Soccer-French champions Paris St Germain

PARIS, March 13 (Reuters) - Paris St Germain secured their fourth successive French Ligue 1 title, and sixth in total, on Sunday after beating Troyes 9-0 away. - PSG were created in 1970 when Paris and the club of wealthy suburb Saint-Germain merged to form a second division side. They eventually became a professional club in 1974 under the presidency of fashion designer Daniel Hechter. - PSG established themselves as a force in the top flight in the early 1980s and lifted their maiden trophy when they won the French Cup in 1982. - They retained the Cup the following season and won their first league title in 1986 under manager Gerard Houllier. - With the intention of creating a strong rival to the dominant Olympique Marseille, television network Canal Plus, then the French league's exclusive broadcaster, bought the club in 1991. - They invested heavily to develop the squad, signing high-profile France internationals such as Bernard Lama and David Ginola, as well as Brazil internationals Ricardo, Valdo and Rai. - They won a second league title in 1994, a French Cup the following season, and the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1996. They reached the final of that competition again the following season but lost to Barcelona. - Undermined by instability, poor signings and managerial mistakes, PSG had only two top-three league finishes between 1998 and 2011, despite being one of the country's richest clubs. - Qatari sovereign fund the Qatar Investment Authority bought the club in 2011 and spent more than 200 million euros ($278.5 million) on transfers within a year to attract high-profile talents such as Brazilian Thiago Silva and Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic. - Experienced Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti was appointed midway through the 2011/2012 campaign, but PSG were beaten to the title by unheralded Montpellier that season. - They clinched their third Ligue 1 title in 2013, but were eliminated by Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals. - They spent more than 100 million euros on Uruguay forward Edinson Cavani and defenders Marquinhos and Lucas Digne in the close season, while former France coach Laurent Blanc replaced the departing Ancelotti. - In 2014, they won another league title and also reached the last eight in the Champions League. - They became the first French team to win a domestic treble last year as they added the French Cup and League Cup titles to their fifth league crown. They were, however, eliminated in the Champions League quarter-finals again. - This season, they enjoyed a record 36-match unbeaten run that was ended by Lyon on Feb. 28. - They have only lost two games in all competitions and have qualified for the Champions League's last eight for the fourth year in a row. (Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)