Enrico Macias or Annie Cordy.

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More than 7,000 members in a few hours

Behind his microphone, the famous host multiplies the effects of style, and warns of his inimitable tone: "If the people of Paris do not look into the drama that awaits them, imagine this train of barges going up the Seine and carrying red earth from the Parc des Princes to his last tomb. " Here they are warned!

#Bellemare then takes its most beautiful voice at ️ d '@ Europe1: "If the people of Paris do not look at the drama that awaits them, imagine this train of barges going up the Seine and carrying the red soil of the Parc des Princes towards his last tomb. " pic.twitter.com/xFY4yuHjcy

- Julien Froment (@JulienFroment) February 1, 2020

This unprecedented advertising campaign is working, 10,000 people join the Paris Football Club, a total of more than 17,000.

Everything is in place ... pic.twitter.com/1iyOJXFIFK

- Julien Froment (@JulienFroment) February 1, 2020

At the end of the afternoon, the journalist of Europe n ° 1 Fernand Choisel made the accounts, and it was a resounding success: "The operation Paris Football Club launched by Pierre Bellemare this morning on the antenna has succeeded: 7,382 football lovers responded, in addition to those, around 2,100, who joined as soon as the club was announced, ”he explains.

In total, more than 17,000 people are joining this crazy project. A project that will experience many twists and turns, aborted mergers with Rouen or Sedan, to finally become on June 10, 1970, a club that everyone now knows: Paris Saint-Germain.