Parma Tickets

Parma
Parma Football Club (formerly Parma Associazione Calcio) is an Italian football club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, currently playing in the Serie A. The club plays its home matches in the 29,050 seat Stadio Ennio Tardini. Nicknames include Ducali (The Duchy Men), Crociati (Crusaders) and Gialloblu (Yellow-Blues).

Parma debuted in Serie A in 1990 and quickly established themselves as a top-flight team in Italian football from then on. The team became one of the top Italian teams in the 1990s and early 2000s, especially in the domestic and European Cup competitions, having been crowned UEFA Cup champions. Following the Parmalat scandal in late 2003, which caused the owning company to collapse, Parma has lately experienced a troubled period, having been under controlled administration until January 2007 and forced to fight to avoid relegation.

The club was founded in July 1913 as Verdi Football Club; it was named so in honour of famous opera composer Giuseppe Verdi, who was born in the city of Parma. By December of the same year, the club had changed its name to Parma.

Parma began playing league football during the 1919-20 season, in their first season they ended up second in the qualifying matches for the Emilian Championship. They achieved their first promotion from their regional league during the 1924-25 season, moving them from the second to the first division. A few short seasons later during 1928-29, they won the first division and were promoted, becoming founding members of Serie B.

The early years of the 1930s were spent by the club in Serie B and around this time they changed the club name to A.S. Parma. In 1932, Parma was relegated and became founding members of Serie C where they spent the rest of the decade. After a long decade of trying to gain promotion back into Serie B, they achieved it in the 1941-42 season. Italian football was postponed due to World War II but after it was continued Parma played another three seasons in Serie B before being relegated once more in 1948-49. Then, they spent another five seasons in Serie C where they ended up in second place on two occasions before gaining promotion once again in 1953-54.

Following this promotion one of the most successful periods in the club's history began; in 1954-55 they ended up ninth. A notable star during this period was Ivo Cocconi who broke the club's appearance record, playing 308 times. Parma made their debut on the European stage during the 1960-61 season, defeating Swiss side Bellinzona in the Coppa delle Alpi. The club's form dropped however, and they were once again relegated to Serie C in the 1964-65 season finishing last. By the end of the 60s, Parma was in Serie D falling into relative turmoil by the club's standards; they changed their name on numerous occasions until finally settling for Associazione Calcio Parma in 1967-68. In the summer of 1969, another local club A.C. Parmense was merged with Parma to form one team.

The club crept back into professional football, with promotion back to Serie B during the 1972-73 season, spending three solid seasons in the league finishing as high as 5th, a new club record. However, relegation soon returned to the club and they stayed in Serie C until their eventual promotion under Cesare Maldini in 1978-79.

However, they only lasted a season in Serie B and began the 1980s back down in Serie C. They came back up as champions in 1984 but were once again relegated, yo-yoing between the leagues. They returned to B under Arrigo Sacchi for the 1986-87 season and remained there for the rest of the 1980s. After making an impression at Parma, Sacchi was scouted by A.C. Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, who brought him to become the new rossoneri coach.

Nevio Scala stepped into Sacchi's place as the new manager of Parma. Scala brought the club into the top flight for the first time in the club's history, on May 27, 1990. Parma beat their old rivals Reggiana 2-0 at home to secure it, thanks to goals from Marco Osio and Alessandro Melli. Their first ever game in Serie A was a 2-1 defeat to Turin giants Juventus. Their first Serie A victory came 15 days later, against Diego Maradona's Napoli, the game ended 1-0.

The promotion attracted many foreign talents to the club; this achievement was paid for by the multinational dairy concern Parmalat, who had become the club's new sponsor and taken a 45% stake. A new era for Parma had begun, what is described by fans as their Golden Period.

Parma ended their first ever season in Serie A in sixth place, which meant they qualified for the UEFA Cup. However, the 1991-92 season saw Parma exit from the UEFA Cup to CSKA Sofia. Domestically the club was having more success, securing the Italian Cup with a 2-0 victory against Juventus. An Italian player at the club, Alberto Di Chiara, was called up to the national side.

Their first international trophy was won in 1992-93; Parma won the Cup Winners' Cup, beating Royal Antwerp 3-1 at Wembley in England on May 12, 1993. The following season, the club was successful in the European Super Cup; winning an all Italian final 2-0 over A.C. Milan. The same season however, they lost the Cup Winners' Cup, 1-0 in the final against Arsenal. The 1994-1995 season saw perhaps their greatest achievement to date, when they beat Italian rivals Juventus in the UEFA Cup Final.

Success in cup football and high league finishes in the early 1990s attracted other stars, with the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Gianfranco Zola, Faustino Asprilla, Dino Baggio, Hern?n Crespo, Enrico Chiesa, and Diego Fuser joining. Scala jumped ship in 1996 and was replaced by Carlo Ancelotti. He took the club to its best ever league finish in 1997, second place and only one point behind the champions Juventus.

They were unable to put their form into effect within the Champions League however; they also only followed up their league position with a 6th place. Under Alberto Malesani in 1998/99 the team won the Coppa Italia against Fiorentina. He also took the club to their second UEFA Cup final victory.Parma started off the 1999-00 season well, winning the Italian Super Cup, but they were knocked out of the Champions League early and ended the season in fourth spot, level with Internazionale but lost the play-off 3-1.

Arrigo Sacchi returned to the club as manager in January 2001, but the former Italy coach soon stepped down due to ill-health. Renzo Ulivieri took over and took the side to fourth in the league once more and another Champions League qualification. Another manager change came for the 2001-02 season as Pietro Carmignani took Parma to another Coppa Italia triumph. They beat Juventus in Turin; they won the trophy via the away goals rule, this was Parma's third time winning the Italian Cup.

Following Parmalat's financial scandal in 2003-04, the team announced it was to be bought in 2005 by former Real Madrid chairman Lorenzo Sanz, and was reincorporated at that time as Parma Football Club. However, successively Sanz renounced to conclude the bid. Despite all their troubles, Parma played a fairly good season, led by team stars and managed by head coach Mario Beretta, being able to avoid relegation in advance of four matches to the end of the championship. Beretta left Parma after the end of the season, and Stefano Pioli, from Modena F.C., was appointed as his replacement.

On January 24, 2007, Tommaso Ghirardi was announced as new owner of Parma, following a public auction sale. Ghirardi, a 31-year-old entrepreneur and owner of Serie C2 club Carpenedolo, became also chairman of Parma, ending three years of state-controlled management. On February 12, second-last placed Parma fired head coach Pioli and replaced him with Claudio Ranieri who, against overwhelming odds, managed to avoid the relegation of the team.